The Great Studio Build-Out Begins…
Today is a very exciting day. I’ve been working behind the scenes for months on a new studio upgrade that is inline with a lot of professional goals I have. For those of you who have been around for awhile you likely noticed a face lift on my website recently, which allows me to automate and upgrade my forthcoming newsletter as well as regular scheduling for clients and colleagues.
However, in addition to this, I’ve recently written and received a grant that will be focused on overhauling some of my instruments and significantly bolstering my audio, video, and lighting equipment for content creation. That process begins today with the first item arriving—a 13” M1 MacBook Pro.
I have been an iMac user for 16 years and have had a desktop computer for as long as I remember. My family had an Apple IIe, in high school and college I had a custom built PC, and then when I began grad school I bought an iMac. I love working at a desk and as I’ve proclaimed earlier, am obsessed with large work spaces. I’ve had laptops along the way, but have always had a desktop as my main machine.
However, I’ve always been frustrated by how dialed in I get my home machine, and much of that work doesn’t transfer to my laptop or my desktop at work. At home I have Hazel automating in the background, certain settings in apps like Apple Mail are tweaked, or even something as simple as a new desktop wallpaper may be missing. All kinds of small things occur and I never want to go back and do those a 2nd, or especially, a 3rd time on another machine. In general there is maintenance to multiple machines as well from software updates to battery life, and the friction really adds up.
So, with the announcement of the new Apple Silicon chips, I’ve decided to give the laptop lifestyle a chance. It’s a bit terrifying, but over the coming weeks, I’m planning to (attempt) to merge everything from my home iMac, work iMac, and work laptop (my rock solid 2012 MacBook Air) onto this new 13” M1 MacBook Pro which has been fully upgraded to include 16GB of Ram and a 2TB hard drive. This machine is going to drive audio/video recording sessions as well as all of my daily computing, and I can’t wait to get it fully optimized. Much more to come on this transition and all the equipment coming for the new studio. Until then, it’s a bittersweet day as I step out into new territory with this laptop.
Reactions to the Apple Event
Really enjoyed sitting down today and checking out today’s Apple Event during quiet time in our house. Kids sleeping/resting and having lunch with dedicated relaxing time seemed to be a rare alignment of the stars. I jotted down a few thoughts as I watched:
I definitely see a HomePod mini in our future. We have a few Echo devices and I’d love to see how much I use one of these. Specifically, I can never hear my podcasts over the noise from the shower and having one in the bedroom in the mornings seems like a great way to get the news, weather, and have a great speaker for any listening during the morning routine.
The intercom system would also be really helpful. Studio AB is in the bottom corner of our house and I know my wife and I would use this feature throughout the week.
The iPhone 12 Pro looks amazing and I’m especially excited about the continued evolution of the camera. It feels like every year Apple doubles down on the previous camera improvements, which has been a big selling point for me. These cameras are by far the #1 way I document my kids’ childhood and I value having such a high quality camera on my phone despite having just bought a “big kid” camera.
Though I loved the Bond theme music, I don’t see the desire for an iPhone mini. I’m excited to be proven wrong, but for me, I don’t really see an obvious use case at the moment.
I think I am most excited about the MagSafe system and how flexible it is with iPhone accessories. I love the idea of a shared charger for the iPhone and Apple Watch as well!
Apple Event Tomorrow
Apple has announced its next Apple Event, scheduled for Tuesday October 13th at 1:00 PM Eastern—that’s tomorrow! It also has some fun AR functions if you take a look at the announcement with your smart phone.
I’ve got time blocked out to enjoy the keynote which is rumored to focus on the new iPhone 12 release later this month. Other items speculated to be included are the new AirPods Studio (headphones rumored to be their highest-end product with noise-cancelling and worn over the ear), possibly a new HomePod, and the new AirTags (their Bluetooth tracking devices similar to the Tile product).
While I’m due for an iPhone upgrade and excited to hear the latest in hardware, these other products are equally exciting. I have a ton of equipment in my Gear Cage that I would love to have tracked with the AirTags, and have been considering finally purchasing some noise-cancelling headphones especially to be used while flying (you know, when we can do that safely again). We’ve also dipped our toe into the Echo scene, and having something in the Apple ecosystem would be something I’d definitely give a good luck before continuing to outfit our home with more smart technology.
Baseball & Apple Watch
It's likely not a surprise that the recent news that the Boston Red Sox may be facing charges for using the Apple Watch to steal signs immediately caught my eye. Stealing signs has long been a paranoia among baseball teams, and I have often wondered while taking in a game, how technologies like the Apple Watch, iPhone, and simply texting play into the rules. It wasn't long ago that cell phones didn't exist among most people, let alone smart phones, so I'm a little surprised that this is the first time I've seen a headline about suspicions of smart devices being used in the dugout for an advantage.