Here’s to the Normal Ones ⇥ time.com

Time announced its roundup of what it thinks are the best inventions of 2026. Among them are John Ternus — or so it would seem — and the iPhone Duo.

Andrew R. Chow profiled Apple’s new CEO, and this excerpt has caught some eyes:

But Ternus and other Apple executives say they aren’t concerned. In the midst of a populist AI backlash, they contend that they are building a modest but personalized and privacy-preserving form of AI that will actually help ordinary people as opposed to merely dazzling Silicon Valley’s “lunatic fringe,” as Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, puts it. And besides, Ternus argues, even if other companies succeed in their mission of building super-intelligence, users will still want to talk to it on Apple devices.

I hope the “lunatic fringe” is very upset about this. Perhaps they can be so upset that refurbished Mac Studios can be restocked. Oh, please.

Joining the iPhone Duo among the “best inventions” are the Brick and Dumbphone 2, two devices that attempt to get you to put away your smartphone, and the Plaud NotePin S, another entry in the apparently booming category of A.I. note-taking products.