Cruel Summer

Two more slays at once, how does she do it? This is going to be my most played album of the year easily at this rate

I haven't really decided yet. It's tempting and fits how I like to use technology, but I'm still skeptical of foldable phones' durability and the price is gross.

For me, the main draw of the idea is having a single device for most purposes rather than relying on having to charge, protect, carry, and store an iPad in addition, but still having the option for a larger screen for entertainment and other content. I actually think the matte display is a draw for me - I don't enjoy reading long form content on a glossy, reflective iPhone/iPad screen as it is, since the options are basically either full brightness (which is straining on the eyes already) or distracting glare, so as someone who's always wanted to integrate reading into my main device instead of also having a Kindle, I'm curious as to whether it makes things a little more pleasant in that way. But it's certainly not for everyone, I can agree with that - and financially it's not optimal at all. I agree the foldable thing could have been an idea the industry let cook a little longer though - I get the sense that Apple is doing this less because tech is where it would be if they'd wanted to do it in a vacuum and more because it looks like this is a market segment that isn't going away and they want to get ahead of it potentially dominating (not that there's evidence yet that it will, but still). I think in a few generations it'll feel like a more realized concept if this one succeeds and incentivizes some more intentional design and development work.

Even having a brand new iPhone Air in hand as I type this and being incredibly skeptical of the durability of foldables… the Duo does have me a little gagged, not gonna lie. Kind of wish the colors were a little more fun, but that doesn't matter all that much compared to how it seems suited for how I like to live my life centered around one simple, seamless device experience rather than a separate tablet and phone, jumping to my laptop half the time, etc.

Also my favorite album of all time at this point!

I'm not sure I'm following what exactly feels inappropriate about it to you, especially to the extent that you would scroll past quickly in public to hide it. It's a girl laughing.

Harrowing to think we have a few Pete Buttigieg supporters on this website. I hope you're comfortable supporting whatever slimy nonsense policies his corporate owners decide to make him a vessel for this time, couldn't be me!

The vast majority of it from age three on, and a couple things before that.

Decided because I wasn't using my iPad nearly as much as I'd thought to trade it in and change my phone to an iPhone Air, in Sky Blue while I can still get it since it sounds like they may phase that color out for the second generation. Y'all, the battery sucks on this thing, but holy **** is it beautiful - going caseless with just a screen protector. I will say it looks basically just white in most lighting, which I don't mind at all since I was on the fence between white and blue anyway; I try to keep my personal aesthetic and tech very, very minimalist and looking functional but refined. I'd read about someone saying it's the first iPhone since the X to feel truly cool and like a step forward to hold and use, and that's so true. Super intrigued to see how they iterate on it next spring, might even upgrade it at that time if it stays thin and light (and there's a nice subtle, minimal color I don't hate, even just the white one would work). So far I don't miss having a telephoto lens, I don't mind the bump as much as I thought I might, and I like having a little extra screen more than I expected (I'm a former iPhone Mini girlie and would go back to that in a heartbeat). As far as future form factors, I think my dream phone is a lot like this, but without a bump if possible (as technology eventually makes that possible), even if I have to sacrifice even more camera quality - and maybe with a screen that's a little smaller for my tiny hands, too.

Monetizing this kind of thing, even if the remorse is genuine, is so weird.

While I understand the movement for the new map, it's kind of messy to position this as "correcting" the map when it's just as "wrong" as the traditional Mercator projection is in a strictly technical sense - it just distorts things in a different way, shapes and angles instead of area. But I'm not delusional and don't believe that the US's opposition was for nuanced reasons.

The way all three tracks clicked for me tonight, oh she'll have my AOTY locked the instant this releases, like Melatonin alone

There are several that tempted me and I nearly had to go with Save Room For Us because it's immaculate and flawless, but I can't deny it any longer, I have to be honest with myself: Bouncin' supremacy! Just like this

I wish actual sales figures were more readily available so I could make a hilarious post about stanning a girlie whose biggest album has maybe 10k units there - so I guess instead I'll just say yes 1989 yes smash

Taylor and Charli actually doing the work it out on the remix thing - or not doing that idk maybe they can hate each others' guts and stay that way and it would be even better - would be such a collapse

Taylor will be quaking if Oklou drops the In Waves original score within the eligibility window, I just know it!

Not a lot of physical activity from her really but also she was very much pregnant at the time.

I feel like this tells the story pretty cleanly alone. Screaming at TLOAS being "notorious in stan spaces for having just okay longevity" on… the literal day it falls off the chart. And just in the UK, not the US, its biggest market, where it's still doing fine.

That's has very little to do with what I said or initially quoted. One Taylor Swift album (that's still top 40 in the US) falling off an international chart after almost a year isn't really representative of whether "it's always about debuts and first day numbers huh" in general, and really isn't a strong argument that she's "irrelevant." But like, you know that, obvi. Would you like to try again?

Most of the things you say about Taylor on this website are obvious rage bait, but this one, pretending that longevity isn't a pretty consistent part of the discourse surrounding Taylor Swift albums, just doesn't even work. I feel like you can come up with something better than that. Have you considered falling back to the usual rotating between several women who have less daily streams than her and saying that the pick of the day is the one that has finally ended her?

Where the **** is her next single and album then? Strike while the iron is hot mama you can't just slay as hard as GLB and The Subway and disappear

I'm sorry, but I'm really not buying it. It largely feels like more nonsense overhyping and attempting to claim that we're "in the AGI era" or whatever. As a user of these technologies in a professional setting, literally none of this matters while agentic tasks still cannot be reliably replicated with at least the accuracy of other modern processes - while it is still non-deterministic in nature and can't be relied on for consistent results. The promises of current agentic and generative AI technologies are honestly grossly inflated compared to real capabilities. By engaging with the doomer scenarios, people are falling for their marketing and directly contributing to how deeply ingrained generative AI is in our lives and how people and companies see it as a way to abandon workers and their livelihoods with no safety net in place.

I don't want that if it means less new songs to go around But if it's a longer album where those three don't take away from having more new material and sonically fit, then I think I'd be into it. It's a little weird because with the rerecordings and new songs, Science Fiction is sort of halfway between a real compilation and a wholly new project of its own, so it's tough to say if they really need to be on another project that has more of its own identity - but the new song on Single Collection Vol. 1 was later included on Ultra Blue, for instance, and of course Sakura Nagashi ended up on Fantôme. She really hates to leave a song without a place on a studio album. Even the Single Collection Vol. 2 new tracks sort of had their own project since she subtitled that disc itself Hymne à L'amour. Also, all three are among my favorite songs she's ever done, so if the album's sound fits them well, that could help!

An album HAS to be coming soon at this point, right? She never leaves singles orphaned, so this is the third cut from her next album after Mine or Yours and Pappaparadise, and it sounds like it'll be the best of the three so far. And from what I'm reading, this has been in the works since at least 2022, so I'm curious if it was from the same sessions as the new material on Science Fiction and whether it's essentially an outtake or just took longer to get right or was always intended for a studio album.