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Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

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Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#111

Post by ApolloFortyNine »

scoopertrooper wrote: post #71
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #26

To be honest... None. It's a choice. You might wholly disagree, but recent events aren't enough to get me to switch yet, because I think the competition has too many tradeoffs. I can get my photos scanned against a CSAM database... or I can have Google tracking my location constantly regardless of what they say (as they've been proven to be misleading in the past)... or I can use a Linux phone and say goodbye to batt…

Exactly, I think people are just getting a little too worked up over this whole thing. Apple computes a hash of each image you upload to iCloud then check it against a list of CP hashes. Of all the things in the world to get worked up over, this is ridiculous. I get it, the mechanism they're using has apparent flaws, and maybe some whacko could somehow get access to your phone and start uploading things that trick th…

This kinda of sounds like "let them put a camera in my living room, I'm not doing anything wrong".

The biggest complaint here is clearly this is not where it'll end, and it's not a unique hash, so there will be false positives. And since it's publicly announced, this is very unlikely to catch any producers of CP, and would only catch the dumbest consumers. So it's an invasion of privacy with very little chance of having a noticeable impact.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#112

Post by thereddaikon »

numair wrote: post #20

For those studying MacBook alternatives, I think the most underrated “serious” notebook computer in the world is the Panasonic Letsnote SX/SV. Matte screen that actually works outdoors, removable long-life battery, unassuming vintage design (“let’s not rob that guy, he can’t even afford a new computer”). I haven’t investigated the Linuxability of this thing yet, but it’s super-light and impressive as a mosh terminal…

Looks like a japan only model. I should have known by the name, Let's _____ is a really common Japanese product trope. You should try "Let's Corn!" sometime. Its uhhh, japanese.

How do you suggest getting one of these things or getting support for it? I'm not against foreign market hardware but they can be a real pain in the ass for many. Last japanese laptop I had was almost 20 years ago, an ultraportable Sony. It was interesting but finding drivers online back then was a challenge.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#113

Post by mateuszf »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #85
ByteWelder wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, it was well thought-out. Apple betrayed my trust as a consumer and the response in the past week was plain gaslighting. I thought about it for a couple of days and then decided that I don't want to support a company like that anymore. (edit)I was planning to buy a new MBP/iPhone/Watch in Q4, so this made it easier to decide on those purchases earlier.(/edit) It's correct that the CSAM scanning is currently on…

Here's the thing. You might hate Apple for what they did. But I'm looking at the competition (Google, Amazon, Microsoft) and they're still worse for privacy in well-documented ways. It's an evil but it's still the least among evils.

> It's an evil but it's still the least among evils.

Nope, you can use a degoogled android. There's still a matter of hardware that's not open but there's not much we can do that without sacrificing a lot of usability.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#114

Post by tpush »

carnitas wrote: post #98
scoopertrooper wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, I think people are just getting a little too worked up over this whole thing. Apple computes a hash of each image you upload to iCloud then check it against a list of CP hashes. Of all the things in the world to get worked up over, this is ridiculous. I get it, the mechanism they're using has apparent flaws, and maybe some whacko could somehow get access to your phone and start uploading things that trick th…

Apple hashes all of your photos offline and then pinky promises to only check the hashes against the official on phone database when the user initiated an upload. The problem isn’t about wackos it’s about governments forcing Apple to do things with this new weapon

> Apple hashes all of your photos offline [...]

No, only the ones designated for upload to iCloud.

> [...] it’s about governments forcing Apple to do things with this new weapon

Governments can already force Apple to do any kind of scanning, "weapon" being built already or not.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#115

Post by seba_dos1 »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #36
lettergram wrote: post #18

I’ve been working on my pinephone. But it’s really underpowered imo. I’m considering a Librem 5. Which has more cpu power and battery. The appeal to me is really getting off any major tech platform. Further, you can disconnect the components via switches — iE unplug the microphone. That being said, I can’t even use Signal on them without some major configurations. https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=13728 I h…

You are aware that the Librem 5, in real-world testing, has terrible battery life... and is a brick in thickness. That's why I can't switch yet. :(

Around 6 hours of active usage and around 16 hours of idle time (exact values depend on what's kept enabled and the signal strength of course). Currently it does not suspend to RAM at all, which is how PinePhone achieves longer idle times.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#116

Post by RussianCow »

svavs wrote: post #107
ByteWelder wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of Android flavours that don't have Google apps, like https://lineage.microg.org/ In my limited experience so far, LineageOS works much better than it used to on my HTC Desire. Battery life has been better than any of my iPhones (3G, 4S, 5S, 7 and XS) ever had. That said, if I had to chose between a Google Android phone and an Apple phone, I'd still pick the Apple one. Luckily there are more choices…

I haven't used Android as a daily phone since the EVO (I know, its been a while). One issue I had with Android and custom firmware was the time involved. Being on a computer all day, and often times at night, having to deal with tech support issues on my device is a hard stop (for me, personally, plenty of people love it). That's the nice part of Apple's ecosystem - its pretty simple and requires minimum intervention…

To be fair, once you get past the initial setup, everything mostly Just Works™. But still, I completely understand not wanting to deal with installation and the potential consequences if something goes wrong. (I nearly bricked a device from a botched installation once, so I know how stressful that is.)

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#117

Post by hnfong »

guerrilla wrote: post #109
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm reasonably confident that Google listens to every conversation I have within earshot of my phone. It isn't uncommon to find things in my news feed that are related to things I have no interest in but a friend or coworker had just mentioned to me in passing.

What do you say about the people who have tested this and found nothing?

AB testing?

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#118

Post by randomdata »

scoopertrooper wrote: post #71
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #26

To be honest... None. It's a choice. You might wholly disagree, but recent events aren't enough to get me to switch yet, because I think the competition has too many tradeoffs. I can get my photos scanned against a CSAM database... or I can have Google tracking my location constantly regardless of what they say (as they've been proven to be misleading in the past)... or I can use a Linux phone and say goodbye to batt…

Exactly, I think people are just getting a little too worked up over this whole thing. Apple computes a hash of each image you upload to iCloud then check it against a list of CP hashes. Of all the things in the world to get worked up over, this is ridiculous. I get it, the mechanism they're using has apparent flaws, and maybe some whacko could somehow get access to your phone and start uploading things that trick th…

> I think people are just getting a little too worked up over this whole thing.

They aren't, but the blame is misguided. This isn't a problem with Apple. What is Apple going to do if they do detect something identified as CSAM on your device? Refuse to sell you another? Oh well. The real worry is what other parties will do if they get ahold of the information. That is what needs to be fixed. Apple is exposing the underlying problem, not causing the problem themselves.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#119

Post by vorpalhex »

mullingitover wrote: post #92

I would be concerned about what people think when I tell them that I'm going to extremes to avoid having my devices detect and report CSAM, even if I swear it's purely for privacy reasons.

When you criticize the TSA, nobody thinks you're a terrorist. You can criticize invasive measures and most people get it.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#120

Post by cfeduke »

sjaak wrote: post #24

I'm thinking of getting one of these: https://frame.work/ Any people here with experience with one?

I had tried configuring one a couple of weeks ago, but the website was having problems.

I haven't owned a PC laptop in several years - the last one I tried was a System76 with an abysmal keyboard. Turns out I need to type to have a functional laptop!

I ordered one of these Framework machines today, should ship in September. Seems promising. I am hoping that things just work after I install Linux on it and I can get down to writing code with minimal setup and configuration.

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