Blog: Text-Wrap: Pretty

Often, as a web designer or developer, you are creating a template to be filled with different versions of content. There is no “hand tweaking” typography on the web, especially when the layout is fluid, reflowing to fit different shapes and sizes of screens. So what can we do now to better express the expectations of quality from traditional typography, while still relying on the mechanization brought by today’s computers?
One solution is text-wrap:pretty. It’s intended to bring a new level of polish to type on the web by leveraging paragraph-based algorithms to solve long-standing problems.

This looks really good. I’m excited to play around with this when I can find some spare time.

50 Years of Microsoft

Jason Tate 2 weeks ago

Bill Gates, writing on the 50th anniversary of Microsoft:

The story of how Microsoft came to be begins with, of all things, a magazine. The January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics featured an Altair 8800 on the cover. The Altair 8800, created by a small electronics company called MITS, was a groundbreaking personal computer kit that promised to bring computing power to hobbyists. When Paul and I saw that cover, we knew two things: the PC revolution was imminent, and we wanted to get in on the ground floor.
At the time, personal computers were practically non-existent. Paul and I knew that creating software that let people program the Altair could revolutionize the way people interacted with these machines. So, we reached out to Ed Roberts, the founder of MITS, and told him we had a version of the programming language BASIC for the chip that the Altair 8800 ran on.
There was just one problem: We didn’t.
It was time to get to work.

I’ve heard this story many times before, but to read it again, and see the source code at the bottom of the page, is pretty wild.

TikTok Launches Artist Platform

Jason Tate 2 weeks ago

Stuart Dredge, writing for Music Ally:

They include detailed breakdowns of how music is performing; data on what content fans are engaging with; promotional tools for music on TikTok; and the ability to set up EP and album campaigns driving pre-saves on Apple Music and Spotify.
A website is already live with login links for artists. It also explains that artists can invite their teams to have access to their analytics in TikTok for Artists too. Label teams can access artist analytics through their separate MediaMatch accounts in TikTok’s back-end.

Nintendo Unveils Switch 2

Jason Tate 2 weeks ago

The Verge:

While Nintendo told us very little in the official reveal of the console in January, now we know when the Switch 2 is coming and how much it will cost at launch: June 5th and $449.99. We also have more hardware details and specs to pore over, like a 1080p, 120Hz 7.9-inch LCD screen, Joy-Con controllers with mouse-like functions, 256GB of storage, and 4K output via the dock. We even know why it’s called the Switch 2instead of Super Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo also cleared up the mysteries about the system’s “C” button with details about new GameChat features and a camera accessory, and confirmed that GameCube games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online, along with a dedicated controller to give them the respect they deserve.

Last but not least, Nintendo showed off a number of new games, like a Switch 2 edition of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and the exclusive Switch 2 launch title, Mario Kart World.

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Mood Playlist Widgets From Apple Music

Jason Tate 2 weeks ago

The new version of Apple Music lets you trigger “mood” playlists from control center:

Opening the Music app will continue being the main way most of us interact with Apple Music, but I love what Apple’s doing with iOS 18.4’s new Ambient Music controls. The ability to assign a mood playlist button to your iPhone’s Lock Screen, Action button, or Control Center removes friction from the music playback experience.

MusicHarbor Brings Music News to App

Jason Tate 3 weeks ago

MacStories details the release of the latest version of MusicHarbor:

My favorite new section of MusicHarbor is News, which pulls articles about the artists you follow from a dozen sources. It’s an excellent set of publications that includes chorus.fm, NPR Music, Pitchfork, and others. If there are any feeds among those listed that you don’t like, though, you can turn individual publications off, so they won’t appear in the app.
If you follow a lot of artists like I do, you’ll appreciate that you can also search for artists by name or using keywords found in the headlines of articles. The app includes a row of profile pictures of the artists you follow for whom the app has found news, which is a nice visual shortcut to those stories, too.

Hey, that’s us. Cool feature.

I launch MusicHarbor every Friday morning to make sure I haven’t missed any new releases from artists I follow.

Napster Finds New Owners in $200M Acquisition

Jason Tate 4 weeks ago

The Hollywood Reporter:

Napster, the brand that ushered in an era of rampant music piracy before later being reborn as a subscription music streaming platform, has been sold for $207 million.
Tech company Infinite Reality announced Tuesday morning that it bought Napster in the nine-figure deal, hoping to further transform Napster from merely a streaming service into a more social-first music platform where fans can more directly engage with music and artists.

Good luck.

Vision Pro as Concert Device

Jason Tate 1 month ago

M.G. Siegler, reviewing the new Metallica “Apple Immersive” concert (er, three songs) that was released for the Vision Pro:

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, 2025. It’s late, the family is asleep. I grab a beer and head out to watch a rock concert. But by “head out” I mean, put on the Vision Pro. Minutes later, I’m in Mexico City – over 5,000 miles away from my home in London – watching James Hetfield walk up to the stage. I’m right behind him. His cigar smoke wafting in my face. The crowd roars as he emerges into the stadium.
It felt very close. Very real.
Honestly, I was blown away by the “Apple Immersive” Metallica concert that was released for the Vision Pro this past weekend. I like Metallica – like any red-blooded teenager in the 1990s, I grew up with ”The Black Album” – but I was more of a grunge kid. But my god, Apple (and the band) nailed this experience. It’s only about 30 minutes – just three songs – but I easily could have watched that for another few hours.

I’ve been ho-hum about the Vision Pro, mostly because for that price I see no real need in my life. This kind of immersive concert experience does sound fun though.

Blog: Big Tech Wants You Trapped

Jason Tate 1 month ago

Joan Westenberg:

It’s about whether we build systems that distribute power or concentrate it. Big Tech’s dominance wasn’t inevitable, and it’s not unbreakable. But it’s reinforced by the choices we make every damn day. Because over and over again, we choose easy. We choose platforms with less friction. We pursue mass audiences in the hope that we’ll be granted enough attention to become one of the Chosen Few, the influencers, the wealthy.
Each time we post exclusively to Instagram, we strengthen their position. Each time we accept X’s limits on expression, we legitimize their authority. Each time we pursue engagement solely within their systems, we validate their fuckery.
This isn’t nostalgia.
It’s pragmatism.

Agreed. This whole piece is good.

Microsoft Shutting Down Skype

Jason Tate 2 months ago

The Verge:

Microsoft is shutting down Skype in May and replacing it with the free version of Microsoft Teams for consumers. Existing Skype users will be able to log in to the Microsoft Teams app and have their message history, group chats, and contacts all automatically available without having to create another account, or they can choose to export their data instead. Microsoft is also phasing out support for calling domestic or international numbers.

The Future of the Internet Is Likely Smaller Communities

Jason Tate 2 months ago

The Verge:

Smaller, purpose-driven communities are the future. The desire for smaller, more intimate communities is undeniable. People are abandoning massive platforms in favor of tight-knit groups where trust and shared values flourish and content is at the core. The future of community building is in going back to the basics. Brands and platforms that can foster these personal, human-scale interactions are going to be the winners.

Seems like a good idea; someone should try it. Maybe we could call these things … forums?

Spotify Reports First Full-Year Profit

Jason Tate 2 months ago

The Wall Street Journal:

Spotify Technology reported its first ever full year of profitability, fueled by record user growth and austerity measures after years of heavy spending on growth initiatives such as podcasts.
Its fourth-quarter earnings are a sign that the company has been able to wean itself off years of intense investment and transform from a music-streaming service with tough margins to a full-service audio company.
Shares in the company rose 10%, and are up about 29% on the year.
“It only took 18 years for us to get here, but we’re here,” Chief Executive Daniel Ek said in an interview.

Ground Control to Myspace Tom

Jason Tate 2 months ago

Caitlin Dewey:

In fairness, no one really knows if Anderson would navigate our current social media environment with more or less grace than the current bozos.1 He left the game in 2009, when social media was still widely and unreservedly viewed as a force for social good. His scandals were of the comical and momentary sort; his politics — if he has them — have always seemed wan and vague.
But the fact that Anderson did retire from tech, and at the tender age of 38, testifies to a political philosophy and a set of values that feel almost radical today. People like Musk and Zuckerberg are hell-bent on amassing unprecedented, indecent stores of power and wealth. Anderson isn’t exactly curing cancer, by comparison … but he’s at least bucked the gospel of infinite extraction.

H/T: Nick Heer

Instagram Changes Profile Grid to Rectangles

Jason Tate 3 months ago

Jay Peters, writing for The Verge:

Instagram’s profile grids will display content as rectangles instead of squares as part of a change rolling out “over the weekend,” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in an Instagram Story on Friday.
“I know some of you really like your squares. And square photos are sort of the heritage of Instagram. But at this point, most of what’s uploaded, both photos and videos, are vertical in their orientation,” Mosseri said. It’s a “bummer to overly crop them,” he added.

Look, there are a lot of things to complain about in regards to social media, so highlighting this one in the grand scheme of things seems a little silly. But still: this change sucks.

The Disappearing Web

Jason Tate 4 months ago

S.E. Smith, writing for The Verge:

This is not a problem unique to me: a recent Pew Research Center study on digital decay found that 38 percent of webpages accessible in 2013 are not accessible today. This happens because pages are taken down, URLs are changed, and entire websites vanish, as in the case of dozens of scientific journals and all the critical research they contained. This is especially acute for news: researchers at Northwestern University estimate we will lose one-third of local news sites by 2025, and the digital-first properties that have risen and fallen are nearly impossible to count. The internet has become a series of lacunas, spaces where content used to be.