Keeping track of Apple rumors is a full-time job. And I must admit that since I am not an Apple fanboy, I don't really pay close attention. But one persistent rumor is that Apple will soon launch a new headphone — and dare I say it — it may be an audiophile headphone.
Ground control to Major Tom. Ground control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills. And put your helmet on. Your roadster is washed and waxed. Turn your stereo on. That's earth in your rear-view mirror.
Okay. I get it. Contemporary electronic devices are more powerful than old-timey electronic devices. A software engineer recently estimated that a USB-C charger has more computing power than the guidance computer on the Apollo capsules that took men to the moon (shown above). Awesome. But I still have an axe to grind.
Neil Young likes to criticize things: war, environmental abuses, indifference to homelessness, the plight of small farmers, Presidents of the United States, etc. Name an activist topic, and you can probably find several well-crafted lyrics, ranging from subtle to confrontational, on the issue. Neil Young is also critical of sound quality. Highly critical.
Google had revenue of $38 billion last year. So why would they mess around selling a consumer electronics gizmo? Frankly, I don't have the faintest idea. But they have served up a juicy meatball of a nice product.
The Taycan is Porsche's newest, almost-ready-to-debut car. It's all-electric, so the sound of its exhaust will be unlike that of any other contemporary Porsche. But it's not the exhaust that might be its most interesting sound. It might be its built-in Apple streaming.
Some inventions are unquestionably awesome and tremendously useful. Things like the steam engine, electric battery, electric light, radio, internal combustion engine, and transistor were truly transformative. Other inventions are uber cool, but for some reason find it tougher to break through to broader application. Case in point: sound from ultrasound; more specifically, the generation of audible sound from modulated ultrasonic beams.
Sure, before you head to the beach, it’s imperative to slather on the sunblock. (Note: as far as I know, this is the first time I’ve used “slather” in a written sentence.) Everyone knows that too many UV rays are bad for you, and that SPF is the remedy. But what about another kind of ultraviolet?