At today's World Wide Developer's Conference, Tim Cook and company did as guru Steve always taught and unveiled some big things Apple has been working on to make all of our lives a little easier. (Or at least to help old people post photos to Facebook or something.) Among Apple's latest godsends are a very nice looking laptop and some wonderful new advancements in telephone technology that will hopefully eliminate the awkwardness of using a telephone forever.
Do Not Disturb Mode: Basically a switch for turning off all the annoying buzzings and blinkings and beepings that your phone does whenever you get an email or phone call or invitation to play Scrabble or whatever. You still get the alert, because your phone is still on, it just won't bug you about it. Annoying questions of phone etiquette at dinner have finally been solved.
Hang up and text instead: With one tap, your iPhone will hang up on that person who had the audacity to call you on the telephone and start drafting a text message for you instead. You could do this before, of course. But now it's even more convenient. Great news for those of us who just really hate talking to people.
FaceTime all the time: For those people you actually do want to talk to (Hi, Grandma!) picking up a FaceTime call means an end to awkward phone silences. Also: Grandma would love to see your face.
Anyway, come Fall, your iPhone will also have more deeply integrated Facebook, making it that much easier for parents and old people to load up your news feed. And there are also "VIP" folders for emails — so you can separate important emails from all the semi-spam you signed up for. Siri — however you feel about her — is likewise getting some upgrades so she might even eliminate the need for knowledgeable friends altogether.
