Read to the end for a post about containing dinosaurs.

It's the kickoff of the fall tech season. Today Apple will unleash its annual iPhone & iOS updates. Google will hold its IO conference in a couple weeks to show off the Pixel and a new version of Android. And on and on, new tech will come out from a number of companies. Each one vying for our dollars.

There's fierce competition in the tech space these days, but funny enough, most platforms and devices don't matter. In the past decade most of what we do is on the web. The Windows / Mac "wars" are long over. You can get your job done on either one because either the applications you use are cross-platform or exist on the web. The same can now be said for Android / iOS. The days of iOS having the best and exclusive apps are long behind us.

These days it's all use what your personal preference is. Yes, some creature comforts will pull people in some directions over others. For me, it's the simplicity of Apple's products and the ecosystem. I like how all my stuff works together. For others, it's the ability to customize a system to the Nth degree and there's another subset of simply working on Windows because it's what's comfortable.

The Internet has been around a really long time. The web isn't as old but still is pushing 30+ years on Earth. What is one of the most interesting side effects of a global network of information is the fact that it's become something of a Great Democratizer in productivity. While I am no fan of endless subscriptions for software, the fact that you can buy a new computer and have "that one must-have" application running in a few minutes is pretty amazing. Sometimes it's even more simple because it's simply a browser. That's how I get everything done here on TimeMachiner. There's no applications or specialized tools I use. This entire endeavor is web-based.

I think back to the "browser wars" of the 90s and how IE crushed Netscape. For the record, I was a staunch Netscape user for a long time (longer than it was worth, given how bad Netscape became once it became the bloated "Communicator"). The youngest generation today would likely find the whole thing silly. There's so many browsers now and they're all free. The same thing for Windows and macOS. And now the same thing for mobile phones. Aside from a few lock-in features each side possesses, moving from one to the other whenever you want is really no big deal.

And that's a nice win for us all.

I hope you have a great week.

-Aaron

PS: If you're enjoying my work here on TimeMachiner please forward this email to a friend who'd like it too. It helps me grow. Thank you. 😊

TODAY'S RANDOM FACTOID

Sharks have no bones. Source