Amazon provides you a return label. You seal up the box, put on the label, drop it at a UPS Store or some other such place. No lines, less fuss.
Granted for me there's a UPS Store on my way to work, so it's easier than most other stores, but even if that wasn't the case, the lack of waiting in line is a plus. Particularly at Fry's, where every return has to be approved by multiple people, and sometimes you have to take a form back to the register to get your actual money or credit back. While Fry's is good about taking just about anything back for any reason, the process is a nuisance.
The one UPS near me closes at 6. There is another one further away that closes at 7 but that's a big detour. Best Buy closes at 9:30pm.
I have never entered a UPS and seen no line, the lines seem especially lengthy during lunch hours and after 4pm and weekends, the only windows of time I'd have to visit one of their stores. It seems too many people are restricted to similar windows. Best Buy return lines tend to be dead after 7. I have returned plenty of stuff to Best Buy, no hassle, just walk in after 7, return the stuff and leave. It has never been a hassle for me to return anything at a Best Buy.
UPS tend to have very limited parking space, too. Every time I go to one I have to walk quite a while after giving up finding a reasonably close parking. I guess I can use the exercise BUT I can just park rather near in one of Best Buy's huge parking lots.
Then there is the fact of the money being back into my bank account within 24 hours of the return, while with a mail in return I will have to wait until arrival for the money to be refunded. If I wanted to buy an alternative product, I would be forced to wait for the item to get to them, hope they accept it, the refund to go through, then order the new item and wait for it to arrive on the mail.
In a Best Buy I just walk to the floor and grab a different item.
To be honest, not even should you hate human interaction does Amazon offer a more convenient return process. Not saying these are reasons why to buy on Best Buy over Amazon, pricing alone is a reason to buy in Amazon, but I still tend to buy in Best Buy precisely due to my fear of having to return what I just purchased. I will not pay a huge premium for this convenience, but should the difference only be sales tax and a couple of dollars off, I’ll just go to Best Buy.
There is at least one sensible reason (even if it does not outnumber the reasons for them to just unlock)
There are quite a few people out there that don't care that much for their credit history. They will gladly go there, get a phone under contract, then stop paying, have their service canceled and never pay the penalty fee, just walking with their now unlocked phone to some other GSM carrier.
There are also cases with foreigners and identity theft during the small background check they do to see if they can give you the phone without an up-front deposit. A foreigner can come over and snatch a lot of phones with "contract" only to leave the country and go sell them somewhere else. Such individuals can cost a lot of money to the phone companies.
The percentage of cases like these are likely small, but the fear is high enough to justify them from inconveniencing every customer,
Final reason I can think off: the only reason you would need to "legitimately" unlock your phone while still being under contract is if you plan to travel out of the US and buy a prepaid GSM card while there, and as far as they care, they rather overcharge you for roaming than give you that convenience.
From my perspective, only the last one is a real scumbag reason, even if it can be considered "a reason."
Exactly. This is going to end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Google decided to compete with Apple in fear of being excluded from the mobile arena (what they rightfully think is the future.) They still went into bed with Apple, though, and made loads of money.
Problem is: now Apple is not happy about their "partner" also being a competitor. Give it 2 years tops, Apple will end up switching to Open Maps and perhaps switching to Bing as the default search engine. Google won't be locked out of the App Store, but they will lose a lot of ground in arenas they consider important, all for their fear of something that was not happening.
Don't take me wrong, I'm glad Android exists and really like my Galaxy Player, but the way they approached this was too paranoid.
BTW, if things keep going the way they are going, Android will soon end up being controlled by Samsung instead of Google.
I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.
I also had a leg broken as a kid in a car accident. Given I can still walk and even run, I guess it was unfair of us to swue the guy that hit me, after all there was no lasting damage.
Sorry, but I'm not a fan of "for the children" nonsense.
You care a lot about the masturbator's lost minutes, though. I ponder what is a bigger nonsense.
I don't agree with the legistlation in question but for real reasons: too much burden in the ISP that can go as far as driving small providers out of the market and cause a monopoly. The "time wasted" or "burden of opting in" is plainly absurd.
Irrelevant to the matter of "opt-in". Dont ignore the rest of the post where I did address how this is a burden for ISPs.
Don't worry. Even if a child sees such things, I don't think they'll turn into scared little rapists. In fact, they'll probably be 100% fine unless something was wrong with them before. I honestly don't see the problem...
I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.
In the end, it'll likely just end up annoying people who want to view pornography (they'll have to waste their time opting-in) and children will remain the same as they were previously.
Yes... because the slight inconvenience of a porn surfer is more important than worrying about the possibility of kids being exposed to videos and photos of same sex orgies, fecophilia or bestiality, among all other types of sick porn that is all over the web. How dare anyone dare delay some porn hunter his solo playtime by a minute or two!!!! The horror!
The summary was clear. But this is Slashdot, where people don’t even read the summary, they just rant over misleading headlines!
BTW, Google already has a "safe search" feature that is turned on by default. Although things still sneak in, the site does exactly the behavior UK seems to wish ISPs implement.
To be honest, it even makes sense. No matter how attentive we wish parents were, there are too many "safe" sites that get trolled with very very nasty links, and a child's mind should not be scared by accidents or by stupid parents that don't know how to turn on parental features.
The only reason I see we should oppose this is the ISP burden. I am not sure how high of an economic burden it would be on the ISP to filter all traffic, nor how big of a penalty would they suffer if they were to let slide some photo into the view of a religious zealot.
It would make it harder and harder for competition to grow and likely lead to a small group of moguls with deep pockets as the only ones able to afford offering internet services, effectively also controlling what the internet is.
It’s the only reason I can think off, but it’s a huge reason.
Interesting. If you believe the press I seen, everyone seemed to blame the fall of UK's Game chain to bad game economy, and the supply cutoff was slightly touched as a sign of the chain's death. The cause was not, that I can recall, covered and I at least was left to assume it was a matter of not being able to get afford buying in bulk.
Is there any alternative to the Game chain in the UK? In the US back in the 90s it used to be Babbage’s, Electronic Boutique and Game Stop. Game Stop ended up buying the other two and now they have a "monopoly" of sorts (department stores also sell games but "true geeks" don't buy games where mom buys milk or dad bought his TV.)
They do are forced to tell you. The employees themselves tend to hate it, but managers are always with their eyes wide open and will reprimand them if they don’t try to sell you used games, DLCs and/or their stupid membership card program (that in turn is designed to sell you more overpriced used games.)
I happen to be good at saying "No", and it's not as easy as you may think. It took me years to perfect a solid and confident NO that transmits 100% certainty that going further is a total waste of time.
But still I do avoid GameStop like crazy. I rarely buy of Amazon and tend to go for it only if I'm looking for bargains in used titles (buy directly from the users, sell directly to the consumers! Go sell via amazon or eBay!) If I want a new game, I go to Best Buy. All I have to do there is tell the guy "no thank you" when he asks if I need any help and the experience suddenly becomes extremely pleasant. Best Buy also happens to always carry generous number of copies for new releases so, to this day, only once have I walked out empty handed off their store when I wanted a new copy (and that was launch day for Assassin's Creed 2 for Xbox.)
Those people are usually children or parents that don't care. Neither makes them idiots, just uninformed. GameStop (flagship chain doing it, not the only one) preys on these people. Unfortunately, most games are actually purchased by either uninformed parents or children.
There ARE some idiots out there, too, helping the process (I do know a few) but for the most part it's the children and parents.
That's the curve. The problem for publishers is that they have to compete with their own used games at the end of this curve.
Excellent statement but this bit is a bit off. The problem for publishers is not at the end of the curve, but at the start. Game chains like GameStop will carefully calculate demand and order as few copies as they need to seed a local market of used copies. They will do their best to brainwash children into beating games and return them for "amazing credit value" (rip-off values) and then push a full wall of these new titles for a $2 dollar discount.
You will find even great games back in the used bins in large numbers and an artificially created scarcity for new copies of the "hot" title. See, kids eventually are "educated" that should they return the game as soon as they can from release date, they will get more money back (still a rip-off value but a lesser rip-off.) This is not a new practice, but as games get more expensive to produce, and the market becomes more competitive, it becomes a larger issue, especially for smaller game titles (not so much for the Modern Warfare’s of the world.)
I actually perceive the end of the curve used copies to be extremely undesirable for most people. At that point they are so thorn and destroyed that you may as well just get the new copy for $20.
This is one of the reasons online play has become so big in the last few years: online components tend to encourage people to keep their games for longer instead of just beating a campaign and returning the thing.
Those who are only willing to spend $20 on a used title aren't suddenly going to drop $400+ for a new console and then start paying $60 for new games.
Here is the biggest issue with your observation. The problem is not people buying old used games for $20 bucks. The problem is people that just pay $57 bucks at a GameStop for a used game instead of paying the $60 for the new copy.
At every level, the only one winning here is GameStop. The used copies are rarely in a condition where they are only worth 3 bucks less, yet that’s the undercut range they go for with used games is only between $2 to $5. Given the conditions they sell them at, these used games should be worth about 50% of the new copy price.
Given no choice, most these people will just buy new, heck, if GameStop was not pushing the used copy down their throats with "incentives" like free magazine subscriptions and discounts for a yearly fee, they would never had looked at the used copy anyways.
I am not in favor of used copy banning, but it's this predatory actions from chains like GameStop that are actually hurting many studios that barely can make a profit due to not having the marketing backing that you see behind titles like Modern Warfare.
This little "douche" has two self-owned businesses, so I'm rather familiar with how to work hard AND smart to start up something.
Now go back to your daddy's basement and enjoy your 12 hour job at some company that keeps promising you will someday afford your rent or house if you keep overworking for stock options. Go ahead and keep pressing snooze on YOUR wake-up calls.
I was thinking: does anyone knows what "startup mode" means? Because on every place I gone, it means "we force people to work insane hours, and work like slaves and for little money in exchange of worthless stock options that may never be worth anything but they think may make them rich if we manage to sell the company out."
In other words "startup mode" after eleven years, extremely bad thing!!!
I don't know... I love going to Best Buy. Mind you, the one near home is full of incompetent idiots (what kind of salesman ignores you for half an h our after you tell him you want to buy a $2000 computer in an attempt to sell something to someone else? Did he think he would get two sales if he kept holding on to that woman? At the end I saw that woman walk out the store empty handed as I was driving out), but the one a few extra miles away has very good management and treat people right.
There are always some upsell attempts, but nothing that a smile and a polite but firm NO can’t take care of without any pain.
Even issues aside, what are the options? If Best Buy closes, at least in my area, I’m stuck with Apple Stores for my geeky hardware window shopping and Game Stop or Wal-Mart for video games. I swore long ago I won’t put a foot inside a GameStop, I hate asking employees at Wal-Mart to open the frigging glass display to get a game I want and the Apple store... it’s just Apple stuff!!! I want to see other stuff! Sure, I'm an Apple fan, my computer is an iMac and my iPad replaced my laptop long ago... but... I still like other stuff that Apple just does not care to carry because it's not mainstream enough.
Sure, I'll never buy computer parts or cables from a Best Buy, but it's the best place to get video games without idiots pushing used scratched disks down your throat, and I don't like mail ordering larger things like printers or laptops (not for me but for family members and work.)
Huge number of tablet optimized apps? Insane library of video games like Infinity Blade with more amazing titles than you can ever experience released on a weekly and even daily basis? The certainty of having your firmware updated on day one of the new OS release for at least 3 years of the generation's launch (maybe longer)? Larger legal sources for digital movies and music libraries? Wireless video mirroring to any brand TV (purchase of a $99 Apple TV settup box required but well worth it.)
You don't understand that every production line is isolated from each other. And that Apple specifically demands its products be assembled in complete secrecy and isolation, which is one of the reasons they pick the factories they pick is because they have brick walls separating their entire production queue?
Or do you think any Apple product would remain secret as long as it does if the guys in the next table happened to work for HTC?
The reason Apple labor is “best than the rest" is that Apple, thanks to these controversies (so some good came out of it anyways,) has made sure their assembly staff gets treated better. Foxcon has no reason to treat the assemblers for any other client any better, and they don't.
I think this not about search results, but news.google.com summarizing and aggregating news in a way that users don’t ever feel the need to enter news sites to see what is going on in the news today.
Fair enough, but what about being allowed to accept payments from any other source?
Heck, if I'm masochist and happen to enjoy being screwed by my bankers, why not give me the choice to just use Pay Pal if I want to?
I thought the beauty of the Android ecosystem was choice. This removes one huge layer of choice off the equation.
*This does not affect me personally, I use AdMob and the default market payment scheme, but got to admit this enforcement is counter to what people bought into when they aquired their devices or made their apps. Must feel like bait and switch for anyone affected by it.
Slashdot Mirror
Writing this comment on an iPad with a 2048x1536 screen.
If vaccines caused autism, we all would be autists!
Amazon provides you a return label. You seal up the box, put on the label, drop it at a UPS Store or some other such place. No lines, less fuss.
Granted for me there's a UPS Store on my way to work, so it's easier than most other stores, but even if that wasn't the case, the lack of waiting in line is a plus. Particularly at Fry's, where every return has to be approved by multiple people, and sometimes you have to take a form back to the register to get your actual money or credit back. While Fry's is good about taking just about anything back for any reason, the process is a nuisance.
The one UPS near me closes at 6. There is another one further away that closes at 7 but that's a big detour.
Best Buy closes at 9:30pm.
I have never entered a UPS and seen no line, the lines seem especially lengthy during lunch hours and after 4pm and weekends, the only windows of time I'd have to visit one of their stores. It seems too many people are restricted to similar windows.
Best Buy return lines tend to be dead after 7. I have returned plenty of stuff to Best Buy, no hassle, just walk in after 7, return the stuff and leave.
It has never been a hassle for me to return anything at a Best Buy.
UPS tend to have very limited parking space, too. Every time I go to one I have to walk quite a while after giving up finding a reasonably close parking. I guess I can use the exercise BUT I can just park rather near in one of Best Buy's huge parking lots.
Then there is the fact of the money being back into my bank account within 24 hours of the return, while with a mail in return I will have to wait until arrival for the money to be refunded. If I wanted to buy an alternative product, I would be forced to wait for the item to get to them, hope they accept it, the refund to go through, then order the new item and wait for it to arrive on the mail.
In a Best Buy I just walk to the floor and grab a different item.
To be honest, not even should you hate human interaction does Amazon offer a more convenient return process.
Not saying these are reasons why to buy on Best Buy over Amazon, pricing alone is a reason to buy in Amazon, but I still tend to buy in Best Buy precisely due to my fear of having to return what I just purchased. I will not pay a huge premium for this convenience, but should the difference only be sales tax and a couple of dollars off, I’ll just go to Best Buy.
There is at least one sensible reason (even if it does not outnumber the reasons for them to just unlock)
There are quite a few people out there that don't care that much for their credit history. They will gladly go there, get a phone under contract, then stop paying, have their service canceled and never pay the penalty fee, just walking with their now unlocked phone to some other GSM carrier.
There are also cases with foreigners and identity theft during the small background check they do to see if they can give you the phone without an up-front deposit. A foreigner can come over and snatch a lot of phones with "contract" only to leave the country and go sell them somewhere else. Such individuals can cost a lot of money to the phone companies.
The percentage of cases like these are likely small, but the fear is high enough to justify them from inconveniencing every customer,
Final reason I can think off: the only reason you would need to "legitimately" unlock your phone while still being under contract is if you plan to travel out of the US and buy a prepaid GSM card while there, and as far as they care, they rather overcharge you for roaming than give you that convenience.
From my perspective, only the last one is a real scumbag reason, even if it can be considered "a reason."
Exactly. This is going to end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Google decided to compete with Apple in fear of being excluded from the mobile arena (what they rightfully think is the future.) They still went into bed with Apple, though, and made loads of money.
Problem is: now Apple is not happy about their "partner" also being a competitor. Give it 2 years tops, Apple will end up switching to Open Maps and perhaps switching to Bing as the default search engine. Google won't be locked out of the App Store, but they will lose a lot of ground in arenas they consider important, all for their fear of something that was not happening.
Don't take me wrong, I'm glad Android exists and really like my Galaxy Player, but the way they approached this was too paranoid.
BTW, if things keep going the way they are going, Android will soon end up being controlled by Samsung instead of Google.
I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.
I also had a leg broken as a kid in a car accident. Given I can still walk and even run, I guess it was unfair of us to swue the guy that hit me, after all there was no lasting damage.
Sorry, but I'm not a fan of "for the children" nonsense.
You care a lot about the masturbator's lost minutes, though. I ponder what is a bigger nonsense.
I don't agree with the legistlation in question but for real reasons: too much burden in the ISP that can go as far as driving small providers out of the market and cause a monopoly. The "time wasted" or "burden of opting in" is plainly absurd.
Google's search engine isn't an ISP.
Irrelevant to the matter of "opt-in". Dont ignore the rest of the post where I did address how this is a burden for ISPs.
Don't worry. Even if a child sees such things, I don't think they'll turn into scared little rapists. In fact, they'll probably be 100% fine unless something was wrong with them before. I honestly don't see the problem...
I used to think the same until I bumped as a young teen into fecophilia porn via a rickrolling "joke". I didn’t want to get near a computer for a month.
In the end, it'll likely just end up annoying people who want to view pornography (they'll have to waste their time opting-in) and children will remain the same as they were previously.
Yes... because the slight inconvenience of a porn surfer is more important than worrying about the possibility of kids being exposed to videos and photos of same sex orgies, fecophilia or bestiality, among all other types of sick porn that is all over the web. How dare anyone dare delay some porn hunter his solo playtime by a minute or two!!!! The horror!
The summary was clear. But this is Slashdot, where people don’t even read the summary, they just rant over misleading headlines!
BTW, Google already has a "safe search" feature that is turned on by default. Although things still sneak in, the site does exactly the behavior UK seems to wish ISPs implement.
To be honest, it even makes sense. No matter how attentive we wish parents were, there are too many "safe" sites that get trolled with very very nasty links, and a child's mind should not be scared by accidents or by stupid parents that don't know how to turn on parental features.
The only reason I see we should oppose this is the ISP burden. I am not sure how high of an economic burden it would be on the ISP to filter all traffic, nor how big of a penalty would they suffer if they were to let slide some photo into the view of a religious zealot.
It would make it harder and harder for competition to grow and likely lead to a small group of moguls with deep pockets as the only ones able to afford offering internet services, effectively also controlling what the internet is.
It’s the only reason I can think off, but it’s a huge reason.
Interesting. If you believe the press I seen, everyone seemed to blame the fall of UK's Game chain to bad game economy, and the supply cutoff was slightly touched as a sign of the chain's death. The cause was not, that I can recall, covered and I at least was left to assume it was a matter of not being able to get afford buying in bulk.
Is there any alternative to the Game chain in the UK? In the US back in the 90s it used to be Babbage’s, Electronic Boutique and Game Stop. Game Stop ended up buying the other two and now they have a "monopoly" of sorts (department stores also sell games but "true geeks" don't buy games where mom buys milk or dad bought his TV.)
They do are forced to tell you. The employees themselves tend to hate it, but managers are always with their eyes wide open and will reprimand them if they don’t try to sell you used games, DLCs and/or their stupid membership card program (that in turn is designed to sell you more overpriced used games.)
I happen to be good at saying "No", and it's not as easy as you may think. It took me years to perfect a solid and confident NO that transmits 100% certainty that going further is a total waste of time.
But still I do avoid GameStop like crazy. I rarely buy of Amazon and tend to go for it only if I'm looking for bargains in used titles (buy directly from the users, sell directly to the consumers! Go sell via amazon or eBay!) If I want a new game, I go to Best Buy. All I have to do there is tell the guy "no thank you" when he asks if I need any help and the experience suddenly becomes extremely pleasant. Best Buy also happens to always carry generous number of copies for new releases so, to this day, only once have I walked out empty handed off their store when I wanted a new copy (and that was launch day for Assassin's Creed 2 for Xbox.)
Goodbye iphone and android!
What? You dual wield two phones at once? Go-go phone ninja!
Curious: do you plan to dual wield 2 Win-Phones now?
Those people are idiots.
Those people are usually children or parents that don't care. Neither makes them idiots, just uninformed. GameStop (flagship chain doing it, not the only one) preys on these people. Unfortunately, most games are actually purchased by either uninformed parents or children.
There ARE some idiots out there, too, helping the process (I do know a few) but for the most part it's the children and parents.
That's the curve. The problem for publishers is that they have to compete with their own used games at the end of this curve.
Excellent statement but this bit is a bit off. The problem for publishers is not at the end of the curve, but at the start. Game chains like GameStop will carefully calculate demand and order as few copies as they need to seed a local market of used copies. They will do their best to brainwash children into beating games and return them for "amazing credit value" (rip-off values) and then push a full wall of these new titles for a $2 dollar discount.
Heck, look at Modern Warfare right now at GameStop's website. Amazing savings, eh? $2 whole bucks saved in exchange of a box filled with store stickers and thorn box!
You will find even great games back in the used bins in large numbers and an artificially created scarcity for new copies of the "hot" title. See, kids eventually are "educated" that should they return the game as soon as they can from release date, they will get more money back (still a rip-off value but a lesser rip-off.) This is not a new practice, but as games get more expensive to produce, and the market becomes more competitive, it becomes a larger issue, especially for smaller game titles (not so much for the Modern Warfare’s of the world.)
I actually perceive the end of the curve used copies to be extremely undesirable for most people. At that point they are so thorn and destroyed that you may as well just get the new copy for $20.
This is one of the reasons online play has become so big in the last few years: online components tend to encourage people to keep their games for longer instead of just beating a campaign and returning the thing.
Those who are only willing to spend $20 on a used title aren't suddenly going to drop $400+ for a new console and then start paying $60 for new games.
Here is the biggest issue with your observation. The problem is not people buying old used games for $20 bucks. The problem is people that just pay $57 bucks at a GameStop for a used game instead of paying the $60 for the new copy.
At every level, the only one winning here is GameStop. The used copies are rarely in a condition where they are only worth 3 bucks less, yet that’s the undercut range they go for with used games is only between $2 to $5. Given the conditions they sell them at, these used games should be worth about 50% of the new copy price.
Given no choice, most these people will just buy new, heck, if GameStop was not pushing the used copy down their throats with "incentives" like free magazine subscriptions and discounts for a yearly fee, they would never had looked at the used copy anyways.
I am not in favor of used copy banning, but it's this predatory actions from chains like GameStop that are actually hurting many studios that barely can make a profit due to not having the marketing backing that you see behind titles like Modern Warfare.
This little "douche" has two self-owned businesses, so I'm rather familiar with how to work hard AND smart to start up something.
Now go back to your daddy's basement and enjoy your 12 hour job at some company that keeps promising you will someday afford your rent or house if you keep overworking for stock options. Go ahead and keep pressing snooze on YOUR wake-up calls.
A triangular space ship with vector blasters!!! It worked in the 20th century and it should work in the 21st century!!!
I was thinking: does anyone knows what "startup mode" means? Because on every place I gone, it means "we force people to work insane hours, and work like slaves and for little money in exchange of worthless stock options that may never be worth anything but they think may make them rich if we manage to sell the company out."
In other words "startup mode" after eleven years, extremely bad thing!!!
I don't know... I love going to Best Buy. Mind you, the one near home is full of incompetent idiots (what kind of salesman ignores you for half an h our after you tell him you want to buy a $2000 computer in an attempt to sell something to someone else? Did he think he would get two sales if he kept holding on to that woman? At the end I saw that woman walk out the store empty handed as I was driving out), but the one a few extra miles away has very good management and treat people right.
There are always some upsell attempts, but nothing that a smile and a polite but firm NO can’t take care of without any pain.
Even issues aside, what are the options? If Best Buy closes, at least in my area, I’m stuck with Apple Stores for my geeky hardware window shopping and Game Stop or Wal-Mart for video games. I swore long ago I won’t put a foot inside a GameStop, I hate asking employees at Wal-Mart to open the frigging glass display to get a game I want and the Apple store... it’s just Apple stuff!!! I want to see other stuff! Sure, I'm an Apple fan, my computer is an iMac and my iPad replaced my laptop long ago... but... I still like other stuff that Apple just does not care to carry because it's not mainstream enough.
Sure, I'll never buy computer parts or cables from a Best Buy, but it's the best place to get video games without idiots pushing used scratched disks down your throat, and I don't like mail ordering larger things like printers or laptops (not for me but for family members and work.)
Huge number of tablet optimized apps?
Insane library of video games like Infinity Blade with more amazing titles than you can ever experience released on a weekly and even daily basis?
The certainty of having your firmware updated on day one of the new OS release for at least 3 years of the generation's launch (maybe longer)?
Larger legal sources for digital movies and music libraries?
Wireless video mirroring to any brand TV (purchase of a $99 Apple TV settup box required but well worth it.)
Dont be silly. They hire Facebook to GET the data in the first place!
You don't understand that every production line is isolated from each other. And that Apple specifically demands its products be assembled in complete secrecy and isolation, which is one of the reasons they pick the factories they pick is because they have brick walls separating their entire production queue?
Or do you think any Apple product would remain secret as long as it does if the guys in the next table happened to work for HTC?
The reason Apple labor is “best than the rest" is that Apple, thanks to these controversies (so some good came out of it anyways,) has made sure their assembly staff gets treated better. Foxcon has no reason to treat the assemblers for any other client any better, and they don't.
I think this not about search results, but news.google.com summarizing and aggregating news in a way that users don’t ever feel the need to enter news sites to see what is going on in the news today.
Honest question:
Can you configure robots.txt to allow Google to index your site for search results without summarizing your news in news.google.com?
Fair enough, but what about being allowed to accept payments from any other source?
Heck, if I'm masochist and happen to enjoy being screwed by my bankers, why not give me the choice to just use Pay Pal if I want to?
I thought the beauty of the Android ecosystem was choice. This removes one huge layer of choice off the equation.
*This does not affect me personally, I use AdMob and the default market payment scheme, but got to admit this enforcement is counter to what people bought into when they aquired their devices or made their apps. Must feel like bait and switch for anyone affected by it.