Slashdot Mirror

http://9to5mac.com/2016/05/09/foxconn-india-iphone-manufacturing/

You like to dismiss criticism of your username as meaningless, but it's not. It suggests you, like so many others, treat this company and its philosophy like a religion. This suspicion is compounded by the evidence of your post history, which shows a clear agenda: trolling this website to back up Apple wherever possible. It's literally all you do. So forgive me if I find it futile to argue with the Apple priesthood.

Criticism OF my username is meaningless. But criticism BASED ON my username is worse.

I do not "worship" at the "Church of Cupertino". In fact, I own relatively little Apple gear, HAVE never (and WILL never) camp-out in line for an Apple product, have only been to our local Apple Store about 3 or 4 times in the ten or so years it has been open, and actually spend FAR more time on my work Windows 7 laptop than I do on my MacBook Pro.

Quite frankly, one of the things I like about Apple is the fact that their hardware and software products tend to BREAK the "Computer Priesthood" mythos (unlike Windows and even more so for Linux). For example, ask IBM how much they SAVE, and how much LESS they have to rely on Computer Priests when they allow Apple products into their corporate offices.

That isn't me saying it. It is an industry giant, who, by the way, really doesn't have anything to gain by doing so.

And they are most certainly not alone. Look at the comments by several large corporations that have "discovered" the benefits of Apple in business.

Again, not my words.

Although I thoroughly reject the idea that I am a member of the "Apple Priesthood", I do have quite a history of being an Apple user, going back to the Apple 1. As such, I have watched the company through its ups, and downs, and ups, and I know for a fact that their "corporate culture" is decidedly different for almost any other company their size.

There is a vast difference between "Worship" and "Recognition", which is something that seems to get conveniently ignored by the Haters. I RECOGNIZE that Apple, more than most tech companies, at least TRIES to "do right" by their Customer-base, by and large, even if they don't always do what *I* would want. And if I am a bit strident in my defense of Apple, it is mostly compensation for the ridiculous, over-the-top, bend-over-backwards hyper-critical postings of not just a few, but many, slashdotters (almost all who are too pusillanimous to actually log-in), who ascribe motives and machinations and wheels-within-wheels conspiracies to Apple, and who patently and off-handedly dismiss their hardware and software, almost always without even having touched same.

I guess I feel that someone needs to "set the record straight"; which is why I almost always back-up my posts with citations.

Which I notice that, in all your diatribe, you have not offered ONE fact in rebuttal to my OP.

To me, that is most telling...

Plug has been pulled. What lingers is not life. It is in fact death. Blame was squarely put on

http://9to5mac.com/2016/01/26/...

who really is a used car salesman in kid's clothing.

http://www.cnet.com/forums/dis...

http://9to5mac.com/2014/12/03/...

http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/0...

It appears they have in several iterations over the years. The GP is likely conflating several instances but i cannot find fault with it. I am somewhat concerned about your strict denial without even a simple Google search that brought up the links i posted and more.

With "hundreds", hell, even tens of *thousands* of people experiencing a problem, it's still a tiny, tiny percentage of systems. The problem is that when your userbase is in the millions, a 0.1% problem is a *huge* problem. Apple shipped ~4,500,000 systems in 1Q16 according to IDC, just how are they supposed to find a problem that affects as-close-to-zero-percent-of-systems-as-makes-no-difference ? You can QA until you're blue in the face, but it's not going to catch *everything*.

The bad news for Apple is that (a) Apple fans are vocal when things don't "just work", and (b) it's only going to get worse. It's particularly bad for Apple because they have far fewer product lines than most PC retailers, so a problem that affects one line has a disproportionately large effect compared to other manufacturers. On the other hand, the upside is that because there are relatively few product lines, the problem is easier to track down, isolate, and eliminate.

So, as userbase grows, there are going to be more and more cases like this - some failure mode, followed by an outcry on forums, followed by (hopefully) a fix. Apple's problem is to try and make sure this doesn't affect their image of having computers that "just work"...

Even developers have abandoned Linux in droves. More developers use Macs than Linux.

Source?

Probably this survey.

Something similar to this: Black Box device can brute-force iOS 8.1 PINs

Apple already had to update the fw once http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/18/... because it wasn't incrementing properly when the power was cut. You would prefer to wipe the phone to apply the update?

Personally I would like the ability to set the key myself.

But they don't have the exclusive software.
Apple made $17 billion revenue from apps

Apple doesn't have much in the way of lock-in in the desktop and laptop markets. There's iTunes, but iTunes still runs on Windows and combines quite nicely with DoubleTwist to manage non-iPod MP3 players and an existing iTunes music collection seamlessly; nothing says you have to keep buying iTunes music once you've made the switch. As for video, you can remove Apple's DRM and play those videos wherever; and, much like music, nothing says you have to keep buying from iTunes once you've made the switch. That leaves mobile where, honestly, there is still a raging OS holy war. Many iOS users won't touch Android with a 10 foot pole, and vise-versa. That basically negates the app lock-in, to a large degree; by the time Cook lets iOS get fucked up enough for people to consider switching, they won't care about having to re-purchase their apps.

Personally, I love my iPad and hope Apple doesn't fuck it up, but I'm all about my Android phone, as well; as an added bonus, I can run any app on either platform. And I'm typing this (and managing several dozen Linux servers) from my Retina MacBook Pro as I recently damaged the screen on my PC laptop and am awaiting replacement parts. These devices are just tools, use whatever suits your needs and don't let yourself get bound to one or the other, because you never know when "whatever suits your needs" might change.

I hear there's a tech company with $200B in cash that's rumored to be building a car.

No it almost certainly is not Apple. Apple would have little reason to hide the fact that they were getting into building cars. Furthermore, Apple as a corporation has some.. ahem, control issues. I very much doubt that they would work through proxies like this - it's completely out of character for them. Furthermore there have been plenty of journalists asking if Apple is involved and the answer seems to be a pretty clear no.

I think Apple just applied for or received a patent on doing this.

http://9to5mac.com/2015/11/05/iphone-panic-mode-touch-id/

Except operating system updates that render the device unusable without a factory restore/reset.

Two of many:
https://discussions.apple.com/...
http://9to5mac.com/2015/09/18/...

It's funny how Microsoft proponents primary excuse for the abundance of viruses affecting Windows versus other OS's was due to it's formidable market share.

We're now in the completely opposite situation on mobile platforms, and both Android/Linux (google play) and IOS (apple store) have FAR larger market share, and also address the "fake apps" faster and more thoroughly.

Not sure what you are comparing here, but the amount of malware and security problems on mobile platforms closely follow marketshare on mobile platforms. There is a ton of malware and security issues with Android/Linux (one of the lastest), less with iOS and even less with Windows Phone (despite Slashdot posting the one fake app story, this is happening at much larger scale with Android and iOS (fx this.

The safest platform currently if you go by amount/lack of malware is Windows RT on ARM.

And since you call it Android/Linux, it is actually interesting that Linux can have so much malware, ongoing serious security issues and so much "blue screen of death" type crashes (userland apps crashing the whole OS kernel on regular basis) that Android/Linux has.

What's the excuse now?

PS: I'd also question the market share figures. Even if they were perfect, there's still the fuzzy definition of "desktop". I also doubt the number can be accurately reported, due to the way linux is distributed. All that said, 1.7%, while it looks like a small number, should actually prove its significance when one considers similar numbers and their impact - such as Windows Phone, which is considered to be doing poorly, but is still taken seriously.

The point of the joke comparison was that we continue saying that there is a lot of Linux desktop users out there. And it is, but far less than Windows Phone users, and that we consider having laughable few users. Just an interesting way of interpreting numbers.

The summary is pretty bad on this one.

Right after the Apple TV 4 (ATV4) was officially announced, Apple put a form on their Developer's site to give some of them away to developers. These are pre-release units, and the packaging on them even says "Developer's Edition" or something on it. There was a (since pulled) eBay auction showing the packaging.

Part of the agreement in getting this unit was an NDA which stipulated, amongst other things, that you can't take it apart.

iFixit got an ATV4 as part of the giveaway and decided to violate the NDA and get an exclusive article in the process. Since the developer program was what they used to get the ATV4, the developer program is what they were kicked out of. As a result their iOS app got yanked as well.

Several people have noted that their iOS app hadn't been updated in years (may still have been on the 3.5" screen) and so the app itself isn't much of a loss. The summary says something about being "rewritten" but that doesn't make any sense - if iFixit were to get another developer account they could just put the same app up again from the same source code. The content of the app is not what was offensive to Apple, it was the NDA violation. It may need to be upgraded for modern phones (i.e., be adaptive to the iPhone 6/6+ screen sizes) but it doesn't need to be rewritten in order to adhere to Apple's policies.

iFixit entered into an agreement with Apple that had consequences. It violated that agreement and so it's suffering the consequences. Which it knew would happen and it didn't care about. And since it's an old app that's being pulled it's not much of a loss to them, not compared to the exclusive early article and coverage this stunt's consequences has given them.

But to clarify for everyone, this wasn't a review unit, it wasn't on loan, it was a unit Apple gave them and other developers in order to develop for it early before the actual thing is released. And really, a number of developers didn't get these units and so to some extent the idea that iFixit got one not intending to write an app for it but instead just want to tear it down for page clicks and ad impressions is sort of offensive. If they had waited for the thing to be in stores and bought one retail and then tore it apart they would be in the clear.

"The PC has stopped being the primary computing device of most people meaning that if they don't make it big on the mobile front they'll be irrelevant in the long run."

Agreed. But I think Microsoft will not "make it big" with mobile software.

Products that face low sales because of abuse and foolishness:

Windows: If you have Windows 7, why get a new version? At some point the version you have is enough. Apparently there aren't any new features in Windows 10 that are attractive to customers. Apparently the new features in Windows 10 are all anti-customer.

Google is becoming more and more abusive: F.T.C. Is Said to Investigate Claims That Google Used Android to Promote Its Products.

Apple iPhones: What will the future iPhone 7 have that the iPhone 6 doesn't have? Digital Turnip Twaddling? At some point people will stop rushing to buy new iPhones.

Apple watches? Now that Steve Jobs is dead, Apple no longer releases easy-to-use products. Apple now does the Microsoft thing and releases buggy products that it slowly fixes. Articles:

Verdict: "... there's a learning curve you have to overcome..."

Seven problems facing the Apple Watch

Apple Watch: Issues We Know Of And Possible Fixes.

Opinion: One month later, fixing 15 early Apple Watch problems seems straightforward

These 8 problems with the Apple Watch are 'infuriating'

9 of the biggest complaints about the Apple Watch so far

8 Infuriating Problems With The Apple Watch

I ask because multiple sources confirm, split-view multitasking only works on iPad Air 2 and newer.

If it's working on your iPad Air 1, you must have one of those rare ones that lacks a mute slider; e.g. an Air 2.

I ask because multiple sources confirm, split-view multitasking only works on iPad Air 2 and newer.

If it's working on your iPad Air 1, you must have one of those rare ones that lacks a mute slider; e.g. an Air 2.

You don't need a paid account to sideload apps anymore:

http://9to5mac.com/2015/06/10/...

Yes, it tells the time. The watch shows text messages on an iPhone so that it isn't necessary to take the phone out of a pocket. But, does that justify paying $500 or $1,000?

Would you want your company to suffer the destruction of reputation faced by Apple?

Seven problems facing the Apple Watch

Apple Watch: Issues We Know Of And Possible Fixes.

Opinion: One month later, fixing 15 early Apple Watch problems seems straightforward

These 8 problems with the Apple Watch are 'infuriating'

9 of the biggest complaints about the Apple Watch so far

8 Infuriating Problems With The Apple Watch

So here's an interesting one. I am a musician in my spare time, and I have an album up on iTunes. It's a good job my life's income doesn't depend on this - we are talking tiny sums of money made, but it is my album and it's an achievement for me to have an album out there and hey - there are people that like it. I have no idea if this album is included in streaming or not. I'm not signed to a label, and nobody has asked me if I want to be included or excluded. I would have thought, given the talk of "pulling the album" etc. that there must be a separate agreement I should have to make but I haven't seen anything at all about it. The music was published via an intermediary, Ditto Music, but they're just a publishing service and not a label. In fact, I own the label it was published under and that is the label's sole release to date. What's the situation for musicians like me? Included, excluded, paid, unpaid...?

I don't know for sure; but from what I have heard, if you are available on iTMS, then you will be available on Apple Music. Having said that, someone posted what was purported to be an Apple Music "Artist Agreement"; but I didn't read it very carefully at all.

From this article, it sounds like, unless you specifically "opted out" of being on Apple Music, like Taylor Swift and the Beatles, you will be on Apple Music if you are available on iTMS.

There's some speculation here regarding the difference. True it's speculation so worth what you paid for it, but it is at least reasonably informed speculation. Seems it may well be about accomodating his desire to move back to the UK, or at least spend more time there.

It's only ironic if you have no knowledge of Apple's policies.

As for webkit performance, stay up-to-date: webkit on iOS 8. iOS 8 has been out for half a year.

And his 2011 iPad 2 runs the latest version of iOS....

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/02/...

I hear ya! I got the space grey sport, which according to this poll is 2.5 times more popular than the silver sport watch (including all band colors for the silver sport).

http://9to5mac.com/2015/04/10/...

retrospect, I didn't like the silver sport band colors cuz they're a little too informal for me, but if there are other rubber band colors like a maroon or navy, the silver would look super sweet.

As for looking cleaner and less blocky... Have you seen one? They are not exactly compact, and the look pretty ugly. Not as nice as the LG and Motorola watches, which cost a fraction as much. If it's jewellery, there are better options IMHO.

Errm, those Android watches are almost all way blockier than even the large Apple Watch. Even the round ones. http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/12/look-how-much-sleeker-apple-watch-is-compared-to-android-wear-watches/

And that's where we start to diverge. I don't think that the iWatch will continue to do the things it was sold to do. I think that Apple will modify the services or protocols down the road and this first-generation iWatch will start losing features as it's now not compatible with the new way the services will be provided. My Accutron won't need an 'upgrade' unless we switch to metric time.

Well, I'm not sure about the iWatch yet; but, at least in the case of the First Generation iPod (2001), the legacy "sync" support seems to be going strong.

Fourteen years of protocol support is pretty damned good, period.

Yep android are far and away the largest single platform.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/10/31/...

of course if you include the fragmentation of the android versions and vendor specific versions may show a different picture.

The #1 reason why I would fear developing for apple is they have a tendency to block and steal the really good ideas.

http://www.pcworld.com/article...

I went to pull up a link, and it seems as they changed this in the latest release of iOS (8.1) . As for using a limited subset of javascript that was quite old, while using a different set for Safari, didn't have any other browser on the same playing field, or responsiveness or capabilities.

I could give a toss what you think, and this information is publicly available. Don't be a ponce limey.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/...

It's a little difficult to prove direct correlation, as is the usual case with Apple product releases, but if you recall the original announcements for iPhone specifically called for it to run only Web 2.0 applications through Safari. For example. It wasn't until after the first jailbreaks and unofficial third party apps that the App Store came along after weathering objections from Jobs. It's hard to conclusively say whether it was directly in response to jailbreakers or not, but it's likely it sped up their plans.

After reading the 9 to 5 Mac article linked above, I conclude that it really wasn't USER backlash, but DEVELOPER (and Apple-internal) pressures that caused Jobs to embrace the idea of an SDK and App Store. But that article also makes it clear that forces inside Apple were trying to convince Jobs that it was a good idea even before the iPhone launch. The App Store officially launched in July, 2008; so there wasn't too much time wasted.

OTOH, Google Play was launched in March, 2012 (yeah, I was surprised, too!) ; so, I'd still say that Apple's App Store can safely be said to have "come first"...

It's a little difficult to prove direct correlation, as is the usual case with Apple product releases, but if you recall the original announcements for iPhone specifically called for it to run only Web 2.0 applications through Safari. For example. It wasn't until after the first jailbreaks and unofficial third party apps that the App Store came along after weathering objections from Jobs. It's hard to conclusively say whether it was directly in response to jailbreakers or not, but it's likely it sped up their plans.

ightning was introduced because Micro USB was considered sub-par by Apple. And let's face it: There is some truth to that. Lightning is sturdier, easyer to handle, has more data throughput and IIRC more relyable electrical specs.

Easier to plug in? Yes, Apple perfected that with Lightning. Easier to break? Yep they did that too http://9to5mac.com/2014/08/22/... And faster? Perhaps faster at delivering hype and vapor, because last I checked every Lightning cable made had a USB1/2 A port on the other end, so it's exactly as "fast" as every micro-USB cable out there.

They're doubled by the fact that only Apple-Blessed Mobile Safari gets to do JIT JavaScript compilation, so any "alternative" browser not only will just be Mobile Safari in another skin, it will also be a slow Mobile Safari!

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/...

"As of iOS 8, however, it seems that decision has been reversed. All apps will now be able to use the same improved JavaScript engine that powers Safari. That means Googleâ(TM)s Chrome browser on iOS will now be just as quick as Safari, as will the pop-up browsers embedded in apps like Twitter and Facebook."

That's nice and all, but it doesn't solve his performance problems. In fact, since WebKit in non-Apple apps doesn't get to use JIT, it will just make his performance issues worse.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/...

And unlike Android, if you have any iOS device released since June 2011, you can update to iOS 8.

i dunno man... apples seem like a pretty good investment :)

http://9to5mac.com/2010/11/11/...

No one wants a surface, unless it's to use as a stand for an iPad.

AC is making a reference to recent CNN coverage of the US elections. MS paid the network to have all their anchors visibly use surface tablets. But some of the anchors were busted for having ipads propped up behind the surface. Link, bitch.

Here ya go dummies. http://9to5mac.com/2014/10/31/...

I'm not sure the Surface Pro line is really competing with the iPad, though. I mean, according to Microsoft themselves, a Surface Pro 3 is equivalent to a MacBook Air.

It's more a matter of what people are really buying a Surface Pro in place of. Not what the marketroids at Microsoft want to claim.
People buying a Surface and not a laptop -- only if they weren't really set on a laptop to start with.

I'm not sure the Surface Pro line is really competing with the iPad, though. I mean, according to Microsoft themselves, a Surface Pro 3 is equivalent to a MacBook Air.

(Disclaimer: I own a Surface Pro 3. They're probably right to compare it to the MacBook Air and not the iPad. I know everyone hates the "tablet UI" on the desktop but even with the Surface Pro 3 their tablet UI is still pretty terrible. I pretty much never leave the desktop. On my tablet. The few tablet-style apps I've tried for the Surface has all been terrible. It really does make a descent small Windows laptop, though!)

The iOS solution is already implemented in the new OS which is on 50%+ of all iDevices after just one week.

I see 47% and holding steady.

And just how many Android Devices are running the latest OS?

You really don't want to get into that particular pissing-contest, do you, Mr. Fandroid?

The iOS solution is already implemented in the new OS which is on 50%+ of all iDevices after just one week.

I see 47% and holding steady.

History shows that Apple likes to own any tech they depend on....

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/30/...

Ibrahim Balic is the researcher who in the past claimed to have been responsible for uncovering a flaw that brought down Apple's Dev Center. As it turned out, he uncovered a lesser problem around the time a more significant flaw was exploited. It seems that he is a bit of an attention seeker, so I would take anything that comes from him with a grain of salt.

I can't find the exact links that cover the older story, but here are some related ones:
http://www.cultofmac.com/24151...
http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/20/...
http://venturebeat.com/2013/07...

Apple would be stupid to satisfy its users.

Except they do consistently

http://9to5mac.com/2013/03/21/...

Slashdot has become such an Apple fanboy site that even removing features is now praised.

There's an element of desperate misdirection in their madness.

If the story is true, and sapphire glass unsuitable for displays, Apple has just blown away close to a billion dollars. That's a big cost that'll have to be passed on to their customers.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/04/30/...

The vulnerability allegedly discovered in the Find my iPhone service appears to have allowed attackers to use this method to guess passwords repeatedly without any sort of lockout or alert to the target. Once the password has been eventually matched, the attacker can then use it to access other iCloud functions freely. A tool to exploit the weakness was uploaded to Github, where it remained for two days before being shared on Hacker News Apple patched the service at 3.20am PT today. While it’s possible that the timing was coincidental, an iCloud exploit being posted online just two days before the photos appeared, and being patched shortly after the story broke, makes this seem unlikely. Apple has not yet responded to a request for comment.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/01/...

so there was no icloud breach, but there was a bug that enabled a brute force attack. It's not known that this exploit was used on the celebrities, but a tool that exploits this bug was recently posted. Ok...

also, super unclassy for Apple to blame the victim, especially when these types of weaknesses are buried in their code.

Looks like Apple has built in detection from IOS 5 (though being Apple it might well have an off switch for legal intercept type applications):
http://9to5mac.com/2011/06/07/...

And it looks like some developers have gotten together to do something for Android with a project called Android IMSI-Catcher Detector (AIMSICD)
https://secupwn.github.io/Andr...
http://seclists.org/fulldisclo...

Has anyone tried this?

Skype announced that they would be discontinuing support for older versions of the client back in June.

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/20/...

With also the result that non-Safari browsers cannot run their own JS engine, having to use JavaScriptCore. Whereas Safari runs on Nitro. But hey, alternative browsers, it's great right?

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/ios-8-webkit-changes-finally-allow-all-apps-to-have-the-same-performance-as-safari/ - you'll have to find something new to whine about.

Forbes disagrees that the number is "bullshit", though I doubt they'd agree with the 75% number being representative of the iPhone's current market share either, since they do agree with what you've said about the sales trends of iPhones. According to numbers from BCN (a group that measures Japanese smartphone market share on a weekly basis), the three-month rolling average for the period ending at the start of December last year was around 60% for the iPhone's market share, with a spike up above 75% for the first week of December. Apple had the first 9 out of the top 10 smartphones during that time, and 11 of the top 14.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that iPhones historically do well at the holiday season compared to their competitors, and that, as you brought up, the release cycle for the iPhones also happens to correspond with the period being mentioned by Forbes. As such, I thought I'd dig a little, and if you look at the six months prior to that three-month window I just mentioned, iPhones had a 37% share of the market. Of course, that was mostly before they launched on DoCoMo, the nation's largest carrier, so it's likely that their average this year may see a boost compared to last.

Long story short, yes, iPhones enjoyed a 75% market share in the Japanese smartphone market, but it was due to a combination of their release schedule and holiday sales, which makes the numbers legitimate, but misleading. It's likely that they are doing better than the 37% they had last year starting around this time, simply due to the greater availability of the device, but it's certainly not as high as it was during the holidays.