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The All-Platforms Edition Monday, September 4, 2017

The Future Of Microsoft Office On The Mac, by David Sparks, MacSparky

When Steve Ballmer left Microsoft, I believe the company took a very big step toward a business model that includes putting its software on all platforms and away from Ballmer's prior strategy of using Microsoft Office to trap people on Microsoft operating systems.

To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider The Janitors At Two Top Companies, Then And Now, by Neil Irwin, New York Times

In the 35 years between their jobs as janitors, corporations across America have flocked to a new management theory: Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy.

The $16.60 per hour Ms. Ramos earns as a janitor at Apple works out to about the same in inflation-adjusted terms as what Ms. Evans earned 35 years ago. But that’s where the similarities end.

Ms. Evans was a full-time employee of Kodak. She received more than four weeks of paid vacation per year, reimbursement of some tuition costs to go to college part time, and a bonus payment every March. When the facility she cleaned was shut down, the company found another job for her: cutting film.

Ms. Ramos is an employee of a contractor that Apple uses to keep its facilities clean. She hasn’t taken a vacation in years, because she can’t afford the lost wages. Going back to school is similarly out of reach. There are certainly no bonuses, nor even a remote possibility of being transferred to some other role at Apple.

Stuff

Apple Pulls Popular Third-Party YouTube App 'ProTube' From The App Store, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

Hugely popular third-party YouTube app "ProTube" was quietly removed from the App Store by Apple last week. Apple's decision to pull the app followed several takedown requests from Google that were received by the app's developer.

Develop

You Are Not ‘Behind’, by Zack Kanter

The feeling of being behind is one of the most destructive feelings to harbor and yet almost every high performer I have ever met suffers from it. The question that finally helped me break the cycle was: behind compared to what? Some alternate-reality version of yourself without flaws, a relentless Terminator on the Perfect Course of Life, chasing down and slaying goals and if you stop to catch your breath for one second the cyborg-take-no-prisoners-has-no-bad-days-or-relationship-or-family-issues-and-never-binge-watches-Netflix ‘you’ will just fly by and you will never be able to catch up no matter how hard you try?

I will tell you a secret. There is no other version of yourself, there is only the version sitting here right now. You are not behind (or, for that matter, ahead): you are exactly where you are supposed to be. So take a deep breath and relax.

Notes

Tim Cook Says He Stands Behind The 250 Dreamers Currently Working For Apple, by Brian Heater, TechCrunch

Cook took to Twitter this morning, to expand on his support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) following news that Trump could end the program next week.

Bottom of the Page

Will Apple show off a new iTunes (or a suite of iTunes-like apps) for macOS during the upcoming event?

More interestingly, perhaps, will Apple also show off a new iTunes for Windows Store at the same event?

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