Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
I am beginning to remind myself of the average American. I don't like "American Big-Money way !" but I do love, so much, my Apple Watch 10 and don't know how I ever lived without it. Yep, just ole me, the dirty American.
I still use their products (b/c I avoid Windows like the plague) but I am nowhere the Apple fan I was 5, 10, 15, or 30 years ago, that's for sure. Their QA has slipped noticeably in recent years and they're engaging in dirty tricks to keep their walled garden monopoly -- as the Epic case illustrates. But while I use their hardware, much of my data (files, contacts, calendars, email) are portable and/or used on other services b/c I refuse to be completely locked in.
Their knowingly false advertising about (so-called) 'Apple Intelligence' last year was another example of them misleading people by offering them hopium in their quest to drive iPhone sales during their annual release cycle.
(No, I did NOT intend for my post turn this thread into a general Apple-bashing thread.....)
I haven't bought any Apple products in 15 years. I got tired of Apple deciding that I needed to update, being that I continued (and still use) old products that still work. Apple's policy was to "update" your product, and make it so it doesn't work like it used to. And, to top it off, you couldn't undo the update. Plus, the older products I have still work, but the Mac Mini I had didn't last long. The ipod touch 3G I have still works, and so does an ipad 2, but the ipod 4 has all of the buttons frozen. Don't miss their products.
I'm currently married to a MacBook Air. It's been freezing on me, rarely. An initial update blacked-out my screen. Additional updates, which I initiated with trepidation, worked. I definitely do not like the way that Apple wants to own me and every function I might need. I don't use their Safari. My emails are not from Apple. Don't look at Apple news. Still use a flip-phone from Consumer Cellular. T-Mobile was full of promises about correcting the junk that was wrong on their phone. Even the replacement phone did not work. T-Mobile could not hit water if they fell out of a fucking boat.
I tried switching from my iPhone to a Google Pixel a few years back.
I lasted one day. Returned the Pixel and sped to the Apple Store begging them for a new iPhone ... and to be let back in the family. Damn the cost. Slave for life.
The iOS vs Android choice turns out to be one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
At Charles. I am a very price conscious consumer. Once I got my first i phone I have never looked back. Same with my i pad. And great support from Apple.
I tried switching from my iPhone to a Google Pixel a few years back.
I lasted one day. Returned the Pixel and sped to the Apple Store begging them for a new iPhone ... and to be let back in the family. Damn the cost. Slave for life.
The iOS vs Android choice turns out to be one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
GrapheneOS can be installed on Pixel devices for enhanced privacy/security.
"GrapheneOS is a private and secure mobile operating system with great functionality and usability. It starts from the strong baseline of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and takes great care to avoid increasing attack surface or hurting the strong security model. GrapheneOS makes substantial improvements to both privacy and security through many carefully designed features built to function against real adversaries. The project cares a lot about usability and app compatibility so those are taken into account for all of our features."
"GrapheneOS is focused on substance rather than branding and marketing. It doesn't take the typical approach of piling on a bunch of insecure features depending on the adversaries not knowing about them and regressing actual privacy/security. It's a very technical project building privacy and security into the OS rather than including assorted unhelpful frills or bundling subjective third party apps choices."
Nothing but Apple here for 25 years. Never a serious problem. One hack into my DejaOffice App years ago. I learned from that to conceal passwords and not store them so conspicuously they could be stolen.
Years ago before I understood how to “clean” an ipad when through with it I attempted to smash an old one up in the driveway using a 10-12 lb long-handled sledge hammer. Impossible to destroy. It cracked, shattered and wrinkled but refused to break apart.
IPads galore. Use my 5 year old MacBook so seldom it seems unfamiliar and awkward. Best for some applications like preparing taxes or selecting theater seats. Used it to update an old Garmin recently.
What I started to say is that considering all the things that could go wrong with a device I feel pretty fortunate to have had such good luck with Apple. For subscriptions you’re generally better off dealing thru Apple, though I realize they skim profits from providers. So easy to start or cancel, whereas many providers make cancelling difficult.
Unix, windows, android until 2 phones ago... I have been assimilated. (still use windows, only use ipad when traveling) My kids have iPhone and iPad but it seems iPhone is used 99.99999% of the time for everything.
KaiOS for me - just a flip phone. $2/year (T-Mobile legacy plan) to keep the line active, 10¢ per min or text, prepaid. I've got about $100 prepaid which should last me a lifetime.
My SO was gifted a high end iPad several years ago. The front of the frame has begun to separate from the body. Taped it for now. Went to an Apple store, figuring that they would best know how to repair it. Their solution? Buy and upgraded iPad. Planned obsolescence on expensive hardware? No thank you. Not getting locked into that.
Comments
Their knowingly false advertising about (so-called) 'Apple Intelligence' last year was another example of them misleading people by offering them hopium in their quest to drive iPhone sales during their annual release cycle.
(No, I did NOT intend for my post turn this thread into a general Apple-bashing thread.....)
I lasted one day. Returned the Pixel and sped to the Apple Store begging them for a new iPhone ... and to be let back in the family. Damn the cost. Slave for life.
The iOS vs Android choice turns out to be one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
I know.
"GrapheneOS is a private and secure mobile operating system with great functionality and usability. It starts from the strong baseline of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and takes great care to avoid increasing attack surface or hurting the strong security model. GrapheneOS makes substantial improvements to both privacy and security through many carefully designed features built to function against real adversaries. The project cares a lot about usability and app compatibility so those are taken into account for all of our features."
"GrapheneOS is focused on substance rather than branding and marketing. It doesn't take the typical approach of piling on a bunch of insecure features depending on the adversaries not knowing about them and regressing actual privacy/security. It's a very technical project building privacy and security into the OS rather than including assorted unhelpful frills or bundling subjective third party apps choices."
https://grapheneos.org/features
Years ago before I understood how to “clean” an ipad when through with it I attempted to smash an old one up in the driveway using a 10-12 lb long-handled sledge hammer. Impossible to destroy. It cracked, shattered and wrinkled but refused to break apart.
IPads galore. Use my 5 year old MacBook so seldom it seems unfamiliar and awkward. Best for some applications like preparing taxes or selecting theater seats. Used it to update an old Garmin recently.
What I started to say is that considering all the things that could go wrong with a device I feel pretty fortunate to have had such good luck with Apple. For subscriptions you’re generally better off dealing thru Apple, though I realize they skim profits from providers. So easy to start or cancel, whereas many providers make cancelling difficult.
My SO was gifted a high end iPad several years ago. The front of the frame has begun to separate from the body. Taped it for now. Went to an Apple store, figuring that they would best know how to repair it. Their solution? Buy and upgraded iPad. Planned obsolescence on expensive hardware? No thank you. Not getting locked into that.