Apple Corporation is Bad for Technology

[Boges]

NFC will be adopted. Make no mistake about that. It's too much of a convenience for people to ignore. If I can take my phone with me and not have to carry a wallet full of cards because my gift cards, boarding passes, and everything else are stored in my phone, I'm doing that.

Well that's the difference between a wallet or no wallet. What about your drivers license and health card? What about loyalty cards that don't utilize the service?

The technology is already available in Canada, what's the delay?

A single credit card takes up a lot less space than a phone. Some people, I know, just store a card in the back of their phone's case. It works the same way.

[msj]

Sure, and when I am out 'n about in Canada I still tend to use WiFi quite a bit.

Shaw Open is everywhere in my neck of the woods, WiFi at home, WiFi at the offices etc.... where ever I go I am usually connected to WiFi so I don't have battery issues.

And I hook up the phone to the car via USB when I'm driving so it is being charged anyway.

Hence, no battery issues.

You mean to tell me that people do not do this?

[Boges]

Sure, and when I am out 'n about in Canada I still tend to use WiFi quite a bit.

Shaw Open is everywhere in my neck of the woods, WiFi at home, WiFi at the offices etc.... where ever I go I am usually connected to WiFi so I don't have battery issues.

And I hook up the phone to the car via USB when I'm driving so it is being charged anyway.

Hence, no battery issues.

You mean to tell me that people do not do this?

Yeah, I do the same stuff, it's the cost of having a PC in your pocket.

I remember when I didn't have a web enabled phone, I'd be charging it 2 or 3 times a week, max. It's a pain, that's all.

A watch is an added hassle if its charge is only is supposed to last a day. Now you need to take 2 chargers on the road with you?

[msj]

Presumably it will charge through a USB connection so I will just use the cord and plug it in to the car if needed.

Or plug it in in the hotel room when I go to bed.

You do know there is electricity in other countries right?

[Boges]

Presumably it will charge through a USB connection so I will just use the cord and plug it in to the car if needed.

Or plug it in in the hotel room when I go to bed.

You do know there is electricity in other countries right?

Electricity isn't the issue it's the chargers.

Perhaps its a statement on the hotels I go to but often I'm looking for free outlets to plug in my devices when I go to a hotel. If you're with someone else that's 2 chargers you may want, if you both have smart watches, now that's 4 chargers. Just sayin'.

Look, if you don't mind having another device that requires daily charging then fine. But the battery life on these smart watches is the major obstacle for many people getting one. People just aren't accustomed to having to charge, what amounts to, an extension of your phone and a fashion accessory.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Boges

[msj]

You must pack really light.

The wife and I travelled through SE Asia with two bags about 10 kg each. We had the lightest bags in all of our group.

Still had room for two iPhones, two iPads, my Garmin watch and all chargers - which come with the products.

I guess this kind of thing really gets under your skin but for me it's just like carrying underwear - in fact that's pretty much where the chargers end up.

[Boges]

http://www.thestar.com/business/2015/08/04/apple-shares-continue-to-plunge.html

Apple’s share-price implosion continued Tuesday over worries about iPhone sales in China, helping drive down broader stock markets.

The tech giant’s stock closed 3.8 per cent lower at $114.64 (U.S.) on trading volume of 123 million shares, about three times normal. That continued a fall that gained pace in July when Apple said it sold fewer iPhones than expected in the third quarter amid elevated expectations.

That raised doubts about whether the anticipated iPhone 6s series can generate year-over-year growth on the scale of the company’s previous offerings.

Apple stock has now fallen 14 per cent from its $133.60 peak in February and is on track to post losses in the past five sessions and 10 of the previous 11.

On Monday, Apple breached a technical barrier seen as a marker between short- and longer-term trends. The shares are now in correction territory, viewed as a decline of at least 10 per cent from a significant high. It’s not clear, though, if the current price reflects a change in market sentiment, company fundamentals — or both.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Boges

[cybercoma]

It should have imploded over the stupid watch fiasco.

[msj]

It should have imploded over the stupid watch fiasco.

What fiasco?

The watch is neither going to make nor break Apple.

Apple gets its profits from smart phones where it continues to make 92% of the profits (with Samsung taking the rest and almost all other vendors losing money - see Microsoft's last quarterly results for the write down of goodwill on their phone division).

For those who want a smart watch it gives us choice - either get Apple or a different brand.

For those who are not interested in a smart watch then get a Movado or Rolex or Citizen.

Or set your wrist free and don't buy any watch.

Same applies for the phone - either get an Apple or get an Android or Windows phone.

Isn't that the point of competition? To give you a choice to buy the product you like?

And why be so judgemental about products other people choose to like and pay for?

[cybercoma]

The focus on the watch is a costly fad endeavour, but then I guess I wasn't as critical about the iPad and it too was a fad.

[cybercoma]

Honestly, I'm just salty because they've been dragging their feet on the AppleTV.

[Moonlight Graham]

Apple didn't invent rounded corner icons. That's a fact.

[Boges]

Way to copy the Microsoft Surface and the Samsung Note Apple!

http://www.cnet.com/news/as-iphone-6s-launches-new-apple-tv-ipad-pro-steal-the-show/

Stylus and a keyboard for the new iPad. INNOVATION!!!!

Apple is stubbornly not going with an iPad that runs full OSX though. That's why the PC method of doing 2 for 1 hybrids is still much better.

Apple isn't interested in saving consumers money. They want to keep people buying 3 different products as long as they can.

But when they finally relent and release a touch screen Macbook Air that can detach from its keyboard I'm sure iZombies will proclaim is the greatest technological feat ever.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Boges

[cybercoma]

I'm shocked that you're criticizing Apple today.

[TimG]

Honestly, I'm just salty because they've been dragging their feet on the AppleTV.

I can't figure out why people are so obsessed with AppleTV when there are plenty of existing options. What could Apple possible do that is not already offered by the Netflix, Hulu or any number of pay per view streaming operations? Edited September 9, 2015 by TimG

[Boges]

I can't figure out why people are so obsessed with AppleTV when there are plenty of existing options. What could Apple possible do that is not already offered by the Netflix, Hulu or any number of pay per view streaming operations?

It's Apple, that means it's automatically better right?

All media extenders are essentially the same.

The Chromecast from Google, however, offers several different options and is much more portable.

[Boges]

I can't figure out why people are so obsessed with AppleTV when there are plenty of existing options. What could Apple possible do that is not already offered by the Netflix, Hulu or any number of pay per view streaming operations?

It's Apple, that means it's automatically better right?

All media extenders are essentially the same.

The Chromecast from Google, however, offers different options and is much more portable.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Boges

[msj]

Have been using the watch now for the past week and love it.

Yes, Apple didn't invent anything here.

Except they have made something that I gladly use everyday.

Love the activity app and the Sportnet app.

The GPS has been awesome - used it in Kelowna last week and it's haptic feature as you approach a turn works superbly. (It vibrates to let you know a turn is coming up and it is strangely intuitive).

The problem being that I was testing it and comparing it to google maps and I still expect google maps to be better than Apple maps.

I was wrong - should have ignored the wife's iPhone and went with the vibrations on my wrist.

Would have hit the Canadian Tire sooner had I ignored Google maps.

That was a surprise. The first time when Google maps has been inferior.

[Boges]

Have been using the watch now for the past week and love it.

Yes, Apple didn't invent anything here.

Except they have made something that I gladly use everyday.

Love the activity app and the Sportnet app.

The GPS has been awesome - used it in Kelowna last week and it's haptic feature as you approach a turn works superbly. (It vibrates to let you know a turn is coming up and it is strangely intuitive).

The problem being that I was testing it and comparing it to google maps and I still expect google maps to be better than Apple maps.

I was wrong - should have ignored the wife's iPhone and went with the vibrations on my wrist.

Would have hit the Canadian Tire sooner had I ignored Google maps.

That was a surprise. The first time when Google maps has been inferior.

That's completely anecdotal. Regardless Google Maps gives multiple options.

But for an accessory to your GPS to cost $500 is completely over the top.

[msj]

That's completely anecdotal. Regardless Google Maps gives multiple options.

But for an accessory to your GPS to cost $500 is completely over the top.

But it is more than that: stocktwits, email, photos, gps dash etc etc.

It is awesome. And one should compare the cost of this to the cost of an equivalent smart watch.

Except Apple's perfectly integrates with my phone and iPad.

Oh, and it actually looks good.

[msj]

Well an update on this watch thing:

The SportsNet app is finally working which is nice as it allows me to ignore sports and just get a vibration at the end of each quarter with a summary of the score. That's about all I'm willing to spend on "watching" sports in my advancing age.

My wife loves her watch too and I forgot just how man centric I can be.

She carries her phone in her purse so it really is convenient to get notifications on her watch and to send quick texts and take phone calls on it (not in public though, but at home). Saves her the hassle of digging through the purse etc.

Also nice for me as when I'm tying to track her down she no longer has the excuse of "I didn't hear my phone because the grocery store is too loud."

It is similarly convenient for me not because of my man purse (I have one but only use it when travelling - it is Indy Jones style) but because my phone is often tucked away in my wallet/case.

Overall I am surprised that I have so willingly enslaved my wrist after decades of not wearing a watch.

ETA: also nice to control music from the watch. When we're in the car the wife can skip songs all she wants and when we're at home we can also control the music/loudness easily from our wrists.

No, not new tech but very handy.

Edited October 31, 2015 by msj

[Bryan]

It's Apple, that means it's automatically better right?

Not always, only 95% of the time.

[socialist]

Not always, only 95% of the time.

The Corporate World will soon be rolling out their "Final Solution" to labor costs: Robotics. But robots don't buy houses, appliances, cars, swimming pools, TV's, or have kids that go to college.

The Wizards of Smart told us it was okay to allow our economy to go from a Manufacturing Economy to a Service/Consumer Economy. When the vast majority of the human population has no income to spend, there will be no demand for Consumer Goods. The economic cycle collapses as Demand for Goods evaporates into nothing. Instead you have hundreds of millions of people starving with no way to feed themselves.

It's hard to see how this doesn't end in a blood bath that ends civilization. That would explain why the Uber Rich have developed a sudden affinity for armored bunkers and private islands.

[Boges]

I'm eager to hear Apple fans defend this rumour.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/11/28/apple-to-abandon-headphone-jack-in-iphone-7/

“Apple plans to remove the 3.5mm headphone port from the upcoming iPhone 7, helping to achieve a ‘more than 1mm’ reduction in thickness compared to the iPhone 6S.” This would create the thinnest iPhone ever made.

It also states that Apple will bundle EarPods which use the Lightning connector with the next iPhone and that they will incorporate a small digital to analog converter into the connector. From that point onwards Apple would also require third-party wired headphone makers to bundle Lightning adaptors with its 3.5mm headphones or make them Lightning port only to gain Apple MFi certification.

So you'll need a converter (which I doubt Apple will make cheap) or buy special Lighting port earphone. I can buy a set of headphones for $3 at the dollar store. Apple clearly is offended people can use their overpriced hardware with such cheap peripherals.

The 3.5mm headphone jack (technically called a ‘TRS’ connector) is not just an industry standard, as a variation of the phono connector which has been around since 1878, it is the longest running, most widely accepted technology standard in the world today. Binning it to shave 1mm off a phone which the vast majority of people already think is thin enough just creates frustration and tension. And for anyone who has spent a lot of money on a premium pair of earphones/headphones, having to use them with an adaptor will be irritating.

The only argument for this would be another way to part customers of their money. It's a greed move pure and simple and not meant to make the lives of consumers better.

[msj]

I'm eager to hear Apple fans defend this rumour.

Uh, it's a rumour.

When it happens for real then, whatever, I upgrade my headphones which is fine. Shrug.