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Why not just get a tablet with 4g and Skype? (or another VOIP app)

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy...

$529, but they can be had cheaper.

It is technically possible, but something that Microsoft and Apple absolutely do not want to see happen. If Linux ever comes to close for comfort, expect to see patent and copyright lawsuits in abundance, and continuing changes to their products to make sure compatibility stays sufficiently broken.

Come to think of it, didn't I already see this happening?

I don't know about Windows, but Apple actually actively encourages the porting of *nix software to macOS:

https://developer.apple.com/li...

Before you talk about things you know nothing about, I suggest giving Apple's iOS Security Guide a proper reading and understanding: https://www.apple.com/business...

Not only are fully alpha numeric pass codes fully supported, Apple has taken steps to mitigate the "we've been forced to sign firmware" attack vector as well:

The passcode is entangled with the device’s UID, so brute-force attempts must be performed on the device under attack. A large iteration count is used to make each attempt slower. The iteration count is calibrated so that one attempt takes approximately 80 milliseconds. This means it would take more than five and a half years to try all combinations of a six-character alphanumeric passcode with lowercase letters and numbers.

Why would you pay $179 for something that Apple sells for $29?

Because being expensive makes everything better, duh.

Airplay can do Redbook audio if your SOURCE material is that bit rate (good luck getting that on to your phone, though). Apple Music is 256 kbps; you'd have to do your own rips to get to redbook (16/44.1), but you cannot do high resolution audio at all. Period. Nada. Apple doesn't care about high quality audio - just Beats and earpods and a mono speaker it claims can be full stereo (but which, in reality, it is not per lots of reviews, not to mention the laws of physics).

The butt hurt is strong with you!

You might be surprised; but I actually agree with you that, beyond their Pro apps (which are FINALLY getting better), Apple has had very disappointing support for multichannel, and high resolution, Audio. And even when the infrastructure support is there (which it actually has been for some time now), it just doesn't seem to get exposed in "common" Applications.

In fact, Apple does care about high-end audio; but they don't seem to want to mess with it outside the Pro arena.

And Actually, AirPlay itself can do more than Redbook audio: It can do at least 5.1:

https://www.5kplayer.com/airpl...

And also, my iPhone 6 can still record in the DAW App at up to 24/96; so that means an iOS framework has to support that for audio. But, I sure would like iTunes to allow 24/96 at least. But it would require a LOT of rewiring of a LOT of iTunes code to make that happen.

But it doesn't actually matter; because, like DAW, the VLC Mobile App is available for iTunes, and it supports, well, a LOT of audio formats, and reportedly does multichannel and high resolution audio.

And Apple most assuredly supports high resolution and multichannel audio, even in iOS!

https://developer.apple.com/au...

The GP was talking about EarPods, not AirPods:
EarPods - $29
AirPods - $179

They're confusingly, similarly-named, so the misunderstanding is not in the least bit surprising. I even swapped the names at one point as I was typing up this post.

The GP was talking about EarPods, not AirPods:
EarPods - $29
AirPods - $179

They're confusingly, similarly-named, so the misunderstanding is not in the least bit surprising. I even swapped the names at one point as I was typing up this post.

Not so, for reasons that should be apparent once you take a look at the device's interior layout (see: Apple's HomePod page).

You'll notice that the sound is produced by a circular array of seven tweeters. Were the HomePod relying on the sound going directly from the tweeters to your ears, you're quite correct to suggest that (given the lack of spatial separation) it wouldn't be able to achieve a decent stereo effect. But the HomePod's sound isn't going directly to your ears. Rather, it's relying on the fact that the rear and side tweeters will have their sound reflected—and then coupling that with beam forming that's automatically recalculated whenever the accelerometer detects that the device has been moved—to produce a stereo effect.

The reviews I've seen so far seem to suggest that they've managed to achieve an outsized soundstage for such a small device, but I don't know what that really means in comparison to other devices, and I frankly don't see how it can hold a candle to a proper stereo setup. Even so, it does sound like it'd be pretty decent for people who want just one speaker.

As for the rest of the claims, which you call BS on, the original redditor didn't make the subjective claim (that the headline does) that the HomePod sounded better than the more expensive speaker. Rather, he claimed that it reproduced sound more accurately than the more expensive speaker, which is a claim that can be empirically tested and verified without subjectivity. Towards that end, he described his control setup, posted pictures of it, discussed how he accounted for confounding variables, and then provided graphs, numbers, and files with the raw data so that anyone interested in verifying or refuting his claims could be capable of doing so.

So, if you think his claims are BS, have at it. He's given you everything you need to disprove him. In the meantime, he's provided empirical evidence that the HomePod reproduced sound more accurately than a speaker that costs nearly 3x its price.

Why would you pay $179 for something that Apple sells for $29?
Or did you mix up AirPods and EarPods? (which are still only $159)

Why would you pay $179 for something that Apple sells for $29?
Or did you mix up AirPods and EarPods? (which are still only $159)

buy a google self driving car vs an apple one as the apple one will go EOL and stop getting software updates after only 2-3 years with an $5000+labor and shop fees cpu upgrade needed to keep it on the road.

Mac OS High Sierra is supported on Macs from 2009. Your argument is invalid.

If someone chooses to buy hardware that has no free drivers to run it, when alternatives do exist, who's to blame?

The person who bought it to give as a gift. Or the market, when alternatives do not in fact exist. On that note:

ASUS T100TA

alternatives do exist

I'm curious as to what they are. Which laptop or detachable with a 10 to 11.6 inch display do you recommend for running GNU/Linux without proprietary binary blobs?

Android 8+ device

alternatives do exist

I'm curious as to what they are. Which pocket computer with WLAN and cellular voice and data communication capability do you recommend for use without proprietary binary blobs?

Should we also blame Apple when a random USB gadget designed for Windows has no drivers for OS X?

Not usually, because Apple publishes enough information about I/O Kit to allow peripheral manufacturers to port drivers to macOS. Thus I would instead place blame on peripheral manufacturers with one exception: peripherals produced in such low volume that the extra cost to support macOS would be prohibitive, such as the "INL Retro" NES cartridge writer. For that, I'd blame the developers of popular programming languages' standard libraries for not providing a cross-OS framework that wraps each operating system's framework for user-mode drivers.

"The 4S was discontinued officially on September 9, 2014 following the announcement of the iPhone 6" (the Feb 2016 date was for 'developing markets' which presumably fall under a different policy)

The 5 year guarantee is for hardware service & customer support. As of today, iPhone 4S is still supported by Apple in that sense (see here: serviced ).

There is no guarantee that you'll continue getting software updates for 5 years. The last iPhone 4s-compatible iOS update was iOS 9.3.5, released on August 25, 2016, which is almost 5 years from the initial release of the iPhone 4S (October 4, 2011), and that's pretty typical (>4 years of software updates on the newest model).

Feel free to cite another major smartphone manufacturer that does better in terms of customer & hardware support lifetime and OS updates.

Apple claims to support their phones for five years after the last date of manufacture for the product - https://support.apple.com/en-u...

The iPhone 4S ceased production in February 2016. Official Apple support stopped very shortly thereafter.

It's still a minor change to disable SIP, and it's completely documented... no jailbreak required.

Nope, Apple has posted the kernel source since OSX first came out. https://opensource.apple.com/

For one the phone battery is always pushed to 100% charge and it is kept there for extended periods of time.

Maybe in a crappy Android phone.

But in iPhones (and other Apple battery-operated equipment), Apple only charges the battery up to the industry-recommended limit of around 90% (IIRC), to avoid overcharge issues. So, when your iPhone/iPad/MacBook shows 100% battery charge, it is actually at or around that "industry maximum" charge for LiOn batteries.

Here's some non-Apple-biased information supporting what I am saying (and curiously enough, what Apple themselves recommend and say:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/...

Now compare that to what Apple says:

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

And some good discussions about this topic:

https://discussions.apple.com/...

https://discussions.apple.com/...

For one the phone battery is always pushed to 100% charge and it is kept there for extended periods of time.

Maybe in a crappy Android phone.

But in iPhones (and other Apple battery-operated equipment), Apple only charges the battery up to the industry-recommended limit of around 90% (IIRC), to avoid overcharge issues. So, when your iPhone/iPad/MacBook shows 100% battery charge, it is actually at or around that "industry maximum" charge for LiOn batteries.

Here's some non-Apple-biased information supporting what I am saying (and curiously enough, what Apple themselves recommend and say:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/...

Now compare that to what Apple says:

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

And some good discussions about this topic:

https://discussions.apple.com/...

https://discussions.apple.com/...

For one the phone battery is always pushed to 100% charge and it is kept there for extended periods of time.

Maybe in a crappy Android phone.

But in iPhones (and other Apple battery-operated equipment), Apple only charges the battery up to the industry-recommended limit of around 90% (IIRC), to avoid overcharge issues. So, when your iPhone/iPad/MacBook shows 100% battery charge, it is actually at or around that "industry maximum" charge for LiOn batteries.

Here's some non-Apple-biased information supporting what I am saying (and curiously enough, what Apple themselves recommend and say:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/...

Now compare that to what Apple says:

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

And some good discussions about this topic:

https://discussions.apple.com/...

https://discussions.apple.com/...

For one the phone battery is always pushed to 100% charge and it is kept there for extended periods of time.

Maybe in a crappy Android phone.

But in iPhones (and other Apple battery-operated equipment), Apple only charges the battery up to the industry-recommended limit of around 90% (IIRC), to avoid overcharge issues. So, when your iPhone/iPad/MacBook shows 100% battery charge, it is actually at or around that "industry maximum" charge for LiOn batteries.

Here's some non-Apple-biased information supporting what I am saying (and curiously enough, what Apple themselves recommend and say:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/...

Now compare that to what Apple says:

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

https://www.apple.com/batterie...

And some good discussions about this topic:

https://discussions.apple.com/...

https://discussions.apple.com/...

Relevant track from Apple Music.

a 10" tablet is quite silly.

A 10" tablet is actually too damn small for what I want one for.

Why don't they make one (for a reasonable price) that can show a 8.5x11 sheet of paper full size since most of the forms and stuff that you deal with physically is, guess what, 8.5x11.

I've tried using a tablet for my sheet music and the concept is cool (especially with a bluetooth page turning pedal) but the screen is too small so I either have to show part of the page at a time and scroll constantly, or it's too small to read and particularly too small to read quickly.

You mean like THIS?

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy...

The actual screen is not EXACTLY 11 X 8.5 inches; but at 10.35 X 7.76 it is very close, especially considering that sheet music printed on 11 X 8.5 ALWAYS has at least a 1 inch margin all around.

https://malcontentcomics.com/s...

Here's an EXHAUSTIVE review of using the 12.9" iPad Pro (and the Apple Pencil) for Sheet music applications:

https://elisakoehler.com/2017/...

See here. Then there's eMusic. The music industry gave up on DRM because it wasn't worth the tech headaches. If you want lossless though you'll pay a premium, but there's no shortage of options out there for audiophiles.

There's some authors who do get to the trouble of making sure their releases are on more than just iTunes Japan, such as livetune.

Go download the MacOS kernel.

For your convenience, here's a link to browse the source online.

(To be clear, I'm being facetious here; your point is that most of Apple's software isn't free-as-in-freedom, you just chose a bad example).

What I want to know is why Telegram thinks they should get a 4+ age rating. I think 12+ would be be more appropriate--or even 17+, which I note is what it has on Google Play. Apple wouldn't get on Telegram's case about noods if they didn't claim they were appropriate for kids.

Interesting. I'll probably have to upgrade to HS at some point to be able to use the latest XCode. E.g XCode 9 requires Sierra (10.12) or later.

https://developer.apple.com/li...

Xcode 9 requires a Mac running macOS 10.12.6 or later.

Funny how other phone manufacturers don't seem to have the "phone shuts down when it is cold" bug that Apple had and was the excuse to throttle old devices.

Also funny Apple didn't just have a message saying "Your battery is worn out. Please visit an Apple store for a repair. In the meantime you may see lower performance".

Posting as AC to avoid undoing mods.

You are a either a moron, or are willfully ignorant.

Do about 2 seconds worth of Googling, and you will see EXACTLY this issue for EVERY phone OEM, including the supposed "bulletproof" iPhone 4s and 5.

But Samsung, LG, HTC, et al., ALL have multiple reports of "sudden shutdowns" when battery charge is in the 50% or lower range, and/or the phone gets cold.

Here's some random examples:

https://us.community.samsung.c...

https://us.community.samsung.c...

https://forums.androidcentral....

https://thedroidguy.com/2016/1...

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers...

https://www.reddit.com/r/lgv20...

https://forums.androidcentral....

https://forum.xda-developers.c...

https://androidforums.com/thre...

https://android.stackexchange....

https://discussions.apple.com/...

http://iphone-tricks.com/tutor...

https://apple.stackexchange.co...

So, it appears that Apple actually found a REASONBLE software fix for an INDUSTRY-WIDE problem.

Their ONLY "sin" was in not being clear about the fix.

But Macs don't have touchscreen, so honestly, how is that gonna work?

Easy. They have multitouch trackpads on MacBooks back to at least 2011 (and possibly before), and the ones on the 2016-2017 MacBook Pros and the external Trackpad are already nearly the size of an iPad mini and have force-touch and multitouch; so...

https://www.apple.com/shop/pro...

Problem solved!

You are basing your remaining battery capacity on Apple's down app. When they used that app to check my girlfriend's battery they found it had 87% remaining, but that didn't stop it from suddenly jumping from 50% charged to 2% charged, or randomly powering off.

I think all the app does is measure the amount of energy that the battery stores, not its ability to deliver high currents. As such even if your battery still stores 90% of its rated energy, it might not actually work properly in your phone.

I was using a third party app that many people on MacRumors were recommending as "agreeing" with the Apple "Genius-Bar" Diagnostic.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/ap...

It is called "Battery Life", and displays a "quickie look" of battery "wear", or you can look at the Raw Data. In the "Raw Data" view, it shows both the current battery charge, as well as an obviously-averaged "Capacity", in which it compares to the design-spec for the particular battery. So, for example, that bargraph shows that my "Capacity" is 93%, or 2700 mAh, rather than the "ideal" of 2915 mAh for my iPhone 6 Plus. So, there's your numbers, and how they are derived.

How do you know how much capacity is left in the battery? Is there a diagnostic that shows?

I have a iPhone 6 Plus that has some weird battery behavior (jumping battery charge levels from like 80% to 49% and then staying at 49% for ages).

I believe that Apple is going to add that to a future version of iOS; HOWEVER, there are several Apps that show Battery "Health" as a Percentage.

The one that I used, and that several people on MacRumors were citing as "coming up with the same value as Apple's Genius-Bar Diagnostic" is called "Battery Life". But beware! There are actually TWO Apps that have VERY similar Icons, both are called "Battery Life". But one gives you the "Battery Life" as a Percentage of "Wear", and the other gives you the Percentage of Life-Left. So, one would show "7%" (wear), while the other would show "93%" (life-left).

The one with the little lightning-bolt in the middle of the battery depicted on the icon is the "Wear" one. The one with the Exclamation Point in the middle of the battery depicted on the icon is the "life-left" one. Sorry I can't get back to the exact name of the App with the Exclamation Point...

But, something interesting just happened. I pressed the "Rate and Review" button in the App with the Exclamation Point; and it promptly said that the App "was not available in the U.S. App Store" (!!!) So???

So maybe the "Battery Life" with the Lightning-Bolt is the one you want. And this is the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/ap...

Sorry for the confusion!

NetBoot is on the deprecation list. Apple suggest NetSUS or BSDPy.

You mean, you can't download like this? A simple google for download el capitan osx and the first hit was this.

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

Now that High Sierra is available, you should upgrade to High Sierra instead of El Capitan. For security and compatibility reasons, Apple always recommends using the latest version of macOS.

If your Mac doesn't support High Sierra, or you're using Snow Leopard or Lion and would like to upgrade to High Sierra, follow these steps:

1. Use this link to open the El Capitan page on the App Store: Get OS X El Capitan.

And that "Get OS X El Capitan" points you directly to: https://itunes.apple.com/app/o...

Just because you hate Apple, or you are incompetent, doesn't mean you have to show that off to the world.

You mean, you can't download like this? A simple google for download el capitan osx and the first hit was this.

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

Now that High Sierra is available, you should upgrade to High Sierra instead of El Capitan. For security and compatibility reasons, Apple always recommends using the latest version of macOS.

If your Mac doesn't support High Sierra, or you're using Snow Leopard or Lion and would like to upgrade to High Sierra, follow these steps:

1. Use this link to open the El Capitan page on the App Store: Get OS X El Capitan.

And that "Get OS X El Capitan" points you directly to: https://itunes.apple.com/app/o...

Just because you hate Apple, or you are incompetent, doesn't mean you have to show that off to the world.

Being mostly out of the Apple ecosystem, I was surprised the other day when I was driven by a friend. She was answering calls without using the hands-free Bluetooth car connection, and I asked her why. She told me that she had forgotten the charging cable at home, and that keeping the bluetooth on would drain the battery faster, and battery didn't last very long, as, you know, she added apologetically, "my phone it's an Apple".

I'd put my friend as a typical Apple user: well-off and absolutely not technically oriented, She will probably keep buying iPhones, as her computers are all from Apple, and learning new things is a hassle. But anyway I found it curious to find a typical Apple user apologizing for her choice of smartphone. That's not how Apple got to the top, and, even if it's just anecdotal evidence, has a sound of bells tolling in the distance.

So I'd suppose that Apple has to take that into account and improve it's battery-consumption act.

The battery issues are just one problem among many. IOS 11 broke bluetooth compatability with my car, and there are other people with the same problem. I can't for the life of me figure out how they could break something so fundamental to a modern phone. The issue still hasn't been fixed, and Apple seems to be pointing the finger at the car companies to update the vehicle firmware. As if that is a viable solution.

How will a nurse get your iPhone passcode to unlock your medical records if you are unconscious?

https://support.apple.com/HT20...

Press the Home button.
Tap Emergency.
On the Emergency call screen, you can make a call or tap Medical ID to see emergency medical information stored on the device.

You outright LIED to your friend, you stupid, uninformed FUCK. You need to aplolgize to him IMMEDIATELY, and tell him you are a stupid, bigoted fucker.

How does Apple "lock you into their ecosystem" any more than Android locks you into their ecosystem?

By making iTunes the only legitimate way to interact with the phone.

1. It doesn't keep you from having another music player. Plus There are other applications that you can use to load music onto an iOS device. Here's a few free (and non-free) alternatives. Do try to keep up, Hater:

https://www.easeus.com/iphone-...

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how...

https://drfone.wondershare.com... ...and there are literally dozens more alternatives. So, next bullshit objection?

BTW, that search took zero time on Google. So you are either stupid beyond belief, or actively using willful blindness as an excuse for your bigotry. Take your pick.

2. Other than doing certain very limited operations, such as encypted backups, you don't have to use it for anything. I have never hooked my iPhone up to iTunes, for example. And with iCloud Backup for iOS, you can even forego that functionality (and get automatic backups, too!).

But, as I have said, I haven't ever hooked my iPhone 6 Plus up to iTunes for ANYTHING; but the pricing of iCloud backup has me pretty interested, and can even be shared among your family.

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

But as I said, please don't let any of this disturb your fantasy of unabashed Apple Hatred.

How does Apple "lock you into their ecosystem" any more than Android locks you into their ecosystem?

By making iTunes the only legitimate way to interact with the phone.

1. It doesn't keep you from having another music player. Plus There are other applications that you can use to load music onto an iOS device. Here's a few free (and non-free) alternatives. Do try to keep up, Hater:

https://www.easeus.com/iphone-...

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how...

https://drfone.wondershare.com... ...and there are literally dozens more alternatives. So, next bullshit objection?

BTW, that search took zero time on Google. So you are either stupid beyond belief, or actively using willful blindness as an excuse for your bigotry. Take your pick.

2. Other than doing certain very limited operations, such as encypted backups, you don't have to use it for anything. I have never hooked my iPhone up to iTunes, for example. And with iCloud Backup for iOS, you can even forego that functionality (and get automatic backups, too!).

But, as I have said, I haven't ever hooked my iPhone 6 Plus up to iTunes for ANYTHING; but the pricing of iCloud backup has me pretty interested, and can even be shared among your family.

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

But as I said, please don't let any of this disturb your fantasy of unabashed Apple Hatred.

I skipped Swift Playgrounds because I lack an informed opinion on it, because I haven't tried it, because I don't own an iPad.

Nice excuse.

Read:

https://developer.apple.com/sw...

Yes, it's oriented toward "playing around" (hence the name), and oriented towards kids (is that a bad thing?); but it looks like it nicely dovetails (no pun on the Swift logo) into XCode Development (which you can be cynical about; but not THAT cynical).

All in all, it seems like a great way to teach kids (and not-so-kids) coding, with some instant gratification that sure beats my first BASIC program!

Apple offers a free recycling program: https://www.apple.com/recyclin...

It might be possible to be less informed, but you'd have to work quite hard at it.

Apple sells this phone called the iPhone. You might have heard of it. It makes rather more money for them than "Media" (or Services, which is an actual category for Apple). In FYQ4 2017, iPhone made $29bn vs $9bn for Services.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom...

did you even read the summary? it doesn't say you have to be able to do it yourself. it just says by an "independent repair provider". i am pretty sure you can already find people to replace iphone screens and batteries even though they were not really designed to be serviced, just do a google search. and Apple even recently dropped the price on some of their batteries, which rather implies that it is possible to replace them

from apple

Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.

Surprised me, I thought it would work like android.

I believe some people have got a mouse working on a jail broken iPad.

I did manage to get a usb graphics tablet working although it said it was unsupported it could detect the pen about an inch above the surface.

https://discussions.apple.com/... read the thread it is rather a wtf moment.

There is nothing in the standard definition of "computer" that says it has to be powerful enough to compile its own operating system.

To compile its own operating system, I'll grant maybe not. But for user-written user-space applications, I think that's pretty important in order to consider a computer as general-purpose.

Even so, all it would take is an assembler ported to the iPad for it to be able to do so

Guess what Apple probably wouldn't allow.

I'm aware of the existence of Swift Playgrounds. I don't know how it manages to work around the strict W^X policy in iOS against runtime generation of code. I'm also aware of a stipulation in the current App Store Review Guidelines implying that any user programmability is intended for education, not for production:

2.5.2 Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code, including other apps. Educational apps designed to teach, develop, or allow students to test executable code may, in limited circumstances, download code provided that such code is not used for other purposes. Such apps must make the source code provided by the Application completely viewable and editable by the user.

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out arbitrary sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

You fail CS100. A computer is a device that has input, output, storage, and processing. An iPad is a computer.

The iPad is not a computer because it is very restricted/limited (apps are restricted to the walled garden of Apple's App Store for example).

So the supercomputers being run by NCAR are not computers because you cannot program them yourself? In case you missed the announcements, Apple runs a Developer Program which allows people who pay the money to program apps for iOS and MacOS. Once you get the license and keys, you can write your own programs to do whatever you want. I've done it, and I find Xcode to be a very nice development platform.

If you don't want to pay for the developer license, you can still use Forth ($0.99), or Python ($9.99), as just two examples of programming languages that run on iOS/iPad. I am sure there are others, but those two are the first two I found.

You can feel free to disagree that iPads are computers, but you are so obviously wrong that you might think about not saying it in public again.

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out arbitrary sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

You fail CS100. A computer is a device that has input, output, storage, and processing. An iPad is a computer.

The iPad is not a computer because it is very restricted/limited (apps are restricted to the walled garden of Apple's App Store for example).

So the supercomputers being run by NCAR are not computers because you cannot program them yourself? In case you missed the announcements, Apple runs a Developer Program which allows people who pay the money to program apps for iOS and MacOS. Once you get the license and keys, you can write your own programs to do whatever you want. I've done it, and I find Xcode to be a very nice development platform.

If you don't want to pay for the developer license, you can still use Forth ($0.99), or Python ($9.99), as just two examples of programming languages that run on iOS/iPad. I am sure there are others, but those two are the first two I found.

You can feel free to disagree that iPads are computers, but you are so obviously wrong that you might think about not saying it in public again.

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out arbitrary sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically.

You fail CS100. A computer is a device that has input, output, storage, and processing. An iPad is a computer.

The iPad is not a computer because it is very restricted/limited (apps are restricted to the walled garden of Apple's App Store for example).

So the supercomputers being run by NCAR are not computers because you cannot program them yourself? In case you missed the announcements, Apple runs a Developer Program which allows people who pay the money to program apps for iOS and MacOS. Once you get the license and keys, you can write your own programs to do whatever you want. I've done it, and I find Xcode to be a very nice development platform.

If you don't want to pay for the developer license, you can still use Forth ($0.99), or Python ($9.99), as just two examples of programming languages that run on iOS/iPad. I am sure there are others, but those two are the first two I found.

You can feel free to disagree that iPads are computers, but you are so obviously wrong that you might think about not saying it in public again.

I am sure there is an intelligent comment in there somewhere; does anybody have any idea what he means?

I think he's referring not to the language's syntax (which isn't all that different from many other computer languages) but rather to Apple's approach to teaching the language, which involves interactive playgrounds rather than the traditional "type in a few paragraphs of mysterious text into a blank IDE and hope something happens" approach.

BINGO!

I am sure there is an intelligent comment in there somewhere; does anybody have any idea what he means?

I think he's referring not to the language's syntax (which isn't all that different from many other computer languages) but rather to Apple's approach to teaching the language, which involves interactive playgrounds rather than the traditional "type in a few paragraphs of mysterious text into a blank IDE and hope something happens" approach.

Difference being: Apple makes money by selling you stuff

And by collecting information for advertising. Of course they say the same things that Google, Amazon and Microsoft do about not transmitting personally identifiable information to third parties, it's all supposed to be anonymized as with all the other companies. And of course you can opt out and clear your settings but by default they are all on, it's opt-out rather than opt-in.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT205223
There's also their iBeacons for helping people track you.

And yes of course there are ways to opt out of certain things and the degree to which you can opt out of things might vary depending on the company you're talking about but the assertion that Apple does not make money selling your information is false at least insofar as it relates to the other companies, that is if you interpret what say Google and Microsoft do with your personal information as "selling your information". AFAIK none of them actually sell your information, what they sell is a service to match categories of advertisements to categories of users and they all do that.