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Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

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Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#231

Post by mcbits »

MarHoff wrote: post #153
akuji1993 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might give it another go. I also really really like the guys behind DuckDuckGo, so I'm still hoping they can get their search algorithm on par (or at least near) Googles'

With DuckDuckGo you can always use the !g syntax to switch to google if first results don't suit you need. By my experience DDG usually provide way more appropriate answers when you are looking for a reference or a documentation entry. Google still is better for recently pushed contents like news and is still marginally better for finding result inside Q&A sites. After 1-2 years of DDG by default I tend to know in ad…

I don't know why so many DDG users use '!g' unless they're using Edge or just aren't aware that Chromium and Firefox both let you create an arbitrary keyword like 'g' for a search provider, which is a lot easier to type.

Some of the other bang commands do look useful, though.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#232

Post by tananaev »

macintux wrote: post #184
tananaev wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my most desired feature in iPhone. Disabling location service, when you don't need it, helps with both battery consumption and privacy. I don't understand why Apple doesn't want to implement an easy switch option, unless they want to track your location for some reason.

I would wager they think it's confusing and possibly dangerous. How many people would leave it on as they drive away from home, and then struggle with their phones as they're driving? Apple doesn't generally expose more options than it thinks a substantial number of people need. That's a UX decision, not a "Apple wants to track you forever" evil business decision. I'll admit I wouldn't mind an option like this, but I…

There are ways to make it user friendly. iOS can provide some kind of API that apps can use to explicitly request user to switch location services on. Just like permissions.

They can also have an option is settings to ONLY allow foreground app to use location service.

I bet most people don't want random apps to know their location in the background. They only want location when they know what it's used for (e.g. Google Maps, Uber/Lyft etc). If Apple is really so pro-privacy, they can find a way to stop apps tracking location in the background.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#233

Post by kylnew »

Ensorceled wrote: post #194

The only problem is that Apple is the Mercedes of mobile devices. We really need a Honda and Kia version, a more affordable device that doesn’t track you. Apple is never going to give up their premium position.

I wonder if they could make a whole new company/brand that’s competes at the low end. If it ran iOS though, would that be enough to cannibalize too many iPhone users than would be acceptable?

Wondering if they could accomplish the same thing many car brands do i.e. Honda Acura

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#234

Post by nneonneo »

jjulius wrote: post #225
kkarakk wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why not just buy an older device? bought a brand new iPhone se as soon as the new iphones x maxx was announced. mobile phone development as plateaued imo, there is nothing out there you really need unless you're fooling yourself. photos - I bought a nice mirrorless with the money I saved. apps - se runs everything tolerably fast except for snapchat and Instagram, which I've decided to cut down on anyways.comparison i…

>why not just buy an older device? As devices age, they stop being supported by security updates.

Apple, unlike many Android outfits, supports their hardware for a pretty long time. This chart (https://www.statista.com/chart/5824/ios-iphone-compatibility...) suggests that they're supporting devices up to 5 years old; since the SE is just 2, it has a good 3 years of software and security updates to look forward to.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#235

Post by kkarakk »

theshrike79 wrote: post #132
huffmsa wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly they're not doing enough, if they were, Siri wouldn't have fallen so far behind. I know it's a new and difficult field (I work in it) but it's also one where you could throw buckets of cash at the problem and get better results.

Siri is far behind because Apple has a pro-privacy stance. They've effectively hamstrung themselves by anonymising the data and not cross-correlating between users as much as Google does. Google on the other hand has no qualms about using the mountains of data they collect on every single user on their platforms. They can teach Google Assistant stuff that Siri can't even try to do yet.

siri is behind because apple thought buying a natural language assistant startup was enough work/money spent to get into the smart assistant game. there is literally no research coming out of apple on smart assistants or machine learning(that isn't photos) and it shows

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#236

Post by School-Cotton »

jjulius wrote: post #225
kkarakk wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why not just buy an older device? bought a brand new iPhone se as soon as the new iphones x maxx was announced. mobile phone development as plateaued imo, there is nothing out there you really need unless you're fooling yourself. photos - I bought a nice mirrorless with the money I saved. apps - se runs everything tolerably fast except for snapchat and Instagram, which I've decided to cut down on anyways.comparison i…

>why not just buy an older device? As devices age, they stop being supported by security updates.

The iPhone 5S, released five years ago, runs the latest iOS version.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#237

Post by why-el »

kkarakk wrote: post #220
Ensorceled wrote: post #194

The only problem is that Apple is the Mercedes of mobile devices. We really need a Honda and Kia version, a more affordable device that doesn’t track you. Apple is never going to give up their premium position.

why not just buy an older device? bought a brand new iPhone se as soon as the new iphones x maxx was announced. mobile phone development as plateaued imo, there is nothing out there you really need unless you're fooling yourself. photos - I bought a nice mirrorless with the money I saved. apps - se runs everything tolerably fast except for snapchat and Instagram, which I've decided to cut down on anyways.comparison i…

This has been my strategy all along. I am always at least two versions below, sometimes more. I still own my iPhone 6, and get all updates. I bought it for 200 bucks, 2 years ago!!

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#238

Post by rorykoehler »

fetbaffe wrote: post #215
Ensorceled wrote: post #194

The only problem is that Apple is the Mercedes of mobile devices. We really need a Honda and Kia version, a more affordable device that doesn’t track you. Apple is never going to give up their premium position.

Sad that Apple stopped making iPhone SE, still expensive compared to other brands, but the cheapest to jump on the Apple bandwagon.

I picked a second hand one up for SGD$200 (~USD$150)

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#239

Post by snowwrestler »

stephenr wrote: post #217
Waterluvian wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly the problem I have. I don't want the unblockable ads and spying but I need my phone to be some cheap thing I don't have to respect or worry about. Once I started buying $150 phones every 2-3 years, I realised how much I need a device that I don't lose any sleep over it getting beaten to death and possibly replaced prematurely.

Buy second hand iPhones. A 5S will still run the latest iOS, and with a new battery wont be under “performance management” mode, so it should be quite fast to use.

I'll second this. I'm still using an iPhone 6s and it works great.

I just checked and there are a couple hundred listed on my local Craigslist for $100-$150.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#240

Post by School-Cotton »

Matt3o12_ wrote: post #210
zaidf wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In contrast in the case of Apple you have a customer relationship with the company that sold you the device and they have an incentive to keep you as a customer without having a need to extract as much advertisement revenue as they can. Do you acknowledge this comes at a huge cost? Apple has a fraction of the marketshare as Android in countries like India. Apple's iPhone prices out billions of people. Android-based p…

But I can’t help but wonder why there isn’t an alternative. Maybe a phone that is a bit more expensive then an equivalent android. It doesn’t need to have the hardware quality of iPhones or high end android phones but also has good, secure and privacy focused software developed by some company that doesn’t make most of their revenue from advertising. But I suppose there isn’t a market for that. A majority of users wo…

You’re right that 99% of people will just pick the cheaper phone over the privacy-focused one if all else is equal.

Look how many people willingly give their phone number to grocery stores in return for a slight discount.

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