ramblings of joe

I’ve been thinking lately that it might be one of the most exciting times to be a curious person.

I’ve been in the tech space for 20+ years now, and there was always this pattern: you’d have an idea, get excited, and then hit a wall. You’d need to learn to code, or buy software, or spend months picking up skills you didn’t have. So the ambitious ideas just… sat there. Back burner. Daydream territory. It felt like that was just how it worked.

But it feels like things are shifting. With all the AI tools now, it’s less about what you’re capable of building and more about what you can imagine and how much time you want to spend on it. The tooling isn’t the blocker it used to be.

I keep seeing people do wild stuff. Personal websites that replicate entire operating systems. Interactive simulations of their own phones/apps. Portfolios in the form of 3D games. Weekend projects that would’ve been month-long endeavors before. The distance between “I have an idea” and “I actually made it” is shorter than ever.

It feels like you can just… try things now. See what happens. Take the leap.

Hot/lukewarm take: if you’re making good money, you should be reinvesting a reasonable amount into your health and wellness.

When LeBron spends $1M+ a year on his body we all say “wouldn’t that be nice”, but we won’t spend a proportional amount on our bodies/minds.

Albums 2.0 is available on the App Store! I’m biased, but it’s the best way to enjoy your album collection on iOS! 💿 If you listen to albums on Apple Music (including iTunes purchases), please check it out.

It’s free to download, and if you love it, unlock the Deluxe Edition for life for just $10.

I also put the finishing touches on the new Albums marketing site. I’m overdue for an actual “company” website, but any extra time I have to work on side projects goes into the project itself 😂

People pit Meta Ray-Ban vs Vision Pro as if there can only be one winner when they’re different paradigms. It’s more iPhone vs Mac than iPhone vs Android.

Meaning: even if both product lines “converge” at roughly the same spot, many people will still want both.

As the tedious parts of building software get cheaper, iteration gets easier, and craft matters more. The cream still rises to the top; the details still define the work.

My biggest takeaway from living on iOS 26 since β1 is that interruptible animations are more important than ever. Most people are talking about the looks, but the morphing views and menus are a bigger deal.

Even if you don’t adopt liquid glass, make your animations fluid.

The first rule of blogging is very similar to the first rule of Fight Club — if you ever write about:

1. Recommitting to regular posting, or
2. How much easier your new blogging setup makes posting,

…you’re guaranteed to abandon your blog for months. At least, that’s always been my experience 🙃

The last (checks notes – holy $%^#!), year has absolutely flown by. I won’t give you the play-by-play, but it’s been a good/wild ride.

Looking forward, I genuinely love this time of year in Utah. Everything is reaching peak shades of green, and the weather has finally settled into reliable shorts-and-t-shirt territory. Even better, golf and mountain biking season is back, bringing fresh energy into my life after the offseason.¹

Without making any promises, I hope when I’m writing another update in May 2026 that this upcoming year will be packed with at least half the fun and interesting experiences as this past year. If so the lack of blog posts will be worth it.