Hard to believe it was that long ago. I was in my senior year of high school. It was January of 1981. Drummer and, since 1975, Genesis frontman, Phil Collins, came out with the first single of his first solo album: "Face Value". The song was called "In The Air Tonight". And the rest is history.

In many ways the song was a little strange. It starts off with a drum machine pattern that lasts through about 2/3 of the song (the clip here below has an actual drum track on it as well, from the get go: the result of pressure from legendary Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun, who was worried "the kids" would give up on the song if they didn't hear actual drums right away).

As the first part of the song progresses, it builds up towards "something". At some point Collins' voice is modified by a vocoder as he sings the words: "Well I Remember". You can tell something is coming, and I don't remember where I was the first time I heard the song, but I felt it was "coming in the air tonight" (sorry, couldn’t help it).

And then it's there. An explosion. That drum fill. A sound so powerful and unique, it would set the template for so many songs yet to follow. That climax, let's not mince words, that "auditory orgasm", Collins' signature drum roll that sounded so unique. And for good reason. Sound engineer Hugh Padgham had accidentally invented a "gated reverb" recording method that gave the drums an even more pronounced expression than they would normally have had. I did manage to catch Collins live in concert a few years later, and while that drum fill was super impressive, it couldn''t equal the unique sound of the studio original.

Much was said about the meaning of the song, the lyrics. In my senior year in high-school, my literature teacher, while talking about Herman Hesse's "Der Steppenwolf" even went as far as comparing the "Magic Theatre" encountered by the book's protagonist as he enters a hallway with doors giving him access to different aspects of his inner self, to the video-clip of "In the air..." and the imagery used in it.

As it happens, years later Collins himself admitted the song didn't have any particular meaning at all. The lyrics were pretty much improvised, and while they may have been borne from anger and frustration (Collins was going through a difficult break-up at the time), in reality listeners tend to give it whatever meaning works for them. I remember memorising the lyrics pretty much instantly, but this is one song where they didn't matter to me much. It was the mood, the steady build-up, the climax that did it for me. I couldn't get enough of it. I remember walking through my high-school hallways, between classes, with a classmate's headphones on my head attached to her Walkman in her bag, just asking her to replay that song over and over again.

I can't say that I was a huge fan of Collins' "oeuvre" past that point. He definitely had moments of greatness, even on the rest of that first solo album. From the almost experimental sounding "Droned", to the Beatlesque "Tomorrow Never Knows" and through the signature brass section of "I Missed Again", there are definitely some classic moments there. His work with Genesis also resulted in some interesting moments and memorable songs. But, to me, it appears that Collins' first ever release, "In The Air Tonight", his debut solo single, also marks his best work ever, his greatest achievement. I don't think he ever lived up to that moment again. But what a moment it was. All those 40 years ago.

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AuthorJehuda Saar
CategoriesMusic
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I know. I'm going to sound like a crazy person. Apple spent a good hour getting us excited about their new product lineup earlier this week, starting with the HomePod Mini and the whole iPhone 12 family, and all I could think of the entire time I was watching that extremely well produced video was: "MagSafe !!!"

Apple spent quite some time talking about 5G connectivity, new glass, the A14 Bionic chip, new camera capabilities and so many other "significant" advances in technologies, and my mind was stuck on some sort of magnet.

What am I on about ? What is MagSafe ? Apple dusted off an old name for proprietary magnetically attached power connectors they used to equip older MacBook laptops with. Leaving aside the fact that the concept was pure genius, it didn't survive the move to USB-C. But earlier this week they told us we could now apply that name to another "magnetic" concept: what appears to be, at first, a means to charge your new iPhone 12 without plugging in a chord. It turns out it is much more than that. In essence the same built-in magnets that can charge your phone will also allow attaching cases, wallets or any other accessory you could dream up, easily and effortlessly. And of course Apple has already stacked (and stocked) their online and offline stores with cases, wallets, chargers, you name it. But why stop there. Assuming third party developers and designers get access to the specs, you could imagine holders, stands, car-mounts, camera gimbals, electronic door openers and who knows what else. An entire MagSafe industry could sprout around these new products Apple just introduced, and personally I can't wait to see what people are going to come up with. And, ultimately, I believe MagSafe on iPhone 12 models is the last step before Apple doing away with a charging and data connector of any kind on future iPhones, maybe as early as next year. Maybe by October of 2021 we'll start eulogising Lightning connectors and face a future where "plugging in" anything into our phone will sound "passé".

So yeah, I guess I am a little bit crazy.

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AuthorJehuda Saar

During my high-school years I got pretty obsessed with a type of music that, in the 70s, didn't quite have a name yet. Musicians like Mike Oldfield (who used multi-track recording equipment to play every instrument on his albums himself) and Jean-Michel Jarre (with his analog synths at the time) captured my imagination and fed my fascination at the intersection of technology and art. Other such artists followed and I drank at that fountain, slowly realising not all of it was necessarily good, but also that it slowly became more common, and easy, to produce music alone, in one's bedroom, with some computer equipment and a MIDI-equipped keyboard.

Fast forward to today and it's amazing what one can achieve with a very limited budget and some curiosity. Talent is of course not a given, but that's less important if all you're looking for is scratching an itch rather than getting famous.

My own "gateway drug" into this world (other than many years ago starting to play with the free and very capable Garageband on MacOS and iOS) was Native Instruments' Komplete Kontrol M32 (approx €129/$120). With such a tool and any somewhat up to date computer running Windows or Mac, the sky is the limit....well, your talent is your limit. But as I said, I'm only scratching an itch here, so for now, I'll just enjoy the "scratching" and I promise not to foist (too much of) it on the outside world.

Talk about a symbiotic relationship: Apple benefits from banks getting in on the Apple Pay game which in return benefits those same banks. Now that sort of relationship might just create its own momentum and spin things up to an even higher level. 

Here is Bank Of America's contribution, though others including Wells Fargo, Citibank and Chase have their own campaigns going. Hopefully we'll see the service pretty soon outside the U.S. as well. 

Hard core mechanical watch aficionados are facing quite a choice with the advent of "smart watches" or "wearables": on the one hand they would want to keep up with the latest trends in "smart anything", and with the Apple Watch due out soon chances are the next big thing in "smart" will be worn on one's wrist, yet at the same time they wouldn't want to give up on their love and fascination of all things mechanical. What is one to do ? The first answer for what may be a new trend comes to us from luxury good makers Montblanc. Rather than give up on the mechanical time piece, this one gets complemented by a smart band attached to the watch and said band would communicate with a smartphone pretty much the way other such products by Jawbone or Fitbit do.

Looking at this example I have to imagine that there will be quite a lot of trial and error before luxury goods makers find the right solution (this one requires wearers to twist their wrists to get to the data) but we might see some creative ideas spring up from luxury good makers over the coming months and this is definitely a space worth watching.

Two concept videos of next generation iPhones: the iPhone Air and the iPhone 6C. Can't say the 6C concept excites me too much, but I really like the Air-concept. See for yourselves.

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AuthorJehuda Saar

Squarespace came out with a line of apps that are just too cool for words. I am testing the Blog app right now while writing these words. The idea is that I should be able to contribute to my site from an iOS device without giving it a second's thought. And you know what ? IT WORKS !!! Amazingly well. I am bound to use this app more often going forward. 

I also recently discovered that anyone can finally have a medium.com blog. So far I only ran a simple test and found that web app to be elegant, simple and fascinating all at once. Blogging is definitely alive and well, and digital reading probably only just in its infancy. Exciting times ahead.  

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AuthorJehuda Saar

It has been a long time since I posted on this site. The move to Geneva and getting back to corporate life will have that effect. But from a tech perspective the move has also been quite interesting, forcing me to get reacquainted with the "wonderful" life of Wintel, and I will no doubt find fresh material to mine on that front. More to come soon. 

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AuthorJehuda Saar

Quite some speculation out there about iOS7. Did Jony Ive have enough time to make dramatic changes to the look of the new operating system ? ​How "Flat" will the new user interface be ? We'll know in a few weeks, no doubt. But for now we can let our imagination wander. Some have gone as far as creating a concept video of what it might look like. Until WWDC, let's dream.

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AuthorJehuda Saar

Here is another exciting Kickstarter project that is clearly a harbinger of things to come. As you can see in this little video, CamFind's concept is "mobile visual search". Google already introduced this concept with Google Goggles, but the people behind CamFind say their technology is at least 4 times more accurate.

It is however easy to imagine what would happen if you combined this sort of tech with something like Google Glass. In essence the entire process you see here taking place on an iPhone would actually happen right in your field of vision. People around you wouldn't even be aware of the fact that you are busy researching them or checking out how much they paid for their furniture or new outfit. 

Just as exciting as it is creepy, no ?

Posted
AuthorJehuda Saar

A little over a week ago Apple came out with a cute little ad for Christmas. A young girl plays "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to her granddad using FaceTime. 

The makers of the app Futulele have seemingly one-upped Apple with their own version of that song. Very cool, especially since you consider that Apple's ad aired on December 22 and that Futulele's version was uploaded on December 23. The kind of quick turnaround video production I like to be involved with myself.

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AuthorJehuda Saar

Disturbing news: FaceBook might be interested in buying WhatsApp. The question is of course what FB is after. If all they need is the long list of WA users, WA won't be long for this world. If they truly want to continue to provide the WA service, the concern raised at the end of this piece is quite right: how will free and advertising-driven FB deal with the advertising-free and not so free app model that drives WA ? Could make for a messy marriage.

Posted
AuthorJehuda Saar