With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold • Hacker News Board

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#501

Post by mschulze » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:37 PM UTC

naraniano wrote: post #312

majewsky wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"that" as in multi-monitor support? Multi-monitor works fine on my Plasma desktop since at least 2012. Can't comment on high-DPI, but from what I've heard it's in the "getting there" stage.

Multi-monitor works fine. Single monitor, high DPI is very tricky, and barely works, never consistently (like, GNOME looks fine, but Firefox looks tiny). Multi-monitor, where every monitor has a different DPI value, has absolutely no support.

I am using my Dell XPS 13 with a resolution of 1920x1080 (scaled from 3200x1800) for the internal display and an external display with native 1920x1080 and cannot confirm this. It works pretty well (GNOME3, Ubuntu 17.04). Firefox is not tiny. I did not change anything in my X config files.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#502

Post by davidf18 » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:38 PM UTC

They wrote an entire article about iPhone users having to spend an extra 25 cents per day -- the approx $200 increase divided by 2 years.

By far the biggest cost of using the iPhone is the cell phone service.

I am on the Verizon (in NYC Verizon is the best provider with the most LTE spectrum) yearly upgrade program (Apple has their standard yearly upgrade as well) and I am currently paying about $1.35 per day for use of the phone.

After 12 payments, I am allowed to upgrade to the next phone. It is not a "free" upgrade exactly, as I have to pay NYS sales tax, a $20 new phone fee, and a new $50 case or $80+20+50 or about $150 for the upgrade which makes the approx $1000 phone into a $1,150 phone or For this, I am covered by the 1 year standard Apple iPhone warranty and the battery does not lose much charge in the one year of ownership.

In my case, in NYC I need the better signal quality when in skyscrapers, better voice sound on phones (esp. the noise cancellation in very loud NYC), and better cameras for video and taking pictures of slides at conferences.

My cell phone service including taxes (but without the handset) is about $3.50 per day.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#503

Post by PaulRobinson » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:41 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #340

wutwutwutwut wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep the base price for a Iphone 7 Plus in Sweden is 1100$. Not sure it makes sense comparing prices like this though. In Sweden the cost of an iphone does not compete with your ability to get access to health care or education for example.

Why are you bringing up healthcare on an iPhone discussion? Trying to figure out how it is relevant to the pricing of an iPhone in Sweden.

Because in most of Europe, sales tax (which therefore is added onto the purchase of your new iPhone), will in some part go towards the funding of universal coverage free-at-point-of-use healthcare.

In the US you get your phone cheaper. But you buy your healthcare.

Most Europeans would prefer to pay more for their phone and know everybody in their neighbourhood gets free medical for life in return.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#504

Post by eknkc » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

kalleboo wrote: post #399

eknkc wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "particular" keyboard is actually quite good to use. I like the way I type on this one. However it's not reliable. A single speck of dust under the keycap then you have misfires. Keys get mushy for no reason, get stuck etc. My b key does not work reliably now for example.

Yeah I really like the feel of it, but my "n" key has stopped working twice already (within a month of purchase!) - I've "massaged" it back to life both times with firm pressing. That reminds me I need to order compressed air from Amazon. Can I bill that to Apple I wonder

I disassembled "n" a couple weeks ago, not just removing the keycap, but the entire butterfly mechanism. Cleaned up then reattached using glue. Works fine now.

As far as I can tell, the mechanism is too fragile / shitty.

There is a single metal dome below the key which acts like the spring and actuator. Butterfly thing is there to keep the keycap in place and distribute pressure so if you hit a corner it directs that to the dome thingy. That metal dome seems to have an issue with heat as most people report problems when the device heats up. Maybe it expands. If you look at the contacts below it looks like there is too little margin for error.

I think this keyboard is gonna create a lot of issues in the long term.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#505

Post by Frondo » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

thanksgiving wrote: post #445

tertius wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthcare sucks AND it's ridiculously expensive.

Yes! As a twenty something single I was shocked that people saw paying $200 out of pocket each month as a privilege that comes with working. Clearly, for me it was a pure waste because I used exactly zero dollars worth of health care myself. Of course, people with infants absolutely need it. I had a coworker who had basically the same story as Jimmy Kimmel (newborn with heart defect). I can't imagine how much quality…

I also skipped getting health insurance in my 20s, which I deeply regretted when I needed unexpected emergency surgery to remove a diseased organ.

The hospital that did it was religiously affiliated and knocked a huge amount off my total hospital stay, but I still paid a lot out of pocket.

What's worse is, until the ACA came along, that bout of uninsured surgery made me uninsurable from then on--I had "pre-existing condition". The ACA has made it possible for me to actually buy health insurance at all again.

Of course, I'm still hoping the Medicare for All movement starts gaining steam...

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#506

Post by nikofeyn » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:43 PM UTC

theshrike79 wrote: post #86

nikofeyn wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's still flawless, no speed issues or any issues. The only thing bad is that the battery isn't as good as before. so, not flawless? i can replace the battery on my phone, which is very reassuring and also practical for times away from a charger.

How often are you away from a charger or a portable power bank, really? We can all imagine theoretical situations where one would need to swap batteries, but they're just that - theoretical. In practice you can either find/borrow/buy/steal a charger or you carry an USB powerbank with you if running out of battery is an issue for you.

many times: hiking, on a boat, riding my motorcycle, on vacation in general. during these times i don't want to be unnecessarily tied to a portable charger. what's the point of having a portable phone at that point. simply changing out a battery is far more convenient.

so it's not theoretical at all. the person i replied to literally listed a reason why it's nice to be able to swap out a battery: their battery no longer works correctly.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#507

Post by mikeash » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:44 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #340

wutwutwutwut wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep the base price for a Iphone 7 Plus in Sweden is 1100$. Not sure it makes sense comparing prices like this though. In Sweden the cost of an iphone does not compete with your ability to get access to health care or education for example.

Why are you bringing up healthcare on an iPhone discussion? Trying to figure out how it is relevant to the pricing of an iPhone in Sweden.

Probably because prominent American politicians brought up iPhones in health care discussions recently. "And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own healthcare." - Actual statement by actual (now retired) American member of Congress in March.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#508

Post by saiya-jin » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:44 PM UTC

kalleboo wrote: post #405

nikofeyn wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as a user of both windows and mac os x, what do you truly like about mac os x that you prefer it so heavily over windows?

I only rarely have to use Windows but every time I'm just so annoyed at how terrible the file browser (Explorer) is. Why the heck are folders sorted on top of files? It makes no sense and means you can't just jump to filenames with the keyboard. No QuickLook (this is a huge one. browsing through files is made 10x faster with QuickLook). No column browser.

if you get used to Total commander, you will never, ever go back to that joke of a tool named Explorer and its ridiculous workflow. Working with 2 panes was better since Norton commander during DOS times (actually many more with tabs these days).

I can do anything on file system 10x faster than any colleague with Explorer, including file comparisons, altering files directly in archives, network accesses and so much more.

There is no good enough equivalent in Linux/Mac world. I don't understand why more people in tech don't use it more. We can discuss many different tools and their + and -, but this one simply doesn't have an equal.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#509

Post by wuliwong » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:44 PM UTC

verelo wrote: post #464

ksec wrote: post #248

If we take a look from a Global Perspective, US has the cheapest iPhone ( All prices excluding sales Tax ), and everywhere else had it more expensive. i.e The $1K Prices may be making a big waves in US, but elsewhere in the world they have been paying that much for an iPhone already. And in terms of iPhones / Population / Apple Store, the US has it most. While in Japan 60% of the Smartphone are iPhone ( i.e Higher th…

> "And in terms of iPhones / Population / Apple Store, the US has it most. While in Japan 60% of the Smartphone are iPhone ( i.e Higher the US usage ) they have less then 10 Apple Stores." pet peeve of mine is then vs than.

A fun thing to do is search "less then" in google news.

Re: With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold

#510

Post by xutopia » Mon, Sep 11, 2017, 2:45 PM UTC

No one has mentioned the possibility of using UCB-C as a docking station. Phones are already powerful enough for the kind of work an executive does (email, word processing, spreadsheet). Now if their computer is in their pocket and they can plug into any screen at all they don't need a computer at all.

The progression of the smartphone is evidently to replace the personal computer and the iPhone X should be a step in that direction.