The Newsprint
Written by Josh Ginter.

Smitten with Glass

Thursday, Aug 12, 2021

Glass is my new favourite social network on the iPhone. You have to pay to play, but that's part of what makes the app so awesome. 

Let’s go with it — I’m smitten with Glass, the new, subscription-based photography social network. (What else would I be smitten with?) The app is beautiful, simple, ad-free, and full of the most amazing photography I have seen in a long, long time.

I imagine this is because everyone has returned to their “Favourites” Lightroom or Photos album and scrolled to the photo with five stars for early sharing. (That’s what I did. Riomaggiore! What else?)

I’m not complaining one bit. Given how many photographs we all shoot these days, I bet there are more than a few five star photographs in everyone’s libraries. It’ll take some time to work through those.

Perhaps Glass’s design is the reason for why these photos stand out so well. Photos are huge and front and center for everyone to see. There are no words anywhere. No likes, no comments, no hearts or faves. Just photos. You can slide a photo to the right to reveal the photographer’s caption, or you can slide the photo to the left to report a photo.

I get why Glass doesn’t have likes. It really forces you to hone in on a thoughtful comment. But man — sometimes I just want to tell someone I enjoyed their artistry without having to articulate some sort of poem. For those times, I’ve found leaving a heart emoji has worked. I hope that doesn’t insult anyone.

Glass is subscription-based. You’re either going to love that or you’re going to hate it. Subscriptions are a death by a thousand cuts and it takes every bone in my body not to subscribe to all the apps. At $6/month CAD or $37/year CAD, it’s not the most expensive subscription ever. And honestly, that $37 subscription may well save you from impulse-buying some garbage product you discovered via an Instagram advertisement.

Look at the $37 as some sort of personal finance investment.

Finally, I love the inclusion of metadata for each photo. This screams “Photog”, for sure. But it’s less about the camera and more about the focal length, the aperture, the ISO, and the shutter speed. By studying a photo’s composition and metadata, you can better understand how the photographer captured the moment. Simple.

All in all, Glass is my favourite new iPhone app in a long, long time. It’s super “slow” right now — not “slow”, as in the app sucks, but “slow” as in it doesn’t algorithmically provide new content for you every time you open the app. Instead, one new photo seems to pop up every hour or two, ensuring a slow, calm experience.

Now, if only they’d do an iPad app. With the heavy focus on metadata and photography, the iPad feels like a natural way to share photos on Glass.

Maybe Instagram would take the hint. (Ha! Get out of town.)

(I’m @josh-ginter if you want to check it out. And if you need an invite, I still have a couple.)

Supported By

I Am Revisiting Fantastical

Sunday, Aug 08, 2021

I have been a Things 3 user since the day the app was updated to Version 3.0. It’s housed years and years of tasks, projects, assignments, and more. I think it’s the best Get-Things-Done productivity app out there, for sure. And it’s even a one-time payment, ensuring it’s one of the least expensive options available right now.

My first day of time-blocking went very smooth. This is a work-in-progress, but there must be something to time-blocking given how popular it is with other folks.

But I’m going to give something a shot for at least a few weeks: I’m going to run my entire productivity system through Fantastical. Fantastical’s Reminders integration is quite smooth, allowing for all due dates to show up somewhere in your calendar or event list. And Reminders is integrated into many, many other apps — such as Spark for email, allowing you to quickly create an email as a task inside Reminders, which automatically sends it over to Fantastical.

I’m also intrigued with the idea of time-blocking — something my colleagues at The Sweet Setup are likely giving me a “Finally!” over. The Fantastical subscription provides quick use of event templates, which should be perfect for time-blocking throughout the week.

Also, proposed event times should be a boon come tax season next year.

This may act as a precursor to some further discussion on The Sweet Setup. Or not — depends on if it’ll stick.

Right vs. Wrong vs. It Depends

Monday, Jun 28, 2021

I once asked a skilled golfer friend of mine whether he thought it was possible to make every single putt on every single green. Not whether a human being could make the putt, but whether there was one single path the ball could take on any given putt that would go into the hole.

His answer was a simple “Yes, I think there’s a possibility every single putt can go in.”

This analogy has stuck with me for a long time. I applied it to a range of decisions and problems in life — no matter the situation, there was always a “right” answer and a “wrong” answer.

I no longer think this way. The more I learn, the less I’m convinced of there being a “right” answer to anything.

There are only variables. Pros and cons. Xs and Ys. Factors and non-factors. For every decision and problem we face.

How a person weighs those variables leads to one’s ultimate decision. The decision may lead to positive consequences for that person, or it may lead to negative consequences for that person.

I also think this way of thinking leads to a more graceful way of life. Rather than assuming someone is a fool for making a certain decision, this type of thinking leads you to ask yourself “How did that person weigh the pros and cons?” or “What would cause this person to think this was an appropriate decision?”

We’re not supposed to call anyone a fool. This has helped me stop calling people fools.

Rarely is there such a thing as “right” or “wrong”.

There’s only “It depends.”