Out of the box 📦

In general, I believe iOS users tend to prefer out of the box solutions. It’s the whole model of Apple pricing and technology (certainly in contrast with android which favours customisation, even if it is become more standardised).

I enjoy this approach a lot. Not having to think but instead just use the default option along with its decisions helps me avoid decision fatigue. When I had an android phone, I found myself fiddling, trying to set it up just right.

At the same time, there are clear downsides. These default options have decisions which I don’t like and frequently miss power feature. For a simple example, the Apple podcast app doesn’t have the same queuing and smart speed features of apps like Overcast and Castro.

Apps like drafts and shortcuts are another curiosity to me. I love their power but they are the antithesis of “out of the box” philosophy.

I have certain actions and shortcuts which are really useful, but I also have a selection which are just taking up space, unused. I try to clean up my actions episodically, and have recently been doing just that.

but I still wonder about the friction between out of the box and customisation.

Sometimes a Tweet Should (And Does) Become a Blog Post

I recently -complained- wrote about when a book should really be a blog post or series (hey there most business books) but sometimes the reverse can happen where expanding upon a short idea provides greater context and value. I was reminded of a great example of this, expand by Garrick van Buren.

The idea of expand was simple, Garrick posted three tweets every day and then at the end of the week he found out which resonated the most and wrote in greater detail about them for his newsletter (which cost money).

To some degree, I try use micro.blog for a similar purpose. Posting content and seeing what resonates with people. There are no favorites, stars or likes so it’s more about comments but also when I see similar themes appear elsewhere.

This post is actually an example. It’s a continuation based on the reaction to the first and on seeing @PatrickRhone mention Garrick.