On the way to the airport on Tuesday, I listened to a podcast about the September Apple Event. I listened to another one on the Thruway yesterday. I'd watched the livestream, but didn't seem to have many compelling thoughts then. Perhaps trapped by trip anxiety.

Anyway, a few observations and meta-observations after listening to the podcasts. (Parenthetically, this predictive text is becoming a pain. Sometimes it'll present the right word, but I'll be typing along and, if it's a long word, I'll type a letter about the same time that it registers that the prediction is correct and the prediction will disappear. I'll keep typing and it'll re-appear and maybe I'll hit the spacebar or maybe I'll finish the word first. It's annoying.)

First, the meta. I've seen some complaints about the reaction by the usual Apple press. I get the complaint, because I was somewhat annoyed by the fawning praise offered up for the most trivial of aspects of these products. I wrote it off to, "Of course, it's how they earn their bread-and-butter, what could you expect?"

The most "critical" comments were reserved for iCloud storage and the lack of a USB-3 data cable in the Pro models of the new iPhone. A $1300 phone and they can't throw in a high-capacity cable to take advantage of the interface? Ok, seems legit. The other is about iCloud storage tiers. 5GB free, and it's been that way since Steve Jobs announced it. Again, legit.

But the praise for the cameras was over the top. Same with the "ion-infused" color, although one podcaster thought it wasn't "saturated" enough.

There was a lot of BS about titanium. I'm skeptical about the strength properties ascribed by the pundits. I suspect that the aluminum frame delivers more than 90% of the structural strength and rigidity, and that titanium is kind of a veneer (albeit "welded") applied as a way to differentiate the "Pro" models from the "consumer" models in terms of "look and feel" to justify the premium cost. The weight savings also show up in Apple's shipping costs, which may be a net positive in terms of carbon, though I don't know what the energy cost is of fabricating the "titanium" frame versus the stainless steel.

I'm not a "Pro" iPhone customer. I think my brother is, I didn't ask him though. I rather suspect that he is, as he got the Apple Watch Ultra on release. I think the "Pro" thing is a cash-grab by Apple, and more power to 'em from a capitalism point of view. But the whole net-carbon neutrality of the (Aluminum) Apple Watch is just a way to greenwash the milk-the-market extremism of "pro" models. Make all the frames purely aluminum, and then I might be impressed. Maybe.

I've got an iPhone 13 and I'll wait and see how the "consumer" version of the 15's camera looks first, but I may skip the 15 as well.

I will likely get the Series 9 Apple Watch. I have a Series 6 and I find it generally useful. Enough so that the improvements in the 9 seem meaningful to me. I say this while experiencing this gnawing irritation at the back of my mind that I'm participating in the process that is dooming this civilization, but I think that ship has largely sailed.