Since84
Moderator
To infinity and beyond!
Posts: 3,933
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Post by Since84 on Jun 21, 2018 2:37:13 GMT -8
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,629
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 21, 2018 7:20:37 GMT -8
I was liking it a little more when AAPL was up nearly $2. While the daily ups and downs don't matter much in the longer term, it's still nice to recover the short term downs quickly, and be back to setting new ATHs.
A couple weeks ago at a school year end BBQ, I was talking with 2 other dads, separately. It turns out that all 3 of us had old iPhone 5S's (so 6 between the families), and the other 2 both complained about not just the battery life starting to die off, but also of them not charging anymore. (I was wearing a white Apple ball cap, so maybe that got the conversation going.) While I figured out at some point that the lightning port needed occasional digging out with a toothpick, especially when doing a lot of dirt or chainsaw work, they hadn't. So the charging cable wasn't making a good connection.
One family had upgraded their 2 to Samsung phones, because the iPhones had stopped charging. Personally I feel that 4+ years is a pretty long life for the iPhone, especially if we were used to a 2 year turnover in the past. Either way, he said they planned to switch back to an iPhone, since especially his wife wasn't liking their new phones. But it sounded like that was due to dealing with Android, and I would think it could just be learning a system that is similar but different...and something that they might get more accustomed to over time.
(EDIT: Of course I'd prefer their decision to switch back to an iPhone sticks. They also both knew that I previously worked at Apple and own the stock. But here I thought I was the only one with an old iPhone, justifying it to myself that it still works, and it's going to break on one of these ski or trail work days. But we're also getting close to the age that the kids are going to need something)
We upgraded my wife's iPhone that week to a Red 8 Plus. Talk about a Phablet in comparison to the 5S, but she picked it and uses it a lot instead of a laptop. It took some time to set it up, since it didn't have the latest iOS on it, couldn't update from backup without the latest on it, and then the download of the newest iOS failed the first time. But after that, all has been good and she's been using it over a week now.
Sometimes we are late adopters. This time it was because I'd like to switch to a lower cost carrier, but haven't made a decision. Maybe someday Apple will have it's own service plan, like the Google based one we've seen ads for. Not only is that extra recurring revenue, but it also takes away one more decision, or makes that decision easier.
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Post by hledgard on Jun 21, 2018 7:42:08 GMT -8
Great post, 4aapl !
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Post by incorrigible on Jun 21, 2018 9:43:24 GMT -8
While I figured out at some point that the lightning port needed occasional digging out with a toothpick, especially when doing a lot of dirt or chainsaw work, they hadn't. So the charging cable wasn't making a good connection. Amazing coincidence you mentioned this today. I couldn't get my iPhone7 to charge last night (which was about 1 hour after my wife dropped her Otter-boxed 5S and shattered the screen). Dug out the lightning port myself and it seems to be working now. When it rains it pours. She was due for a new phone anyway. This just lights a fire under her ass to get finally a new one.
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Post by Luckychoices on Jun 21, 2018 9:52:38 GMT -8
Just came across this on Apple News: 5 reasons you shouldn’t ditch the iPhone and switch to Android On one hand, I’m not sure I can accurately express just how bored I am with the iPhone vs. Android debate. The answer in the end is always the same — choose the platform that most closely matches your needs and wants — but the battle rages on. Fanboys on both sides refuse to budge on any of their go-to talking points, and their incessant bickering echoes throughout social media, forums, and the comments sections of blogs. It’s impossible for a levelheaded person to read their fights and not cringe, both sides stating opinion as fact and then convincing themselves they’ve won the argument. Sound familiar? That’s right, it’s just like liberals and conservatives bickering on Facebook or Twitter.
The problem is, there’s another side to this issue. The question of “iPhone vs. Android” isn’t just a battleground for whiny fanboys and fangirls. It’s a serious and important question that normal people ask themselves. I get emails all the time from Android users who are thinking about switching to the iPhone, and from iPhone users who are considering a switch to Android. I don’t have time to answer them all, but I occasionally try to fight through the dry heaving and involuntary eye rolls that occur anytime the topic of “iPhone vs. Android” enters my mind, and cover some bigger questions here on the site.
Yesterday evening, an email from a reader brought me to a thread on Reddit started by a user named “Pretentious_Fella.” Thankfully, this fella doesn’t seem pretentious at all. He’s someone who had been using multiple platforms on different devices, but he recently decided to move entirely to Apple products. He then took to the Apple subreddit to explain why he went all in on Apple, highlighting four main reasons for his decision. They’re all great reasons and I’m going to run through them quickly below. I’m also going to add a fifth reason of my own though, because it’s among the things Apple users love most about the company, but they often take it for granted and don’t even think about it.
Privacy This is obviously a biggie, especially in this day and age.
Apple and Google have very different business models, and neither one is better than the other; it all depends on what your priorities are. Apple makes its money by selling you really, really expensive hardware. Google makes its money by giving Android to third-parties for free and then using its free apps and services to collect as much private data as possible, in order to display targeted ads. Not everyone views this as a problem — I sure don’t, and I use plenty of Google’s apps and services — but people who prioritize privacy should absolutely stick with Apple’s iPhone.
Updates This is another issue that people argue about all the time. Apple users love that they have instant access to every single iOS update Apple releases. This is because Apple releases updates directly to end users. When Google releases Android updates, meanwhile, they’re released to third-party smartphone makers who then have to integrate their own apps and tweaks. Once that’s done, the updates have to be thoroughly tested by wireless carriers.
Unless you’re one of the few people out there with a Pixel phone, you’re lucky if you can count your wait for new updates in months and not years. The latest version of Android is currently only in use on about 5% of active Android devices around the world.
Build quality This is an area where the gap has certainly narrowed in recent years. That said, there’s still “Apple” and “everything else.” No other smartphone on the planet looks and feels as premium as the iPhone X. No other laptops on the planet look and feel as premium as Apple’s MacBook Pro. And so on.
The iPhone X in particular truly is a cut above everything else out there. Apple really pushed other smartphone makers to up their game over the years in terms of materials and build quality, but Apple’s designs are still in a league of their own, as evidenced by the all-glass and stainless steel iPhone X.
Consistent experience and cross-platform integration The original poster used the word “consistency” to title this section in his Reddit post, but I’m not sure fully encapsulates what he was going for.
First, he mentioned the quality and consistency of apps in the iOS App Store. Apple gets plenty of guff for its “walled garden” and its strict rules surrounding the App Store, but the result is the user experience we know and love. Even after all these years, the app experience on iOS devices is so much better and more consistent than it is on Android, it’s difficult to compare the two. Apple’s strict guidelines and oversight also prevent disasters like all the malware that’s constantly floating around Google’s Play store.
Beyond that, Apple also offers a great experience across devices. Thanks to things like Continuity, Apple’s smartphones, tablets, and personal computers all integrate so well together. macOS and iOS are nothing alike, and you you can start doing something on an iPhone or iPad and finish it on a MacBook Pro with no trouble whatsoever.
Customer service This is the one that the Reddit post in question doesn’t mention, and it’s understandable that it was omitted. Many people who spend most of their time in the Apple ecosystem simply don’t realize how much better Apple’s customer service is than any other consumer tech company in the world.
Whether you visit a genius at an Apple Store or call Apple’s customer care line, you’re in store for a stellar customer care experience 999 times out of 1,000. Apple’s products are typically more expensive than rival offerings, but it’s not just empty markup. Part of that expense helps cover customer care, and I can’t stress enough how happy I am to pay that extra money.
When I have a problem with my iPhone, I go to the Apple Store. I’m greeted by a friendly genius who listens to my problem and tries to fix it. If my problem can be fixed, it is. If it can’t be fixed, I walk out of the store with a new iPhone. Apple also offers all sorts of free resources to help customers get the most out of their devices, like free classes and friendly US-based phone support that’s available to answer any questions for 16 hours each day.
If you’ve ever had experiences with Apple’s customer service and customer service from any of Apple’s rivals, you know exactly how wide the gap is in between them. It’s quite literally night and day.
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Since84
Moderator
To infinity and beyond!
Posts: 3,933
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Post by Since84 on Jun 21, 2018 15:11:04 GMT -8
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benoir
fire starter
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Posts: 1,318
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Post by benoir on Jun 21, 2018 18:45:18 GMT -8
The bet placed on AMZN is based on a promise, that one day they will return a profit. FB would be more attractive if it had more revenue streams MSFT has an unusually high PE against its gross margin trend GOOG should have lots of colours in its graph now that it is Alphabet... more bet than alpha... overpriced AAPL needs a trend line to smooth out the seasonal variability. But it’s the bohemoth that has been delivering. Interesting though
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,629
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 22, 2018 5:17:13 GMT -8
Thanks! It's great to know that something you posted was worthwhile to others. I've recently become a moderator on a small FB page, and it's intriguing to me to feel the psychological boost from some of the "likes", especially as I don't really feel I need much "thanks" in real life interactions. But in working with and in leadership of several volunteer organizations over the past 8 years, I've realized that without pay to "thank" people, it's especially important for some (most?) people to thank and appreciate their volunteer efforts. With that in mind, I try to remember to thank people, like the Forest Service and ACE crews that were finishing up work on my favorite trail yesterday, and the garbage man who likely doesn't hear it much. While we're a more isolated community with a very non-normal makeup, it's still interesting to try to gleam info off of what you see and hear. If I was a marketer I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions, but with the 3 of us with older phones for the family (well, as of a few months ago, with 3 of the 6 now upgraded), all are families that moved here from higher cost areas with elementary school age kids, after having good paying jobs elsewhere. One could surmise that this subset of the subset of the subset has learned to save and the value of their spending, and thus didn't see a reason to upgrade until now. OTOH, this is a sample size of 3 families and one jumped off (temporarily?) to Androids, so it's probably just jumping to conclusions to take much (or any) info from it.
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