Gm. Cya on BlueSky?

POLLS

🏠 TECH

Unrest At Apple

Apple is the world’s most valuable tech company, and it’s also typically the most stable. You rarely hear negative news leaking out of Cupertino.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case over the last couple of months.

First, we heard rumors of Tim Cook forcing the release of the much-anticipated MR headset. Then, we heard of frustration over Siri. And now, we’re hearing of more internal dysfunction over Siri and pushback on Cook’s return-to-office plans.

Siri, AI, And Dysfunction

According to an extensive paywalled report from The Information, it’s anything but sunshine and rainbows as it pertains to Apple’s Siri and AI efforts.

The report dropped multiple bombshells from interviews with over three dozen former Apple employees:

• Almost everybody in Apple hates Siri for both its current state and lack of improvement over the years.

  • This lack of improvement is largely due to internal dysfunction over its direction and concern over Siri saying something stupid a la Bard.

• Siri’s database is so clunky it takes weeks for it to be updated with even basic features.

• Apple’s MR headset team hates Siri so much they are attempting to build a different voice technology for the headset.

• In 2019 the Siri team began rebuilding it from scratch under the codename Blackbird, but this eventually lost out to “Siri X”, a much less ambitious version of Siri.

• Multiple Apple employees left because they were frustrated over the company’s AI inaction, with some senior engineers defecting to Google.

Overall, things aren’t looking too hot for Apple’s Siri and AI teams.

Everybody Hates The Office

Apple wants employees back in the office. They’ve even sent menacing emails to those who don’t come in at least 3x a week.

But that doesn’t mean the staff has to like those plans.

A group of employees called “Apple Together” has created a petition protesting the RTO mandate. So far, that petition has 1,256 signees.

In addition, according to Insider, an Apple remote-work-advocacy slack channel has more than 10,000 members.

It’s no surprise to see employees not feeling excited about trading out their bed for a cubicle, but it is rare to see such public employee dissent from Apple employees.

Why should I care? Apple is constantly on the cutting edge of tech, but if these reports are to be believed, that edge is in jeopardy. If that’s the case, not only will Apple lose, but us tech enthusiasts and consumers will lose out as well.

🏠 SOCIAL

What’s the Buzz Around BlueSky?

Buzz has been heating up around the Jack Dorsey funded Twitter alternative called BlueSky.

Although the network is currently invite-only, BlueSky’s userbase has hit somewhere around 40,000+ users. I spent some time on BlueSky and right now, most posts seem to be a) shitting on Elon Musk or Twitter, or b) talking about how great BlueSky is.

“Bluesky feels like a weird afterparty where everyone is a little too drunk, a little too tired and has lost their filter,” wrote Sarah Perez. “Despite there being a number of journalists on Bluesky, it’s so far not a place where people are sharing their work or having thoughtful discussions about the news of the day.”

It’s also currently lacking major features like the ability to view your past likes, bookmark items, create lists, block users, use hashtags, DM others, and perform advanced searches. There’s been a lot of talk of Twitter competitors for years — BitClout, DeSo, Mastodon, etc. — but all have eventually fallen out of the limelight. Excited to see what happens with BlueSky.

Why should I care? On the tail risk that BlueSky does become a dominant platform, then it’s worth experimenting and trying to build up your audience there. Twitter started as just a strange place and early tweeters have built massive followers. It’d be a black swan, but BlueSky could become huge.

🏃‍♀️ QUICKIES

What else is going on?

• ChatGPT is back in Italy.

• Apparently, Zuck has “broke” Meta’s workforce.

• Amazon is getting into the AI LLM game.

• The four-day workweek experiment is going absolutely swimmingly.

Stat: $2.8 Billion: The amount Intel lost in Q1, the largest loss Intel has ever posted. We’re witnessing history here, folks.

Rabbit hole: Too Many Men (Washington Post)

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