November 29, 2020
Originally published at https://tech-bytes.net on September 14, 2020.
My intention was not for this website to become the Apple blog, but the famous fruit company seems to be dominating much of the news cycle this year.
This past summer, at the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), Apple announced that it would be transitioning from Intel to its in-house Apple Silicon over the next two years. Apple said the first Macs with in-house silicon would arrive by the end of 2020. …
What you need to learn
My colleague Kris Hans and I had never done a podcast, but we were determined to figure it out. Almost a year later and twenty-five episodes into our project, we wanted to share what we did to build the EdTech Examined podcast.
How it started
(Originally published at erikchristiansen.net, May 24, 2021)
I get a lot of questions about productivity from my students and colleagues. I suppose by being relatively well read on the subject of productivity, and by being “perceived” as productive, I have brought this on myself. I could easily channel the advice of Cal Newport or David Allen, but I want to discuss a less regimented and more philosophical approach to doing work.
One of my favourite books is Steven Pressfield’s Do the Work which provides a template for how to battle “Resistance.” Pressfield argues that there is an internal force —…
Originally published at https://tech-bytes.net on September 14, 2020.
The launch of a new console generation is so very exciting. It’s one of the few things that genuinely makes me feel like I’m a kid again. Even if you’re not a gamer, new console generations are important milestones in the computer industry because they often bring cutting-edge and innovative technology to a larger number of people. This upcoming generation is no different from all the amazing new CPUs and GPUs provided by AMD, solid-state storage (SSD), faster memory, and (hopefully) faster load times. Graphics certainly get better with…
Originally published at https://tech-bytes.net on August 16, 2020.
Following the expected reveal that Apple was going to transition the Mac from Intel to Apple Silicon, I started thinking about what this would mean for the x86 architecture more broadly. This architecture has been at the heart of desktop computing for forty years, and I think it’s unlikely that Apple’s implementation of its own chips won’t have wider implications on the computer industry. …
Originally published at https://tech-bytes.net on July 17, 2020.
If you’ve been a Mac user for a long time, you know that the community can be fickle. On one hand, there’s a consistent complaint that the Mac platform doesn’t get nearly enough attention from Apple compared to iOS/iPadOS. On the other hand, this community is resistant to change. Every time there any significant changes to macOS’ look and feel, no matter how small, there’s seems to be immediate skepticism. The design changes coming to the Mac signify something bigger. …
Originally published at https://tech-bytes.net on June 29, 2020.
Part of the WWDC 2020 series*
It’s no longer a rumour. Last week, Apple announced it was transitioning its entire line of Mac computers from Intel chips to its custom “Apple Silicon” over the next two years. Why is this transition so important? And, what will this mean for the Mac and the computer industry moving forward?
Why the move from Intel to Apple Silicon?
One of my favourite quotes is by the famed computer scientist Alan Kay.
“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware”
— Alan Kay
If you look across…
May 26, 2020
Working from home during COVID-19 means we need a decent computer. Unfortunately, with the economic uncertainty that the pandemic has brought, it’s not so easy to plunk down $1500 or more for a new laptop. The good news is that our laptops are lasting longer than ever.
I recently upgraded to a beefier MacBook Pro 16", since I use my laptop for work, graphics, audio production and programming. Thankfully, my old 2013 13" MacBook Pro is no slouch (see specs at bottom) and I got the battery replaced early last year. My wife showed interest since she…
The term ‘alternate delivery’ has become common among Canadian (and American) universities that are shifting to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators in colleges and K-12 are scrambling and I feel for them. Online teaching isn’t an easy thing to do, and my colleagues out there are doing their best to learn the technology.
As a librarian, my world is a little bit different. Since I’m trying out new things myself, I decided to create a series on this website about what I’ve done to teach online (including creation of resources for asynchronous delivery), technology and edtech tools I…
What better time to launch a new iPad than during a global pandemic. Am I right?
For full transparency, I don’t have the new iPad Pro, nor do I have the 2018 model. Because I’m not a true tech journalist I don’t receive demo models, and I’m not someone who upgrades their devices that often. So, my impressions of the iPad will are based the reviews I’ve read so far. Stay tuned for my iPadOS 13.4 impressions in the next few days.
If you’re considering purchasing the new hardware this year, I’d recommend checking out these reviews — in this…
