What’s In This Issue?
This Week’s Main Stories
Story 01Why One Reporter Won't Be Getting The iPhone X
Story 02What A List Of The Most Streamed Star Trek Episodes Means
Story 03Professional Clowns Have A Creepiness Problem, Thanks To "It"
Story 04CuriosityStream Sells Subscription To Help You Actually Think
Story 05Using Emojis To Encourage Charitable GivingWhy One Reporter Won't Be Getting The iPhone X
In the first Night at the Museum film, the hero invents a "snapper" device to control your lights, but it loses to the "clapper" because clapping is easier. Simplicity doesn't seem to be winning at Apple. Plugging in headphones is easier than finding and pairing wireless ear buds. Using TouchID is easier than FaceID. The new fast charging option, which every iPhone user needs, is only available through an expensive $70 accessory. Blogger Matt Burns blames Apple's focus on stockpiling cash for these choices. "It’s these margins, I fear, that are killing Apple’s common sense. Instead of retaining beloved features, Apple is killing them prematurely to hit an internal accounting goal."
What A List Of The Most Streamed Star Trek Episodes Means
Just ten days before the highly anticipated Star Trek: Discovery finally premieres, Netflix released a timely list of the most frequently re-watched Star Trek episodes. If you are a trekkie, the full list will be fascinating - but I selected this story for another reason. It's a rare look inside the treasure trove of data Netflix has about what people like. Until someone at Netflix follows the lead of Christian Rudder from OKCupid and translates all that data into an illuminating book about human nature, we'll just have to be happy with little glimpses behind the scenes like this.
Professional Clowns Have A Creepiness Problem, Thanks To "It"
The popularity of the horror film "It" has created some predictable losers ... professional clowns. After a group of clowns had a slate of birthday party cancellations because of freaked out parents, they organized a rally in New York to prove clowns aren't all that bad. It's an interesting reputation challenge to imagine what you would do in this situation. Are these clowns really better off focusing on their clownines - or should they instead rebrand themselves as balloon artists or magicians or any entertainer that doesn't have quite so much baggage?
CuriosityStream Sells Subscription To Help You Actually Think
While the last think you probably need is another streaming service, I found the premise behind this one interesting specifically because I have browsed the documentary categories on both Netflix and Amazon Prime and found them to be fairly small. Something like this could offer a new way to engage your mind on demand and augment what you already get from your other streaming services. Plus, we could all use a little nudge toward being more curious about the world, and this could offer that up on demand.
Using Emojis To Encourage Charitable Giving
For years when charitable institutions tried to make giving and participation easier through using digital tools, they were accused of "slacktivism" a term coined to describe the fear that true participation might be replaced by feel good "like" button clicks. Those same critics would jump all over this new effort from No Kid Hungry aimed at using emojis to encourage donations. Rather than criticize ideas like this, though, we should welcome them. How else can we hope to make charity interesting and relevant and urgent enough for people to participate?
