Thanks Apple — A Response To The Small Business Program

Apple's App Store Icon — StylizedEver play SimCity? It’s a fantastic city-building simulation. It teaches an incredible lesson about taxes. The experience is almost counterintuitive. By lowering taxes, you can actually make more money — and make the citizens much happier. You can’t drop it to zero, as the city still needs money for maintenance and future growth, so the trick is to hit the sweet spot. I believe that’s what Apple has announced today. Starting next year, Apple’s App Store commission rate (for small businesses) will drop from 30% to 15%. That’s huge!

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Repairing an iPhone SE

Exploding iPhone EmojiWow, I thought it was hard to upgrade a Mac Mini. That’s trivial compared to replacing the screen and the battery on my iPhone SE. What a chore! Screws the size of dust, delicate cables abound, pentalobe parts, and I need a suction cup? While Apple claims to be such an environmentally friendly company, they don’t seem to be encouraging device repairs. But since the company doesn’t have a 4″ phone, and I don’t want a larger one, I’m forced to fix this one.

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Dartboard – A Replacement for the macOS Dashboard

Dartboard – Emoji ThumbnailIt looks like Apple is killing the Dashboard with the “Catalina” macOS 10.15 update. If you’re like me, this is bad news. I probably press F12 over a dozen times a day. I like checking on the Weather, Stocks and other useful gadgets. It looks like I’m not alone in this disappointment. While the feedback on MacRumors and 9to5Mac is mixed, plenty of people voiced their disappointment with this decision. To help fix this problem, “Dartboard” is the next app from Photics.

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Is The Mac Mini (2018) A Good Buy?

Mac Mini – Question MarkAvid readers of this website know, I like the Mac Mini. Naturally, I was happy when Apple finally updated there iconic computer. It was a long wait. It was over 2000 days since the launch of the 2012 Mac Mini. (The 2014 Mac Mini was a step backwards and my 2009 Mac Mini was still good.) That’s a really long time, especially for technology. Was it worth the wait? Now that I actually have my own 2018 Mac Mini, I can answer that question.

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Relaunch! The 10-Year Plan Continues

10-Year Plan Relaunch (Thumbnail Image)Wow, I was livid with Apple. But on Friday, a Good Friday, I received a series of strange messages from Apple. “Your app (iOS) status is in Review”, “Revisions: New Resolution Center Message”, “Your app (iOS) status is Developer Removed From Sale.” and “The status for your app, Revisions (460834674), is now Ready for Sale.” I had forgotten about the “Revisions” app, figuring that Apple wouldn’t approve it. I was in the process of making new arrangements. I was preparing to leave the Apple ecosystem. But now that my app is approved, the mission continues!

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