Movement. Adaptation.
Saturday Jan 24, 2026, 9:43 AM: This article was written a few days ago, and I rarely post on weekends. But Canada has, just now, been threatened with 100% tariffs on all exports, unless we cancel our recent deal with China. He called our prime minister "governor".
FFS.
With January comes new reckonings. And one thing is abundantly clear: the status of products that I once considered untouchable has changed. Part of this is due to an overall tech fatigue, along with a certain analog zeitgeist that, for me, has been percolating for a couple of years. But 2025—and these incomprehensible first weeks of 2026—represent The Great Accelerator.
I won't rehash what I think of the current US administration and their policies. I believe I've written enough about the subject. So far, everything I'd feared, or anticipated, is confirmed on a daily basis. Surreal, insane, violent, sheer stupidity and irrationality, all at a level difficult to comprehend. As our prime minister so eloquently said in Davos: this is a rupture, not a transition. Take the world as it is. Act accordingly.
For us that means the movement that began with cancelling Amazon Prime, with my switch to Kobo, and buying Canadian every chance we get, has now reached Apple. Not our devices—yet—but our services. Cancelling outright isn't an option—we're too deep into the ecosystem—but I've downgraded our Apple One Premier bundle to just Apple Music (family), and iCloud storage (shared). That's $180 less per year to Apple. A tiny drop, but it's our tiny drop.
Apple TV shows? What we've seen of the upcoming lineup doesn't do it for us. We can always binge whatever series we're interested in by subscribing to the service a month at a time, if we need to. We'll still be giving them less money. Apple News? I've grown used to it but 1) the magazine offering has dwindled, and 2) I typically count 12 ads in a single article—those are Apple ads, injected into "Subscriber Edition" content. And not just ads: cringy, bottom of the barrel stuff. Like, a dating service that exclusively "offers" Asian women. With pictures. I'm not kidding. Twelve of these as you're trying to read. The fact that I don't allow Apple to "customize my ad experience" might have something to do with it, but still: if this is the luxury brand image they're chasing, be my fucking guest. I prefer, by far, refining my RSS feeds in Unread.
Arcade is a non-starter. And as for Fitness: I can do this on my own without the much too happy and excited trainers who, for some reason, tend to lisp. Besides, I'm already there since I barely wear my Watch anymore. (1)
Another service I've cancelled: Readwise. I re-subscribed soon after the Kobo switch as it was by far the easiest way to export book notes and highlights. And truly, I have nothing at all against the company—I'm not aware of their politics and one of the founders is even Canadian. But I'm applying a holistic approach, one I realize may be unfair but falls into the category of this-is-the-only-power-we-hold. Canada "lives because of the United States"? Ok. We're "ungrateful"? No prob, buddy.
To replace Readwise, I'm using Highlighted, by Damir Štuhec. It's a simple, beautifully designed app that's actually meant to scan and organize physical book passages, but works just as well on e-ink content. Text recognition is perfect, and the app features tons of small, and smart, QOL details. You can tag, add notes, create custom or automatic page numbers, and export all of it in a variety of formats, including Markdown (which is what I use for Bear). It's also free. But there's a tip jar and I quickly sent money Damir's way once I decided to make Highlighted a central part of my workflow.
To review book highlights on an ongoing basis (like the daily Readwise emails) I combine Bear's random widgets with my Atomic Highlights system (which I now use less selectively). I may write about this in more details if anyone's interested.
Is Readwise more fluid? Yes it is. Does it offer extra features? It does. But if the goal is to slow down, and be more intentional, then these additional steps aren't bad at all. The friction even forces me to process my notes more attentively in order to import them correctly, and that's a plus, not a minus.
The elephant in the room is obviously Adobe, but I'm not yet willing to set my entire system ablaze.
When threats are made we must react.
In a changing landscape we must adapt.
We move—where movement is possible.
1: Someone during post-production makes aggressive use of a Deesser on every single mic. When listening through Airpods it's worse: everyone sounds like Sylvester the Cat. Thufferin' thuccotash (!)
