Hi, I'm Allen Pike. I'm currently building Forestwalk Labs, hosting It Shipped That Way, and writing monthly about what I'm learning.
A Box of Many Inputs
On browsers, local classifiers, and Roger Rabbit.
Link: Why is ChatGPT for Mac So… Bad?
Last week I wrote an exploration of Ben Thompson’s recent question, “Why is the ChatGPT Mac app so good?” A lot of people on the internet, it turns out, do not agree with this premise!
Many folks have been having problems with ⌘C not copying text. Hacker News sees the app as “not good at all”, to the point that my post about it being better than the alternatives was flagged off the site. X doesn’t like it either.
Beyond the bugs I mentioned in last week’s post, I’ve recently been plagued with a ChatGPT Mac bug of my own, where every time I start a new chat, it will pre-fill the text field with the first input I used last time I started a new chat on Mac.
All of this led me to an informative post by one of OpenAI’s Mac developers, Stephan Casas:
nearly everyone who works on the ChatGPT macOS app has been stretched thin, and hard at work building Atlas.
[…]
i’m thankful that our users appreciate our decision to develop a native app just as much as i’m thankful for the heightened expectations they hold because we did so
Apparently he merged a fix this week for the copy-paste bug that has been plaguing many folks, which is promising.
Something implied in last week’s article that’s worth saying explicitly: although many good Mac apps are native, being native is neither necessary nor sufficient for being a great app.
While OpenAI is investing more in desktop apps than any other model labs, they have much to do before they can transcend “better than the alternatives” and achieve “great.”
Why is ChatGPT for Mac So Good?
Claude, Copilot, and making a good desktop app.
How to Not Get Acquired
Distraction management in intense times.
UX Entropy
Zoom’s arc from hero to hulk.
Building Something Big
On the pros and cons of the indie path.
Getting Tied Up
On little things that get in the way.
Spending Too Much Money on a Coding Agent
On making use of large thinking models.
Figma Slides is a Beautiful Disaster
Some highlights and lowlights.
Post-Chat UI
How LLMs are making traditional apps feel broken.
Link: Canada Votes
Advance voting is now open for Canada’s federal election.
The last federal election was boring – but a lot has changed. The two largest parties have new leaders, and Canada’s largest trading partner has, uh, put new issues on voters’ minds.
While defense, energy independence, international relations, and democracy itself have hardly been core election issues of late, they’re now in play. You can check out CBC’s Election platform overview or Vote Compass, or the CTV’s Party Platform Tracker to get a recap of the parties’ platforms.
In terms of what to expect, there has been a fairly dramatic polling shift since Justin Trudeau’s resignation and the new US administration coming to power. According to polls, many voters who planned to vote for other parties – whether it was Conservatives, the progressive NDP, or the more obscure parties – are now planning to back the centre-left Liberals. Of course, only those who show up actually decide.
You can use 338Canada to see some guesses about what this might mean for your riding, or any strategic voting. Given the very large error bars on these projections though, it’s worth remembering that at the end of the day, you’re electing an MP to represent you – not the Prime Minister directly.
Making a plan to vote
- Sun April 20, Sat April 21: Remaining advance voting days
- Mon, Apr 28: Voting Day. Polls will be open until 9:30 for Eastern Time ridings, but only 7pm in Pacific time areas. Make a plan if you’re not advance voting.
A Score for Snacks
The Nutri-Score, and a calculator for it.