Phil Bowell

It had been a long day. The drive back from the office hadn’t been smooth sailing, traffic was heavy with a sudden downpour only serving to compound the issue. Disconnecting his phone from his car he noticed a new notification from How we feel, taking a moment he found tired and logged the emotion.

As he approached the door he heard the familiar click as it unlocked itself, stepping inside the door the sound of the disembodied voice echoed down the hall… “Welcome home Ezra, it looks like you’ve had a long day at the office.” Flopping down on the sofa he heard the soothing sounds of his favourite Ludovico Einaudi album begin to gently play over the speakers in his living room, the lights dimming to a warm glow. He checked the time, 20:15, “Siri, message Michael to apologise for missing home group and tell him I’ve only just got home.” “I’ve sent a message to Michael”.

Prising himself off the sofa he walked over to the kitchen, the glow of the lights brightening and the kitchen ones turning on. Opening the fridge, he sighed. He forgot to buy dinner on the way home, “Siri, order my usual from the Chinese.” “No problem Ezra, I’ll let you know when Hakka Chinese responds”.

Back to the sofa, he turned on the TV, the music stopping automatically and the lights dimming again. The words What would you like to watch greeted him? with next episodes of the three shows he was working his way through beneath them. A notification pops up in the top right of the screen “Hakka Chinese has accepted your order, it will be delivered in around 30 minutes.”

“Time for a shower” he says to himself aware that the music starts playing over the speakers again as he makes his way to the bathroom.

Showered and changed he plops himself on the sofa again just in time to see the status of his food order change to Your rider is nearby, please keep an eye out for them. Before he’s had chance to pick what show to watch a new notification pops on screen from the doorbell and the voice says “Ezra, your food is here”.

I’ve been thinking about the smart home a bit of late, and I can’t help but think what we have isn’t really that smart. The thermostats are no better than the dumb ones people have been using for decades. The smart bulbs are cool, but are they really better than a normal one with a dimmer switch? The various sensors can be useful, although when one of mine recently fell off the door frame thanks to the heat I’m not sure how helpful the notification I received was.

The devices we have in our home to make it smart, are only smart once we’ve programmed them and set them up to do what we want. That begs the question, what would make them truly smart?

At the moment everything feels segmented (this might be because I’m using HomeKit) and silo’d to certain devices. Some of the elements in the scenario above don’t feel that far away now they are because devices don’t talk to each other properly.

It feels like a situation where the pieces are already there but they haven’t been put together in a cohesive manner yet. Fore example, if music is playing on my HomePod controls appear on my iPhone, but timers don’t… if there’s a timer on my iPhone but I’m watching TV using an Apple TV nothing happens when it goes off. Why doesn’t the TV pause and a stop/repeat UI appear on the TV? Chances are I’m cooking so need to pause what’s playing anyway. I can receive notifications from my iPhone on my Mac, but not on my iPad or Apple TV. Why can’t that technology allow the live activity from a food delivery app sit discreetly in the corner of my Apple TV?

These are just small pieces of low hanging fruit that don’t feel like big asks (famous last words) and I’ve not doubt that a proper smart home could do even more. Really all I want a little quality of life enhancements that don’t cost the earth to setup and that just work out the box.

The last few days I’ve seen a few links shared that go to substack, every single time I’ve seen the url and turned away from clicking through. Same with Medium. Each time I say to myself, why don’t they have their own blog I’d much rather visit that.

Figma is so close to working really well on iPadOS 26. If they can make zooming with a trackpad work like it does on the Mac then it’s basically there.

I’m trying out a new way of writing at the moment, trying to set a scene and tell a story. It’s fun, but it feels like I’m turning more and more introspective each time and I’m not sure how much of a good thing that is.

It’s raining outside but it’s still a balmy 18 degrees. Whilst the rain is refreshing, and the plants really need a good soak, it makes inside humid, especially in this coffee shop. It’s not my usual morning coffee spot, but the batch brew is nice and the music is creating a nice ambience. The drum beats mix with the clatter from the espresso machine and the hubbub of people chatting.

There’s an interesting mix of socialising and solitude. People on their own are smiling to themselves as they tap away at their phones, the couple in front of me sits opposite each other but they don’t converse. Little words between each other, whilst holding their phones. Together but separate. Connected but not present. It reminds me of the pub I used to work in when I was eighteen. Beer replaced by coffee. Newspapers replaced by phones. Crosswords replaced by games, or perhaps digital editions. On the surface not so different, but yet it still feels like it is.

I remember seeing a photo of a train carriage in America from decades ago. People on their commute all reading the newspaper catching up with the world before their day at work. It’s a similar scene today.

We may decry the effect that our devices are having on us, our ability to concentrate and focus, the most connected to the outside world we’ve ever been with the highest rates of loneliness we’ve ever been aware of. I don’t want to minimise those thoughts, but I wonder how different we really are to the people in that photo from 60 years ago? Perhaps it is the speed of things that is the real problem. There is no need to wait for the newspaper the next morning to get an understanding of what is going on in the world. We can see it happening in front of us, in near real time, with all the inaccuracies that we can dream of. No one goes back to correct or check, there’s no verifying, just moving on to the next thing. Even people who care about certain causes don’t take the time to learn. They feed upon the fire hose of opinion, of misinformation, there is no time to study or learn. Instead they must signal where they stand and move on.

It is sad, but I get it. Everyone is busy. Not everyone has the ability or desire to inform themselves fully before forming an opinion. It is easier to react and move on with the day.

The couple in front of me have been replaced by a Dad and his Son. Coffee and apple juice, sharing a pastry together. A moment of connection in a world of solitary people, they bring a smile to my face.

It’s hot in England at the moment. The country is being hit by another heat wave with temperatures sitting at around 30 degrees. It’s not the hottest but the heat here is different to other places.

Looking at my weather app it tells me Cheltenham is going to have the same high as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv today and I find my wishing I was facing the heat there rather than here. Tel Aviv might be sticky but at least it’s by the sea, the beach a short walk away, paddling in the warm Mediterranean waters a nice way to cool off. Jerusalem is high up, its heat is drier, the evenings cooler. It’s a gentler and more relaxing heat, like a good holiday.

This morning isn’t so bad. I stood at my sliding door eating my breakfast, some Greek yogurt with blueberries and almonds, listening to the world go by. It was oddly clam and tranquil. I could hear birds twittering away to one another. The traffic noise was gone, maybe everyone went to the office early or has stayed home inside where it’s cooler.

There’s a man replacing a windscreen at the end of the road. I can’t hear his radio, perhaps he doesn’t have one on. He seems engrossed in his work. The new windscreen held up on a rack as he polishes it, paying attention to the finish making sure there are no streaks. The only sounds I hear now are my fan and the scrape of my spoon on my bowl as I finish my breakfast. It’s time for a coffee and to get back to work.

Back at my desk to do some work I’m drawn not to the messages on Teams or my design in Figma, but to Ulysses. I start a new sheet and begin typing this. I want to capture the feeling of this morning before the real madness begins. My first call is at 10:30 and then it’s back to back until 14:30.

The events of this weekend seem to weigh heavy on me. Glastonbury and the BBC have a lot to answer for. Our politics may not be similar, but how they can justify the hate speech that they gave a platform to makes me feel sick. What’s worse is the number of people who joined in. My country disappoints me more than it ever has at the moment. It feels like society is crumbling.

I’ll open my Bible for a few minutes and then get to work once I’ve published this. It’s the only thing I can think of to stave off the spiral of despair.

Trying a new thing this week. When I’m at my desk for work, my iPhone is not with me it’s across the other side of the room. Let’s see what impact this has on my mood and concentration levels.

I had somehow missed that when using tiling on the Mac you can drag the gap between two windows to resize them like the old split view on iPadOS.

Decided to give the new Reeder a go for RSS. Seems to be ok after the first day, but we’ll see how well it syncs up.

I might be doing a silly thing, but the iPadOS 26 beta is currently downloading. I need to see the new design on a device to know whether my designers intuition is right or not. I have accessibility concerns, but can’t help feeling excited.