### Issue 1862 - Wednesday 7th June, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Subreddits to strike over Reddit's API changes that'll kill 3rd-party apps
- 1Password implements support for passkey storage & syncing
- Coinbase sued by SEC for doing various things illegally
- Hot takes from people lucky enough to have used the Apple Vision Pro
- Cheap Intel X15 barebones laptop, Dell TB4 dock, Samsung 980 SSD, Zoom H4n field recorder, Nokia C31 phone

## The News

### Subreddits to strike over Reddit's API changes that'll kill 3rd-party apps

Various subreddits are "going dark" for 48 hours in protest against Reddit's plan to charge exorbitant amounts for API access as of July 1st, effectively killing off 3rd-party apps. They haven't said this, but Reddit is gearing up for an IPO in the near future so it makes sense they're trying to juice user numbers as much as possible by keeping them on the first-party app and website. It sucks that this is happening to Reddit, but look at Twitter, look at Discord, look at Facebook. Online communities are not compatible with investor-type businesses that demand constantly growing unsustainable profits.

### 1Password implements support for passkey storage & syncing

1Password has a new public beta that has added support for passkeys. It's not on mobile yet and only works via the browser extension, but it's a start. With 1Password support, you could make a passkey on your Mac, save it on 1Password and then use that same passkey on your Windows PC or an Android phone. If you used iCloud or Chrome to store the passkey, you'd only be able to use it on other Apple or Chrome devices - which considering these passkeys are gonna replace passwords, the last thing you want is vendor lock in! If you wanna fuck around passkeys, Passkeys.io is a handy tool to see how passkeys/WebAuthn is implemented on various platforms.

### Coinbase sued by SEC for doing various things illegally

Today is Coinbase's turn to feel the SEC's wrath. They allege Coinbase "despite being subject to the securities laws, commingled and unlawfully offered exchange, broker-dealer, and clearinghouse functions. In other parts of our securities markets, these functions are separate. Coinbase’s alleged failures deprive investors of critical protections, including rulebooks that prevent fraud and manipulation, proper disclosure, safeguards against conflicts of interest, and routine inspection by the SEC. Further, as we allege, Coinbase never registered its staking-as-a-service program as required by the securities laws, again depriving investors of critical disclosure and other protections". You love to see it.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Hot takes from people lucky enough to have used the Apple Vision Pro

A bunch of journalists/influencers got to try out the Apple Vision Pro headset behind closed doors at WWDC and their reports are starting to get published. Some excerpts:

- Jason Snell: "Honestly, what I'm most excited by about the Vision Pro might be the fact that a lot of people at Apple have devoted years to figuring out the next evolution of computer interfaces. What they've done is build on the last 15 years of Apple touch interfaces, adapted to a new platform. It's familiar — yet also new".
- Matthew Panzarino: "Every bit of this thing shows Apple-level ambition. I don't know whether it will be the 'next computing mode', but you can see the conviction behind each of the choices made here. No corners cut. Full-tilt engineering on display".
- Ben Thompson: "I recognize how absurdly positive and optimistic this Article is about the Vision Pro, but it really does feel like the future. That future, though, is going to take time: I suspect there will be a slow burn, particularly when it comes to replacing product categories like the Mac or especially the iPad".
- Joanna Stern: "At the end of the demo, I took off the headset and felt two things: 1) Wow. Very cool. 2) Did I just do drugs? Apple is differentiating itself with an experience that is fully grounded in reality. This is not virtual reality where you escape your surroundings. Instead, it's all about bringing the digital world to your real world. What Apple calls 'spatial computing'. Except, when I took the goggles off, I felt like I had been away somewhere, and that I was only now back in reality".
- Lauren Goode: "It rests on your face and shields your eyes, sensory organs that are a crucial part of the lived human experience. The same is true of every other heads-up display in the world, whether it's a pair of AR glasses, an industrial-focused headset, or fully immersive VR goggles. The experience can be remarkable and surreal, for sure; but it requires a suspension of disbelief and a sacrifice of autonomy. Even Apple can't out-design its way out of what is fundamentally an obtrusive technology".

## Bargains

- Intel X15 Barebone Laptop (15.6" 1080p 144Hz, i7-12700H, Arc A730M GPU, BYO RAM & SSD) - $1079 from AusPCMarket
- Dell WD22TB4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock - $299.99 from RonaRigs
- Samsung 980 500GB M.2 NVMe SSD - $39 + delivery from Scorptec
- Zoom H4n Pro field recorder & USB audio interface - $245.73 from Amazon Japan
- Nokia C31 Android smartphone - $128 from Amazon

## Image Of The Day

A Reddit user named "nhciao" posted a series of artistic QR codes created using the Stable Diffusion AI image-synthesis model that can still be read as functional QR codes by smartphone camera apps. (Arstechnica / Reddit)

## The End

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