The Dann Chronicles: May 🌼
Taking an idea as far as it'll go, the new threesome behind Digg, Ive and Altman's ambitious plan, forced tech breaks, and reminders in natural language.
Hey all,
Forget last month's AI 2027 discussion. The Internet is now freaking out over Google's crazy new Veo 3 AI video generator, launched this month. Clips are now hyper-realistic and contain audio. The popular doomsday take is that this is the end of truth on the Internet as we know it.
I'm going to chime in with a more optimistic opinion. Society today is divided mostly because we're living in two separate worlds, each founded on different sets of truths. This is possible because the Internet has lent authority to competing sets of "facts," each forming the foundation of these worldviews.
Now imagine a world two generations from now. The ability to distinguish between AI and human hasn't existed for as long as you can remember. Humans have established new methods for trust and authority. The older generations still get fooled, but you were born into this world.
We're entering a new era. Things are going to be different. Suppress that urge to immediately jump to different == bad. The things that are new to us now will be native to the humans coming next. For those alive before these things existed, they may always seem bad. But for the rest, it remains to be seen exactly how society will absorb this new reality.
-Dann
👨✈️ Come fly with Fielder
If you're not yet watching The Rehearsal on HBO (the season two finale just aired), you're missing out on the TV event of the decade.
Nathan Fielder, the mind behind the series, is more than just the king of cringe (although he certainly is that, too). His content is both thoughtful and wholly original. His shows touch on something inherently human—all while being laugh-out-loud funny.
The joy in all of Fielder's work is seeing how far he can take it. Every episode of Nathan For You (his previous series) was an exercise in creatively exploring an idea beyond the point that most minds would travel. With The Rehearsal, the budget and ambition have grown even greater.
Somehow, he manages to keep topping his previous efforts. That's going to be difficult to do after this recent finale.
If you missed season one of The Rehearsal, don't let that stop you from watching season two. It's a standalone story led by a character who will be familiar even without seeing his earlier work.
Get ready for a ride.
🔁 The threesome to watch
In case you missed it, there's a power group of Internet movers and shakers quietly gathering behind the scenes. And, if all goes as planned, we'll have a brand new "front page of the Internet."
It starts with a cast of characters. It starts in the mid-2000s with entrepreneur rivals Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian. Rose launched Digg in 2004, and Ohanian launched Reddit a year later in 2005. Competition to be the de facto front page of the Internet was fierce—with Digg in the lead—until a poorly received Digg redesign resulted in Reddit growing into the monster we see today.
Next, let's meet Christian Selig, a solo iOS developer and former Apple employee who built the beloved Reddit mobile app Apollo. In 2023, in preparation for its IPO, Reddit decided to change the rules in a way that would have cost Apollo a reported $20 million/year to run. Selig had no choice but to shut his app down (as I wrote about in my June 2023 newsletter). Those decisions—and the way they were carried out—angered the community at levels that are difficult to properly articulate.
Enter 2025. In March, Kevin Rose announces he's teaming up with former rival Ohanian to acquire and relaunch an entirely rebuilt Digg. The idea has huge potential, and the Internet is all a-flutter at the news.
If that weren't enough, earlier this month it was announced that Christian Selig is joining as an advisor to the new site. Mic drop.
The official press release honored the Reddit/Apollo drama in a fantastic way that validated the community’s anger and makes me all the more excited:
When pressed on the Apollo/Reddit drama, [Digg CEO Justin] Mezzell said in a publicly recorded interview: "I simply won't comment on that. We're charting our own course here at Digg. But if I did comment, I would probably say '[redact] me sideways, what a fumble.' But that would only be if I did say something publicly."
A fumble, indeed. I'm looking forward to seeing what this crew has in store for us.
👁️🗨️ With hardware to match
Speaking of Dream Teams, there's another pairing of people that's poised to have a meaningful impact on the world (until AI destroys us all, of course).
Jony Ive (the OG Apple product designer) is teaming up with Sam Altman of OpenAI to build and launch a new "AI device designed to be ever-present, aware of its user’s environment, and free from traditional screens."
This will be the first official OpenAI hardware product, but it follows in a line of attempts and failures from other companies. I'm specifically thinking about the "barely reviewable" Rabbit R1 and the disastrous Humane AI Pin.
But I'm feeling much more optimistic about this new product specifically because it's a collaboration between both Jony Ive and OpenAI. Ive is the mind behind the iPhone's product design (among other revolutionary Apple products), and OpenAI built ChatGPT. Enough said.
As I've discussed previously, I think there's a non-zero chance that AI will destroy humanity. But I also think that until that happens, we'll see some really cool new products. I'm definitely keeping my eyes on this one.
👆 It's all in the fingers
Like so many others, my smartphone is my most-used device. Curbing usage can be difficult because so much of my browsing and clicking is muscle memory at this point.
Earlier this year, I decided to make a single change: use Reddit less. To help with this goal, I enlisted a new app: ScreenZen (iOS, Android).
Now, when I want to open my Reddit app (Lurkur, for the record), ScreenZen pops up to ask if I'm sure I want to open the app. If I say yes, it makes me wait five seconds. Then, I have a five-minute window to scroll before it locks down again.
All these settings are customizable, but this is what's been working for me. After first installing the app in January, I was surprised at how frequently I tried to open Reddit without even consciously thinking. Today, my behavior has changed completely. I give ScreenZen all the credit.
If you're looking for a tactic to curb smartphone use altogether, the greyscale method might be more effective. But for single apps and more granular habit changes, ScreenZen is a great first step.
🐎 Reminders Speed Run
Apple's Reminders app is a fantastic tool with a horrible user experience. Setting a reminder for a specific date and time is clunky and unintuitive.
The third-party app Remind Me Faster is the missing link that makes Reminders an actual pleasure to use. The free version vastly simplifies the creation of time-based reminders. Then, with a $3.99 one-time purchase, users can unlock natural-language input. Typing "remind me to take out the trash at 7pm today" does exactly that.
It blows my mind that this functionality isn't already built into the native Reminders app. But until then, Remind Me Faster is how I create 90% of my new reminders.
End note
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Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.
Thanks for reading. Until next time,
Dann
Hey Dann! Thanks for the show recommendations! :) Keep it up!
Regarding the Reminder app, you are 100% on the spot. If I use it, I ask Siri to remind me to take out the trashcan :)