Backblaze Hard Drive Stats for 2020

Every year, Backblaze, the online backup service I use, publishes its failure rate for the hard drives it uses in its backup servers. The latest report is up and this is useful data. In 2020, they added nearly 40,000 drives and monitored 162,530 drives. With those sorts of numbers, you can get an idea for what hard drive manufacturers are cutting the mustard.

My big take away is that drives are getting better. The overall failure rate is down and big winners were Seagate and HGST. If you need to buy any spinning drives, I’d recommend checking this out.

The Growing Movement for Hyperlinking and Contextual Computing

Ryan Boren, the former lead developer of WordPress, has thought a lot about text, hyperlinking, and contextual computing. His recent post assembles a lot of resources about the importance of text and linking, including my own post on contextual computing.

There is a movement afoot to democratize text and hyperlinking on the web, in apps, and across our computers. For the longest time we’ve been spinning our wheels using computer data (particularly words) as digital approximations of the printed words that came before them. That needs to change. Using hyperlinking and contextual computing, we take the written word (and the underlying paradigm about how we work on a computer) from one dimension and convert it to three dimensions.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this myself and I truly believe dynamic, bi-directional linking across files and apps can dramatically improve the way we use our computers and develop our days. It is the way for computers to truly serve the role as “bicycles for the mind”.

Get Quality Calling Cards from Hoban (Sponsor)


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Do you know what a class move is? It’s when you meet someone for the first time and you had them a quality calling card. This week’s sponsor, Hoban Cards, is how you can make that class move. Hoban Cards uses a 1902 letterpress machine to make beautiful cards that people will never forget. (Watch the Hoban letterpress process in action.) Forget discount print centers and laser printers. Instead, get some cards that make a statement. I’ve ordered Hoban Cards and it doesn’t actually take any more of your time to get these cards made. Just go to Hoban Cards and push a few buttons and then they arrive in the mail. I sure love mine and I bet you will too.

Evan and the gang at Hoban Cards are entirely dedicated to making the best possible calling cards. They have some beautiful templates to choose from, or you can roll your own.

There is no doubt I am a geek, but I have to admit that I love handing out letterpress cards. It is always a conversation starter. Put simply, Hoban Cards is where you go for the unique and classy alternative to conventional, mass-produced, soulless business cards. Best of all, use ‘MacSparky’ to get $10 off any order. I’ve been carrying Hoban cards for years and I intend to keep carrying them for the duration. You should too.

DEVONthink Updates


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DEVONthink got some significant updates today. First, DEVONthink To Go 3.0 is out now. They’ve made no mystery of the fact that they wanted to substantially improve their mobile app and they have. This new version is much closer to DEVONthink on the Mac. The mobile version now has support for multiple windows and the pointer on iPadOS, dark mode, and context menus. They’ve also added a number of new settings to personalize DEVONthink To Go. Other new features include:

  • OCR converts scans to searchable PDFs on the device.

  • Shortcuts actions let you automate everyday tasks and integrate DEVONthink To Go with the rest of the iOS ecosystem.

  • Documents can be opened and edited in other apps directly from the Share sheet.

  • Version 3.0 supports Mac-style document annotations and ratings, unifies inboxes, tags, and trash groups like on the Mac, and adds new global smart groups.


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There’s both monthly and yearly subscription options, as well as a one-time purchase. If you have version 2, you will be able to choose a free upgrade subscription until the end of July, 2021, and receive a discount on the one-time purchase. I also dig the new icon.

They’ve also added CloudKit-based sync and released a new version of DEVONthink for Mac that also supports the new sync protocol. I’ve been using the betas and using the CloudKit sync. In my experience, it’s been noticeably faster and I’ve not had any data loss. Getting data (via sync) onto the mobile versions of DEVONthink faster and more reliably substantially increases the app’s overall utility. I’m so pleased that the DEVONthink team is putting so much effort into the iPhone and iPad.

Inside Details of Steve Jobs Keynotes

I was fascinated by this interview of Wayne Goodrich, who helped Steve Jobs plan many Keynotes at Next, Pixar, and Apple. The whole article is worth reading but there are two things that really stood out to me.

Steve Never Scripted Words

Steve didn’t script his presentations but instead used the preview slide just to show what was coming up next. The point was that the extensive preparation made scripting unnecessary.

“The Keynote development, the slide sequencing, the simplifying and honing were all part of his method for being as empathetic, emotive, charismatic and precise as he was on stage. It came from time spent working on the story with his slides, then rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing. Not from a script.”

This is the same way I prepare for all major presentations. I do so much planning and rehearsal, that there is no need for a script at show time. I’ve always felt that makes the presentation the most organic and allows for the most connection with the audience. Of course, in order for this to work, you’ve got to put in the work.

The iPad Nearly had Two Connector Ports

According to Wayne, the original iPad had two thirty-pin connectors, one on the bottom and one on the side. The problem was that Steve really hated the product photos with the unsightly 30-pin connector on the side. Wayne photoshopped a picture removing the side port and ultimately the port was removed.

“So, that evening before shutting down for the night, I photoshopped out the port on the long side on a few of the shots and sent them off to him [Steve Jobs]. I figured he’d see them in the morning and we’d have a good laugh about it. Instead he almost immediately called me as said, “These are exactly what I was looking for… oh you didn’t?” To which I replied, “I did” and the phone went click.

There was no way to get a beauty shot that Steve would accept with that port on the side, so the iPad shipped without it. It also simplified the presentation, which he liked.”

It’s hard to believe that they would remove a useful port to make a better product photo but is it that hard to believe?

Mac Power Users 574: Calendars, Contacts, and Tasks



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Stephen and I get back to basics on this episode of Mac Power Users. Check out how calendars, contacts, and tasks can be effectively managed across a range of devices and apps.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

  • SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!

  • The Intrazone, by Microsoft SharePoint: Your bi-weekly conversation and interview podcast about SharePoint, OneDrive and related tech within Microsoft 365.

  • Indeed: Get a free $75 credit to upgrade your job post.

Podcast Recording Software in Motion

For the longest time, many (most?) podcasters recorded shows using a combination of Skype (that we all love to hate) and Ecamm’s ingenious Skype Call Recorder (that we hate to update, seemingly once a week). It seems that between continual changes with Skype and Apple’s release of Apple Silicon, Ecamm has decided to stop updated Skype Call Recorder. Jason Snell has the full story. This really represents the end of an era for folks making podcasts.

So for the first time in a long time, I’m looking seriously at podcast recording tools again. For several years now, I’ve been using Audio Hijack as my primary podcast recording tool. It, in effect, relegated Skype Call Recorder to a backup system for me. (But when it comes to making podcasts, backups are good!) Below is my Audio Hijack setup for recording the Mac Power Users.


MPU Setup

When I took the above screenshot I didn’t have my MixPre (Audio device) or fancy headphones plugged in, but you can get the idea. I’m able to make three simultaneous recordings in Audio Hijack with 1) me alone, 2) everybody else on the call without me, and 3) a combined audio file. Usually, I only need that first recording but if the other person’s recording fails, I can use that second recording for a separate edit track. The third, combined, recording can be used to sync audio.

I can’t recall Audio Hijack ever failing me. Nevertheless, I really felt good knowing I had that Skype Call Recorder backup. With its demise, I can make a backup of me alone using QuickTime, but it’s really not the same. I’m not capturing the entire call. I’ve been talking to other podcasters about this dilemma and the collective wisdom seems to be leaning toward moving the entire recording process over to Zoom. Zoom allows you to make a recording of the entire call as the backup. Audio Hijack will remain the primary recording, I’ll just point it at Zoom instead of Skype. I’m not alone in reconsidering the workflow. I think Ecamm’s abandonment of Skype Call Recorder is going to end up changing the way a lot of podcasts are recorded.

SaneReminders For the Win (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by SaneBox, the power tools you can add to any email application. SaneBox brings a pile of tools to your email, making it easier to manage and conquer your email. One of my favorite features is SaneReminders.

Have you ever sent an email to someone asking “Where is that thing?” and then struggled to figure out how to follow up on that? Do you add a task to your task system? (Too time-consuming and tedious.) Do you just hope you’ll remember to follow up? (Too unreliable.) There really wasn’t a good solution to this problem, until SaneReminders.

With SaneReminders, any time you want to do one of those follow-up emails, you just copy (or blind copy) the email to some increment of time at SaneBox.com. For example 2days@SaneBox.com or Monday@SaneBox.com. The SaneBox robot then tracks that email you sent. If your recipient replies before the designated day, SaneBox assumes you got an answer to “Where is that thing” and leaves you alone. If, however, there is no reply to that email, SaneBox sends you a reminder telling you that you never got a reply. In the amount of time it took you to fill in a BCC field, you solved the email reminder problem, with SaneBox. I use this feature multiple times a day.

If you’d like to get SaneBox at your back, go check it out today. You won’t regret it.

Hey Email Gets Multi-Account Support and Hey for Work Released

The Hey team has been hard at work with several updates for Hey Email released today:

1. HEY for Work is now released. I’ve been trying it with one of my accounts and I’m impressed with its collaboration tools. Thread sharing with people on your team without hitting that damn BCC button is a massive improvement to team email. You can also move your work domain into Hey for Work as part of the setup. Another nice features is that the labels (tags) work everywhere and are consistent. That is not an easy nut to crack with other Mac email solutions.

2. Multi-account support. If you have multiple Hey accounts (e.g., work and personal) you can now see all that email at the same time or filter by account.

3. Revamped Forwarding + SMTP send-as support. There is better SMTP support so you can reply using alternative domain email addresses rather than your @hey.com address (partially depending on your alternative email host).

One of the big questions when Hey first arrived was whether it was going to be sustainable enough to merit continued support and development. It looks like that is no longer a worry. I’m impressed with the service, but I still don’t like the icon.