Happy Friday, Gentle Readers,
As proof of the inevitable decline of society, I offer you the photo below. I was at a continuing education class for one of my other jobs yesterday, and all the attendees received merch bags. Said merch included the carabiner pictured here.
And the hands on the Doomsday Clock creep ever forward.
For sale, only one owner
As a member of Gen X, I have the luxury of having reached my majority right not long before computers and the internet became household things. So I am not quite the Luddite that my Boomer predecessors may be. At the same time, I am not so immersed in technology that I have degenerated into glassy-eyed drooling while scrolling social media. I figure I’ll save that for retirement.
Apple Vision Pro glasses have been on the market for, what, a couple of weeks now? Buyer’s remorse has already set in for quite a few, and those people are glad they kept the receipt and the original box. Let’s hope they can get their $3,500 back.
Aside from making someone look like a discount Darth Vader, flailing his arms like he is in a remedial spells class at Hogwarts, The Verge notes that Apple Vision users have been experiencing enough side effects to ask for their money back. Red and dry eyes are a common complaint, which has long plagued VR headset users.
In addition to those problems, users are experiencing motion sickness and migraine headaches brought on by the weight of the super-cool specs. One person blamed the glasses for a broken blood vessel in his eye. For the price point, the weight and the configuration of the straps make Apple Vision Pros uncomfortable to wear even for short durations.
Can’t wait to return the Vision Pro, probably the most mind blowing piece of tech I’ve ever tried.
Can’t deal with these headaches after 10 minutes of use though.
— Rjey (@RjeyTech) February 14, 2024
Headaches, motion sickness, burst blood vessels. The future sounds like it is going to be a blast. Can’t wait.
Another problem is that once one is completely immersed in one’s Apple world, it becomes hard to get any work done. People had a tough time coding, looking at projects, and switching between windows. And the gizmo does not support some common applications.
Have they tried turning it off and turning it on again?
I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it may indicate that the American consumer has not completely lost his or her mind — at least not yet. On the other hand, I was looking forward to watching Apple Vision wearers walk into walls and light posts and trip over curbs. Because that is the kind of low-brow humor that makes America great.
Wine recommendation
Because I’ve run out of clever reasons. Just drink, already.
This time around, it’s a two-for-one Friday!
I’ve been reviewing a large number of Cabs recently, so I decided to go back to whites this week. But for Valentine’s Day, I made my wife filet mignon and shrimp rather than enter the Octagon that became the flower section of the local grocery. I saw one guy walking out with an armload of bouquets, dropping them as he went. If you are panic-buying that many flowers, a wiser purchase might have been a sturdy hard hat. That guy was probably making up for two missed birthdays, a botched Mother’s Day, and a forgotten anniversary. Fare thee well, adventurer.
The upshot was that I needed a red wine for the meat.
First up: The 2022 Da Vinci Pinot Grigio.
This Italian Pinot is nice, light, and refreshing when properly chilled. There are hints of apple, some tropical fruits, and a nice acidity that is not overpowering, which combine to make this a very entertaining wine. It finishes very well. It retails for around $13 and would work well with shellfish or an entree with citrus in the ingredients.
Next: The 2020 H3 Cabert Sauvignon.
Mrs. Brown is partial to reds, and I was planning on a nice Bordeaux for the evening. Depending on the region, Bordeaux can go with a wide range of dishes. But the local store had been cleaned out of Bordeaux by the time I arrived, so I decided to give the H3 a shot.
It performs fairly well. It has some good acidity with a decent level of tannins. It is a decent mix of chocolate, vanilla, dark berries, and a little tobacco. Some reviewers found it to be too sweet, but I could not detect that. All in all, it went well with the filets. You can pick up a bottle for right around $12, and it is a good investment for a nice dinner.
That’s it for me. Have a good weekend, and I’ll see you next time.