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iPhones Are Priced 'High in the Extreme' But They're Worth It, Says Apple Co-founder Wozniak (scmp.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple's iPhone has been losing ground to domestic competitors in China. That is because Chinese smartphone makers offer sophisticated functions at reasonable prices, according to Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder and one of the pioneers of the personal computer industry. "Here is what I admire about Chinese phones: really good, intelligent decisions about how to lower the cost but keep enough of the functionality in, because I am into products that are good, well designed, nice looking, but at prices that the average person can afford," he said. Still, Wozniak believes the quality of Apple's product makes it worth the high price tag. "In life I don't believe in quantity as much as I do in quality. So you may not have the hugest share in the market or be the No 1, but you should have the best product you can possibly build and Apple qualifies for that," Wozniak, told reporters after he discussed artificial intelligence with Liu Zihong, chairman and chied executive of Royole, in a technology forum held at Tianan Cyber Park in Dongguan, Guangdong province, on Tuesday. Unlike Chinese smartphone brands that prioritise cost-effectiveness, Apple's popular and more expensive iPhone handsets are still the leader in innovation in certain features despite being more of a "safe product," he said. "Apple products are safe. And Apple's pricing is high in the extreme. It's a safe bet for a lot of people, and when you love Apple you are willing to pay for it," he said.

184 of 291 comments (clear)

  1. How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >> Woz: "Here is what I admire about Chinese phones...(but Apple is more good-er)"

    How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"?

    1. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Designed by Apple in California.

    2. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      To the rest of the world it is a Chinese phone. Only those that put it on a pedestal consider it otherwise.

    3. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      ...and an Android phone is? (Hint: designed by Google in California)

    4. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by ranton · · Score: 4, Informative

      ...and an Android phone is? (Hint: designed by Google in California)

      Well the closest competitor to Apple phones right now is Samsung, so your hint should probably be "designed by Samsung in South Korea". The Google Pixel phones are also very nice although they haven't sold that well in their first year. The quality seems high enough that they can gain plenty of market share if they keep at it though.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    5. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Everything these days is bult in China. iPhone, Samsung phones, Google phones.

      I don't see what's so better about Apple. Their walled garden that require you to buy their overpriced accessories? The requirement to use their shitty iTunes app to load your stuff into the phone?

      I had to install iTunes for my girlfriend last week, the Windows binary is now over 250Mb. The last iPhone I had was a 4S (before the new connector required me to dump all the docking stations I had), and back then the iTunes install was around 50Mb.

      iStuff is seriously overpriced and bloated. That's all.

    6. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I had to install iTunes for my girlfriend last week, the Windows binary is now over 250Mb.

      Well, there's your problem right there....you're using Windows.

      ;)

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    7. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I don't see what's so better about Apple.
      Why don't you simply use an iPad and an Android for 3 month side by side?

      Sorry, this bullshit: Their walled garden that require you to buy their overpriced accessories? makes you not look bright. Not this: The requirement to use their shitty iTunes app to load your stuff into the phone? Oh, you are on a PC? Then install Ubuntu, it accesses the iPhone/iPad natively as USB drive.

      On my Android Yoga Book, I can not even change the typing language in a simple way. And when I use its "keyboard" the spelling correction does not work. It only underlines misspelled words, but you can not touch on them and fix it. It has no "lens" to set the curser when you are typing ...

      It is really close to unusable. And you ask "what's so better about Apple"??? The Apple products work, and you have hardly any quarrels with it (I have because I hate the new UIs) ... my Android things don't really work. They are compromises. Well, I can have an IDE on my Android device and compile for it directly on the device. That is a plus. But why exactly my Yoga Book can not be mounted as USB drive is beyond me ... so: I payed $500 for a Yoga Book, wich is much much worse than an iPad, because being able to mount it as an USB drive was the second reason I wanted one (the first was to be able to run my own code on it, without hassle, and even have an IDE on it)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    8. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You don't think the Chinese clones are [designed by Apple in California]?

    9. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Funny

      By that logic all Chinese companies need to do to claim that their phones are American is hire a guy in California to draw a rectangle on a sheet of paper and call that the design document. Sure, a lot of it was engineered overseas, just like the iPhone, but it was designed in California so it's an American phone!

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    10. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by mspohr · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't forget the rounded corners!

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    11. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Samurai+Nigel · · Score: 1

      FYI: On Most Android devices, when you plug it in via USB to a PC, you get an option in your notifications that allows you to connect the device as: - Charge this device - Transfer files - Transfer Photos (using PTP) - Use the device as MIDI If you don't select the transfer files option, you don't get to browse the directory structure of the device. Hope that helps!

    12. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by joh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Design" also includes things like the SoC. And Apple does not just design how it looks. Compare Apple's SoC against a MediaTek one and you will find some dramatic performance differences.

      Or compare performance and battery life of the iPhone SE against Chinese 4" phones.

      Thinking that "designed by Apple" only means the outer decoration is a truly idiotic.

    13. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The other day, I had to mount an Android 4.4 phone's content (the SD card specifically). It used MTP, which worked at first then didn't - and sucked, since the first thing I noticed is the files didn't show up in the terminal.

      I looked for an option to change the USB protocol from MTP to Mass Storage, but I didn't find it!
      Had to mount the SD card into my firefox phone (which is never used as a phone, but was on fire sale) which works as USB Mass Storage (and allows to toggle whether internal storage is shared, whether SD storage is shared)

    14. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by supremebob · · Score: 1

      I'm willing to pay extra for an Apple phone because I don't want a phone filled with carrier bloatware. I also want more than 18 months of security updates before they cut me off, like Verizon did on both of my old Android phones.

      And, yeah, I know that I could have rooted the phone and installed a different version of Android on there. The carriers do their damndest to make that process a pain in the ass, though, and many of the various homebrew Android distributions out there are even less stable than the carrier builds.

    15. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      ...and an Android phone is? (Hint: designed by Google in California)

      Actually the OS is designed in California, then modded elsewhere. The hardware is designed and assembled in different places, based on the manufacturer. For the actual processors they may come from many places that aren't China. The level of quality control is also based on the manufacturer.
       

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    16. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by hyperar · · Score: 1

      ...and an Android phone is? (Hint: designed by Google in California)

      Android is, phones, not necessarily, it depends on the manufacturer.

    17. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I had to install iTunes for my girlfriend last week, the Windows binary is now over 250Mb.

      Look I hate to point out how she's not the right one for you but if she wanted iTunes installed that's a clue.
      The fact that you needed the Windows binary is another.

      If on the other hand she needed it installed and couldn't do it herself because Wine kept throwing a fit then put a damn ring on it man!

    18. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The SoC is an ARM CPU (designed in England), and a modem designed in Korea and China (check the patents). Don't know what audio codec they use but I doubt they bothered to do their own, probably grabbed some VHDL from Realtek or something. GPU was designed in the UK too, until recently, but sure where they got the latest one from.

      iPhone battery life is rather poor compared to my Chinese OnePlus phone.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by CrashNBrn · · Score: 2

      Battery life on my Xiaomi with a 4400mAH battery and MediaTek CPU was over 12 hours. The iPhone doesn't get anywhere close to that.

    20. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      By people with H1B Visas....

    21. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Because designed california means anything when apple doesn't pay its taxes....

    22. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by sexconker · · Score: 3, Funny

      No no no no no. No.

      With the Pixel, the branding and marketing speak have all made it very clear. Pixel is "Made by Google"(tm). Do not look behind the curtain. Do not compare the design and components to existing phones made by HTC. Do not question whether Google actually has manufacturing lines, foundries, or any physical product design experience.

      Just repeat the mantra. Made by Google. Made by Google. Made by Google.

      Oh Google, we thank you for your services, and we humbly accept the fact that we are the product. We ask that you keep us and hold our data so that we may enter into thine Divine Ecosystem. We ask not why you taketh away Reader, Latitude, or most of your other gifts for we know naught of your Divine Plan; instead we rejoice in the bounty that are Apps and AdWords that you so Graciously provide us.

      In the name of the Alphabet, and of the Android, and of the Holy Google we pray.

      And now, as Brothers Page and Brin pass the collection plates, we shall recite Schmidt's prayer.

      Our Google, which art in Silicon Valley,
      Hallowed be thy Names.
      Thy Monopoly come.
      Thy will be done in Android,
      As it is in Web.
      Give us this day our daily apps.
      And forgive us our Ad Blockers,
      As we forgive them that Ad Block against us.
      And lead us not into temptation,
      But deliver us from Apple.
      For thine is the Monopoly,
      The spying, and the advertising,
      For ever and ever.
      Amen.

    23. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by painandgreed · · Score: 1, Interesting

      >> Woz: "Here is what I admire about Chinese phones...(but Apple is more good-er)" How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"?

      Last time I saw a breakdown, China pretty much just assembled the phone. Besides being designed and built for an American (Irish?) company, most of the parts were built were built in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. More of the money it takes to build an iPhone also went to each of those three nations than China also.

    24. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Maxthod · · Score: 1

      Still. Designed by Apple. Before Apple, Google would have copy Blackberry, designed in Canada, Ontario. https://www.theverge.com/2012/...

    25. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Thank you, I know that.
      But on my device that options only were available after activating developer mode, and the option 'use as usb drive' is missing. I have two different 'multimedia device' options though. One only allows audio, the other one, audio, video and ebooks, but no ordinary file transfer.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    26. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      The CPU implements the ARM instruction set, but Apple's A-series SoCs have been custom designs for years now. The cellular baseband comes from Intel (they did acquire it from Taiwanese Via Telecom, although Via was originally founded in the U.S.) but they may have the design team for that in the U.S. as well. The audio codec is from Cirrus Logic according to iFixit, and they're headquartered in Texas. Of course there are dozens of other various chips and components that go into an iPhone, some likely from other U.S. companies (e.g. Texas Instruments), others from various global entities. I know off-hand that the camera is from Sony.

    27. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by vux984 · · Score: 1

      So? If I by a box of lego and create a truly good model, its all made from components from elsehwere, but the model is still designed here by me; and the objective quality of that design is mostly in how I've assembled it, how complex, how well it works, how much fun it is, etc etc.

      Then there is the fact that I chose to make it out of lego instead of one of the knockoffs that doesn't fit as well together.

      Apple may be building their model out of the same box of components as other people have, but that doesn't mean there's nothing special about their build.

      That said, while I'm not an apple fan; my issues mostly revolve around the ios lock down, and the design choices apple has made (no headphone jack...); but the phone build itself is still impressive.

    28. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Gussington · · Score: 1

      ...and an Android phone is? (Hint: designed by Google in California)

      Well the closest competitor to Apple phones right now is Samsung...

      In China and India, half the mobile phone buying population on the planet, Oppo is taking over. I bought one to replace my Samsung Note4 which I ruined, and it does everything I need for 1/4 of the price of Apple/Samsung/Google etc. I think we've reached the 'good enough' level with phone tech, so phones designed and built in China will win the long game.

    29. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Gussington · · Score: 1

      "p>Or compare performance and battery life of the iPhone SE against Chinese 4" phones.

      I have an Oppo F1S and it shits on everything my daughters iPhone5S does. And the Oppo was cheaper.

    30. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      That is a very few particular Android phones. Android the OS isn't even Google ... It is the Open Handset Alliance. The hardware for different Android phones is designed mostly overseas, with rare exception.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    31. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      All hardware engineers do exactly what you are claiming isn't design.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    32. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      The Google Pixel phones are also very nice although they haven't sold that well in their first year.

      Could be something about the price, dur dur?

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    33. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Actually the OS is designed in California, then modded elsewhere.

      Actually, Google just mods Linux and slaps their brand on it, quietly failing to identify the real origin.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    34. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by ranton · · Score: 1

      The Google Pixel phones are also very nice although they haven't sold that well in their first year.

      Could be something about the price, dur dur?

      The price is in the same ballpark as iPhones and the Galaxy line, at it is comparable in specs to those phones. It doesn't appear that price is a significant factor.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    35. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      The price is in the same ballpark as iPhones and the Galaxy line, at it is comparable in specs to those phones. It doesn't appear that price is a significant factor.

      Sorry, you failed marketing. With nothing much to distinguish it, obviously price is a significant factor in people not buying it. Certainly true in my case. I bought the Nexus 4 for $400. Pixel 1 started at $400, I would have bought it if my Nexus 4 wasn't still working great. Now the Nexus 4 needs to be replaced, but $800 for the Pixel 2 takes it right off the list, no further analysis required.

      I am interested to know what Nokia's new flagship will come in at. Other things being equal, I would be willing to pay $600 for it. Anybody who wants $800 from me for a phone can piss up a rope.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    36. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by aliquis · · Score: 1

      I have no problem with that.

      Galaxy S5 800?

    37. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by nachtelfjeiu · · Score: 1

      You seem to be stuck in Apple's logic. What is mounting as a usb device worth if you can't use the files you copy on it like mp3's. For the positioning of the cursor: just swipe the space bar. It may not work the way you, as an Apple user, expect, but it works in other equally well ways.

    38. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      No idea what you want to say with mounting as USB drive.
      My Android device does not, but I expected it to do. Obviously if it would I couold copy mp3 files to the correct place.
      That spacebar swiping I will try, but ad I have a Yoga Book, which has a hardware keyboard (and the software keyboard is a bit strange) I doubt it will work ... lets see ;)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    39. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Designed by Apple in California.

      Built by Foxconn in China

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    40. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      The Google Pixel phones are also very nice although they haven't sold that well in their first year.

      Could be something about the price, dur dur?

      The price is in the same ballpark as iPhones and the Galaxy line, at it is comparable in specs to those phones. It doesn't appear that price is a significant factor.

      Apart from it doesn't have the cult status of apple or the long term (mostly) excellent track record to justify it.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    41. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by ranton · · Score: 1

      Sorry, you failed marketing. With nothing much to distinguish it, obviously price is a significant factor in people not buying it. Certainly true in my case.

      I am sorry but you either are not in marketing or aren't very good at it. A flagship product is still going to have a flagship price, even if it is a first iteration. The original XBox was the same price as the Playstation 2 and that product has done very well in the marketplace. Generally you may see a $50-100 discount for a new player, and you indeed do see that with the Pixel. The top of the line iPhone and Galaxy phones are in the $900 range while the Pixel 2 XL is rumored to be in the $800 range. But feature for feature the Pixel 2 XL is in the same league as both phones. It is a great value.

      For people used to buying $400 phones, none of these phones are marketed at you.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    42. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      The top of the line iPhone and Galaxy phones are in the $900 range while the Pixel 2 XL is rumored to be in the $800 range.

      I'm not paying $800 for a phone because I'm not an idiot.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    43. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      They use the Linux kernel, but they slap a whole other layer on top of it. It is similar to MacOS X where you have an OS over an OS (the base being Darwin, which a fork of BSD).

      The source is here: https://source.android.com/sou...

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    44. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Yes, quite unconscionable of Google to not credit the source of by far the most important (and most reliable) component of their proprietary platform, don't you think? Or don't you.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    45. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by OffTheWallSoccer · · Score: 1

      The top of the line iPhone and Galaxy phones are in the $900 range while the Pixel 2 XL is rumored to be in the $800 range.

      I'm not paying $800 for a phone because I'm not an idiot.

      Or perhaps the features/specs of cheaper phones are good enough for you. I'm not an idiot, and am waiting to fork out for a Pixel 2. Why? Because I like the technology/benefits of the higher-end phones, but I'm tired of Samsung's crapware.

      If you are satisfied with lower-tier phones, then enjoy the extra cash that stays in your pocket.

    46. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by OffTheWallSoccer · · Score: 1

      Battery life on my Xiaomi with a 4400mAH battery and MediaTek CPU was over 12 hours. The iPhone doesn't get anywhere close to that.

      iPhone 6 battery is 1810mAH.
      iPhone 6S battery is 2915mAH.

      With your phone's giant-ass battery, I would certainly hope it can outlast an iPhone.

    47. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by OffTheWallSoccer · · Score: 1

      Oppo, as in the high-end CD/DVD player guys?

    48. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      Yes, quite unconscionable of Google to not credit the source of by far the most important (and most reliable) component of their proprietary platform, don't you think? Or don't you.

      How much do they need to talk about it. It isn't as if Apple talks about Darwin much either, since it doesn't matter to the end user. BTW if you want to see Linux referenced, you need to see the developer oriented stuff, such as the diagram on this page: https://source.android.com/sou...

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    49. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      How much do they need to talk about it.

      Enough to avoid being perceived as intellectually dishonest. Of course it's a bit late for that, but it didn't have to be this way.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    50. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Today's flagship phone is tomorrow's lower tier phone, so why waste money?

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    51. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Gussington · · Score: 1

      No idea. I'd never heard of them until last year then I saw some in the shops that looked just like an iPhone 6 for 1/4 of the price. I did a quick Google and they are a Chinese brand deliberately designed to be an Apple clone but for the developing markets. They're the highest selling phone in China now, and after a recent holiday in Indonesia it seemed every second person had one there too.
      I've had iPhones and Galaxies but my Oppo is close enough that I won't bother paying that much for a phone again.

    52. Re: How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by OffTheWallSoccer · · Score: 1

      Interesting. I'll look into the Oppo phone. Thanks for the tip!

    53. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by Maritz · · Score: 1

      What a bizarre post. It's so cool to care this much.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    54. Re:How is an iPhone not a "Chinese phone"? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Hell no. I begrudgingly use an Android phone.

  2. Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable anyway by elrous0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Most people basically replace their phones every two to three years, so what does it matter if your phone is built to last longer? All that matters on modern phones are features, and on that front Apple tends to lag a bit.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  3. when you love Apple you are willing to pay for it by ZiakII · · Score: 1

    *blink* hahahahahaha

  4. Nice branding by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

    I mean, why not just come out and say you're appealing to conspicuous consumption so the more you charge, the more loyal your customers get?

    1. Re:Nice branding by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      This is basic marketing. If you charge a higher price point, you get better quality customers who are willing to pay more.

    2. Re:Nice branding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The fanboyism is SO bad, Steve can get away with saying things like this, and still sell his crap to the fashionable stupid people.

    3. Re:Nice branding by Baron_Yam · · Score: 2

      I wouldn't call it crap - I would say it's grossly overpriced for the functionality it provides, and I'd also say I'm not keen on their walled garden.

      And of course I find the idea of paying a premium for branding to be offensively stupid because I'm not a child any more.

    4. Re:Nice branding by CrashNBrn · · Score: 1

      Courageous Crap.

    5. Re:Nice branding by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      You get fools willing to part with their money. Certainly not educated consumers.

  5. I remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    When the Apple iPhone was terrible at making phone calls. Thankfully, nowadays nobody uses iPhones for that purpose anymore, so it doesn't really matter.

    I pull out my iPhone when I want to impress someone, but it doesn't actually have a SIM in it. I use an Android phone to communicate with people.

    1. Re: I remember... by phayes · · Score: 1

      You forgot to tell us to get off your lawn there grandpa...

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    2. Re: I remember... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      I recently went back to a Bell 2500 desk phone on the bedside stand. The newer, more fangled phone I was using there has a speakerphone button on the corner. The cat kept walking over the phone and taking the phone 'off hook.'

      Added benefit of the 2500: if an intruder breaks in at night, I can brain him with the handset.

    3. Re: I remember... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      So, you're the musty old fuck making use of ten year old memes?

      Howzabout you go out and get a job, then talk to a realtor about buying a place with a lawn.

    4. Re: I remember... by phayes · · Score: 1

      A 10 year old meme is an apt reply to a 4 digit slashID harking back to the glory days of Ma Bell.

      Wtf pissed in your cornflakes this morning hmm? I own both my apartment in Paris & have a summer home on the Côte d'Azur. Did the bank repossess your doublewide?

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    5. Re:I remember... by antdude · · Score: 1

      Well, I would be impressed if you use both. I did with SIMless Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and iPhone 6S used for QA testings. ;)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  6. let them eat cake by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    Woz may have gotten screwed by Apple, but he's still worth somewhere ~$100M. He's not going to be price sensitive about a damn pocket computer.
    Those of us that live in the real world have to realistically weigh such tradeoffs and decide what we want to spend our pennies on.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:let them eat cake by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      If you use something fairly heavily almost every day for three years or so (my iPhone is older than that), a few hundred more dollars for ease of use is not a big deal. People in general spend more than that on things they don't really need.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  7. Innovations by merky1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Like removing user replaceable batteries and removing headphone jacks and not including features.

    Yeah, the only difference between Apple and landfill is the price tag. They led the race to the bottom, and now my 4+ year old phone is probably the last phone I will own due to their "innovations."

    Samsung S5 - replaceable battery / rear case. Wireless charging. Waterproof. OLED display. Lineage OS support (think free as in speech).

    --
    --WooooHoooo--
    1. Re:Innovations by Viol8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wish I had mod points. The cynicism with which Apple disguise their blatant cost cutting and built in obsolescence under the banner of "innovation" is just staggering. Almost as staggering as the number of rich dumb fanboys and other sheeple who actually believe it.

    2. Re:Innovations by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      A few years? You're supposed to buy a new one in 2 years, tops, so that's a feature, not a bug.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Innovations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Like removing user replaceable batteries

      A fair point, and one that's valid against a great many Android devices.

      removing headphone jacks

      Ah, yes, the world's largest non-problem.

      features

      And this is where I start laughing, because seriously, you guys sound like middle managers. WE NEED FEATURES! GIVE US FEATURES! THIS GUY SAYS IF WE PAY HIM $20k/MONTH HE'LL HOOK OUR IT UP WITH FEATURES!

    4. Re:Innovations by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      Like removing user replaceable batteries

      "Removing" suggests they had it in the first place. They didn't. The iPhone was never aimed at people who wanted to replace batteries. I understand the frustration with the headphone jack removal, but what sort of sense does it make to complain that a device isn't something it never claimed to be?

      Every device is the sum of a set of design decisions. Apple chose to make specific compromises in order to make gains in areas that appeal to their target demographic, of which you are clearly not a member. There's nothing wrong with that. If their compromises don't appeal to you, don't buy their devices. And if their design decisions become the dominant ones in the industry, you'd be better served by educating others on the value of your priorities, rather than complaining that you can't find devices that match your (apparently niche) set of priorities.

      For my part, while I recognize that some people enjoy them, I still don't see the appeal of inductive charging (whether I set it on a dock or a pad makes no difference to me), the benefit of waterproofing is negligible to me (in 15 years, I've never spilled liquid near a device, and I've had exactly one case where I would have appreciated being able to take pictures in water), and a replaceable battery adds bulk that I'd prefer to do without (I rarely travel so the primary use case doesn't apply to me, and even in old devices I've never had the battery capacity drop enough to warrant a replacement).

    5. Re:Innovations by CrashNBrn · · Score: 1

      Most of the world is hardly impressed with Apple. Pretty much just the 5 eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States).

      0. 57% Japan

      Five Eyes:
      1. 48% G.Britain
      2. 46% Australia
      3. 43% USA
      4. 39% Canada
      5. 31% New Zealand

      Rest of the World:
      5. 24% France
      6. 24% EU5
      7. 20% China
      8. 20% Germany
      9. 16% Italy
      10. 13% Spain
      ...

      Sources:

      Apple regains top spot in New Zealand smartphone shipments
      Apple tops Samsung in Canadian smartphone market share: comScore
      iPhone market share grows 6.4% in USA, takes share from Android in most markets
      iPhone market share by country

    6. Re:Innovations by merky1 · · Score: 1

      Haven't noticed it on my 4 y/o phone. Maybe you had the "daylight" stuff on and mistook that for screen damage? I also replaced the case (not bolted an ugly ill fitting cover on top of) with a folio (fold over cover), so maybe that adds a layer of protection?

      --
      --WooooHoooo--
    7. Re:Innovations by merky1 · · Score: 1

      Ah, yes, the world's largest non-problem.

      Unless you travel, and most cars still only have aux in / no bluetooth. Or you ride in airplanes and listen to music on 5+ hour flights. These are just the reasons I used the headphone jack in the last week. There is no valid reason to require yet another cable for just simple audio out.

      And this is where I start laughing, because seriously, you guys sound like middle managers.

      I'm not asking for new features. I'm asking for a return to the level of service I had 5 years ago. It wasn't until the iPhone lead the charge into obsolescence that user serviceability died. They even took that mentality, and transferred it to the laptop realm with inaccessible components. I had to trash my daughters MB Air (1st generation) due to battery death. And the whole premium service fooey is crap. My daughters iPhone had a battery recall, scheduled an appointment, and was told they would have to ship the phone out. I wasted 2 weeks on what can only be described as the single worst support case in my life, and I had Comcast for 5 years.

      So yeah, the "feature creep" argument doesn't hold true here, when the only "innovation" Apple has provided is less and less user service. We've had better.

      --
      --WooooHoooo--
    8. Re:Innovations by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Who downmodded that? Apple employee much?

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    9. Re:Innovations by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Nobody's explained to me what's so great about a user-replaceable battery. My iPhone 5S is over three and a half years old now, and the battery performance is good. My sister-in-law got my wife's old iPhone 4, which is about three years older, and which has never had a battery change.

      If I go with the most expensive option, it will cost me eighty dollars to replace the battery on my phone. For something I do maybe every four years, that's not much of an expense.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  8. Intelligent discussion? by ilsaloving · · Score: 5, Funny

    I anticipate a serious, informative and insightful discussion on not just the merits of the iphone, but about the general concepts of value and how it relates to personal preferences and requirements.

    Please? Maybe?

    1. Re: Intelligent discussion? by xenog · · Score: 1

      Wrong place.

    2. Re:Intelligent discussion? by Scarred+Intellect · · Score: 2

      I anticipate a serious, informative and insightful discussion

      Nope, ain't gonna happen, TFS mentioned Apple. This IS still /..

    3. Re:Intelligent discussion? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      Well iOS only runs on Apple hardware, so if you wanted to run it on a "Chinese Phone", you couldn't.

      But I've never owned an iPhone, so I don't know or care about what I'm missing out on. A late 2012 Korean phone does all I need running the latest Android 7.x release. If I need a replacement I'll simply substitute a model supported by Lineage OS and with a good repairability score on ifixit.

    4. Re:Intelligent discussion? by ilsaloving · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you look at raw specs, yes. But we all know that it's not just about a checklist of features in the hardware and the OS.

      It's the UI, the reliability of the device, the reputation of the vendor, the ecosystem that the device falls into. Are there any particular worthwhile features that trump everything else? All those elements factor into the overall "value" of a device. The question then becomes, HOW valuable is that to a given person?

      For me for example, I wanted *solid* bluetooth performance. I've had such dismal experience with bluetooth that I had effectively dismissed the entire technology as over-hyped garbage. I had zero plans on purchasing an iPhone 7... until I discovered that it had Bluetooth Power Class 1, which AFAIK no other mobile device on the entire market can do. So I took a chance and bought one (128GB storage), along with a BeatsX headphones. They were stupidly expensive. Ended up dropping ~$1400 on the whole shebang. And you know what? I don't regret it at all. I have had exceptionally flawless performance. I had exactly one drop out, and that was when I passed an electrical room that puts out so much EM that there is literally no hope for *any* wireless anything to function. The phone itself performs more or less as expected. (iTunes, of course, is still just as much shit as it ever was... but I only needed it long enough to be able to do my initial sync of music and configure non-cloud wifi backups.)

      I personally have a very low tolerance for bullshit, especially when it comes to technology when something is supposed to "just work", and I have no qualms about paying a premium for a device that doesn't give me grief.... because that is extremely valuable to me. The entire Android ecosystem fell well below my expectations and requirements. Other people have different requirements, and that's fine.

      Incidentally, the last 2 or so releases of Android have dramatically improved (especially in terms of power management), and if I was starting from scratch, I would probably give it another try. However, I've purchased enough iOS apps that I'm now effectively commited to the platform, and it's just not worth it for me to migrate.

      Tangentially, I *almost* gave up on Mac because Apple's handling of their hardware HAS been that grievous. But then Microsoft said "hold my beer" and released Windows 10, so now it's become not a question of "which one is better", but "which one hurts less".

    5. Re:Intelligent discussion? by timftbf · · Score: 1

      For me, it's iOS. Much the same as the "are Macs worth it?" debate, it boils down to whether or not you want iOS, and how much you're prepared to pay for it.

      I've tried using Android, and while I can't prepare you a bullet-point list of things I especially wish were different, it just feels clunky and unintuitive to me in comparison to iOS. There's also a certain amount of group effect in that I play a number of on-line games against iOS-using friends, many of which aren't available on other platforms, or don't offer cross-platform play.

      If, at the point where my iPhone 6 finally gives up the ghost, there's not an iPhone I can justify the premium on in order to get iOS, or I think the bad points of the current model outweigh the benefits of iOS, or I simply think the latest version of iOS has moved away from what I want, then I'll be open to evaluating the alternatives.

      Similarly, I want macOS, and the price premium on a Mac is less to me than the value I place on my time to build a Hackintosh and keep it working. It was a close call this time around, and if there isn't either a better price / performance Mini or a useful tower option next time, I'm quite likely to go down the Hackintosh route. Not an option for phones though.

    6. Re:Intelligent discussion? by phayes · · Score: 1

      You don't know or care but you posted to an apple subject on /.? Thanks for sharing your ignorance & apathy with us, because that's the reason we frequent /.

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    7. Re:Intelligent discussion? by Powercntrl · · Score: 2

      I anticipate a serious, informative and insightful discussion on not just the merits of the iphone, but about the general concepts of value and...

      The iPhone really isn't that expensive compared to other things people regularly spend money on. Smoke? A pack-a-day habit averages around $2k per year. Go out drinking? That can easily run into the thousands, annually. Have cable TV? In my neck of the woods, that'll cost you at least as much annually as a current generation iPhone. Most people keep their phone longer than a year, too.

      Technical merits aside, the advantage of the iPhone is that it is a "safe" choice if you're not interested in researching phones. You can be reasonably assured it will take decent pictures, run all the most common apps, provide acceptable reception, have ample battery life, and make clear phone calls. Should it not function properly, the issue can be quickly resolved at an Apple store (yeah, good customer service makes a difference in customer loyalty - just ask Chick-Fil-A).

      Plus, as good old economics 101 will tell you, if people are still lining up to buy something - it's not overpriced.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    8. Re:Intelligent discussion? by NewWorldDan · · Score: 1

      As in all things, there is cost benefit analysis. Phones have reached the point that they are now effectively a 3 year device (while early smart phones were 1.5 year devices). The things holding back longevity are screens that get damaged and non replaceable batteries. Otherwise, the specs on a 3 year old phone are very good. The other thing holding back older phones is discontinued OS support. On the other hand, the battery and screen in my 2 year old Galaxy S6 are both doing great and the OS is still being updated. A couple of minor scratches on the screen and the battery holds a charge for a full day. I've had to switch to wireless charging because the USB connector on the phone doesn't hold the cable in anymore. What do I use the phone for? Email, web, calendar, and sometimes maps. I'm boring.

      Comparison: desktop computers. 15 years ago, a new desktop computer was functionally obsolete after 2 years. Technology matured and hit a plateau such that my current home desktop is 8 years old and performs most tasks very well. Really, the biggest thing that drags it down are badly designed websites, and that's hardly my hardware's fault. I'm looking at updating it in the near future. While I would have only spent $500 max on a build a decade ago, in this case, I'm going to follow the Woz paradigm and use first class component for everything because I expect to be using the same computer for the next decade at least, barring any unexpected new advances in technology. My budget is about $1200, which will make it the most expensive computer I've ever bought.

      In conclusion, if I were buying a phone today, I'd still buy something that was towards the higher end. I've had bad phones before, and they're miserable. On a 3 year time frame, buying a good phone is worth it. I'm not an Apple person, so I wouldn't get an iPhone. On the other hand, I'm not poor, so I have the extra $200 to spend on a phone that doesn't suck.

    9. Re:Intelligent discussion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      fucking hilarious, $1400 due to bluetooth, and idiot and his money are easily parted.

      a bog standard android with $30 bluetooth headphones work fine in my office at 50feet...

    10. Re:Intelligent discussion? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      What merits? First you brings us the merits, then we'll discuss them.

    11. Re:Intelligent discussion? by lgw · · Score: 1

      You should really see someone about your Trump OCD. They have meds for OCD now. Or are you just off your meds again?

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    12. Re:Intelligent discussion? by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      The iPhone really isn't that expensive compared to other things people regularly spend money on.

      Yes it is. BTW, did you hear that Apple owners tend to keep higher charge card balances than owners of other brands?

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    13. Re:Intelligent discussion? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Suppose you spend $1K on an iPhone and keep it for three years. That's less than $1/day.

      If you smoke, you're spending more on tobacco than on your iPhone. If you buy a fancy coffee twice a week, that's more expensive. If you have a nice car, that's more expensive. There are any number of expenses that even low-income people have that are over a dollar a day.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  9. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Viol8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We don't all replace a perfectly working gadget every few years just for shiny shiny!, not just because of the monetary cost but because of the ethics and enviromental costs. So some of us do care that they're built to last.

  10. Re:TIME TO GET SCHWIFTY IN HERE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Nobody in here has gotten schwifty in decades.

  11. Re: TIME TO GET SCHWIFTY IN HERE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What about rickety-wrecked?

  12. Flame! Troll! Opinion as fact! by berchca · · Score: 1

    Just a few of my ideas for this discussion.

  13. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Three years top, uh? That doesn't explain my iPhone 4.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  14. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My Android phones last just fine. This is just another bit of bogus nonsense from the Apple cult.

    The real question is how long these phones will be supported and what will happen to them once they are force upgraded to a new OS version. Will they still be useful then?

    Apple is very much a mixed bag when it comes to product longevity in real live.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  15. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Funny my iPhone 4s (on iOS 7.1.2) is still running; I get about 7hrs from the battery under light use.

  16. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by avandesande · · Score: 1

    thank you for your useful anecdote

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  17. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by ranton · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For iPhones (and Galaxy / Pixel) quality has more to do with features and capabilities than it does long lasting craftsmanship. Not many people claim high end phones are made of parts which will last longer than cheaper phones, they claim they have better quality cameras / larger screens / better resolution / faster processors / etc.

    I would be very surprised if cheaper phones didn't have a much longer shelf life than high end phones. They are not cramming as much processing power into such a small mobile device so they are probably more reliable on average.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  18. For who by avandesande · · Score: 1

    I sit behind a computer all day and need very little from a cell phone. How would this be a good value for me?

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  19. Used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    15 years ago. This place is a SJW moron habitat now.

  20. Subjective.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Do new iPhones have removable batteries, SD card slots, and ear phone jacks? If not they really aren't worth the price Apple charges for them.

    1. Re:Subjective.... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Removable batteries are a red herring dragged into the discussion by Apple haters. If the battery lasts as long as you're going to own the phone, who cares? If you want to go longer without recharging, you can get batteries that plug into the iPhone which aren't any more of a hassle than removable batteries.

      SD card slots - how many people actually use theirs? Earphone jacks? The latest iPhones are selling well with wired alternatives, and come with an adapter if you want.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  21. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    And for how long did it run when it was brand new? :)

    https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/i...

  22. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by burtosis · · Score: 1

    With iOS 11 Apple is leaving Ipad 2 (2011), iPhone 5(2012), 5c (2013), iPod 5th gen (2012)devices unsupported. The minimum time is about 3.75 years and the max nearly 6 between market introduction and unsupported. However, new iPhone buyers probably go 2.5-3.5 years between new and unsupported. That's really not much better in terms of obsolescence than cheap Chinese android phones.

  23. Don't forget.. by intellitech · · Score: 1

    Their screens are almost designed to break, because of this "build it as thin as possible" phenomenon, completely disregarding the fact the materials need to be more ridgid to help keep the glass from breaking when dropped.

    --
    vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
    1. Re:Don't forget.. by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      Making them a bit thicker would also make it easier to give them better battery life.

    2. Re:Don't forget.. by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      "Hey, isn't it awesome how thin my phone is? Why yes, I DID put it in an Otter Box that makes it bigger than most other phones, but I don't want it to break if I drop it!"

  24. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by phayes · · Score: 5, Informative

    So your phone has the most recent Android safe from the currently known crop of android exploits? That puts you in the tiny minority of android owners.

    The vast majority of Android owners need to upgrade their phones every year or two just to be able to get more recent updates given how fast so many android makers drop support of their phones.

    Apple a mixed bag? Your ignorance is bliss apparently. iPhone owners get a few years more safe use from their phones as all phones newer than the 5s (sold since Sept2013) can use the latest iOS 11 & most do, having been updated since Apple made iOS 11 available in June.

    It doesn't mean that old phones can't soldier on for years and years afterwards, just not safely.

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
  25. Re:when you love Apple you are willing to pay for by phayes · · Score: 1

    You're no true Scotsman!

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
  26. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by cayenne8 · · Score: 2

    The real question is how long these phones will be supported and what will happen to them once they are force upgraded to a new OS version. Will they still be useful then?

    I don't tend to change phones very often...

    My first smart phone was the iPhone 3GS.

    I kept that till I upgraded it to the iPhone 6SPlus....if that gives you any indication how long they will last and be useful....

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  27. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    You don't, I don't, but we don't count. The majority out there does just that, so why bother building a cellphone that lasts? Yes, the 1% of people who actually care will be pissed, but they, too, will just buy a new cellphone. They'll just mutter profanities towards the manufacturer of their current phone while they buy a phone from the manufacturer they muttered profanities at 2 years ago when they bought the phone they are tossing now, while the rest of the people squeal "ohhh shiny!" while buying whatever phone has the latest bling.

    In the end, we all buy. And that's all that counts to the makers of those phones.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  28. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Really? Apple changed enough in its hardware in 6 years that an OS doesn't run on it anymore?

    Who'd have thought?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  29. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    I can get 7 days of heavy use from my Nokia 7110...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  30. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 1

    I replace my phone when I can no longer repair it, my current one is 7 years old and still going strong.
    Have to admit I am running out of space though :-(

    --
    There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
  31. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by chispito · · Score: 1

    The vast majority of Android owners need to upgrade their phones every year or two just to be able to get more recent updates given how fast so many android makers drop support of their phones.

    It's not really that fast in most cases. My nearly three-year old, $100 (when new) LG phone still gets updates (oh and it has a replaceable battery and micro SD slot). But it doesn't matter. The real way that people with Android get owned is by installing shady apps, some from Google Play, and blindly agreeing to the over-intrusive permissions.

    --
    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
  32. Bait the Woz by backslashdot · · Score: 2

    I think it's comedic how people constantly try to bait Woz to say something bad about Apple. Hello, he is always gonna love Apple that's his baby. Even if your kid gets into drugs and robs a bunch of old ladies, you are still gonna say your kid is a good kid. It's possibly even rude/disrespectful to ask the guy. If you go up to a mother and ask "why is your baby ugly?" isn't that mean?

    Plus it's kind of true most of the Chinese phones aren't bringing anything to the table besides cost reduction by removing features.

    1. Re:Bait the Woz by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Even if your kid gets into drugs and robs a bunch of old ladies, you are still gonna say your kid is a good kid. It's possibly even rude/disrespectful to ask the guy. If you go up to a mother and ask "why is your baby ugly?" isn't that mean?

      You're conflating two things.

      Yes, it IS rude to ask someone why their baby is ugly, or to say that it is. The baby can't help the way it looks, and a lot of babies really are ugly. Hopefully they'll grow out of it. But it doesn't matter: baby-ugliness is just a cosmetic issue, and doesn't indicate any evil or malice on the part of the baby (or its parents). Calling someone's baby ugly is akin to making fun of retarded people: it's really, really low.

      However, if someone's kid grows up to be a sociopathic criminal, then why shouldn't you be able to say that to the parents? Especially if the parents are defending their scumbag kid? Looks, esp. at a young age, aren't something someone has much control over. But actions, esp. at a teenage or adult age, certainly are. Parents should be ashamed if their kids turn out to be criminal pieces of shit, and while we shouldn't be too terribly harsh on the parents (some kids turn out this way despite the best intentions of the parents and with no evidence of bad parenting), we shouldn't deny reality either: these kids are trash, and if the parents defend the kids, they should be called out on it, because that attitude is actually making the problem worse by not providing enough negative feedback to the kid and enabling him.

      It's the same with Apple. I don't care if it's "his baby": he *never* ran the company, and he hasn't even been part of the company in decades. It's turned into an evil monstrosity, so for him to defend them it is perfectly valid to criticize him. Would you tell Jeffrey Dahmer's mother that his kid was just "misunderstood" but a "good son"? Hell no. Same here. Apple is a horrible company that abuses the patent system and acts as a monopolist, producing horrible products (esp. iTunes, required to use the iPhone with a PC) and pushing the industry in a terrible direction with disposable devices at absurd prices. Luckily they're not actually a monopoly with phones (or anything else), as Android devices sell far more and are readily available, but their damage to the industry is real and worthy of criticism.

    2. Re:Bait the Woz by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      people constantly try to bait Woz to say something bad about Apple. Hello, he is always gonna love Apple that's his baby.

      Not necessarily.

    3. Re:Bait the Woz by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Okay, when did masked Apple operatives kill your kid sister? Apple uses the patent system like other large companies, produces products many people buy for very good reasons, and the only way Apple can push the industry is to offer things to consumers that the consumers want. BTW, you don't need iTunes to use an iPhone, and you haven't in years.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  33. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    I'd rather pay 1/3rd the price for a better spec phone, and then replace it after two years when the OS updates stop coming. I could install LegacyOS if I wanted more life out of it, but I'd rather give it to someone else and get a new one for myself.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  34. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2

    Meh. The iPhones I've owned have had better shelf life than a lot of crap I'm forced to buy. They're neither the worst nor the best. Treating them either way is for zealots.

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  35. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by dffuller · · Score: 1

    No, they're just continuously improving on it.

  36. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apple didn't invent planned obsolescence.

    They didn't, but you have to admit, with the iPhone they really did Lead The Way.

    There was a period when most phones, even Apple's, were pretty good hardware. They were expected to outlast the battery and you would probably change it at least once. Apple was one of the first to have the "courage" to use a cost-reduced integrated battery design, which of course everyone, even companies that previously had a reputation for quality (e.g. Samsung) had to copy.

    If Apple hadn't sucked, lots of other phones wouldn't suck yet either. They made suckiness accepted, and if you listen to some people, they even made suckiness become a good thing.

    That said, I do hold accountable the manufacturers who mysterious felt they had to copy Apple. My current 3-year-old Samsung phone (S4) is definitely my last Samsung phone, ever. No more money for you, Samsung, unless you decide to stop copying Apple and go back to making quality hardware.

  37. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Unsupported is pretty irrelevant.

    My iPad 2 and iPhone 4S are probably 7 or 8 years old and run just fine.

    And for my own reasons I have iOS 7 on my iPad and if I'm not mistaken iOS 6 on my iPhone.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  38. Similar to Mac vs. Windows by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've used both Android and iPhone, and I found the iPhone just "cleaner" and more straight-forward. Apple controls the user experience carefully, and refuses most junk and clutter.

    It may not be that Android is "bad" per se, but various phone vendors either don't give enough thought to a clean UI, and/or put junkware and play games to get you to buy their crap. It's more wild-west in flavor. On the upside, Android may have more potential options and shortcuts if you fiddle and dig enough.

    It's much like the old Mac vs. Windows debate: Mac is easier to "just use" out of the box, while Windows is less expensive and has more potential software, but needs more babysitting of the machine to do it and keep running, and UI design that sometimes makes you cringe. Google is the new Microsoft, for good or bad.

    1. Re:Similar to Mac vs. Windows by hackel · · Score: 1

      No, iOS is more like Windows in this case, and Android is like Linux (literally). Apple is all about controlling end-users, just like Microsoft. Forcing their proprietary ecosystem down their throats. While Android shares a little bit of that due to Google, it's not inherent to the open-source operating system, and it's possible to have a well functioning phone without any of that Google stuff.

      Apple became the "new Microsoft" a long time ago.

    2. Re:Similar to Mac vs. Windows by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I don't use my smartphone heavily enough to want that much customization. Customization is only justified if you use a given feature set a lot. Otherwise, you are spending more effort tinkering than actually using the device. Most of the customization I want from Android is to make certain apps work like the iPhone versions, which often "did it better" as is.

      That could change with a life-style change, but like I said, Apple products tend to be easier/quicker to use out of the box. Phone tinkerer/hobbyists are not their target market.

  39. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

    Those with children pass their old phones to their kids. Extremely common in my hallway. Not saying I think a phone that costs as much as a nice PC is fair at all, but my company buys me my iPhone so... yeah, my kids get old iPhones.

  40. They ARE worth it... if you don't upgrade. by eepok · · Score: 1

    iPhones are NOT expensive... if you don't upgrade during every cycle. An iPhone 5c still runs just fine right now. There has been no change to internet browsing, text messaging, and phone calls that make it necessary to upgrade the 5c.

    However, if you fancy yourself a photographer and thus need the best iPhone for the best camera. OK.
    If you're a serious mobile gamer and need the best graphics and a phablet screen. OK
    But, similarly, you need to understand that you're trying to get multiple high-performance devices squeezed into one-- and that's going to cost if it's the best on the market.

    So it's not really, "This is too expensive" but instead "Is it really worth it to me at this price?".

    1. Re:They ARE worth it... if you don't upgrade. by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      However, if you fancy yourself a photographer, you will buy a dedicated SLR camera and a good lens kit, not a goddamn phone.

      Fixed that for you.

    2. Re:They ARE worth it... if you don't upgrade. by eepok · · Score: 1

      I accept that correction with a grin of shared frustration. ;)

  41. Re:Definitely a hardware guy by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 1

    >slave

    the present the contrary point, apple has no horse in the race in terms of trying to cookie monster all of your data and show you ads 24/7. the same cannot be said of google and microsoft.

    the "being a slave" is apple trying to tell you what's best, and very often being correct. let me know how you feel 5-10 years from now when thunderbolt/usb-type-C take over the industry 100% due to apple. how about SSDs? i know a bunch of people that think apple has some magic sauce that makes their machines fast because they had an SSD before.

    i also would never use a desktop that didn't run a unix or unix like operating system, so there's that. i also do not enjoy the inconvenience and lack of design sense that comes with linux on the desktop so there's that too.

  42. Re:Definitely a hardware guy by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 1

    sorry, missed a word, "never had an SSD before"

  43. I payed $20 for a Moto E by mea2214 · · Score: 2

    It can make phone calls, text, ... and that's all I need a phone to do. The battery lasts for over a week. If it gets stolen I'm out $20. Had it for two years now and it will probably last another 5.

    1. Re:I payed $20 for a Moto E by dk20 · · Score: 1

      This!

      I paid $10 for a Moto E on black friday and it came with a case. I bought two in case i lose one.. the MicroSD's i put in cost much more then the phone did.

      I use them as "bike computers".. because at $10 for a throw-away phone it is MUCH cheaper then $160 for a "bike computer" which doesnt have software updates, doesnt play music, have maps or much of anything else.

    2. Re:I payed $20 for a Moto E by hackel · · Score: 1

      These are listed at $130 from Motorola, and even the old 2nd generation models are still $70 on Amazon. Perhaps you're referring to some kind of subsidy you got from your mobile carrier? It's really disingenuous to make that comparison. I can go get an iPhone for $0 from Sprint. So what? It's still a $650 phone.

    3. Re:I payed $20 for a Moto E by dk20 · · Score: 1

      Mine is a "pay as you go".. i dropped $10 at bestbuy for the phone, and pay monthly.... no contracts... nothing.
      Carrier locked, but a lot of phones are.

      "Best Buy [bestbuy.com] has 8GB Verizon Motorola Moto E 4G No Contract Smartphone for $9.99"

  44. "Do What I Mean" by Voyager529 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hopefully, this will clarify what the general public sees in Apple products...

    As Slashdotters, we're used to telling computers "do what I say". If you've ever had a Google search that came back ignoring a critical part of a search term and having gotten mad at it for doing so, it's because Google didn't do what you said. We are the types of people who have unusual requests and explicit commands that we expect our computers to honor. Complex routing and firewall rules, always clicking "custom" when installing software, selecting which software updates get applied, and the inherent nature of software development - these are all the result of a "do what I say" mentality...and it's why we're very, very good at what we do - we know what to say.

    The general public does not have this.

    The general public knows they want the data on their phone to survive if the hardware doesn't. Do most think through it enough to consider which server it should live on, or how to ensure text messages are properly backed up (and in what format), or whether a TLA can access that data without their knowledge? If prompted, maybe, but for 99.9999% of iPhone users, the sequence of "having their phone fall from a roller coaster", "having Apple replace that phone with a new one", and "all the pictures of their kids being where they were before" is a far superior experience that requires no thought or action from the user; "make sure my data is safe" is a "do what I mean" command that iCloud basically provides far better than some amalgam of what Google offers - Google will back up your text messages, but gets inconsistent with MMS if Verizon is handling text messages with their proprietary app that comes standard on Android, as one example.

    Asking a friend how to do something on an iPhone, even if they're not exactly the same model, is pretty much guaranteed to work consistently. Go ahead and *try* walking someone through setting up an e-mail account on an Android phone. Which Android version? Which carrier? Motorola launcher, Samsung launcher, HTC launcher? Are they using a third party mail client? Are they doing so without knowing it, since later versions of Android tend to handle Exchange through the Gmail app? While a somewhat-informed, not-IT person can walk another user through adding an e-mail account on an iPhone, it's all but hopeless on Android. Rinse and repeat for many tasks, and it's abundantly clear why Apple has a far greater grasp on the social aspect of owning an iPhone. Now, don't get me wrong, I very much appreciate the customizability of Android and use it quite extensively. However, it's only useful with the understanding that effectively customizing an Android device requires a "do what I say" mentality.

    Finally, let's discuss safety. While sure, I think that the "toxic hellstew" comment is ridiculous, the fact of the matter is that you probably know someone who has called "Microsoft Support" and gotten taken for $400 and likely left a mess for you to clean up. It's a sad reality that such a scam works, but it does. The "do what I say" crowd decries the walled garden because it keeps us in, preventing us from accessing lower level system functions, greater customizations, nontraditional apps (oh ctorrent...), and the principled stance of owning a purchased device. However, the "do what I mean" crowd wants a device where they don't have to worry about something happening that they didn't "mean". The walls on the garden are for their safety, and even though they might disagree with a few aspects of that configuration if pressed, the fact is that an "Apple Support" scam is a nonstarter on the platform and for most iPhone users, that is a fair trade in exchange for low level functions they wouldn't know how to use anyway because they don't know what to "say".

    And that, fellow Slashdotters, is why the iPhone remains popular.

    1. Re:"Do What I Mean" by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      The rest doesn't have a choice

      They have the choice between iOS and Android. Most chose Android for various reasons. Before they could choose Microsoft, Blackberry, PalmOS... choices were there, but most died because of lack of sales.

    2. Re:"Do What I Mean" by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      My personal phone is a Note Edge, and my work phone is an iPhone. At launch, they cost about the same, and my point was that while you and I might not necessarily prefer an "iGrandma phone", the fact is that there are a whole lot of grandmas with money to purchase a phone that is readily accessible.

    3. Re:"Do What I Mean" by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      Actually walking someone through setting up email is quite easy. It starts with look around for a white/red envelope icon that says gmail. After that it's the same everywhere.

      Yes, for Gmail accounts. There are no shortage of people who still use their ISP's e-mail service, Yahoo, AOL, or Exchange through their employer. Google has a pretty good abstraction layer for their own services, but there are no shortage of people whose e-mail provider isn't Google.

      Or alternatively: Go to the play store. Search for "Some mail client I like". Install that. Then start it.

      I like Outlook and Touchdown, both of which are excellent, without a doubt. The point being made is that configuring an iPhone in a way that is simple and consistent does not require a third party app.

      On an IPhone? I could google it and read you the instructions I guess.

      Yes...and the fact that the instructions haven't changed much since iOS3 is a feature.

  45. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple is very much a mixed bag when it comes to product longevity in real live.

    You can't just drop a statement like that without backing it up with some evidence. While we can point to a handful of instances where Apple dropped support for things earlier than some people, particularly nerds, would have liked, calling their product longevity a mixed bag is a gross overstatement of the actual problem facing most users, in much the same way that saying "Malware is thousands of times more common on Android than iOS" is a way that the media (and Apple fanboys) like to lie with statistics. Sure, it may be true, but it doesn't reflect the reality of the situation (i.e. that malware isn't really a common problem on either platform).

    Certainly when it comes to iPhones, Apple has a rather good track record for product longevity, and it's widely understood that they support old devices with the latest updates for longer than any of their Android counterparts.

    For my part, the iPhone 5s I bought in 2013 and still use today as my primary device will be fully supported in iOS 11 that is coming out later this year. Generally speaking, it still runs just as well today as it did on the day I bought it. It's only been in the last few months that I've even started noticing a performance difference between apps on my iPhone and the same apps running on newer devices, but the differences are nowhere near sufficient to warrant an upgrade. The phone still holds enough of a charge that it can (admittedly barely) last from work on Friday to work on Monday without needing a charge over the weekend, so the battery hasn't forced an upgrade, and I don't expect that it will anytime soon.

    In fact, I've had the money set aside in my budget since 2015 to buy a new iPhone outright, given that I had anticipated upgrading on the stereotypical two-year cycle, but my iPhone 5s continues to run like a champ, much to my surprise and delight. As such, I've held off upgrading for the last two years, and given the rumors circulating so far and the continued performance from my current device, I expect that I'll do so again this year, meaning that by the time I finally do decide to upgrade, I will have had a fully supported, still-useful iPhone running the latest OS with the latest security updates and the latest features for a period lasting no less than 5-6 years.

    My Android phones last just fine.

    Define "just fine".

  46. Yeah, Right Woz by OYAHHH · · Score: 1, Interesting

    My IPhone can't maintain a WIFI connection at all. My cheap Android phone has not one issue at all.

    --
    Caution: Contents under pressure
  47. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposableIany by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because it a phone from 1999 that has a B&W 95x95 display and only supports 14kbps data transfer. I too could get a week on my old Nokia since it wasn't a smart phone. I wonder how long the batteries lasted in my Motorola pager when I had one of those things.

    You have shit for brains.

  48. Re:Slashdot moderators are garbage by avandesande · · Score: 2

    you get what you pay for

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  49. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

    Apple a mixed bag? Your ignorance is bliss apparently. iPhone owners get a few years more safe use from their phones as all phones newer than the 5s (sold since Sept2013) can use the latest iOS 11 & most do, having been updated since Apple made iOS 11 available in June.

    Do you know how well a 5s runs OS11? Because I've seen so many iPhones that have been 'upgraded' into an unusable state because they now do everything so slowly. I'm very skeptical about this always-autoupgrade major version thing that Apple does, it's not much use when you no longer can use the damn thing effectively. Possibly we're at a state where old phones are still fast enough, but this has definitely been a problem in the past.

  50. Who has to have these "high end features"? by ewhenn · · Score: 1

    Seriously, who really needs these high end features? I have a $120 Honor 5x. I've had it for about a year and a half. Most people I know send texts, take pictures, use a few relatively "light" applications such as twitter, maybe use the GPS a bit, and make calls. My cheap phone does that fine. Why should I pay an outrageous $700+ price tag for an Apple device when a $120 device will perform the same tasks just fine? Assuming you get a new device every 2 years, over 30 years, that's an extra ~$9000 in after tax money I have to do other things with. People need to stop spending money on stupid crap they don't need and stop whining about being broke!

  51. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    However, new iPhone buyers probably go 2.5-3.5 years between new and unsupported.

    So far as the flagship iPhones go, the iPhone 5 is the only one losing support in iOS 11. It was, as you said, launched in 2012, and it was discontinued a year later in 2013, meaning that by the time iOS 11 launches later this year, every iPhone 5 buyer will have received a minimum of 5 years of support, with people who bought it on launch day receiving 6 years of support. With iOS 11 dropping support for 32-bit processors and the iPhone 5 is on the wrong side of that divide, it's unsurprising that it's being left behind, but it'll be interesting to see whether iOS 12 retains support for the iPhone 5s next year, given that there isn't any obvious hardware divide that would warrant dropping support for that model.

    As for the 5c, it certainly is on the low side of support. In fact, it's even worse than you suggested, given that Apple was still dumping...err...making them available for sale in some markets (e.g. India) as late as early 2016. Even so, the iPhone 5c has always been an outlier. It was billed as a lower-cost alternative to the flagship iPhone lines, and it sold poorly enough that Apple never made another in that line, so it's doubtful the 5c would affect the numbers that much. But yes, the iPhone 5c received remarkably poor support, ranging from 1.5-4 years, depending on when purchased.

    In general, however, iPhones receive support far in excess of "cheap Chinese android phones".

  52. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by phayes · · Score: 1

    The adoption rates of Android updates (that I don't have the time to track down but that you can if you need confirmation) begs to differ.

    Am I saying that there aren't Android vendors that do a better job than most giving exceptions like yours and indeed more /. posters than is the norm? No.

    Am I saying that the the use of outdated Android versions is how most android owners get owned? Nope, the low hanging fruit of gullible users is clearly the major vector at present but much like for Wannacry & Petya for Windows sooner or later those Android vulnerabilities are going to get packaged and used & smart people make sure that they're as protected as they can.

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
  53. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by phayes · · Score: 2

    My old 5s is now my wife's so yeah, I do. It's not as fast as my 7+ but is still a big step up from the even older 4S she was using previously - besides which she mostly uses it for phone/facetime so it's _more_ than fast enough for her.

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
  54. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    My current 3-year-old Samsung phone (S4) is definitely my last Samsung phone, ever. No more money for you, Samsung, unless you decide to stop copying Apple and go back to making quality hardware.

    They did: they made the Galaxy S5. I had an S4 before, and now I have an S5, and the S5 is better in every way. I recommend upgrading to that.

    (Of course, the S5 is now 3+ years old...)

    If the S5 becomes too cumbersome to use because of lack of updates or whatever, I'm really not sure what to upgrade to next, because everything on the market seems to suck now.

  55. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    Depending on your variation you can have no updates from the time you bought the device to just under 2 years of updates.

    Wrong. My Galaxy S5 is over 3 years old now and is still receiving updates.

  56. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    We don't all

    No, but all enough that the alternative market is pretty much non-existent.

  57. Re:Definitely a hardware guy by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

    i also would never use a desktop that didn't run a unix or unix like operating system, so there's that. i also do not enjoy the inconvenience and lack of design sense that comes with linux on the desktop so there's that too.

    Have you not used the latest version of Windows? "Lack of design sense" and "inconvenience" don't even begin to describe the horror show that is the modern Windows UI.

    There's definitely a LOT to gripe about with modern Linux UIs (especially Gnome3 - what a piece of shit), but compared to Windows 8/10 it's not that bad. The unfortunately reality is that desktop computing as a whole has really gone down the tubes in the 2010s.

  58. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by dnaumov · · Score: 2

    Apple didn't invent planned obsolescence.

    They didn't, but you have to admit, with the iPhone they really did Lead The Way

    Except for the part where Apple offers software updates to their phones for far longer than any other major manufacturer.
    Good luck finding another major vendor that supports their smartphones for 4 years.

  59. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Good point. In Lollipop, Google took the control of the OS out of the phone makers or carriers, and back in-house. I have a Verizon Ellipsis 10 w/ 16GB internal storage & 128GB external storage. I can't upgrade the tablet to Marshmallow, which would allow me to swap the logical internal & external drives, so that I have adequate storage for everything, no matter what.

  60. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

    . iPhone owners get a few years more safe use from their phones as all phones newer than the 5s (sold since Sept2013) can use the latest iOS 11 & most do, having been updated since Apple made iOS 11 available in June.

    You're not helping. An iOS11 beta was released in June. "Most" are not running iOS 11, and have only updated to iOS 10.3.3, because as non-developers they stay on the release branch of the iOS ecosystem.

    You could have made the same point with iOS 10, which is the current release and still supports the iPhone 5 and 5c, without running off into fantasyland and inviting criticism such as this.

  61. Nothing about it mobile phones is "worth it" by WolfgangVL · · Score: 1

    Are you kidding me?

    "Super-rich dude with vested interest says $1000+ for a fragile piece of spy(hard)ware is worth it."

    Yeah. OK Woz. Sure. Say bud, think I can borrow a million bucks from you?

    The wireless industry has you all so bamboozled that you are actually discussing the merits of a piece of tech that is designed to fail as fast as possible while locking you into their brand of shit via the proprietary app ecosystem.

    I suppose when they collectively realized they had you all brainwashed into thinking their products are something you need, they went ahead and started working on making you think it's worth the crazy money they charge too.

    We're talking about disposable tech you re-buy bi-annually for $1000+ that helps you forget how to use your brain, while promoting things like mental laziness, memory loss, social media fuckery, and commercial/domestic spying. Oh, and is made to be as fragile as fucking possible, just in case you happen to have $1000+ before the battery goes shit-house.

    I'm not even going to start on the social problems of tech addiction. Just take away a random teenagers smartphone and observe.

    Back when phones went for $300 and the internet was only on computers I'd say it was worth it, but even then as a convenient luxury. That was years ago now. Computers are supposed to get cheaper.

    --
    You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
    1. Re:Nothing about it mobile phones is "worth it" by eaglesrule · · Score: 1

      l agree with your points there, with one noteable exception: the excellent camera on the iphone 7.

      What is having a great quality camera at just the right moment worth? I'm not talking about the lenses that are barely passable as cameras on phones like my android, that seems to go out of its way to blur an image. The new iphone 7 has two lenses, which allows for an image with depth of field and quality that rivals a DSLR camera.

      Is it possible that one great feature is worth the cost? It seems very few phones can stand up to the image quality the iphone7 can make. It would be my main deciding factor in getting one.

  62. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Merk42 · · Score: 1

    No, they just patented it.

    I wish! Then they'd actively prevent other companies from doing it.

  63. Re: TIME TO GET SCHWIFTY IN HERE by sexconker · · Score: 1

    It's "riggity riggity wrecked".

  64. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by phayes · · Score: 1

    Brain fart. You're entirely correct.

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
  65. Re:Definitely a hardware guy by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 1

    I use mac.

  66. Is that what you actually think Apple does? by Brannon · · Score: 1

    Or do you just not understand the difference between design & manufacturing?

  67. Steve's not exactly an unbiased spokesman by sizzzzlerz · · Score: 1

    In addition to the money Steve has from his Apple years, I can't imagine he's had to buy any Apple products, including phones, in decades. He just needs to log into their employee store, type in his badge number (#1) and place an order for whatever toys he wants at no charge. That probably gets the attention of the clerk who gets on the phone to Cook's secretary who notifies Cook who then delivers said toys directly to Steve's door. When he says that the high price doesn't matter, it's just quid pro quo.

  68. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by antdude · · Score: 1

    Ditto. I still use many very old stuff like Casio Data Bank 150 watch, iPhone 4S, VGA, DVI, KVM from Y2K, PS/2, analog speakers, etc.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  69. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by MerlTurkin · · Score: 1

    Ramen to that! I still use a flip phone and my current one is 4 years old.

  70. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

    I did. I wrote two paragraphs doing so. Don't be obtuse.

  71. Re: Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable an by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    Do you have any idea how many Windows phone users wish they could get them to run like a concussed toddler you insensitive clod!

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  72. Resale & use by spinitch · · Score: 1

    I use my iPhone considerably and if I want to sell it typically fetches a higher price than similar Androids. Samsung and Sony in Japan can get decent salvage values but iPhones tend to do better. So while there are cheaper Androids after disposing with less salvage values the iPhone value offers more on end of life. Functionality iPhone works well for me.

  73. Re: Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable an by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    Great. Another moron who thinks that empirical evidence that contradicts a claim will suddenly be useless if they just throw the word anecdote around.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  74. Re: Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable an by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    Holy duck. You make your kids love in a hallway! I would call children's services on your ass if I knew where the damn hallway was located!

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  75. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by n329619 · · Score: 1

    Unsupported is pretty relevant.

    We had to support a few iOS product including a first gen iPad.

    When the user wanted an updated app or a new app, if the iOS is outdated / unsupported, some apps plainly cannot be installed (popup noting it requires higher iOS version). And we are talking about app that don't have visible functional changes, but only build changes (compiled for the newer iOS).

    Apple Update is the pro and con of iPhone. It is the most secured, but you need to be at the front for the newest. It is relevant.

  76. Still Running by n329619 · · Score: 1

    Give it a break and stop chasing the poor iPhone 4s!

    #iPhoneLivesMatter

  77. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Behold the power of licensing!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  78. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

    Then let me rephrase it:
    For me it is not relevant.

    And to publish Apps that run on old 'unsupported' OS you only have to set a check box in the IDE.
    I just got an update for 'Thai Dict' on my iPhone running iOS 6 I believe.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  79. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

    If I get android O, I get all of android O. Every android O device will support all the android O features.

    Theoretically? Sure. In practice? Not so much. For both platforms, the chief reason a feature is missing is lack of hardware support. Simple as that.

    For instance, full hardware-based disk encryption has been available in Android for years, but it still is only available on devices with the necessary hardware. Similarly, my iPhone 5s lacks Apple Pay because it has an earlier generation Secure Enclave that lacks the capability to authenticate Apple Pay's requests. Reasons of that sort account for the vast majority of missing features, though to a layman on either platform they may seem to be arbitrary cutoffs.

    That said, I won't deny that Apple has indeed engaged in arbitrary cutoffs to drive sales of newer devices. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but I won't dispute it. Likewise, Apple has locked out features for performance reasons, such as accelerometer-based animations in the UI being considered too taxing on older devices when they were first introduced. Jailbreakers who forced them to be enabled on those older devices quickly found out that their batteries were draining far faster than before.

    Even so, those cutoffs are the exception, not the rule, so regardless of which platform you're talking about, the overwhelmingly common reason why features are missing is simply a lack of hardware support. As such, while Apple may be willing to lock out features on older devices, in practice their doing so rarely affects things in a way that differs from how things work with Android.

  80. Re:Quality doesn't matter when it's disposable any by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    There's a piece of Samsung, and Microsoft too, in every phone you buy. In fact they even make a few pennies on that box of laundry detergent, and on the ships they build. A diversified portfolio and cross manufacturing makes it almost impossible to avoid Samsung or anybody else you might hate.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”