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Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

9to5mac.com

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Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#421

Post by AnthonyMouse »

cjk2 wrote: post #130
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is missing the point. Suppose Walmart has a monopoly in California and Target has a monopoly in Florida. Anybody in California can shop at Target, they just have to go to Florida. "I've switched from California to Florida and then back, it's actually quite simple." But if you're in California and you need some batteries, even if flying to Florida to buy them from Target is possible , even if you used to live in…

This is a crap analogy. You buy different stuff, copy your data across and sell the original stuff. That’s not lock in. It is if there is no other stuff to buy.

> You buy different stuff, copy your data across and sell the original stuff.

You buy a different house, move your stuff across and sell the original house. How is it a crappy analogy?

The issue is that the cost of moving removes your choice from individual decisions because they all have to be made together. If you want iMessage then you have to sell your Android and get an iPhone. If you want F-Droid then you have to sell your iPhone and get an Android. What if you want both? This isn't because the free software community would be unwilling to set up a store/repository for iOS, it isn't because no Android messaging app would be willing to interoperate with iMessage, it's because you're locked in to one platform or the other at any given time and have to make all your choices together.

Someone who wants to provide an app store that charges lower fees would have to convince everyone to switch to their platform instead of only convincing people to switch to their store.

The reason they make it that way instead of being able to choose what you run on your device independent of the kind of device is in order to lock you in.

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#422

Post by adamomada »

CatWChainsaw wrote: post #382
rchaud wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more damaging is the lie that modern tech continues to sell people: that they're too stupid to use computing technology, and all the restrictions of the platform (relative to real computers) are actually for their benefit and not the corporation's.

And, almost everything is a "computer" nowadays, from your phone to your car to your refrigerator, but only the OG computer is even remotely "fixable" to the average consumer. All the others, you're hamstrung and forced to go through official channels for subpar, marked-up service because if you try to do anything yourself they'll brick your device and maybe sue you for good measure.

I think the modern definition of computer is something with a screen and keyboard. While you’re right that almost everything has a chip in it, calling your fridge a computer is disingenuous.

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#423

Post by wwweston »

CydeWeys wrote: post #349
EasyMark wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use your own domain, open source software, and backup often they can't lock you up forever like Google/Microsoft/Apple tho

You're missing my point that you're still beholden to the domain name registrar that manages your domain name on your behalf. That account getting permanently locked out will have all the same bad consequences for your online life as your Google account getting locked out. And keep in mind that being a domain name registrar is a low margin business (typically they're only grossing a few bucks per domain per year, bef…

At some level, every business has incentives to minimize what they provide you vs what you provide them. But even low margin businesses where you’re the customer are more likely to have incentives and structures built around paying attention to you than low margin per user businesses where users aren’t the customer but part of the product.

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#424

Post by adamomada »

PedroBatista wrote: post #253
cal85 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple lets you return anything, opened and used, within 14 days.

Apple doesn’t really “let”, the law demands.

They do eat the restocking fee that others would charge, taking the haircut on refurb sales

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#425

Post by YZF »

gamblor956 wrote: post #350
sottol wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And unlike, say, Samsung Ultrabooks or even Microsoft Surfaces, Macs last a really long time. My kids are using my 2011 MacBook Air and 2009 iMac and they still work, even the battery still kinda hangs in. They've had a few rough years 2016-2019 with the butterfly keyboards but I don't know many current manufacturers with products as solid long term.

My Surface Pro 3 still gets 90% battery life. My HP hybrid tablet, now over 15 years old, still works (when plugged in). My dad's IBM Thinkpad, older than most people currently on this website, still works. Apple people like to claim that Apples last longer than their competitors, but that simply isn't true. Most people, myself included, can't tell you what Dell or HP support is like because we've never had to use th…

I'm writing this on a 2013 MBP. This specific machine is slightly bent and endured being hit by a car. Those other laptops that you mentioned, that aren't made out of aluminum would be dead. I've also had a few Lenovo T410s (circa 2010). I would say the quality and spec of those T410s isn't up to par with MBPs of similar era. Their CPU fans fall apart. They tend to overheat. The hinge breaks- plastic. The display and audio quality is worse. Software support also sucks. At some point newer versions of Windows just don't have good support, the webcam from example doesn't work in modern Windows. On the Macs though you can still run fairly modern OS and everything works. I would totally take a 2010 MBP over a Lenovo Thinkpad of any type. (EDIT: from the same era)

I've also used top of the line Dell laptops over the years and a Lenovo Yoga.

Way way back I used to have a desktop color Macintosh of some sort (I forget the model, a 68k, maybe IIci ?) and as PCs were getting tossed in the landfill for years while the Mac kept going and running most new software.

I just bought my daughter a laptop and decided to go with the MacBook Air m2. Great value for money IMO. Not sure what's even close in terms of performance, build quality, battery life etc. This should easily last 10 years.

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#426

Post by [deleted] »

sottol wrote: post #248
blegr wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone has a brand they're never buying again because of a few problems they had in the past. For every new brand they _are_ still buying, there are 10000 other people who are never buying _that_ one again because of a few problems they had in the past. The only difference I've seen between Apple and my previous laptop brands is that their support techs are useful.

And unlike, say, Samsung Ultrabooks or even Microsoft Surfaces, Macs last a really long time. My kids are using my 2011 MacBook Air and 2009 iMac and they still work, even the battery still kinda hangs in. They've had a few rough years 2016-2019 with the butterfly keyboards but I don't know many current manufacturers with products as solid long term.

[deleted]

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#427

Post by pmarreck »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #229
dinckelman wrote: post #151

So i'm not the only one, huh. Got myself an iPhone, downloaded 2 apps, went to bed, woke up to a complete lockout. They unblocked me through a phone support request, after 18 hours, and then hit me with a fresh ban, not even 24 hours later. Account got permabanned after like 5 more calls, where they just started sending me a legal notice instead. The fact that your device can become a complete brick, because of an is…

> The fact that your device can become a complete brick, because of an issue in their completely hands-off account management system, smells like a class action suit This is HN frontpage. It's on a big "Mac" website. The damage is done. Many are going to write nonsense like: "Apple is still a $2 trillion company, so this obviously works for them" to which I'll respond with a simple question: Did it not work for Apple…

Linux fan but hard pass on this. Apple's ecosystem integration across their devices (I have Apple Watch, an M1, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, a couple Apple TV's etc.) is unparalleled. And the iPhone camera is excellent for documenting my rapidly-growing, almost 3 year old kid. Also, Livephotos kick ass. Every single Android phone I've used is annoying AF and I hate having to fix issues with them when I'm at my in-laws' house (her dad insists on them for... some irrational reason).

Of course, I do sync my entire photo library with both Google (preserves the Livephotos) and Amazon (does not preserve livephotos), because I once lost an entire photo library due to a fuckup combined with an Apple bug. And I use non-Apple services for music and video.

Maybe just don't put all your eggs in one basket to the extent you can.

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#428

Post by yoyopa »

jncfhnb wrote: post #352
TacticalCoder wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fact that your device can become a complete brick, because of an issue in their completely hands-off account management system, smells like a class action suit This is HN frontpage. It's on a big "Mac" website. The damage is done. Many are going to write nonsense like: "Apple is still a $2 trillion company, so this obviously works for them" to which I'll respond with a simple question: Did it not work for Apple…

The prose here insisting the damage is done comes off as clueless when the apparent scale of the damage is trivially, if not undetectably, small.

you don't say... a guy saying "the wife" and talking about linux isn't clued in?

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#429

Post by adamomada »

MajimasEyepatch wrote: post #366
standardUser wrote: post #345

I understand why people enjoy Apple products, but I will never understand why people defend the company when we all know, often through direct personal experience or the experience of someone we know, that the wealthiest company is the world has chosen to provide insultingly miserable customer support as a business decision.

I think it’s because the vast, vast majority of Apple users never need to deal with customer service, and those who do can usually go to the Apple Store and have a pretty good experience. (Please don’t reply to this with your anecdotes about the time you had a bad experience at the Apple Store. I’m not saying they’re perfect. But these situations in the OP are rare.)

Just the fact that they operate in the real physical world is a huge benefit for a LOT of people who are trying to use technology they didn’t grow up with.

Re: Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation

#430

Post by CatWChainsaw »

adamomada wrote: post #422
CatWChainsaw wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And, almost everything is a "computer" nowadays, from your phone to your car to your refrigerator, but only the OG computer is even remotely "fixable" to the average consumer. All the others, you're hamstrung and forced to go through official channels for subpar, marked-up service because if you try to do anything yourself they'll brick your device and maybe sue you for good measure.

I think the modern definition of computer is something with a screen and keyboard. While you’re right that almost everything has a chip in it, calling your fridge a computer is disingenuous.

Ah, but a smart fridge has a screen and a keyboard now too, and so do car consoles :)
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