Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps

Seeing AirPods everywhere

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Seems like I’m seeing more and more Apple Watches and AirPods these days. Might be because I recently got an Apple Watch and have my AirPods in most of the time. 

I asked this gentleman how he liked his AirPods and he said he loved ‘em! Which got me thinking about tech preferences by age groups.

While exact figures for iPhone purchases by those over 60 are scarce, the data suggests that approximately 23% to 49% of older adults use iPhones, depending on the specific age range and data source. This reflects a notable presence of iPhone users in this demographic, though Android holds a slight edge among older generations.

Among wearable device owners, the Apple Watch is the most-owned, with 44.14% of respondents in a study indicating they owned one. Health monitoring features, such as heart rate tracking and fall detection, are particularly appealing to this demographic.

Couldn’t find any data on AirPods by demo.

Photos: Title, caption, keyword

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Just finished adding captions to the 2,490 photos and 33 videos in the Photos app on my MacBook. I’ve been diligent when it comes to giving a title to each photo and have waxed and waned with keywords. But not so good about captions because I really didn’t understand their function in the Photos app.

In the MacOS Photos app there are three primary pieces of information. The title appears in the Photos app, but not on the iPhone. I used to go a little crazy with Keywords but started over with this update. Since I have every photo in at least one Album, Keywords are not as important. I’m still thinking about how I’ll use them.

The Caption (the red rectangle above) is probably the most useful metadata and what I omitted on most of my photos. I think of captions like those descriptions people used to write on the back of a photo or in the margin. “Uncle Ernie and Aunt Betty at the State Fair in Des Moines on their honeymoon in 1937.” Captions can be as long or as short as needed with each word or phrase searchable. Where there is a corresponding post here, I include a link in the photo caption.

When I tell friends what I’m doing most are quick to point out that the Photos app has enough intelligence to find all “trees” or “flowers” or “pickup trucks.” What they’re really telling you there is no way in hell they’re going to put captions on thousands of photos. And I don’t blame them. If you save every photo and are willing to endlessly scroll/search when you want to find one… okeydoke.

I am much more intentional with my photos. Having half a dozen nearly-identical photos is just clutter because someone was too lazy to select the best and delete the rest. Keeping a poorly composed or blurry photo makes no sense to me. Just delete it. Which is easy to do… unless you wait until there are hundreds (or thousands) and the task becomes too daunting.

Who, you might ask, is ever going to look at those photos 50 years from now? Or read these blog posts in the unlikely event it’s still here? My answer: ChatGPT or one of her decedent’s. For the same reason archeologists sift the ashes of Pompeii.

Osmo Pocket 3 “Glamour Effects”

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The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 comes with a feature called Glamour Effects. “This tool lets you fine-tune beauty settings ensuring you look your best. It’s especially handy for vlogs, portraits, and livestreams, giving you that polished look without the need for post-editing.”

I tried this feature but couldn’t see the effects (3 min video below), so either I didn’t have the proper setting or it was never intended to work for a 77-year-old geezer. The one exception was the “Teeth” tool. It made my teeth appear noticeably whiter.

I’ve never felt the need to look younger or “better” than I do, and have undisguised pity for anyone that needs hair plugs, cosmetic surgery, or that awful shoe polish-black dye that some men use. So we’ll just move the camera back a bit and dim the lighting for future videos.

 

“This call is being recorded”

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When I started working at my hometown radio station in the early ’70’s, recorded phone calls included a “beep” every 10 or 15 seconds, to let the person on the other end of the call know it was being recorded. Not sure when that stopped but for a long time we made sure we recorded the permission of the person being recorded. As for the audio quality of the calls? Think transmission from Apollo 13.

The most recent update to iOS includes the ability to easily record a phone call… and gives you an automatic transcription of the call. 

Vines

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(Wikipedia) “Vine was an American short-form video hosting service where users could share up to 6-second-long looping video clips. Founded in June 2012 by Rus Yusupov, Dom Hofmann and Colin Kroll, the company was bought by Twitter, Inc. four months later for $30 million. […] Twitter shut down Vine on January 17, 2017, and the app was discontinued a few months later.”

During its brief life I created a couple of dozen vines.

  1. Renfield
  2. All work and no play
  3. Ben Hur galley ship
  4. Blipverts
  5. Teletype
  6. North Korean applause
  7. Chinese music
  8. Dancing Santa
  9. Traintracks
  10. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  11. In the Money
  12. W.C. Fields
  13. VEEP shotgun scene
  14. Hand Music
  15. Cellblock
  16. We serve the law!
  17. Rotary dial telephone
  18. Coffee Zone time lapse
  19. Taisir does Elvis
  20. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington #2
  21. Office scene from Brazil
  22. Wizard of Oz
  23. Night Snow

“Capturing Life’s Moments”

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When Apple introduced the Journal app in December, 2023, I played with it for a day or so and decided it didn’t do anything I couldn’t do with this blog. But around the time I got a new iPhone the app showed up again and I decided to give it another go. The video above is a brief (8 min?) look at how I’ve been using the app.

I’m comfortable posting personal stuff here but there’s a lot of things I find interesting but nobody else would care about. I’ve been putting some of that in the Journal app. I’m finding it a much more personal experience.

Apple Watch continues to amaze

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It took me ten years to take the Apple Watch plunge but after five weeks I can’t imagine how I got by without it. Can’t recall a single day during the past month that I didn’t find myself staring at my wrist in amazement.

While sitting on the couch with my morning coffee I heard a tiny ping and felt a gentle vibration on my wrist letting me know I had received a message. With little/no thought I voiced a reply.

You have to understand, this is big juju for one who remembers a time before mobile phones (and fax machines and ATM’s and credit cards!) And I’m probably using 2% of the watch’s capabilities. It’s like rummaging around in a magician’s closet. “Ooh! Look at this!”

As hoped, I am leaving the iPhone at home or in the other room more often. Marginally less screen time. And it turns out the health and fitness hype is not hype, at least not for me. I’m exercising daily and getting more sleep.

I still have high hopes for “Apple Intelligence” and what it might be able to do with all the data my watch is collecting and has access to.