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I'm mostly fine with monopolies that exist because nobody can make a better product. It's scary, but there's not much to be done about it. Unfortunately, Appl

I'm mostly fine with monopolies that exist because nobody can make a better product. It's scary, but there's not much to be done about it. Unfortunately, Apple is not the kind of product I would actually want to use. They are still behind Android on many features, because the lock so much down, don't prioritize compatibility, etc. They also cost more, and you can't develop apps for them unless you also have a Mac. To any techie, that's a problem, especially when a MacBook costs more than anything else I've ever owned. iOS apps also seem to often cost a few bucks, despite free equivalents existing for Android. Perhaps because they are more expensive to make, or because they can't rely on a data collection business model, whatever the case pretty much everything seems more expensive. There are lots of reports that third party stuff is just a bit worse because of the privacy restrictions. The UI is non-customizable in a very annoying way, it's all based on gestures and shortcuts with many things hidden. Apple makes appliances more than computers. Android, Windows, and Linux all share a general idea of doing anything, in any scenario. With Apple you're never quite sure what they'll do. Anything beyond core phone use cases seems more like a bonus, and a lot of the exclusive features have to do with some other Apple specific thing. Plus, apparently, they don't have per app notifications, and some are saying that push notifications can be unreliable. There is essentially never a time when I want anything like a full do not disturb. So... I'd have to be interrupted every 4 seconds by crappy apps that spam notifications to avoid being unreachable? With Android, you feel like no matter what tech task you want to do, you can probably do it with an app. I don't get the impression Apple is really trying to be more than an appliance.

Gigachad 4y ago
The fact that Android seems to fill all of your needs shows that there is viable competition and the market is still working fine. Most of the stuff you listed as an is things that others desire as a feature. And if that isn’t you, Android is a great alternative.
astrange 4y ago
> There is essentially never a time when I want anything like a full do not disturb. So... I'd have to be interrupted every 4 seconds by crappy apps that spam notifications to avoid being unreachable? Your solution is focus modes, which they spent rather a long time talking about in the keynote.
- eternityforest 4y ago
  Now that I read about them, focus modes do seem like they're usable, but I'm not 100% sure, without spending a half hour looking into it. Some say you can whitelist the messages app and let all contacts message you, some say that doesn't work? There's a lot more discussion and confusion than I'd hope to see about it. It just seems a little less smooth than I'd expected, like as if "No affect on any other notifications, just make this Aliexpress app stop spamming" isn't really a core use case.
  - astrange 4y ago
    Why do you even have its notifications on if you don’t like them? nb there’s also time sensitive vs not time sensitive notifications that can be filtered on, but it’s up to the app to say which are which.
teekert 4y ago
"I'm mostly fine with monopolies that exist because nobody can make a better product. It's scary, but there's not much to be done about it." It could be that nobody can make a better product, because of their power. Buying power for parts, for startups, for marketing, lawyers. That said, I'm not for regulating too much, they do indeed make a fine product. I have an iPhone, it's to closed for my tasted but it just really works well.
- eternityforest 4y ago
  The new EU open platform regulations seem like about the right amount of regulation to me.
cassianoleal 4y ago
> To any techie, that's a problem, especially when a MacBook costs more than anything else I've ever owned. I don’t mean to be adversarial, but are you saying you’re a techie who never owned something costing more than $1K?
- MagnumOpus 4y ago
  If you are under 30 and live in a major city with access to public transport, you might not be able to afford the downpayment for a house while never needing to buy a car, the other big ticket item. (And usually other appliances/toys are cheaper than Apple products, be it bikes, TVs, game consoles etc).
  - cassianoleal 4y ago
    I understand. I have been under 30 in a major city. I'm a lot older than that now and am still unable to afford the downpayment for a house, regardless of the need for a car. That said, a 1K computer that would wholly replace your other (probably >1K) computer shouldn't really affect your ability to afford that.
- eternityforest 4y ago
  I'm not exactly sure how much my computer costs offhand, since it's been upgraded with RAM and an SSD, but it is probably still a bit under $1k, although likely a bit over if you count all the accessories. I made the very highly questionable choice of getting into embedded systems with no degree or math talent, and while being clumsy enough I probably shouldn't drive. .... so I have never made more than $30k a year, usually less, even when I've been in semi-leadership-ish roles designing $10k equipment. A lot of the big companies that have a spare 100 grand laying around seem to want people who can do RF design and hand solder a BGA. Low volume work for ultra small non-tech companies is a pretty different skillset. There's nothing all that advanced, but the schedules are tight, things have to be repairable by people with very limited training, you're doing lots of unrelated work, there's legacy gear everywhere, arbitrary marketing related restrictions, and hardware costs matter. Admittedly not a very big issue for most working professionals, but I would think it could be a bit of a problem for anyone in a non-tech industry trying to learn on their own.
teho 4y ago
> Plus, apparently, they don't have per app notifications, and some are saying that push notifications can be unreliable. iOS does have per application notification settings. Also apps have to ask permissions to even send them. You can also change how each app's notifications behave. It's also possible to group all notifications from an app or a group of apps to be shown at certain time of a day, all at once. I don't think there's any reliability issues. https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/01/how-to-manage-notifications-in-ios-15-and-ipados-15 https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/01/how-to-manage-not... The focus modes expand this so that you have even more power to control how notifications work at certain time of day (or location etc). Focus modes also apply to all your Apple devices at once. > iOS apps also seem to often cost a few bucks, despite free equivalents existing for Android. Perhaps because they are more expensive to make, or because they can't rely on a data collection business model, whatever the case pretty much everything seems more expensive. This has a benefit that there are more high quality apps on iOS than on Android and the apps aren't abandoned as often.

Gigachad 4y ago

The fact that Android seems to fill all of your needs shows that there is viable competition and the market is still working fine. Most of the stuff you listed as an is things that others desire as a feature. And if that isn’t you, Android is a great alternative.

astrange 4y ago

> There is essentially never a time when I want anything like a full do not disturb. So... I'd have to be interrupted every 4 seconds by crappy apps that spam notifications to avoid being unreachable? Your solution is focus modes, which they spent rather a long time talking about in the keynote.

eternityforest 4y ago
Now that I read about them, focus modes do seem like they're usable, but I'm not 100% sure, without spending a half hour looking into it. Some say you can whitelist the messages app and let all contacts message you, some say that doesn't work? There's a lot more discussion and confusion than I'd hope to see about it. It just seems a little less smooth than I'd expected, like as if "No affect on any other notifications, just make this Aliexpress app stop spamming" isn't really a core use case.
- astrange 4y ago
  Why do you even have its notifications on if you don’t like them? nb there’s also time sensitive vs not time sensitive notifications that can be filtered on, but it’s up to the app to say which are which.

teekert 4y ago

"I'm mostly fine with monopolies that exist because nobody can make a better product. It's scary, but there's not much to be done about it." It could be that nobody can make a better product, because of their power. Buying power for parts, for startups, for marketing, lawyers. That said, I'm not for regulating too much, they do indeed make a fine product. I have an iPhone, it's to closed for my tasted but it just really works well.

eternityforest 4y ago
The new EU open platform regulations seem like about the right amount of regulation to me.

cassianoleal 4y ago

> To any techie, that's a problem, especially when a MacBook costs more than anything else I've ever owned. I don’t mean to be adversarial, but are you saying you’re a techie who never owned something costing more than $1K?

MagnumOpus 4y ago
If you are under 30 and live in a major city with access to public transport, you might not be able to afford the downpayment for a house while never needing to buy a car, the other big ticket item. (And usually other appliances/toys are cheaper than Apple products, be it bikes, TVs, game consoles etc).
- cassianoleal 4y ago
  I understand. I have been under 30 in a major city. I'm a lot older than that now and am still unable to afford the downpayment for a house, regardless of the need for a car. That said, a 1K computer that would wholly replace your other (probably >1K) computer shouldn't really affect your ability to afford that.
eternityforest 4y ago
I'm not exactly sure how much my computer costs offhand, since it's been upgraded with RAM and an SSD, but it is probably still a bit under $1k, although likely a bit over if you count all the accessories. I made the very highly questionable choice of getting into embedded systems with no degree or math talent, and while being clumsy enough I probably shouldn't drive. .... so I have never made more than $30k a year, usually less, even when I've been in semi-leadership-ish roles designing $10k equipment. A lot of the big companies that have a spare 100 grand laying around seem to want people who can do RF design and hand solder a BGA. Low volume work for ultra small non-tech companies is a pretty different skillset. There's nothing all that advanced, but the schedules are tight, things have to be repairable by people with very limited training, you're doing lots of unrelated work, there's legacy gear everywhere, arbitrary marketing related restrictions, and hardware costs matter. Admittedly not a very big issue for most working professionals, but I would think it could be a bit of a problem for anyone in a non-tech industry trying to learn on their own.

teho 4y ago

> Plus, apparently, they don't have per app notifications, and some are saying that push notifications can be unreliable. iOS does have per application notification settings. Also apps have to ask permissions to even send them. You can also change how each app's notifications behave. It's also possible to group all notifications from an app or a group of apps to be shown at certain time of a day, all at once. I don't think there's any reliability issues. https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/01/how-to-manage-notifications-in-ios-15-and-ipados-15 https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/01/how-to-manage-not... The focus modes expand this so that you have even more power to control how notifications work at certain time of day (or location etc). Focus modes also apply to all your Apple devices at once. > iOS apps also seem to often cost a few bucks, despite free equivalents existing for Android. Perhaps because they are more expensive to make, or because they can't rely on a data collection business model, whatever the case pretty much everything seems more expensive. This has a benefit that there are more high quality apps on iOS than on Android and the apps aren't abandoned as often.