THE MACSPARKY DISPATCH Hi Friend, Apple announced this week that Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO. John Ternus takes over September 1. I want to tell you why I'm happy about it, and why I'm trying to keep my expectations honest. A few weeks ago I wrote a newsletter called "The Paint at 7 AM." The point was that companies look like the people running them. When Walt Disney showed up at Disneyland on Saturdays to drive the trains, Disneyland got the attention it deserved. When Steve Jobs read...
3 days ago • 3 min read
MPU 845: Intentional Technology with Patrick Rhone On this episode of Mac Power Users, David and Stephen welcome back their old friend Patrick Rhone after far too long. Patrick is a writer, an Apple consultant, the author of Enough, and the guy who taught David how to dress like a grownup. They get into why Patrick's 2020 M1 MacBook Air still handles everything he throws at it, his "Amish approach" to technology as a long-term tester, and how he keeps his phone in his pocket on purpose. They...
9 days ago • 1 min read
THE MACSPARKY DISPATCH Hi Friend, I was talking to someone recently who felt paralyzed by too many commitments. Work was consuming her. She knew what roles she wanted to focus on, but there simply wasn’t time. She knew things had to change. But looking at her list, she couldn’t see how to escape. So she was stuck. Paralyzed. This happens more than you’d think. When you’ve been saying yes to everything for years, the idea of changing course can feel catastrophic. You imagine cutting a...
10 days ago • 2 min read
THE MACSPARKY DISPATCH Hi Friend, A few weeks ago, I came very close to buying a MacBook Pro. Not just any MacBook Pro. The big one, the maxed-out M4 Max with enough RAM to make a server blush. My plan was to simplify: one computer, everywhere, always. No desktop, no juggling. I talked myself out of it. And I’m glad I did. The thing that stopped me wasn’t the price, though the price didn’t help. It was something more fundamental. I kept thinking about what I’d actually be giving up. My...
17 days ago • 3 min read
THE ROBOT ASSISTANT FIELD GUIDE Purchase the Robot Assistant Field Guide Get 10% Off with Code: BUILDROBOTS Hi Friend, Quick one. The 10% reopening discount on the Robot Assistant Field Guide expires tonight. Since I reopened the course last week, people have continued to blow me away. Lew told me it was "the best software investment I have made in 30 plus years." Ward, who was already deep into AI before the course, said the framework I teach became the foundation for everything he's built...
18 days ago • 1 min read
THE ROBOT ASSISTANT FIELD GUIDE Purchase the Robot Assistant Field Guide Get 10% Off with Code: BUILDROBOTS Hi Friend, When I launched this field guide, it was ten videos and a workshop series. That was the plan. Then something I didn't expect happened. People started sharing what they built. A surgeon who automated his logistics. A pastor who got his weekly reviews to actually feel fun. A retired guy who said the course almost made him want to unretire. And they wanted to keep going. So I...
18 days ago • 1 min read
THE ROBOT ASSISTANT FIELD GUIDE Purchase the Robot Assistant Field Guide Get 10% Off with Code: BUILDROBOTS Hi Friend, What's the task you keep doing that you wish you didn't have to? I'm serious. Think about it for a second. It's probably something you do every week. Maybe every day. Something that's not hard, exactly, but it eats time and energy and you never feel great about having done it. For Timothy, it was building reports for disaster leadership at the Red Cross. An hour and a half of...
20 days ago • 1 min read
THE ROBOT ASSISTANT FIELD GUIDE Purchase the Robot Assistant Field Guide Get 10% Off with Code: BUILDROBOTS Hi Friend, I know. I said "final call" on the Robot Assistant Field Guide. I meant it at the time. But something happened. But before I explain, if you don't want to hear about the Robot Assistant from me anymore (and I totally get that), click here and I'll make sure you don't get any more email about the Robot Field Guide. Here's what happened. We had the first workshop, and the...
22 days ago • 2 min read
THE MACSPARKY DISPATCH The Juniper in Question Hi Friend, I spend most of my days trying to get things done faster. Better systems, better tools, better workflows. That’s kind of my whole deal. So it’s a little funny that one of the things I look forward to most each week is tending to something that will take decades to finish. I’ve been getting into bonsai. And the thing about bonsai is that the tree does not care about your timeline. You make a cut, and then you wait. Sometimes years. You...
24 days ago • 3 min read