2026-03-15 06:51:23
There is a certain kind of computer review that is really a permission slip. It tells you what you’re allowed to want. It locates you in a taxonomy — student, creative, professional, power user — and assigns you a product. It is helpful. It is responsible. It has very little interest in what you might become.
The MacBook Neo has attracted a lot of these reviews.
This is one of my favourite pieces of writing I've read for a while.
It reminds me of my own experience, when I was a teenager, saving up to get my first Mac. A base model 13" MacBook from around 2005/06. That limited machine opened me up to the world of Apple, development, blogging, and what essentially led to my career as a software engineer.
2026-03-14 23:43:40
Not knowing what to write about is probably one of the most common blogging struggles. Believing you have nothing interesting to say.
This is a great post. It serves as a reminder that just because you have become accustomed to something, doesn't mean it's not interesting.
2026-03-14 08:00:00
I've had a 14" M1 MacBook Pro for over 4 years now, and it's served me well since then. Apart from storage limitations (500 GB), I haven't felt held back by this machine at any point.
However, I can't say I haven't been temped by shiny new things. Every time there's been a new generation of M chip released I wonder what the increase in performance would feel like.
But performance on it's own is unlikely to convince me to upgrade. I usually need three things:
itsThe MacBook Neo certainly fits the last point. It's an interesting device, I like the size, the colours, and that it's super cheap and can be used like a travel laptop. But there's no objective reason for this to be an upgrade. It can just stay as an interesting device.
The MacBook Air is also intriguing. I like the 15" model, as I'd get a slightly bigger screen size, and a thinner chassis. Even if it's fan-less, and not a Pro version of an M chip, I think a base M4 chip would perform better than an M1 Pro, so there's an objective improvement. For something interesting,I like the darker grey colour, and I would really like a thinner laptop. But the screen would be a downgrade, so it doesn't meet the first point.
Once I was at this point, I thought I'd check the MacBook Pro. It's the same model, so it definitely meets the base expectations compared to my current laptop. It's the newer model, so objectively every component is better, especially the chip. But it's the same chassis, same colour, same weight... There's nothing particularly interesting about this laptop.
So without anything breaking, or my use case changing, I don't think there's a suitable upgrade available for me. After 4 years.
If I was being negative, I'd say the Neo was rubbish, the Air has a poor display, and the Pro is boring.
But I think the reality is that the base model 14" MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip is simply an incredible device. I wonder if after another 4 years, people will still be happily using M1 chips. I suspect so.
2026-03-09 08:00:00
One reason I built Miniroll was because I wanted a place to discover new blogs to read. However, even if I added an explore page where you can view a random set of blogrolls and blogs that have been added, it's hard to judge a blog by a name.
But if you could just see a recent blog post, you may be more inclined to have a read.
That's why I've now create the Miniroll Global Feed for Miniroll Pro users..
It regularly goes through each public blogroll and fetches the lastest blog post. Then on the Global page, it will show the 100 most recent blog posts from all of the blogs.
I think it's going to be a better way to help with blog discovery. Personally, I plan on using it when I'm a bit bored and want something to read that doesn't evolve into an infinite social media scrolling session.
2026-03-08 08:00:00
There seems to be a very big gap in the capabilities of modern computers compared to the actual use case of the general person. Whether it's a phone, laptop, or any type of technology. Marketing and society seems to tell you that everyone needs to have the best version of everything.
But it's not the case. As for the general person, when they use a computer, they're probably doing a very small set of activities. Most people aren't editing videos, developing software, or doing anything particularly resource intensive.
That's why I've long thought the best (Apple) computer for most people was probably an iPad. You can watch TV/movies, browse the web, play games, read emails, etc. It does everything most people need.
But there's still one "problem". It runs iPadOS. And even as far as it’s come, it’s still not macOS or Windows. So there was always some level of adaptation needed, even if minor. As a lot of paradigms on how computers are used are simply different.
Whereas now, if you want an Apple computer, and you either don’t need to do particularly complex tasks, or you’re on a tight budget, then I don’t think the iPad is the best choice anymore.
It's obviously too early to say this for definite, given it's literally only just been announced. However, I think the MacBook Neo will take that role. It's a modest computer compared to the other options, but it does everything that most people need it to do. It's also at a fantastic price point, which makes a big difference. And it's still a Mac, which brings a sense of quality and status.
I think the Neo will become the Apple computer that will be recommended for people that “just need a computer”.
2026-03-03 08:00:00
At the start of 2026, I wrote about wanting to produce more this year, and so far I've been doing just that.
Back in January I launched Miniroll, a way to create, manage, share, and embed blogrolls.
Since then, I also soft-launched Miniship, which lets you create, manage, and embed changelogs for your project. And just last night I shipped Minifocus, which is very niche, it lets you a central "focus" state and then embed elsewhere.
Miniroll was the first thing I shipped this year, and it's doing well. There are over 30 users, some of them paying for the premium features, and over 30 public blogrolls.
It's still very fresh, but it's starting to feel like a relatively complete product. You can create private/public blogrolls, import/export OPML files, embed blogrolls with various styles and options, generate combined RSS feeds, and quite a bit more
I personally like checking the explore page, and using the Random Blog button to find something new.
As I was working on Miniroll, I was keeping an updated changelog on the site. Which I then reaised could be a service by itself. So Miniship was born.
I didn't do a big launch, as I'm still working through feature development. But the core is ready right now, and now I'm working on adding a premium level. Right now you can create a single changelog which has it's own RSS feed, and it's own public page, which you can embed on your site directly.
I've already added changelogs for all three Mini projects to Miniship, and I already find it useful myself. So I suspect other people may also find some value in it as well.
Now for the latest experiment, Minifocus. This is a project that I built for myself, and was because I wanted a dynamic "current focus" on my blogs home page that didn't require a full rebuild to update.
I don't expect it to gain much attention, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's only me that uses it.
All you can do at the moment is to set a current focus, and then view it on a public profile or embed it on your site. There's an explore page, which in theoery will show the most 100 recent updates, but it's just myself a the moment.
I may add a few small tweaks, such as being able to see and quickly select recent entries. But I don't expect I'll add too much.
