Mark Gurman shared some cool details about Vision Pro launch day procedures:

In-store pickup customers who order online can either take the device and leave, go through the in-store demo or do a 1:1 set up with an employee to verify size/fit. If needed, customers can swap sizes of individual parts.

If a customer sets up their device at home and there’s a sizing issue, they can come back to the store for a swap.

Employees are piecing together the boxes with the right component sizes to order.

I’ve run through the sizing on two devices multiple times and have been told the same headband size all but once (with the same light seal every time).

Even with the consistency of the scan, it’s comforting to know that the preorders are mainly securing your Vision Pro model (by storage size), not the unique combination SKU representing the headband size, light seal, and storage tier.

Seems like they learned from the original Apple Watch launch.

The packaging is giant - like about the size of two Mac Studio boxes or a large shoe box. The headset comes pre attached to the Solo Knit Band. There are also commemorative shopping bags - like with the original iPhone.

The hype is real for this thing. Commemorative shopping bags don’t matter to me, but Apple is trying to make this launch special.

I haven’t generally agreed with Louie Mantia.

I’ve never met him in person, and I honestly don’t even know if we’ve interacted on the internet. He always seemed just a little bit too opinionated. A little too closed off to hearing from people who disagreed with him. But you know what, I’m coming around to the idea that maybe he’s the one who has it figured out.

Let me back up… in the wake of the whole “Twitter thing”, a lot of people (myself included) have found ourselves asking if we should continue participating on Twitter. Some are doing so to take a moral stand. Others are wondering if Twitter is the kind of place that brings out the best in us, or even simply whether it’s good for our mental health. I’m increasingly feeling like it’s not.

So that brings me to what Louie wrote in the first post on his new blog back in November:

And in 2004, I finally made my own website with my own domain name. That felt like a big step up. Now I had my own space that I controlled. I could do whatever I wanted here. […]

I got to be my authentic self.

That really resonates with me. I don’t want to stress about posting something because I’m worried about who’s going to misconstrue a point that I hastily made (or condensed because of a character limit). I’m not interested in chasing the little dopamine hits when a few people tap the like button. I just want to be me.

Again, Louie:

It didn’t used to be like this. The web used to be a collection of independently-operated sites that we all individually controlled.

So for real this time… 2023 is the year of going back to the open web. This site is unapologetically me.

What an outstanding piece of writing. I felt like I was riding alongside @joshm in the back seat of the Chevy Tahoe as I was reading it.

So many of the points and asides resonate with me. It’s as if Josh plucked the thoughts and feelings right out of my head and wrote about them for the world to read. I won’t begin quoting them because I will never be able to stop. The entire thing is wonderful and well worth the time.

Even though we start out trying to avoid “5 top line phrases with bullet points underneath”, we end up with some pretty great top line phrases (and some wonderful bullet points underneath):

1. Show up with heartfelt intensity
2. Start with ‘what could be?’
3. Assume you don’t know
4. You’re on the hook for the team
5. Make them feel something

These values (and the stories behind them) are powerful and inspiring. I hope to embody them in my own work at an early-stage startup and carry them with me into future endeavors throughout my life.

Thank you Josh for writing them down and for taking us along with you on some of your road trips.