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A lot of people who bought Windows 8 as their first Microsoft product share your perspective. Odd thing is that things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
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The simple fact, that you need a service call to replace a battery of your phone shows that something basically wrong with Apple...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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There are many point to criticize Apple on, but I'm not sure this is one of them. There are plenty of Android and Windows phones out there with non user replaceable batteries.
It boils down to a design decision; there are advantages to having all metal/glass phones, but it's hard to design one with an open-able body that the typical end-user won't bend, break, or mangle while trying to open it.
I find it is sort of like vehicles that are ridiculously difficult to work on or repair without specialized tools only the dealership possesses. I enjoy doing my own auto maintenance and repairs, so a late-model BMW would be a bad choice for me because doing something like replacing the battery also requires reprogramming the ECU, so an expensive trip to the dealership is necessary.
This doesn't mean that the vehicles are bad, or that the company is bad; I really like BMW and its vehicles, and they usually have good reasons for designing things the way they do. So in spite of being being a good company with good engineers and vehicles, their vehicles are a bad choice for me because I value being able to service things myself. Most vehicle owners could not care less.
Similar trade-off for phone battery replacement. Most people just don't care, and so companies bake in non-replaceable batteries so they can add more of what most users really want...like shiny glass and metal phone bodies.
I agree with Chris. Apple's problem is that they've lost their focus and are trying to do too many things at once. They're moving toward having too many product lines they way they did in the early to mid 90s.
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There is a difference between two... apple made it a decision - regardless of design - to not let ANY part of the phone replace by the user. In those Windows/Android phones it non-replaceable by user, the decision came to make the phone better...
(And Apple phone lost hardware superiority like 5 years ago)
An I picked the battery intentionally - a battery for a phone is like a tier for a car - to create a car with non-replaceable tiers you (the manufacturer) have to come up with a very ,very good reasoning...
2/3rd of the Apple phones made with non-replaceable battery to ensure Apple can charge you the absurd price and not for the reason of better hardware performance...
And I too, do agree with Chris, Apple lost the focus between serve and between make profit...
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Chris Maunder wrote: I loved their hardware better when they had focus. I wanted to have an Apple ][ as well.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Apple is essentially a one-man company (if not in reality, then in the eyes of the public).
How much that is real and how much comes strictly from customer belief (I had to force myself not to put "idolatry") is hard to say, but whether it's real or implied-by-belief isn't all that relevant.
The view has been heavily reinforced by the facts that: a. the company took a nosedive when he left, and b. it soared to the heavens when he returned -- and there's no point trying talk sense to people who believe in gods and miracles.
So it's not too much of a surprise that now it is spiralling down, again. Fact or faith, it will still make the company (and therefore its customers) suffer:
- N% of customers lose faith in the company
- The company inevitably responds by providing worse customer service (people is people)
- The number of lost-faith customers increases to N+M%
- etc.
- etc.
- etc.
- Welcome to Oracle.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Apple is much like an apple. You buy one and hope there aren't any sore spots or bugs in it
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On the flip side... after using Android devices since they first came out till last year, I broke down and decide to give an iPhone 6plus a try. There were some music apps that were on IOS that I simply couldn't get for Android that I wanted to take advantage of and I was getting a new phone so I thought I would give it a shot.
The 6plus has been a workhorse and been fairly reliable the only complaint I've seen with it is that as IOS has been upgraded it has become more 'Windows like' requiring a reboot now and then to clear it up and get things working smoothly after getting gummed up. If I shut my phone off once in a while this would be completely unnecessary but I don't. I suppose a reboot every other day might do the trick but till I train myself to do something as pre-emptive as that it will have to wait.
Regardless, That was a year ago, in May that I got the 6plus. When the iPad Pro came out I picked up one of those with the cellular setup to replace my primary Android tablet and have never looked back.
My Apple devices have been a joy to use and have been as I short of the periodic Windows like behavior on the later versions of IOS flawless. I'm considering picking up a Mac for the desktop at home just to add it to make a trio because I get so frustrated with the performance of windows on my desktop at home. I probably wont because my worklife is in the Windows world, but the dark side is so pleasant.
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There aren't any more "genius" kids. Just millennials w/ brains of mush who will say virtually anything. Sorry you had to learn that this way.
Get a flip phone. They run on their battery for like two weeks. And you can even talk to people on em! It's crazy.
I go "ooh, looks like I need to charge my phone" - My wife who has nothing short of a train of naughty old smart phones banished to drawers just smirks".
She'll say "yeah but my phone does" - yeah whatever mama.
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Ron Anders wrote: Get a flip phone. When was the last time you checked your e-mail or your calendar or the weather on your flip phone? What about checking a flight status or the scores for last nights game. Maybe edited a document while on the go?
Flip phones just don't suffice for a lot of people these days.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
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email: I wait till I get back to the office.
weather: I have glass windows - I can see what the weather is.
fights: I drive.
games: I wait till I get back to the office. Or sports radio.
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Ron Anders wrote: fights: I drive
Road-rage will get you everywhere
I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can't make a move without a form.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Luddites rule! (At least, in their own minds.)
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Chris Maunder wrote: I'll book again, ignore my first booking, and then...
Wouldn't it be easier to by a nice Android compatible phone?
Marc
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Don't forget about all the truly awful Wintel hardware produced by once great (now stupendously horrible) companies like HP, Sony and Dell. Don't forget about the junk Android phones that lasted 6 months before the OS was obsolete - really cheap but still overpriced if you care about your own time. Don't forget about the hundreds of hours you spent installing, re-installing, patching and re-patching Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2K, XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 while MS spouted about how great and secure this new OS will be - only to find out they lied.
None of this fixes your obviously broken phone but be careful admiring the grass on the other side of the fence when it wasn't long ago you nearly choked on it.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
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I have a whole set of rants directed at those other issues. I'm non-denominational when it comes to my frustrations.
It really feels like we're in a tech slump. Android is a total Wild West mess that Google is desperate to get under control, and yet Google themselves are so engineer-biased that they seem incapable of delivering a user experience that covers the other 95% safely.
Apple...ah, Apple. Enough about them.
Microsoft. Wow. I've been digging into .NET Core, ASP.NET Core, EF Core etc this weekend and it's like they sent the engineers off to an island for 5 years and said "Go crazy!". It's a frigging mess. They have the most awesome IDE in existence and yet all you see in demos and docs is an endless series of powershell, command prompt or Nuget console text commands to do things that shoudln't have to be done. So much work in automatic wiring up of all the bits and pieces, so much other work in bypassing it all and getting out the zip-ties and duct tape.
I could go on about Garmin, The SQL team, Git repos and Nuget if you wish...
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Yeah, I hear ya. I could write volumes on how awful Siemens application software is yet I'm "forced" to use it and probably will be until I retire.
Its no wonder stress related illness and depression are on the rise.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
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Chris Maunder wrote: They have the most awesome IDE in existence and yet all you see in demos and docs is an endless series of powershell, command prompt or Nuget console text commands to do things that shoudln't have to be done.
I've played around with ASP.NET Core and TBH I find it all works better on a Mac (using VS Code or WebStorm). Weird in a way, but I guess all the command prompt (terminal) stuff is much easier on *NIX based OS's.
I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can't make a move without a form.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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I like such posts because they mark the level of existing problems. I find it to be low. With Android you are on your own completely after a year. A 4 year old iPhone 5 is better than nothing so you can wait until iPhone 7 or what it will be.
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Absolutely.
I really only have a few grips
1. They were working off what their diagnostic apps said, not what common sense says. I found it fascinating that their diagnostic apps only provide info on apps that are running, not the OS. It's like the OS is a big blind spot that can't (or aren't allowed?) to question. I really just wanted them to say "It's dead, Jim".
2. They gave me back my repaired phone in a non-operable state. It wasn't even turned on and tested after the battery replacement. They acknowledged this was an error on their part (which was awesome of them).
I do still have a deep, deep sadness at the direction Apple has gone. It's run by a conservative committee that now follows and chases instead of a single person who leads.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Re 1, the OS cannot be really checked unless the device is booted from something else which is considered to be impossible with iDevices. The security chip in iPhone adds complications. They might be instructed to search for a bad app to be purged from the store first and help the customer second, unpleasant but understandable. Normally it is assumed that if the OS is reset it is OK now and anything else is above the level of a genius. Why they did not recognize a hardware problem immediately is beyond me, as well as how they dared to let a customer with a hardware battery problem to go away and potentially return with burns and attorneys.
Re 2, I guess you just hit not the brightest genius.
I do not think Apple has gone in wrong direction, they are just going. Being under extreme pressure after 2 bad quaters, they may do something really supid righ now, hope they will not. A committee that follows and chases can be OK for a while, but thinking that iPhone SE 16 GB is the best $400 phone in line with the "we are making the best" mantra is not OK, iOS cannot compensate for everything. They should upgrade 16 GB models to 32 GB immediately, we will see in a month.
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Surely a few in-house diagnostics within the OS aren't too much to ask for? They clearly have a bunch of diagnostics around apps, so adding these to things the OS manages (CPU / battery power spent on GPS, Compass, Bluetooth etc) shouldn't be hard. Actually I'd be extremely surprised if they weren't already there.
I don't think Apple will do anything stupid after a couple of soft quarters. This is a company that takes the long view. I don't think Apple will do anything stupid now. Or risky. Or exciting....
And that's the problem.
(and I don't count their foray into electric cars as novel or exciting. "Massive distraction fuelled be a need to stay relevant and own an ecosystem", yes, but not novel.)
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I have personally not had the level of frustration with my iPhones that you have, but I've heard of others like you. They seem to be rare, but that doesn't help the afflicted at all.
This is going to sound flippant, but it's not. The few times I have had a problem, I've resorted to having my 22 year old daughter take my phone to the Apple Store. My 5'8", wavy blonde haired, slender, very attractive 22 year old daughter, who has seemingly perfected the art of mentally controlling men, especially the nerds at the Apple Store, and convincing them of pretty much anything she wants, including replacing malfunctioning iPhones for free.
So if you have one of those types of daughters, or know someone who does, I suggest giving it a shot.
And yes, I am perversely proud of her. Horribly evil of me, I know, but I'm a horribly evil type of person in general.
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07784 560982
It's my mobile phone number. Can you pass it on to your daughter please.
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Brad Stiles wrote: especially the nerds at the Apple Store
As a semi-proper nerd (I'm no Moss), I take offense to this. The last "Genius" I talked to couldn't event tell me what IP stands for, let alone what it is.
It's a little scary when your tech support makes the Geek Squad look good.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli
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