A message to the citizens of the Apple Kingdom! -December 2017-

Events: December 2017, 7:00 AM, San Jose.

It has been a long journey for Apple to reach this level of human depth and build its own kingdom—a kingdom where all Apple products harmonize for a better life, as envisioned by Apple's decision-makers.
This is not marketing talk or blind admiration for Apple, although I admit to some of that. But being strong and standing firm to prioritize humanity over the allure of technological fantasy, and ignoring public pressure to say "I know what I'm doing," is truly commendable.
Well, I don't mean that Apple knows exactly what it's doing; it has made many mistakes and neglected its original audience (Mac users) for a period. Under Tim's leadership, we've lost Steve's intuition and precision. Yet, amidst all the noise and technological changes, I find that Apple still retains its spirit and gets closer to itself each time—or more accurately, closer to the vision of its spiritual founder, Steve Jobs.

Dear Steve Jobs, your vision is closer than ever!

Steve Jobs dreamed of an Apple kingdom where Apple controls the user experience of its products and services. We call this a closed ecosystem, where systems, services, and devices integrate seamlessly, making it easy to switch between user needs represented by products: the need to listen to music via iPod, iPhone, iMac, or Apple TV. You'll choose one of these products to listen to music depending on your situation, and you'll find your music library and favorite playlists across all these devices. The same applies to notes, messages, calls, photo libraries, and many other functions.

This idea was rejected by Bill Gates and other tech and business leaders, as they considered it a business model that limits the spread of systems and products and might not generate as much profit as Microsoft's approach of allowing all manufacturers to use Windows on their computers. But later, Bill Gates admitted that Steve Jobs succeeded in achieving that vision, years ago.

Steve left this world, but his vision did not; it has grown and deepened. Apple's products have become closer to each other than ever before, both technologically and visually! As I write this blog on the Mac and phone seamlessly, take photos with the iPhone, and then edit them with advanced options via the Photos app on the iMac, it may seem ordinary over time, but there's extraordinary effort behind making the experience comfortable and rich.

Wozniak—the co-founder of Apple, known for his ethics and love for people—used to describe this model, the "closed ecosystem," as a "mobile pen." For Wozniak, this model was a betrayal of the free pirate spirit from which Apple originated. But for me—and perhaps for you—it is a model that nurtures followers and captives of Apple products, making it hard to break free over time! So, it is a cause for concern despite its great advantages. This doesn't mean feeling terrified, but it requires us to be aware of what is happening in this ever-expanding kingdom.

At the 2017 Apple Developers Conference Apple announced many features and technologies that brought its products and systems closer together, and even closer to its principles and values! For example, the iMessage service has become widely used among Apple users. Apple has paid great attention to this service, with every update adding more vitality to iMessage, available on iOS and macOS. But what if you decide to stop using your iPhone, for instance? The messages would be deleted, right? Or you'd have to transfer them to the new phone, consuming more space! With iOS 11, Apple introduced the feature of syncing messages with icloud.com. This means you can browse iMessage messages via icloud.com even if you delete them from your phone! This means a lot if preserving messages matters to you, at least to me!

And because photography with modern iPhones, especially the iPhone 7 Plus, is of high quality, Apple developed the Photos app in the macOS High Sierra system. As soon as you take a photo with the iPhone or iPad, you can edit it via the Photos app on the iMac, which has become more advanced and supports editing photos with other applications like Photoshop. Well, save the photo, then wait a few seconds to browse it on the iPhone and share it with others. Honestly, the Photos app has become amazing and enjoyable, thanks to professional editing options, the Live Photo editing feature, and improved display of the People album. Isn't it fun to browse your memories on the iMac or iPad Pro screen?! In this way, Apple excels at addressing people's needs by offering options and improvements that seem simple but are truly rich in social entertainment!

I don't want to delve into all the features, as the idea has surely been conveyed! But what I also want to talk about is the challenge Tim Cook once announced and fulfilled!

Thank you, Tim, for keeping your promise!

1- Welcome to augmented reality and virtual reality:

With the wave of VR devices spreading, Tim Cook expressed on several occasions that AR is the option worth investing in to achieve an enjoyable and beneficial social experience. This is because VR isolates you from the world around you, while AR allows you to interact with your environment and the people around you! And here comes Apple with its full weight to introduce AR technology in iOS 11. This means that millions of devices running iOS 11 will be capable of experiencing AR! Amazing, isn't it? I've seen how developers have started using this technology, and how easy it is to create such experiences on iOS apps! We are truly entering a new phase of digital interaction!

As for VR, Apple has supported it on modern macOS devices. It is an important technology that cannot be dispensed with in simulating reality, whether in health, education, or various entertainment fields. The equation has become simple: AR for everyone, VR for some.

1- Machine learning for developers:

Most artificial intelligence technologies rely on data processing on the company's servers, as Google does, while Apple refuses to take this step because it conflicts with its claim to protect user privacy. This has made Apple somewhat lagging in artificial intelligence in the past, but not anymore—or so it seems. Apple has stuck to its bet and launched Core ML for machine learning. With just a few lines of code, developers can leverage the machine learning framework to develop smarter applications, using features such as face tracking, text orientation, barcode detection, rectangular object detection (for augmented reality and document scanning), and object tracking.

Thanks to machine learning and artificial intelligence, Siri will be able to serve us more—I admit I still hate Siri!—Apple says: "Siri has always been more than just a voice, and with iOS 11, it has become more helpful. It learns from you, anticipates what you want, and offers suggestions even before you ask. Plus, everything about you is encrypted end-to-end, preserving the privacy of your personal information."

Apple will move forward in building its kingdom of integrated systems, services, and human-centric devices, starting with those attached to our bodies, passing through the homes we live in, the work environments where we spend most of our day, to cars, bikes, and the massive data about our lives stored in Apple's cloud servers! All of this will create an impressive experience that makes our lives easier and more productive. However, the concern about our private and massive data will remain present in case this kingdom is ever breached by some entity!

Summary:

• Apple focuses on enriching user experiences by enhancing existing features and adding to them.

• With each release, Apple's operating systems become more integrated, though this might only be noticeable to those who own a variety of Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch.

• Apple enriches its financial portfolio with every release. For instance, syncing iMessage means consuming a significant amount of iCloud storage, not to mention the photo library! However, iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra introduce the HEIF and HEVC standards for photos and videos, which can reduce their size by up to 40%! Additionally, Apple has adjusted the price of its highest iCloud plan to offer 2TB instead of 1TB!

• Apple has a social and humanistic approach, which is why it focuses on supporting its devices with augmented reality, as it plays a role in fostering interaction among people.

• Apple respects people's privacy, so it has innovated a machine learning system that allows the system and applications to understand user behavior and provide suggestions in an encrypted manner that does not go beyond the device!

• You can benefit from the integration of Apple's systems and devices to achieve a rich experience. However, my advice to you is: "Be mindful," and don't put all your data in one basket. Use applications and services available on other platforms, such as Dropbox and Evernote.