Friday Weekly May 30, 2025

Happy Fridays

Greetings and salutations my fine feathered fellows. One final Friday for the month of May and onward to June. 2025 almost already halfway through. Or maybe only. Depends on your point of view. 

Yesterday the big news was a pause on tariffs. Which was quickly followed by a pause on the pause on tariffs. So we’re pretty much in the same spot as before, but are cautiously optimistic.
 
What else is going on? A lot of cool stuff from Matt and Andy over at Salad. Apos x projects chugging along. And not sure about everyone else, but mosquitoes coming out in force right now. I’m having a staring contest with one right now on the other side of my office window. Big sucker. 
 
Oh, regarding the subscribing/unsubscribing from specific mailing lists from last time: I realized I made a logic error in how that works, so I apologize if you tried to leave this one and still get it. I’ll get that fixed and send it out again. 
 
Alright, here’s the interesting stuff. Have a good one everybody.

Philo Friday

Just some ruminations about things. Feel free to skip to the audio updates, or email me back with any thoughts you might have.

Something we discuss often around here is the idea of "ownership" and how the meaning of the term is losing value. Half the things you used to buy, you now stream instead. The other half does everything it can to get some kind of subscription service involved. Music, gaming, cars, software, movies, television. What exactly are we paying for if a company can take away something you "own"? To pay for the privilege of enjoying something so long as whatever provider deems it worth the trouble?
 
You buy a movie or tv show, and they decide it's not worth the server space or licensing fees, and take it down. You buy an empty case with a code to download a game which won't run unless your device is online and can ping the mothership. What happens if they go out of business or your internet goes down? 
 
What about the right to repair? Or to simply modify? Company A finds out you tried to replace the battery so they push an update to lock you out and brick your device. Company B gets a reading that your car air intake has been modified and now it doesn't turn on anymore. 
 
It's possible this is one of the old man yells at clouds hills I'm prepared to die on, but I feel like we're two steps away from toilets having a subscription service for flushing and I hate it. Just make a good product and let people enjoy the damn thing.
 
This is quickly going to spiral into how much I despise the infinite chase for "growth" so I'll leave it there. This is all to say, we want to make things people will enjoy and continue to enjoy whether we're around or not. We can't help you if your Gremlin explodes while you're trying to turn it into a flying car, but we surely won't stop you from trying. You're all adults. Do what you will with it. Tinker, tailor, solder, coder.  

Salad Updates From Andy

Hey Folks,
 
A quick update regarding the current lineup of Salad Design products. 
 
The SA-XC turntable moves one step closer. We have all parts and manufacturing sources figured out, pending any unforeseen issues. Our turntable is going to use a fully adjustable tonearm that can accommodate for virtually any cartridge. All of the aluminum and steel parts either prototyped or in production. While that's all getting finalized we're working on nailing down design details and finishing touches for the standard production version. 
 
For the HALO headphone stand we've finalized the design aspects and have sent the plans to the factory for a production sample to check for quality and any final touches that need to be addressed. First sample is on the way and we will make any adjustments as needed. 
 
Lastly, we have found a nice finish for The FLIP vinyl rack and are putting some love into a few final small details. We think it's looking pretty great and are excited how it's coming together.  
 
If you have any questions for us please feel free to reach out to us at contact@salad.design. Groovy.
 
-Andy / CEO

Quick Apos 𝒙 Updates From Tom

• Apos 40 Keyboard coming along. All designs have been completed and Sean has been working with the factory to get the first prototype made
• Merlin we are finalizing the launch plan with expectations to go live next month
• Rock Lobster is in the final phases of manufacturing and we are expecting it to launch late June or early July
• Also working on an IEM carrying case for the Rock Lobster. Sample is on the way and we are figuring out a name
• We are working on speaker projects and more details are going to come in the future.
  Check out the Apos 𝒙 collection...

Our Weekly Fixations

These are some of the things we're currently obsessed with around here. Music, science, tools, toys, etc. Hopefully we'll find something new and interesting for you every once in awhile, because knowing is half the battle.

Sean 
With Splitgate 2 launching recently, I’ve been thinking about the current state of multiplayer FPS. I was very excited for this game for a few aspects: 
It’s a multiplayer game that’s not specifically trying to be an esport or a battle royale

It’s a game you can introduce friends to and teach with minor learning curve
Match times aren’t 20-30+ minutes
It has a level editor (in-game with real time multiplayer and custom game browser!)
 
This kind of game hasn’t been popular in quite a while, yet many of these aspects used to be the norm for almost every multiplayer FPS. It seems like these criteria would be easy for games to achieve (besides the level editor, which is a huge cherry on top), yet almost no games release without trying to be an esport or have a crazy learning curve. Every game wants to have a cyclical meta, everything wants to have advanced movement tech (Splitgate 2 does have this but it’s not necessary just to play the game, unlike I’d say something like Apex, where if you don’t know slide jumping then you’re literally going to be left behind.) Games have come and gone that have attempted to fill this void, Battlebit Remstered (RIP), recently Fragpunk did a decent job, Halo Infinite essentially failed its core audience. Arena and big team shooters are a dying breed that have no reason to be. The recent resurgence of Battlefront 2 is a testament to that.
 
We need more shooters and multiplayer games in general to not care about individual players. The players themselves need to not care as much about individual players, and that needs to stem from game design. We need team games where there’s a critical mass, not a bunch of individual players who need to play perfectly in order for the other members of the team to have any fun at all. 
 
Shooters used to be the mindless casual genre, and now they’re impenetrable walls of abilities, movement tech, and wannabe streamer sweats. Can we collectively just play games together again and not care about individual performance and match outcomes?

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Alex
I'm done with the meat of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 now and can say now that this game is deserving of all the praise it's received. 
 
If you have memories of playing Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, or any other classic JRPG, and want some of that nostalgia: play this.
 
If you like a game with thought provoking story telling, characters you care about, and rewarding mechanics: play this.
 
If you don't like gaming at all, wait for the movie they announced. In the mean time the music is incredible. Enjoy.