Defiant Sloth

Agree with Panzer on this over at his new blog — Opinel knives are an exceptional deal. Inexpensive and sharp, they’re a perfect knife to have around the house for prepping and serving charcuterie boards, vegetables, and fruits.

Already missing this excellent Variedad Colombia F6 Natural coffee from SK, which alas, was in short supply and I didn’t buy enough. It was magnificent, jammy, wild.

Kudos to this concept — solo dates, artist dates, dates with oneself, whatever you want to call it, some respite from staying at home by yourself and instead pushing out into the world for a dinner, a hike, or another excursion sounds mundane but is a rewarding practice to adopt.

We’re entering the era of streaming platforms licensing their content back to Netflix. Hard to reckon with their 247M subscribers worldwide when your platform is less than half of that. For studios like HBO, it’s an overt but effective marketing investment to bring awareness to their offerings.

This Reading Rhythms party in New York needs to gain traction elsewhere. This is my kind of vibe:

The parties, which began in May, take place on rooftops, in parks and at bars. Show up with a book, commit to vanquishing a chapter or two and chat with strangers about what you’ve just read

While hearing about additions to the Apple News+ offering is good, I agree with Dan Moren — the UI and presentability of News+ needs work. The primary feed, for instance, doesn’t have a way to sort news themes (alt., Artifact does this well). It’s paramount to have a good news reader for the masses.

So glad someone wrote in detail about Uniqlo’s incredibly well-designed self-checkout system. So simple with RFIDs, and it’s all about their streamlined execution with the bin size. If you haven’t tried it, get to a store and buy some Heattech!

Lots of folks have been posting about the default apps they use, but I’d rather just shout out a few truly amazing ones that I frequently use and/or really enjoy.

Things - I’ve had this since v1.0, and it has never left my Mac, iPhone, or iPad. It’s truly the one and only inbox of stuff + todo app to rule them all.

NetNewsWire - I’ve gone back and forth between this and Reeder, but I just love how NewNewsWire looks and works. It blends seamlessly into the platform it runs on, and the UI gets completely out of the way for scanning feeds and reading posts. Simplicity. (And open sourced)

Overcast - It’s difficult to compete with the big podcast app from Apple, but Marco Arment has persevered for years. Great features to intelligently skip silences, augment audio, and build super smart playlists are done in ways that make the experience better for its users than anything else on the market.

FT Edit - The standard subscription to this British rag is eye-watering for anyone outside of the financial industry, but the $5/month streamlined subscription through this app is remarkably well done, and I find myself reading the majority of articles (eight curated each day). Simplicity and quality are better than an infinite scroll.

iA Writer - I can’t believe this has been around for over 10 years. It was one of the original minimal writing environments, and its progress over the years is a testament to how selective iA has been in developing feature expansion while resisting the urge to change the fundamental interface and capability. Brilliant. (Its signature blue cursor is also gorgeous)

Remind Faster - Not even sure who originally recommended this, but this super focused app is exceptional at natural language inputs for Apple’s Reminders app. My brain works better using this vs Siri for quick reminders (even if it’s to just grab the laundry in 40 minutes). Its UI is a masterclass in optimization.

FoodNoms - A delightful app for tracking nutrition. Admittedly, I only use this in sprints throughout the year to calibrate my brain around what I’m putting into my body, but… whenever I use it, it’s a joy. The developer has also employed AI in a wonderful way — type out a brief description of what you ate, and it estimates all the nutritional values to input into your daily tracking without navigating its database.

Flighty - The most reliable, iOS-friendly flighty tracker before, during, and upon arrival you can use. It rules.

Safari - The core Apple iOS browser never fails to excel at its singular purpose – surf the internet well. It rarely chokes on any page, and its performance smoothly cruises along regardless of how many tabs pile up inside.

Saw this piece from the WSJ, and they’re certainly onto a significant change sweeping across physical retail these past few years.

Sure, we’re seeing the rationale by way of the “rise in ecommerce” (15% of all commerce now) and a “growing distaste for giant emporiums”, but Ms. King also points out behaviors are changing to smaller spaces for dine-in delivery and grocery delivery apps, negating the urge to visit large retail areas.

But as these perspectives usually go, there’s a broad swath of American shoppers who don’t live inside city densities, and don’t have access to a myriad of stay-at-home delivery services. Plus… swaths of Americans are also moving out of city centers, which beckons a difference kind of retail angle:

Retailers are trying to get closer to customers who are moving to the suburbs, working from home a few days a week and want the convenience of drive-through and curbside pickup.

Additionally, most malls have shifted gears to focus on food halls and hospitality, as well as ramping up loyalty programs and data monetization with advertising partners. When the game changes, the businesses adopt.

A major omission from this piece, however, is the future (my prediction) trend of maximizing ever-smaller spaces with virtual environments. While this still may seem a ways off, the use of mixed-reality and spacial computing devices, especially advanced ones like Apple’s upcoming Vision platform, will allow retailers to turn any space – including one’s own home – into a simulacrum of a brand store, bursting with virtual aisles of perusable products projected in their actual shape and size.

The next decade in retail is going to get weird.

This Solo Magazine, dedicated to all things coffee, looks wonderful except for the eye-watering shipping costs to the US.

While I cherish a good print mag, I wish some of these folks would sell an alternative digital PDF.

Huge advocate for iA Writer (been using it since it launched years ago), and they just unveiled their physical iA Notebook concept. It’s a whimsically fantastic idea, executed perfectly. I really hope this manifests as a buyable product as it absolutely would get me back into writing on paper.

Making a few predictions in commerce for 2024 via MediaPost. Let’s call it a fairly informed finger-in-the-air.

Scavengers Reign is one of the most surprising, strange, and best shows of the year. So glad I happened upon this – binged the entire thing in two days.

Ann Kim’s take on Spam at her new restaurant sounds fabulous, even if Hormel is policing its usage for good reason (is it real Spam or not – she’s calling it “Ann’s Ham” now), it’s still intriguing to see chefs riff on the concept.

You rarely hear about the failures of screen productions, but the New York Times has a thorough one on a recent Netflix foray they eventually shut down. Fascinating way to squander millions.

Partially agree with Dave Winer on journalism in the AI era — they need to stop leaning so heavily on ad tech and holistically build their own.

Start an AI news service, combine the flow of all competitors, and distribute the money the way you wish OpenAI would. That’s honorable, and it might work. Basically, all information, including journalism is making another leap, with or without journalism.

A seat at the Dubliner.

The sustainability scorecard that Nisolo provides is a great example (and direction for others to follow) in standardization for product pages. I know sometimes there’s a stretch in truth to these, but it’s a welcome reminder of a supply chain’s climate impact.

Really dig the Volvo CEO’s take on focusing recurring revenue outside the car (e.g. maintenance) and avoiding the current fixation of manufacturers to monetize inside the car (e.g., replacing CarPlay… please never do this).

Received my physical mail (including two puzzles) to unlock access to Puzzmo, and it was a delightful approach to the sign up process. More of this, please!

Love taking public transportation for a slower but more appreciative immersion in moving about a city. Admittedly, I do too much driving/taxiing around here, but the Metro Transit has such nice buses.

Came across this article via Tracy Darnell's blog, and what an essay! A masterstroke of reflection on books that connects right into my brain-thinking.

I have new books to read, upcoming books I want to read, old books to read, and only one lifetime

Sure, you could say this about any format of media. But there's something way more visceral about the physicality of books. You can put them on shelves, pile them up on a nightstand, or optimistically smash them into your luggage. There is so much diversity in typography, images, color, sizes, and formats for books that it's a truly joyful medium to collect.

But is collecting books a problem when, as Molly Templeton admits, you don't get around to reading many of them, and instead, "think about them. Appreciating them, you might say." She "can’t wait to get lost in it. Just, you know… later." There are, alas, too many other distractions and demands of one's time, and books sometimes don't make it into your day.

Anyway, she nails it with this:

Can there be comfort in the things you’re not reading? Can they be books that are just waiting for you to find their moment? Stories you need, just not yet, like snacks you put in your pocket for later, stored up for when you really, really need them? I’m pretty convinced this is the case. Haven’t you ever picked up a book months, years, decades after it came out and found it was exactly what you needed to read just then?

Yes, there can be a comfort in the books you aren't reading, or the books you have read years ago that you probably won't read again but just maybe you might want to read again to revisit those feelings you had about it, or rather to simply meet the vibe of it. Books are magical, transporting, beautiful objects that require your imagination and literacy skills to unlock the potential of. Thankfully I've got some space still to store more of them and my partner isn't going to cast me out of the house (yet).

This retrospective on The Exorcist is marvelously done. Excellent headline typography and placement – half the fun was scrolling through the quotes from the attendees in 1970s.

🕖 Last updated: Dec 18, 2023

Back on my bullshit again.

I've been searching for, putting through the paces, and reviewing wallets for over a decade now. And I'm restless again, because someone must be improving the design to meet the holy grail of "nearly as small as the cards that go in it, with a smidgen of room for the occasional few bills".

There are many that come close.

But there are only a few that achieve it.

Considerations

I'll skip the pontificating because no one has time — The following facets were primary considerations:

• Material: Built with strength and longevity in mind. I prefer non-leather wallet materials, which ruled out brands like Bellroy and Saddleback
• Size: The aspiration here is minimal footprint inside any carry pocket — wallet bulge is disgusting. Hence the wallet shouldn't exceed the dimensions of a card by much.
• Functionality: When you get into this narrow arena, functionality becomes a consideration because these wallets are incredibly minimal, and some require pull-straps or other clever ways of extracting contents.

Top Three Wallet Recommendations

Here are the wallets you should be thinking about if you share a similar philosophy about the everyday carry essential:

From left: Re:Form RE:02, Tom Bihn Nik's Wallet, and Trove Swift

• Re:Form Wallet. This one surprised me — so much so that it's what I'm currently using everyday. Sleek, functional, and well-made. It has magnets for a slick bifold enclosure, and they rule. One of the two tentpole versions has a coin/AirTag sleeve option. Very pocketable, very thin, waterproof, and fair capacity (up to eight cards) make this is a highly recommended, top-tier choice.
• Tom Bihn Nik's Wallet: This has been a steady champion for years — a bifold miracle that's a pleasure to use. No degradation in the fabric or materials, including its enclosure strap, and it loads a handsome 5-10 cards, including several metal credit cards with the ability to stash cash all while conforming to a near-card-sized dimension. Incredible. Plus the fabric-feel of halcyon (or their ballistic nylon options) sings in the hand.
• Trove Swift: I've gone back and forth with this wallet for a similar number of years, and it's a rugged champ. True, some of the options for it include leather, but I recommend going with the carbon fibre. It has three slots snug against an Italian elastic band, so this thing is literally the length of a credit card (the slimmest you will ever get). It also features a rad little pull strap that quickly extracts your cards from one of the slots. It's fast, it's barely visible in a pocket, and it lasts.

And that's it. Look no further than those three. I'm not making any affiliate fees off this, so it's my honest opinion. Take with it what you will.

What did I miss?

A few considerations that make the rounds or that I've personally tried in the past that just don't cut it:

• Slimfold. A lot of folks like this one. I reviewed it years ago. It's okay. It's bigger than I'd like it to be, the materials are flimsy, and it doesn't feel confident in its design.
• Super Wallet. Probably my first minimal wallet purchase yeeeeeeaaaaaars ago. It did not hold up well. It's all just fabric. They made a leather one but I don't know why. Meh.
• Pioneer. I like these, but the material is super rigid, and their smallest form factor one (Molecule Cardholder) has too large a dimension. It holds up exceptionally well, though. Here's my review from a while ago. I'm also selling this one if you want it for a major discount.
• Peak Design Mobile Wallet: Lastly, this. It offers something neat for those who care: it comes in a stand variant (small flap that flips open to provide a stand for your phone), or without. Either way, this one is different in that is also magnetizes to your iPhone with MagSafe. Whether you care for it or not, this is still actually a sleek, small wallet with an unique fold-top design that, upon opening, pulls up and outwards to reveal your stack of cards inside. It's less organizable, and the material is the lousiest, but it still hits the mark.

Thanks for reading. Goodbye.

I used to follow Aisle One for years, but at some point the RSS feed I had must’ve dropped off and I inadvertently forgot about it. But recently it cropped back up, and there’s a fantastic newsletter as part of the new approach to content. Highly recommended.