eXtensions - Thursday 30 January 2025
By Graham K. Rogers
Apple updates to its OS versions this week tweaked the AI features. In the wider world, the Chinese DeepSeek interloper ruffled feathers and sent stock prices tumbling: except Apple's. This story is still developing. The iPad has seen several changes since its introduction, and has many adherents. New features have appeared over the years, although there is still room for more.
Later today, Apple will release its Q1 2025 financial results, while in this part of the world the last two or three days have seen celebrations for the Chinese New Year: the Year of the Snake. Wednesday morning was peppered with the sound of firecrackers, and on the sidewalks faux money was burned, while many people have been wearing red: for good luck. Despite the events this week related to the release of the Chinese DeepSeek chatbot, which sent share prices into a tailspin, but not Apple, some analysts have been wringing their hands because their crystal balls do not see growth.
This week saw the arrival of iOS 18.3 and updates to other Apple operating systems. Most of the downloads were fast enough although WatchOS lags a bit at the beginning. Their imminent arrival was confirmed when the Release Candidate (build 22D60) was sent out to developers a few days before, but unusually, there was a further release with comment from Joe Rossignol (MacRumors) that the updated version included information about the Black Unity Band/wallpaper. I see that my iPhone and the iPad both have build number 22D63.
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There was some information this weekend about iOS 18.4: due in April. Michael Burkhardt (9to5Mac) citing the Gurman rumor mill, speculates on what might be included in this future update, including new emojis, which (frankly) leaves me totally unmoved. Many I know use them frequently, including on messages or postings that might be considered professional. These are littered with exclamation marks, flowers, suns, cheery faces and the like when I would prefer to see a more professional tone. I am not averse to using one emoji at the end of a personal message to close friends, but this does not obscure the intention or dilute the tone.
I was almost pleased when Chinese New Year saw the surprise arrival of a new Chinese AI chatbot - one that uses less power than the current LLMs. This has upset the apple cart and wiped off something like $1 trillion from the market value of tech companies. Not that I am pleased about people losing money, but this shows what a house of cards AI is: built on a foundation of sand. I know: mixed metaphors. My notes here are incomplete as the whole situation is fluid, with comments from various tech sources (not all to be trusted) and governments worldwide (some also probably not to be trusted) taking note and expressing concern.
The US president was reported as saying that this was "a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win," adding that the apparent use of fewer resources was an asset (Mark Sweney, Guardian). That tone may well change in a day or so as his officials also add their ideas. Despite the early comments of the President on DeepSeek, Blake Montgomery (Guardian) speculates that there will be some action taken by the USA and others to rein this in. As the potential impact on US technology companies, and the possible use of data by Chinese sources, the winds will change, particularly following comments by White House staff.
There were numerous comments in technical and in economic publications online. The Economist newsletter reported that "DeepSeek blew a nearly $600bn hole in the value of Nvidia, an American chipmaker. It marked the biggest one-day loss in the history of America's stock market". While many stocks and indexes took a massive hit on 27 January, Apple stock rose and has continued to rise this week, from around $226 to $241 (with a capitalization of just over $3.5 trillion) despite the pre-Q1 2025 negativity of analysts. Edward Helmore (Guardian) added some more information to the financial background regarding those whose stocks had dropped.
This new chatbot has limitations and there may be an underlying Chinese influence. We are still wondering what will happen to TikTok with both Microsoft and Meta being mentioned as potential suitors. With regard to those limitations, Matt Growcoot (Petapixel) reports that, when asked about the famous Tank Man photograph in Tiananmen Square, it cuts off half way and tries to direct the use to another subject.
We note that AI has often been accused of stealing content to train the LLMs. David Sacks, Trump's AI and crypto "czar," said in an interview on Fox on Tuesday that there is "substantial evidence" that Chinese AI company DeepSeek "distilled" knowledge from OpenAI's AI models, a process that Sacks compared to theft (Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch). There is a certain irony in the complaints by OpenAI and others concerning this use of information as (with a few exceptions) most of the data they use for training has been taken from sources without permission (Kris Holt, Engadget, et al). In his final paragraph, which condenses the problem, Holt writes, "It seems OpenAI would have you believe that what's good for the goose is not good for the gander."
DeepSeek, ChatGTP and the rest are not the only ones to use stolen and/or copyright information. There have been examples of news outlets using these new methods of creating content to produce articles that are then published under the names of fictitious authors. This week, Rebecca Bellin (TechCrunch) reports on Quartz, an international business outlet that has been "aggregating reporting from other outlets, including TechCrunch, in order to publish AI-generated articles. . . ." This aggregates reporting done by real journalists at CNN, MSN, and The Associated Press. When I do this (as with this paragraph) I take specific quotes and borrow some of the story to give a basic outline, while also crediting the writer and publication, and providing a link.
This is not how others always do it, with some (including major news outlets) just lifting text and images with no acknowledgement and no link. Bellin notes that one of her stories repeated by Quartz used some basic parts of the content but the result left much that was vague and incomplete. I guess that is a problem with AI sourcing: those left to check, don't or don't know how.
My television viewing continued with The Night Agent on Netflix. While I am pleased by some inclusions, and intrigued by others, overall this feels weaker than the first series. This is noticeable particularly in the script and overall plot. What I was pleased about was the hoest treatment of the Iranian characters. I have known and worked with Iranians and they were nothing like the fanatics that are sometimes depicted. When appropriate the characters speak Farsi (with English subtitles) which does add to the realism, and they are not portrayed as if they are all inherently evil. They also have human problems. There were some high spots with action in episode 5 and the final 2 episodes, with an obvious lead at the end into a potential series 3.
On AppleTV, I am still waiting for Episode 3 of Prime Target, due on Wednesday 29 January. Compared with The Night Agent (both spy series) this has much more meat, plus an interesting concept. The theories surrounding prime numbers are still being examined today. I noticed an article in a Scientific American newsletter, which included, "Mathematicians recently devised a way to hunt for primes by examining two ways of predicting prime numbers. The new tactic also reveals that there are limits to mathematicians' ability to detect primes". The whole article is behind a paywall, but the publication allows one-time access. A search online reveals several articles on this, so Prime Target appears born of some reality.
I am still avoiding Severance, although Apple is putting a lot into the arrival of Series 2. Apart from a glass cubicle at New York, Grand Central Station (Belen Edwards, Mashable), several commentators (including at MacRumors), reported on a Severance trailer starring Tim Cook. What I like about this, apart from his rigid approach to the characterization, is the way that the switch is shown: Tim C blinks several times in the elevator and breaks into a smile.
Although Silo has finished, we are told that filming for series 3 is under way and that Apple has agreed to series 4. Having had some success with the Severance cubicle in New York, Apple has produced a video that allows viewers to "Experience an unprecedented look at the sets of Silo with [a] meditative tour of silos 17 and 18" (Ryan Christoffel, 9to5Mac). The video is just over 25 minutes long, so choose a good time if you want to watch it all. Although I started watching the embedded video and Ryan's article has other useful information, I switched to YouTube as the full-screen display is more effective. Without people - there are background sounds - this looks creepier than the TV show.
At the weekend I also watched In the Name of the Father again: an account of the wrongful conviction of the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven (relatives of one of the Guildford Four), including a 14 year old boy sent down for 4 years. The specific discovery shown in the movie that led to the dismissal of the charges is a fiction, but other discoveries made these unsafe convictions. I used to believe in Justice, but these events and others in the UK, USA and elsewhere, have eroded my faith somewhat, although watching Erin Brokovich last weekend did redress the balance a little.
I have long been an advocate of the iPad and its different versions. Right now I have the 11" M4 iPad Pro which sees daily use, and a (non-current) iPad mini, that serves as a backup and for emergency use. With the number of apps developed for iPads, there are multiple ways they can be used: photo- and video-editing, writing, graphics, reading, medical/health, aircraft/pilots, surveying and more. Fernando Silva (9to5Mac) outlines a number of features that are available, but which some users may be unaware of. He starts with 5 in print, including the ability to format a drive on iPadOS, but includes another 15 in the linked video. As a note, it is also possible to format a drive on an iPhone. Following the instructions from Silva, I just erased and formated a thumb drive in AFPS (Apple File System).
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As well as other features I have long wanted on the iPad Pro (ability to use a flatbed scanner, tethering for cameras) it would be useful if multiple accounts were available. I feel reluctant to let someone else use my iPad Pro, even for a short time because that gives them access to all of my data, including iCloud. They could also change the password, or add a face to the recognition system if it were in their hands for long enough unsupervised.
Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on X (@extensions_th). The RSS feed for the articles is http://www.extensions.in.th/ext_link.xml - copy and paste into your feed reader.
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