Not everyone wants or needs a four digit priced phone. For a lot of people, a lower end LG, BLU, or Huawei device is good enough. For $250, I picked up a LG Stylo 3 Plus for development work. Other than lack of NFC (which I rarely use), it is a decent phone with a very responsive fingerprint scanner. There are not many apps that really matter that require a flagship device, other than having animated poop.
If a phone has the usual features (fingerprint scanner, NFC, wireless charging, etc.) there isn't that much difference for day to day use. Especially if you clean out the bloatware.
Nothing wrong with an iPhone X. However, there is still plenty of room in the market for the iPhone 8 and 8+.
This makes a decent dev machine. Especially if one is writing code that uses Vagrant and is tested on multiple VMs (app servers, a DB server, etc.) Something like this can handle the vagrant on/off/destroy cycles with ease, especially if one is prototyping a more complex configuration (DB servers, load balancer, app servers, etc.) If the Vagrant environment tanks, who cares... just drop the VMs and rebuild.
Even if someone doesn't use that much active VM work, having multiple VMs on the desktop is useful for a business, just for isolation reasons. For example, keeping QuickBooks in its own world to ensure that ransomware on the web browsing VM or even the host has a much less chance of affecting the critical business documents. Until OS makers start offering QubesOS like functionality, this is a good way to maintain security without too much time wasted.
Bitcoin of blockchain ledgers? Two separate things. I can see banks using a blockchain network because it ensures a decentralized, verifiable record. I cannot see banks taking the risk of moving currency into and out of BTC.
It is infinitely divisible, but each blockchain transaction can be expensive, especially if you want to see it posted anytime in the next few days. Things like the Lightning Network are trying to help with that... but stuff like that is still alpha quality.
It does matter. Like tulips, Beenz, and Flooz, this is history in the making. Bitcoin has a useful place, but where its value winds up stabilizing at... who knows.
I'm already paying for YouTube Red. Do I need to pay another $10/month for a service I'm paying for right now? If this is the case, I'll keep YT Red, but I may just toss cash at Amazon so I can have it scan my music library and have it available on all my devices.
This sounds like the Lightning Network, where some coins are taken and set aside for a group to trade with, and only when the final transaction is done, are the changed added to the blockchain.
To me, gold and silver have been stagnant. You might have some gains if you bought in around 2000 or so, but if you decided to come in around 2008 or later, at best, you likely would break even. Plus, there is one thing about precious metals... they can't be used for much while you own them.
With a chunk of real estate, I can lease it and make money. With a bunch of stocks, I can hold them and get dividends. With a cow, I can get milk from it. Precious metals do zero for me until I sell them, and while I hold them, I have to spend cash for security, be it a safe or a depository.
Bitcoins are similar. If the market is flat, owning a bunch of them will bring in zero income while I hold them.
Regardless of what it goes to, BTC is so unstable that it is less of an investment than a gamble.
My biggest worry about this hype is that is kills cryptocurrencies completely, if BTC falls over.
Bitcoin is a "v1.0" currency. The fact that you have to run through 150+ gigs of blockchain transactions, and it can take days to have a transaction succeed is worrisome, and these numbers are not going down. One cannot really use it for microtransactions unless one tacks on an additional percentage to get parties to put the transaction at a higher priority than normal.
It can be moved into other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum and Burstcoin come to mind. There is always room for a "Bitcoin 2.0" as well, something designed to fix the problems that BTC has encountered.
Of course, the problem is that the world pretty much speaks only Bitcoin as a common cryptocurrency, maybe a little bit of Ethereum. So, a lot of transactions would be moving back and forth between those two in order to get a good or service purchased.
You can hand someone a BTC wallet on a USB drive, but the receiver doesn't know until they process it if they have been double-spent on or not until they run the transaction, which can take days. With cash, a quick check ensures that the bills are not counterfeit or otherwise bogus, and this can be done offline.
I will say that BTC is an excellent "v1.0" crypto currency. However, there needs to be one that is far cheaper to process transactions, perhaps without having to download all 150+ gigs of a blockchain, and a better mining system, so it can handle more people getting in the game. Some added protection against 51% attacks, and some anonymity baked are a must as well. Hopefully someone can make a "v 2.0" currency which addresses BTC's shortcomings.
Even better... how about just no, period. Apple doesn't share the metrics from the fingerprint data with app developers, so photos done from the FaceID authentication mechanism shouldn't be shared either. The FaceID data has zero relevancy to apps, because it is specific to the iPhone (dot placement, etc.), and if an app wants a picture of someone, they can do what like all apps have done for ages... and ask for a selfie from the front or rear camera.
In fact, the FaceID data should never leave the Secure Enclave, much less the device.
What would be awesome would be an ID card, whose only task in life is to be storage for keys. Of course, there would have to be protection for the person's secret key, and the ability to get a new key should something be compromised, but with HSM technology the size of a YubiKey, the biggest issue will be a key getting rendered inaccessible or lost.
If we went with a key based system, it would also mean added privacy. A country can issue a certificate stating someone is over 21, and the card/token holder only needs to have that as proof at a bar, so they can buy booze here in the US. No other info (name, address, etc.) would be needed.
The UN owns ICANN now. The US ceded control over it last year to the UN. The BRICS countries have just as much control over it as their Western counterparts.
As for having one's own DNS, it might be a good idea. In fact, it might be wise for each country to have its own system internally. China does, where there are TLDs that require kanji characters to access. Iran is working on that. Done right, it wouldn't be fragmentation, since the existing DNS system would be in place, but would give countries some independance and access to their own sites, should politics (regardless of who started it) go against them.
JAMF Pro is a nice utility... but, boy, it is not cheap. IMHO, this functionality should be part of the OS. The "server app" is also something that needs revisited. In the real world, other than MDM capabilities, something like LANrev/JAMF shouldn't be required.
PXE/NetBoot is also important. Maybe some way to have the machine grab code from a local server rather than Apple when there is no usable software on the drive, and one doesn't have a USB flash drive ready.
Even OS X has gone from great to "meh". I don't see many companies bothering to write Mac specific games. macOS is the only mainstream OS with no iSCSI capability. Apple is sitting on a ton of cash, they might as well throw a bit to make macOS a generation or two ahead of the pack. A few ideas that Apple can do:
1: Things like hierarchical storage volumes, where when accessing a file, macOS will fetch it, or prompt you to connect the media (external HDD, CD, etc.) so it can access it. That way, you can store documents locally, have them get moved to iCloud, and transparently backed up to Time Machine, as well as a third party cloud provider (Amazon S3, Wasabi, Backblaze, etc.) It handles where the files and their backups are and warns the user if backups are not accessible... the user just accesses them through a volume. Security/encryption can be done at a file/folder level, so files can be easily shared or secured.
2: Better enterprise-tier management, as in being able to be managed via GPOs. Companies would move to Macs en masse if they could be managed as easily as the Windows desktops.
3: Better remote access, perhaps bring Back to my Mac up to par with LogMeIn or TeamViewer, with two-factor authentication, as well as optional authentication to the machine.
4: The ability to virtualize macOS for VDI systems.
5: The XServe back, with a built in hypervisor and license. It would be nice if it were bundled with ESXi, to help with item #4.
Apple has so much cash, it is surprising why they haven't just tossed some man-hours into keeping well ahead of their competition with their products.
I think you hit the nail on the head. There are very few apps that have been maintained over the years. Most games, like the good tower defense ones (before IAP destroyed the gaming genre) likely won't work on new machines (especially on iOS 11 where none of the older, 32 bit stuff will work.)
For the most part, app developers don't give a flying fuck about security. They want to get their product stuffed into iTunes Connect or Google Play as soon as possible, security be damned. Plus, if their product craters and people lose all their cryptocurrency, it won't be the app company who will be responsible.
Good wallet programs are almost impossible to find.
The deluxe TV sets the 60s-70s kept a small bit of electricity going to the TV tube. That way, they were instant-on. Plus, they had a lot of manual adjustements (vertical hold, etc.)
Even with a working iOS JB, (and working doesn't mean that half the phone functionality is glitchy), there is also the fact that if I want to update iOS due to a bug, I have to do a complete DFU restore and re-JB, with downloading all my Cydia apps.
Also, there are only a few things I want from a JB these days... one is a firewall, so I can control what apps phone home to where, and a way of backing up individual app data and archiving it off, so an old game I completed doesn't keep wasting space on my device, but I still have the save game, just in case I do try it again.
The car analogy would be a fast motorcycle versus mainstream, general purpose sedans. Yes, Clear Linux is faster. I could possibly make a Linux distro which is faster than RHEL, and other mainstream distros as well, especially if I tossed the initial RAMdisk image, and booted to some sort of init at once.
I appreciate Intel making Clear Linux available, and for IoT devices, a fast boot time is a must... but other than Clear Containers, I'd like to see more security features. IoT is where a focus in security should be, and Intel should have enough security stuff available and trivial to use.
The ironic thing, the uni I went to has classes on critical thinking. Part of the class was debunking stuff from mainstream media, as well as Infowars and the Daily Kos. Either by wording, or stuff completely fictitious.
Education doesn't just tell you to follow in lock-step. You learn stuff like history, so you know when to follow, versus when to give the finger.
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Not everyone wants or needs a four digit priced phone. For a lot of people, a lower end LG, BLU, or Huawei device is good enough. For $250, I picked up a LG Stylo 3 Plus for development work. Other than lack of NFC (which I rarely use), it is a decent phone with a very responsive fingerprint scanner. There are not many apps that really matter that require a flagship device, other than having animated poop.
If a phone has the usual features (fingerprint scanner, NFC, wireless charging, etc.) there isn't that much difference for day to day use. Especially if you clean out the bloatware.
Nothing wrong with an iPhone X. However, there is still plenty of room in the market for the iPhone 8 and 8+.
This makes a decent dev machine. Especially if one is writing code that uses Vagrant and is tested on multiple VMs (app servers, a DB server, etc.) Something like this can handle the vagrant on/off/destroy cycles with ease, especially if one is prototyping a more complex configuration (DB servers, load balancer, app servers, etc.) If the Vagrant environment tanks, who cares... just drop the VMs and rebuild.
Even if someone doesn't use that much active VM work, having multiple VMs on the desktop is useful for a business, just for isolation reasons. For example, keeping QuickBooks in its own world to ensure that ransomware on the web browsing VM or even the host has a much less chance of affecting the critical business documents. Until OS makers start offering QubesOS like functionality, this is a good way to maintain security without too much time wasted.
Bitcoin of blockchain ledgers? Two separate things. I can see banks using a blockchain network because it ensures a decentralized, verifiable record. I cannot see banks taking the risk of moving currency into and out of BTC.
At least you get a free monitor with it.
Their only real competition is SoundHound... I wonder what party will buy that company out.
It is infinitely divisible, but each blockchain transaction can be expensive, especially if you want to see it posted anytime in the next few days. Things like the Lightning Network are trying to help with that... but stuff like that is still alpha quality.
It does matter. Like tulips, Beenz, and Flooz, this is history in the making. Bitcoin has a useful place, but where its value winds up stabilizing at... who knows.
I'm already paying for YouTube Red. Do I need to pay another $10/month for a service I'm paying for right now? If this is the case, I'll keep YT Red, but I may just toss cash at Amazon so I can have it scan my music library and have it available on all my devices.
This sounds like the Lightning Network, where some coins are taken and set aside for a group to trade with, and only when the final transaction is done, are the changed added to the blockchain.
To me, gold and silver have been stagnant. You might have some gains if you bought in around 2000 or so, but if you decided to come in around 2008 or later, at best, you likely would break even. Plus, there is one thing about precious metals... they can't be used for much while you own them.
With a chunk of real estate, I can lease it and make money. With a bunch of stocks, I can hold them and get dividends. With a cow, I can get milk from it. Precious metals do zero for me until I sell them, and while I hold them, I have to spend cash for security, be it a safe or a depository.
Bitcoins are similar. If the market is flat, owning a bunch of them will bring in zero income while I hold them.
Regardless of what it goes to, BTC is so unstable that it is less of an investment than a gamble.
My biggest worry about this hype is that is kills cryptocurrencies completely, if BTC falls over.
Bitcoin is a "v1.0" currency. The fact that you have to run through 150+ gigs of blockchain transactions, and it can take days to have a transaction succeed is worrisome, and these numbers are not going down. One cannot really use it for microtransactions unless one tacks on an additional percentage to get parties to put the transaction at a higher priority than normal.
It can be moved into other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum and Burstcoin come to mind. There is always room for a "Bitcoin 2.0" as well, something designed to fix the problems that BTC has encountered.
Of course, the problem is that the world pretty much speaks only Bitcoin as a common cryptocurrency, maybe a little bit of Ethereum. So, a lot of transactions would be moving back and forth between those two in order to get a good or service purchased.
You can hand someone a BTC wallet on a USB drive, but the receiver doesn't know until they process it if they have been double-spent on or not until they run the transaction, which can take days. With cash, a quick check ensures that the bills are not counterfeit or otherwise bogus, and this can be done offline.
I will say that BTC is an excellent "v1.0" crypto currency. However, there needs to be one that is far cheaper to process transactions, perhaps without having to download all 150+ gigs of a blockchain, and a better mining system, so it can handle more people getting in the game. Some added protection against 51% attacks, and some anonymity baked are a must as well. Hopefully someone can make a "v 2.0" currency which addresses BTC's shortcomings.
I wonder about a CAPTCHA given for scarce items, to be added in the cart, especially toys. One CAPTCHA entered per 1-5 items.
Even better... how about just no, period. Apple doesn't share the metrics from the fingerprint data with app developers, so photos done from the FaceID authentication mechanism shouldn't be shared either. The FaceID data has zero relevancy to apps, because it is specific to the iPhone (dot placement, etc.), and if an app wants a picture of someone, they can do what like all apps have done for ages... and ask for a selfie from the front or rear camera.
In fact, the FaceID data should never leave the Secure Enclave, much less the device.
I keep thinking of the adage, "methinks thou doest protest too much."
What would be awesome would be an ID card, whose only task in life is to be storage for keys. Of course, there would have to be protection for the person's secret key, and the ability to get a new key should something be compromised, but with HSM technology the size of a YubiKey, the biggest issue will be a key getting rendered inaccessible or lost.
If we went with a key based system, it would also mean added privacy. A country can issue a certificate stating someone is over 21, and the card/token holder only needs to have that as proof at a bar, so they can buy booze here in the US. No other info (name, address, etc.) would be needed.
The UN owns ICANN now. The US ceded control over it last year to the UN. The BRICS countries have just as much control over it as their Western counterparts.
As for having one's own DNS, it might be a good idea. In fact, it might be wise for each country to have its own system internally. China does, where there are TLDs that require kanji characters to access. Iran is working on that. Done right, it wouldn't be fragmentation, since the existing DNS system would be in place, but would give countries some independance and access to their own sites, should politics (regardless of who started it) go against them.
JAMF Pro is a nice utility... but, boy, it is not cheap. IMHO, this functionality should be part of the OS. The "server app" is also something that needs revisited. In the real world, other than MDM capabilities, something like LANrev/JAMF shouldn't be required.
PXE/NetBoot is also important. Maybe some way to have the machine grab code from a local server rather than Apple when there is no usable software on the drive, and one doesn't have a USB flash drive ready.
Even OS X has gone from great to "meh". I don't see many companies bothering to write Mac specific games. macOS is the only mainstream OS with no iSCSI capability. Apple is sitting on a ton of cash, they might as well throw a bit to make macOS a generation or two ahead of the pack. A few ideas that Apple can do:
1: Things like hierarchical storage volumes, where when accessing a file, macOS will fetch it, or prompt you to connect the media (external HDD, CD, etc.) so it can access it. That way, you can store documents locally, have them get moved to iCloud, and transparently backed up to Time Machine, as well as a third party cloud provider (Amazon S3, Wasabi, Backblaze, etc.) It handles where the files and their backups are and warns the user if backups are not accessible... the user just accesses them through a volume. Security/encryption can be done at a file/folder level, so files can be easily shared or secured.
2: Better enterprise-tier management, as in being able to be managed via GPOs. Companies would move to Macs en masse if they could be managed as easily as the Windows desktops.
3: Better remote access, perhaps bring Back to my Mac up to par with LogMeIn or TeamViewer, with two-factor authentication, as well as optional authentication to the machine.
4: The ability to virtualize macOS for VDI systems.
5: The XServe back, with a built in hypervisor and license. It would be nice if it were bundled with ESXi, to help with item #4.
Apple has so much cash, it is surprising why they haven't just tossed some man-hours into keeping well ahead of their competition with their products.
I think you hit the nail on the head. There are very few apps that have been maintained over the years. Most games, like the good tower defense ones (before IAP destroyed the gaming genre) likely won't work on new machines (especially on iOS 11 where none of the older, 32 bit stuff will work.)
For the most part, app developers don't give a flying fuck about security. They want to get their product stuffed into iTunes Connect or Google Play as soon as possible, security be damned. Plus, if their product craters and people lose all their cryptocurrency, it won't be the app company who will be responsible.
Good wallet programs are almost impossible to find.
The deluxe TV sets the 60s-70s kept a small bit of electricity going to the TV tube. That way, they were instant-on. Plus, they had a lot of manual adjustements (vertical hold, etc.)
Even with a working iOS JB, (and working doesn't mean that half the phone functionality is glitchy), there is also the fact that if I want to update iOS due to a bug, I have to do a complete DFU restore and re-JB, with downloading all my Cydia apps.
Also, there are only a few things I want from a JB these days... one is a firewall, so I can control what apps phone home to where, and a way of backing up individual app data and archiving it off, so an old game I completed doesn't keep wasting space on my device, but I still have the save game, just in case I do try it again.
The car analogy would be a fast motorcycle versus mainstream, general purpose sedans. Yes, Clear Linux is faster. I could possibly make a Linux distro which is faster than RHEL, and other mainstream distros as well, especially if I tossed the initial RAMdisk image, and booted to some sort of init at once.
I appreciate Intel making Clear Linux available, and for IoT devices, a fast boot time is a must... but other than Clear Containers, I'd like to see more security features. IoT is where a focus in security should be, and Intel should have enough security stuff available and trivial to use.
The ironic thing, the uni I went to has classes on critical thinking. Part of the class was debunking stuff from mainstream media, as well as Infowars and the Daily Kos. Either by wording, or stuff completely fictitious.
Education doesn't just tell you to follow in lock-step. You learn stuff like history, so you know when to follow, versus when to give the finger.