This Man Predicted the Modern Smartphone in 1953

Here’s a cool story from Open Culture to start the week. In 1953, Mark R. Sullivan, director of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, made a prediction in a newspaper.

Here is my prophecy: In its final development, the telephone will be carried about by the individual, perhaps as we carry a watch today. It probably will require no dial or equivalent and I think the users will be able to see each other, if they want, as they talk. Who knows but it may actually translate from one language to another?

A Little Notification Goes A Long Way – Mac Geek Gab 908

Did you know you could create a reminder from macOS Mail? How would you like to learn about three new ways to toggle Do Not Disturb? Or a solution for dictating emojis? All this and more in just the first Quick Tips segment of the show. Then John and Dave are on to answering your questions about managing media, tweaking your AirPods, managing your Mac’s thermal limits, and wrapping up with some Cool Stuff Found. Press play and enjoy learning five new things with your two favorite geeks!

Everything You Wanted to Know About How Encrypted Email Works

ProtonMail published a nice blog post explaining how encrypted email works, and the various protocols that companies use.

End-to-end encryption for messages sent between ProtonMail users is automatic, and our integrated OpenPGP support makes it easy to send and receive PGP-encrypted E2EE messages to people that use PGP with other email providers. Proton also informs you when your messages are protected by E2EE with a small blue padlock (for other ProtonMail users) or green padlock (for OpenPGP users).

The Four Products Apple Should Drop in 2022

For me, these are the four products Apple should discontinue from its lineup. I do believe they’re lost in time and any customer that bought one right now would be disappointed with the general experience.

I agree that it’s high time for Apple to discontinue the iPod touch, Watch Series 3, and Beats Solo3 Wireless. These products just aren’t reflective of the best Apple can offer anymore. Some might say the Apple Watch Series 3 is still a good choice. I’d argue most would be better off with the SE model. It’s only $70 more expensive and much more robust. But the Intel-powered Mac mini? I can’t really buy into this idea, simply for the sake of anybody who still needs to dual-boot Windows and macOS.