September 2025 - Chris Ullrich dot net
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September 2025

The iPhone Didn’t Fail (Obviously)

It happens pretty much whenever Apple decides to release a new iPhone model (or models). Some dufus will dig up that old Engadget post of mine (from 2007, btw)  where I wrote about another dude’s opinion of the then brand new iPhone. In short, he predicted it would fail.

Not my opinion. His.

Still, people think it’s some sort of “gotcha” on me and hurry over here or on Reddit or wherever and talk about how dumb I was for saying it would fail. I guess they have a lot of free time and also don’t bother to read. I get it.

Let me explain a bit. In the “old days” of the Internet we had these things called Blogs (like what you’re reading here). Sometimes on these blogs we’d link to an article posted somewhere written by someone else and comment or give our own take on the subject and the article. This was one of those times.

So, I was quoting an article written by someone else and offering commentary on the other person’s opinion. An opinion I did not and do not share.

That happened a lot “back in the day.” We also tended to use “click bait’ headlines (like the one above), which helped drive traffic to our site. It worked. In fact, we kinda invented that technique. Sorry about that.

As for me, I’ve been an Apple fan for years and currently use an iPhone 15 Pro. I’ve also had about six or more previous versions all the way back to the absolute first one, which I waited in line for at the Sherman Oaks, CA Apple Store. I wrote a post about that too.

We had to post often in those days or we didn’t get paid.

I doubt this will do much to clear up the confusion, but I thought it would be good to at least give it a try. Maybe it’ll work? Let’s hope.

 

Letting Go and Analog Things

With all that’s going on in the world it occurred to me being online a lot and trolling social media is probably a bad thing. Bad for my mental health, bad for my level of anger and just bad in general.

I can’t be angry or anxious or feel bad almost all the time. It’s no way to live.

So, with that in mind I’ve been taking a sorta break from most online things. I still post on Instagram and look at photos or watch YouTube videos, but I pretend most other things don’t exist and rarely, if ever, post anything. No Threads. No Facebook. No Bluesky and certainly no Twitter (I will never call it X. Fuck that).

One benefit of not scrolling all the time is, well, more time. I’ve got more time to do other things. One of the things is writing. I’ve been writing more. It isn’t hard to write more than I had been. Any bit would be more when compared to zero, which is what I had been doing.

One of the ways I’ve started writing again is by doing a journal. Every night before I go to bed, instead of looking at my phone or iPad or whatever, I write in one of my favorite notebooks (the Confidant from Baronfig if you’re curious) with one of my favorite pens or pencils (the Uni-Ball 207+ and/or the Blackwing 602).

No, this isn’t a commercial for those products, they’re just some of my favorites. I do love my pens, pencils and notebooks. Some might say too much. But that’s crazy. You can never have enough. Fight me.

Writing every day and keeping a journal (or whatever you want to call it) has been great. I really like doing it and I think it’s become a habit. It makes me happy.

I’ve also seen quite a few people talking about writing a journal first thing in the morning. Getting all the stuff out of your brain before you start your day. That sounds great too and I will probably do that at some point.

For now, though, I’m happy with my progress and don’t want to take on too much. I don’t want to beat myself up if I can’t journal two times a day or something. I’m happy I’m doing it at least once a day, every day. I’ll take the small victories where I can.

So, if you’re feeling some ways about some things: angry, anxious, afraid, whatever, maybe trying writing those feelings and thoughts down in a journal. You don’t have to show it to anyone or even read it ever again. It’s just for you. It’s just to have a place to put some of those feelings and thoughts you maybe don’t want to keep inside.

I really think it’s working for me. It might work for you too.

With the additional free time I’ve also been reading more and watching some shows. Currently, I’m reading The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. It’s been awhile and I’m enjoying the Apple TV+ series so I thought I’d revisit the books.

I also read this great book called Make Time about, well, time and taking some control over your own happiness and satisfaction during the day and in your life. I don’t usually read this kind of thing (self-help or whatever), but these authors make a lot of sense. It’s definitely made me think about what I do during the day and how I spend my time.

Finally, I’m spending more time with my family, taking some walks and even making the occassional photograph. As always, you can find some of those on my Instagram.

Ok. That’s it for now. Be kind to each other.