philjw

Apple technically supports downloading legacy app versions, but the system is broken: it usually requires the app to be in your purchase history, and developers can opt to delete their old binaries entirely.

Maybe something the EU could enforce is requiring Apple to offer the 'last compatible version' prompt for all users, not just previous downloaders, ensuring older hardware isn't artificially artificially rendered useless for basic tasks.

Gotta hand it to the US-Americans - they managed to speedrun the 500-year Idiocracy timeline in just 20. Talk about efficiency.

"The Ram ProMaster City was a compact commercial van made by Stellantis, which discontinued the model in 2022."

Also, people in the US started importing Kei-Trucks so there is a demand and a certain level of resistance to the car bloat.

The lack of vegan options — and Trump flexing his one-day McDonald’s internship — finally pushed me to boycott McDonald’s altogether. Also it became slow with all the delivery drivers queuing up as well. Burger King might be raising prices too, but at least their deals are still decent, and every burger has a vegan option (which is supposedly even cheaper for them to produce).

My actual favorite “fast food” is IKEA — surprisingly good as a coworking spot, and their vegan Köttbullar are great. And honestly, in Germany who needs McDonald’s when there’s a good Döner place around? It’s basically a 5-in-1 burger: real bread, salad, sauces, and your choice of meat/halloumi/seitan.

From what I see here, McDonald’s mostly survives in low-density areas or as car-dependant late-night junk food where alternatives don’t exist. But if people go out less, or can’t afford a car anymore, that model gets shaky fast. There are simply too many better options now.

It reminds me of the same shrinkflation/bloat cycle we see with American pickup trucks: beds get smaller while prices balloon, and then people act surprised that these wank-tanks fail in Europe where efficient vans just work better. “Free market” also means that bad products eventually lose.

Same story with phones: everything keeps getting bigger, heavier, and more bloated with features nobody asked for. Bring back the iPhone Mini — not everything needs to be Super-Size Me.

Just set-up a linux machine with Pidgin Messenger and XMPP last week like in the old days.

It used to bundle MSN, ICQ, IRC and everything in one messenger - super resource efficient.

Unfortulately I cannot reach many contacts that way these days but it showed me how inefficient applications became by using more abstraction layers.

Same on my Mac - it uses almost 16GB of RAM in idle mode with some Tabs, VSCode and Figma open - How did we get here?

edit: Just saw another comment mentioning there is a WhatsApp plugin for Pidgin. Awesome!

I noticed this when I studied abroad in the Netherlands — a highly educated, slightly more digitalized country than my own. Politics there splintered into micro-parties, each “hardly exchanging between bubbles,” as the study puts it. First impressions were warm, but dates always ended with splitting the bill. Friend groups felt just as closed off, except for Dutchies who had just as me lived abroad before, learned to bridge cultures and still are my closest friends today.

Digitalization and the pursuit of perfect information seemed to invite more binary thinking — and with it, more opportunities to disagree every single day. Meanwhile, other forces found easy consensus on simpler, more immediate issues: cheap gas, housing, grocery prices, job security, immigration. Complex, long-horizon topics like the climate crisis rarely stood a chance.

One more year on my 13 Mini then...

Liquid Glass design + This lineup is a middle-finger to ergonomics and accessibility.

I just want a non distractive phone with good battery life. E-Paper screen, compact format, yet still great cameras - maybe LoRa capability for Meshtastic / Meshcore, embedded swiss army knife.

We spend so much time in tech talking about UX, interfaces, and user adoption. But the most important interface we all use every day isn’t digital — it’s the street outside our door.

In most places, cycling is framed as sport or adventure: Type 2/3 “fun” at best (miserable in the moment, sometimes fun in retrospect). That’s not culture, that’s a design failure. A well-designed cycling system should be like a great interface: predictable, low-friction, boring in the best sense.

I wrote about why everyday cycling feels like Type 2/3 fun in most places, and how to make it Type 1 fun — calm, obvious, ordinary. To me, the parallels with UX are striking: adoption ladders, dark patterns, equity of access, and the invisible power of design choices.

Interestingly I have seen a high share of iPhone Minis in my tech-affine bubble around Berlin / Amsterdam etc. - also my grandma switched from SE to 13 Mini.

Also bought used iPhone SE (2016) in 2019 and 2020 - both time from (UX) designers - but the same people also ride bicycles, trains - or if car, really reflect their user requirements - be it a small EV or a van for vanlife.

Average consumers just buy the largest, most marketed (high margin) or "whatever the neighbour has" option - aka SUV or Pro Max.

Born in 1995, I used to joke that kids from 1998 wouldn’t know what a VHS tape is. But turns out “digital native” doesn’t mean digitally literate. That hit me again recently, observing someone rewatch an Instagram reel several times in the supermarket just to grab the ingredients on the fly — no notes, no structure.

I realized I do the same: contextually Googling terminal commands I’ve used 10 times before, then forgetting them. So I started writing them down — first for family recipes, then for shell commands.

This is my “terminal spellbook” — a collection of the commands I actually use and automate. I'd love to see yours too, especially the ones where terminal still beats a polished UI.

I use Figma daily. Now it wants me to buy stock. This got me thinking about how design has shifted from craft to capital—and whether we’re still building for people, or just feeding the machine.

Just an article that reflects on my purchase of a social media promoted product. One of those "Monitor light bars" - and how it joined forces with an unused IKEA vase. Not a startup, just a quarantine hack that made me rethink consumption and design.

This needing a study is like the discovery in Idiocracy that soil needs to be watered with water, not Brawndo's soft drink.

Plant trees, not ACs...

North America's greed for energy resources is just bonkers from an outside perspecive.

Yes, there should be an option to block certain apps from being downloaded again for account x hidden somewhere in the settings. Same with dating apps - anything that falls in the "fast food apps"-craving / instant gratification corner. People have these moments and Apple as one of the "more responsible" companies should simply make such a feature available. Instead "This app is not available in your region" make it "This app is not available for a meaningful reason - go out, touch grass!"

Finally - this was long term observation I conducted in many cities so far (Check Utrecht, The Hague, Valencia, Frankfurt- often the case you have <4 star kebab shops right next to train station) . If not true for kebab on broader scale, it surely is for McDonalds / Burger King: They use their position / monopoly, no coupons accepted, higher prices - and in some cases not even a seating area. A true real life dark pattern right there.

I also rated some of them with 1 star because fast food seemed to have degenerated to "being stuck in waiting line with gigworkers collecting food for other people"-food. Not the best experience when you're on a mission to catch the next train in 15 minutes and they let you wait. @BigFastFoodChain if you read this - Have an extra menu with a category "Super Fast Food" or "Ready & Available in under a minute" that enables people in frequented locations to use their time better. Also goes for supermarkets - add self check-outs!

Looks like a great addition to v0. Great to get a headstart and do quick iterations. My process at the moment is using v0 to get a functional prototype, then import the code to cursor and build and iterate it with my custom styling / language of choice / create components from scratch but instruct Cursor to "for component.vue take xyz from component.tsx) - (v0 basically limits you to React, Tailwind and shadcn)

Recently came across this article where Gergely describes those 2 camps of "bootstrappers and iterators" - and that's basically what it is: v0/a0 for bootstrapping, cursor/copilot for actual coding https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-ai-will-chang...

Thanks for your thoughts! Yes, it does to an extent rely on your direct / extended network having pets - and just as with the established platforms there is no guarantee :) - but also nothing much to lose^^ Worst case get is a solid foundation that you can print out and plaster all across your city and facebook groups. Most of my petsitting jobs didn’t come from the established platforms so it can work as a cure for those who are underwhelmed by the platforms.

When you create a card you get a personalised message containing all the relevant location hashtags and pet preferences as hashtags e.g. #catsitting or #reptilesitting . People who have those interests (pet owners, travel-affine) would then see it more likely (besides your own connections who might know someone etc.).

Another idea would be to share the card on an Instagram profile and run targeted ads to wherever you want to sit next - so pet owners from there can reach out to you directly. And if there is no luck through direct connections, there are still the good old local facebook groups :).

Especially on a place like LinkedIn however which otherwise is full of "I have a new job"-posts, pet content serves as a good antidote - and LinkedIn's algorithms are very much in favour of showing content to 2nd and 3rd connections. I think LinkedIn is a good place to experiment since there are many professionals in stable life situations who do travel abroad once in a while and maybe even create lasting personal connections across countries.

In general it is more meant to break the ice, get the word out, leave an impression and maybe next time your 1st, 2nd or 3rd connections need a sitter they think of you.

I actually had the backend built, with user access, password etc so users would have a live card on the page they could share - but the larger the project grew, the longer changes took - and I did not like the idea of becoming a middleman myself, be in charge of the data and user account / database management. It would have become yet another platform.

This was really the result of recycling the idea and re-empathising the M in MVP and making it more accessible for people to spread the message :)

I was using an X230, later a T480s with macOS between 2017 and 2020 when Apple decided to only sell glued-together unfixable devices with butterfly keyboard. Loved the key-travel, repairability, docking stations - but also the quick switch between keyboard and trackpoint. Even configured some gesture-combinations with the trackpoint (e.g. right click + trackpoint swipe to left = navigate back). Switched back to MacBook after apple released silicon macs and improved the keyboards but always good to have a backup ThinkPad.

Good - even as EU citizen from a "wealthier" country who also considered buying an apartment in Spain I felt put off by the sheer amount of non-EU citizens taking the easy and cheap route out, coming over to sunny, walkable and high quality of life Spain with good public health system and showing their excitement about the "low prices" - which aren't even that low by EU means, at least for locals working local jobs. A friend advised me last March to "buy an apartment before the flood / US election" - but no, I'm not buying into the hype. Fix your political issues overseas or be welcome by paying a fair premium adjusted to the higher income and earn respect by becoming part of the community / learning some Spanish. There needs to be some entry barrier / incentive / application process. In general I can understand why the Spaniards resist. Of course debatable whether it should be all non-EU or simply a list of significantly wealthier countries / countries with high wealth gap and oligarch investors that pay the higher entrance fee.

Love that "UPGRAYED-D" sound. Inspired by the movie "Idiocracy"?

Comes down to the present infrastructure and "arrogance of space" that forces everyone who does not want to ride 25mph+ or get crushed by a tank to ride in the remaining 10% of space.

Cheers - I recently wrote a blog post about my journey to create a "2-in-1 reading and writing hack" that combines an e-reader, notebook, and pen into a single, portable unit.

Why? As a UX designer, I've been exploring how to develop healthier media consumption habits and make reading and journaling more accessible in our digital age. This post delves into my experiences and the prototypes I've created using duct tape, Velcro, and magnets to unify these devices.

Why This Matters: - Combat Digital Obesity: Shift from screen overload to mindful reading and journaling. - Portable Literacy: Everything you need fits in a backpack, ideal for outdoorsy types. - Accessibility: Bring the input (books) and output (thoughts) closer together. - Open Source: Looking for collaborators to create a low-waste, detachable notebook system for e-readers. Features: - Paper Haptics: Enjoy the tactile feel of paper while using an e-reader. - 2-Way Stand: Use the notebook as a 2nd stand, perfect for reading in bed.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts and collaborate with anyone interested in taking this concept to the next level. Let’s make reading and journaling more accessible together!

I'm looking forward to that: Let's link our ChatGPT chat histories with Tinder, have the LLMs impersonate us, simulate all the pre-date conversations, talk about basics, discuss fundamental life ideas, let them ghost each other etc and find out which conversation in theory survives the longest. With these few people, after receiving a tailored date / relationship / expectations briefing you can then meet up. No more time wasted in endless texting / boring job interview dates in cafes. Texting would only last for coordination.

I noticed this on my Sonicare Toothbrush already. I expected there would be Home Assistant integrations or Gadgetbridge-like alternatives but no: Creating an account is a must. Instantly returned it for a "non-smart" model

It's slowly getting to Europe though. Every second car being sold in Germany nowadays is an SUV, there is barely anything affordable below the 15k EUR mark - most of them are probably on a lease. I'm just wondering, what's going to be next... Tanks again?

Best example I guess is Ford who discontinued its Ford Ka and Fiesta because "they wanted to focus on EVs" - on the other hand they introduced the F150 to Germany. Not the most honest move.

I'd argue 80% of customers are sheeple following whatever is advertised on TV / parked in the neighbours driveway. I used to enjoy cars but with the climate crisis and just by how automotive attempts to innovate these days, I cancelled this entire industry.

Gonna get a Bullitt Cargobike soon

I have 3 bicycles for different use cases:

- 1 VanMoof X3 for my daily commutes around the city (it really lowers the barriers and doesn't make me think about how far I might go that day - be it 60km on a regular office day). I also haul my kayak with it and overall see it as car replacement (6000km per year) - 1 Folding bike (non-electric) for mixed-modality journeys (when I hop on a train / coach to another city) or bikepacking (long stem allows putting a huge bag in the front) (~2000km per year) - 1 Babboe Big cargo bike (non-electric) for cargo trips / hauling stuff from A to B (usually <10km but I also use it for workout - this thing's heavy to get up the hill (took it to Germany after having lived 4 years in NL)) (~1000km per year)

I used to be the same: Pedelec / E-bike critical - but the numbers just speak for themselves: The average distance is higher, meaning it drastically lowers the comfortable distance for average people who would otherwise use a car (which is a far more complex and inefficient tool for a simple task). And those are the people we want to have cycling to justify good cycling infrastructure (not only the ambitious 5% weekend cyclists)

Sometimes I don't like the public relations and behaviour of VanMoof but I also don't like the fragmentation on the bicycle market which makes it intransparent for people to overlook and make a good purchase decision. Many people just want a pillar to hold on to (brand), security (VanMoof theft protection) etc. - unfortunately the pillar of VanMoof is crumbling atm which is a dark moment for the bicycle industry that imho. especially needs innovation-leading brands like VanMoof to build a strong lobby against big oil / car.