Could it be coming in the form of a new iPad mini?…

Of all the Apple products I own — and yes, I own nearly all of them — I’m honestly not sure anything gets me as excited as the prospects of a new iPad mini.¹ Perhaps it’s because it’s a product that once seemed on the verge of death. Or perhaps it’s because even though it’s been resurrected, it’s seemingly sporadic when it comes to hardware updates. It’s certainly not an every year thing anymore.² And so I often find myself with a device I love but which is mildly slow (compared to other state of the art iOS products) and with a quickly depleting battery.

So yeah, I’m excited about the prospects of a new iPad mini coming this fall. Rumors point to a redesign akin to the current iPad Pro models with a larger screen, smaller bezels, squarer sides, and no home button. But instead of FaceID like the Pro, it will apparently have a TouchID sensor in the power button, just like the iPad Air. All sounds great.

But what really intrigues me is one detail in the report this week by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac about the new device:

Finally, the redesigned iPad mini will also feature magnetic Smart Connector similar to the iPad Air and iPad Pro, our sources say. This could mean that Apple has plans to release Smart Connector-capable accessories for the new iPad mini.

This is, of course, also a feature of the larger iPads. It largely serves to connect the device to the ‘smart’ keyboard accessories. In fact, I’m not sure it does anything else? And that would imply… a keyboard accessory for the iPad mini!

As someone who has tried many keyboard accessories with various iPads over the years (including with the previous iPad minis), this greatly excites me. I love the prospects of a tiny killer writing machine. That’s how I envision this, if I allow rumors to let my mind wander.

Yes, yes, such a keyboard would be significantly more cramped than with the larger iPad keyboards. Sign me up. And if it has a tiny trackpad… Take my money!

That latter hope may be a bridge too far given the size of the iPad mini. Perhaps it would just have a ‘Smart Keyboard’ accessory and not a ‘Magic Keyboard’ one (the one which includes the trackpad for the iPad Pro).

Still, a guy can dream. Such a device would effectively be Apple’s long-lost “netbook”. Fun.³ But I’ll settle for the killer portable 21st century typewriter.

Published on July 22, 2021 📆

Written from San Francisco, CA 🗺

Written on a 2020 13-inch M1 MacBook Air 💻

Drinking a Fort Point Export 🍻

¹ A device I’ve loved since day one.

² Though, oddly, it did start this way. The first iPad mini in 2012, was followed by the iPad mini 2 in 2013, the iPad mini 3 in 2014, and the iPad mini 4 in 2015. Then the line broke, with a mildly upgraded iPad mini 5 coming in 2016, and then nothing until the most recent one (now just called the ‘5th generation’) in 2019.

³ Perhaps enough to make me forget about my beloved 12-inch MacBook.

Apple’s Long Lost ‘Netbook’ was originally published in 500ish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A few thoughts on the ‘Cleveland Guardians’

“I mean, I don’t hate it. But I also don’t really get it.” That was my first thought upon hearing the Cleveland Indians — my hometown baseball team — were changing their name starting with the 2022 season to the Cleveland Guardians. It’s a weird name. It’s non-obvious. It’s perhaps a little too closely associated these days with a certain Marvel franchise.

But… it’s growing on me.

I spent the first 18 years of my life in Cleveland and even I was only tangentially aware of the Guardians statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge. I honestly didn’t even know they were actually called the ‘Guardians of Traffic’ — yes, they’re really named that — until this week when rumors started to circulate that this would be the chosen name. I just knew them as the cool-looking statues on the bridge near the ballpark. They have a sort of Gates of Argonath-vibe.¹ I dig it. But I also didn’t expect our baseball team to be named after them.

As I argued last year, I was a fan of going with the Cleveland Blues for a host of reasons. But I acknowledge that the proximity to the St. Louis Blues, while a different sport, is problematic (the nickname of the Chelsea football club in the UK, perhaps less so). I would have guessed they’d go with the Cleveland Spiders, largely for historical and potentially cool logo reasons. And I’m very happy they did not go with the Cleveland Rocks, which is at least two orders of magnitude too cheesy.

I think Corey Barnes made a good case for ‘Guardians’ a year ago, so kudos to him. But I also think we often overthink these things. The Guardians is a good name because it’s actually quite similar to the Indians in both look and alliteration. In 1997, the Miami Redskins (another Ohio team, the college in Southern Ohio, not Will Smith’s Miami) changed their name to the RedHawks for similar reasons and with a similar idea.² The Guardians is a much more subtle and elegant callback.

The new logo also looks pretty good. It’s not quite Seattle Kraken-good. But it’s weird and different. And distinct. The new ‘C’ mark, less so. It would seem to be a mix of the current ‘C’ mark mixed with the new Guardians type, but they don’t fully align (and ‘Cleveland’ spelled out in this font almost looks more like ‘England’ which is weird). I think I still prefer the current ‘C’ mark.

And yes, the Tom Hanks-narrated video backed by The Black Keys is fantastic. Fittingly, alliteration-heavy with lyrical rythms dropped in:

“We are a city of fire and water. Of trees and towers. Built through generations of blue collars and the brightest scholars. And all of those who have worked harder.”

Is only emotionally topped by³:

“We remember those moments as we move forward with change. You see, it’s always been ‘Cleveland’ that’s the best part of our name.”

Pure poetry. Anyway, speaking of marks, I’m mildly concerned that Disney/Marvel will try some funny business on Guardians, but hopefully the lawyers did the law stuff ahead of time. (And it seems like they did.) One thing is certain: the Twitter handle isn’t going to be as seamless. Though perhaps a trade is in order…

At least now I’ll finally have a reason to learn to spell ‘Guardians’ correctly without autocorrect kicking in each time I reverse the ‘a’ and the ‘u’.

Overall, well executed, Cleveland. ⚾️

 — @indians

Published on July 23, 2021 📆

Written from San Francisco, CA 🗺

Written on my old trusty Intel Core i7 iMac 🖥

¹ Or perhaps the Gates have a Guardians of Traffic-vibe, since the Lord of the Rings films, where everyone gets their visualization of the gates from, didn’t come out until 2001, of course.

² Nearly 25 years later, the Washington Football Team still has not executed a name change despite dropping their ‘Redskins’ moniker over a year ago. Apparently, they will early next year.

³ Sidenote: if they specifically called out “fire and water” to allude to the infamous and embarrassing Cuyahoga River Fire, extra kudos. Own it.

You See, It’s Always Been ‘Cleveland’ was originally published in 500ish on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.