Mandaris

I went to the Apple Store¹ to check out the new iPhone Air Saturday. The mall parking lot was horribly crowded and I got to experience the insanity convenience of car culture in America. After driving around and avoiding getting hit by people who follow different rules of the road than I do, I finally parked across the street in the overflow parking. I walked into the mall and saw that the line to purchase new phones only had a couple people in it. Maybe most people had already bought theirs online?

I went inside and picked up the new phone.

And just felt a little sad.

It confirmed that the issues that I was seeing when running iOS26 on my phone were there by intention.

Photo libraries that cut off the top row of options show up with plenty of space on the new phone.

Menus at the top have plenty of room for options.

Animations are fluid - almost like flowing liquid - and not sporadic or slow.

Is it unfair to complain that the newest os doesn’t run that great on my 5 year old iPhone SE?

Maybe.

I remember a report that engineers would be required to use older phones to test these things out. Feeling my phone get warm as I navigate between different apps, makes me think that it didn’t happen as much. Trying to get my phone to take a picture and having to wait for the last picture to load or trying to find where they placed options has decreased the amount of times that I want to do something with it.

Holding the new phone brought up all the joy that I’ve been missing about being someone who identifies as an Apple Enthusiast. The thrill of new possibilities from exciting applications is tarnished by drama with the App Store. Services that only increase in price but not functionality. The community that I used to share my enthusiasm is shrinking as people move to other platforms.

All in all, I’m actually a little discouraged from spending money on something like this.

I put the phone down and it zips back into place due to the antitheft tether.

And, I think that’s where I’m at.

I’m not tethered to the idea of getting one.

This season is better than the last.

I started watching this because I needed a break from watching Love After Lockup.

The one thing I noticed about this season is that it doesn’t focus as much on how much of a Jerk Rick Sanchez is. You get more of the family being fleshed out and seeing what adventures that they are up to.

Overall, I didn’t end the season feeling that I had wasted my time on this. I’d be interested in another season if it was to have one, but I’m ok if this is the last one.

Overview

Rick and Morty are back for Season Eight! Life has meaning again! Anything is possible! Look out for adventures with Summer, Jerry, Beth, and the other Beth. Maybe Butter Bot will get a new task? Whatever happens, you can't keep Rick and Morty down for long. People have tried!

The first one was unexpected. There was a level of novelty mixed with the nostalgia for the Addams Family.

This one feels like the studio said the first one did great, just do it again but bigger!

The most telling thing about this was that when the family got together to watch it, everyone had their second screen for most of episode 3 and the first half of 4.

I feel that I grew tired of the characters. I grew tired of having two groups of people (normies and outcasts) hate each other because they’re different. Conflicts that could be avoided by taking 10 minutes to listen to each other. I grew tired of people thinking they know everything and they are the only ones who can do anything. Probably the most realistic thing about the show.

The most glaring thing about the show was pointed out by my daughter when I asked her about it. I’m paraphrasing it below.

The problem is that this isn’t the Addams Family. The appeal of the Addams was that they were different. The outside world didn’t always understand or like them, but they had each other’s back.

Now, I know Wednesday means well, but having almost every interaction be antagonistic gets old.

Overview

Wednesday goes back to Nevermore, and -just like the boy who lived- she's got a mystery to solve! She'll use anything to solve this one: Fans, Friends, and Family; because ONLY SHE can stop a troubling vision of causing destruction.

Oh, and apparently, no matter where you send your children the teaching staff will be questionable.

At this point, I’m watching it because my family is watching it and I’m enjoying the cameos.