midwestapplefan

About

Username
midwestapplefan
Joined
Visits
31
Last Active
Roles
member
Points
192
Badges
1
Posts
116

Reactions

55Like0Dislike9Informative

  • Study: Apple Pay at 9% adoption in US, lags far behind PayPal and traditional payment meth...

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    "There is little incentive for consumers to ditch credit cards, the top form of payment in America, for a mobile payment alternative, du Toit notes. In some cases, swiping or inserting a credit card into a point of sale terminal is easier than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and tapping it on an NFC reader."

    WTF, does this guy have any clue on how Apple Pay works?  Apple pay is linked to a credit card.  You are not ditching anything.  Pulling a wallet then the card out of your pocket then sliding it into the reader is not easier than pulling out a phone and tapping it on the reader.  That's another joke.  And you don't have to unlock the phone, just double tap on a button. 

    So after reading that, why should I believe any of the stats that his company Bain offered up?  Does not even pass the sniff test.  Apple Pay has been out several years and it being accepted in more and more places.  Only 9%.  Who gave them those figures?  Why does Bain allow people like du Toit make ridiculous public statements like this in their name?

    Solilolliverbenji888ericthehalfbeeEsquireCatsAirunJaechiaStrangeDayslordjohnwhorfinaikisal

  • Review: The iMac 5K with Intel i9 & Vega graphics encroaches on iMac Pro territory

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    To take this premise one step further, I decided on an even better cost-savings solution. I got the latest  Mac mini with the top of the line cpu (the 3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 processor with Hyper-Threading technology), the 512GB SSD, upgraded the RAM from the base to 32GB myself, and got a Sonnet eGPU with a Radeon Vega 56. While giving up a tad on the processor end, I have the T2 and most of the better I/O. The graphics card tops the iMac and best of all, total cost all-in was $2,400. Half the cost of the iMac Pro base model, and another $850 less than the maxed out iMac. Had my own 4k monitor. Did not need another. Highly recommend doing it this way. Great video editing rig on the cheap.
    chasmchiacgWerkslogic2.6watto_cobrachristosm

  • Apple Music rival Tidal enables 'master'-level audio quality on iPhone & iPad

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    These comments are interesting, to me.  There's a general smattering of thinking that the difference in sound quality is negligible so it is not worth the extra subscription fee, or you need very expensive audio equipment to hear the difference.  Neither of these is true. 

    I do find irony in the fact that there is a lot of 4k video out there.  Apple TV 4k, downloadable 4k, ultra HD 4k disks, yet it is widely known that unless you have a 100" TV or site three feet from the screen you'll never notice the difference from 1080p.  Yet those same companies, and consumers that are on the 4k bandwagon thing audio is just fine at MP3 or CD quality.   What is good for the visual is good for the audio.  The quality of HD music is better and I'm glad there are a few streaming services that recognize that and I'm happy to pay a bit more to get it.

    As for cost, you can put together a great sound system in your home for under $800 and hear the benefits of streaming Tidal Master Quatliy over anything Apple or other streaming services are providing. 

    gatorguyboodle

  • Review: The G-Tech Mobile Pro SSD is nearly as fast as the storage in your 15-inch MacBook...

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    Yet the Sonnet Fusion 1TB drive is faster still, achieving the same speed as the Mac’s internal drive,  and it’s $50 less. 
    neo-tech

  • Review: Synology MR2200ac is one of the best consumer mesh Wi-Fi routers we've seen

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    cesco said:
    Truly suggest you visit the Synology router community page to get an idea how unhappy clients are, including myself, with this once great product (including the old but still expensive rt2600).
    Last update was in October 2019, problems go unresolved. From dropped connections, inability to reach full speed (I can only get 200 Mbit tops with my 400 Mbit package, even near the damn router), slow down requiring reboots (I can count on one hand with fingers left over the times I had to reboot my old AirPort Extreme), wonky WPA3, devices connecting to the furthest point while near one router, and so on.
    It’s thought they may have stopped dealing with routers to focus on what they know best, NAS.
    Looking for another brand and willing to take the hit. 
    Caveat emptor x 100

    As a counterpoint, I've used the RT2600 and the MR2200 for a few years, along with two of their NAS units and have had flawless performance.  I've submitted three or four support tickets to get help with some of the finer details of these units and their response is always fast and accurate.  I'm completely happy with Synology products.  If I had any complaint, it is their NAS units do not have some of the higher end features for QNAP but QNAP's better NAS units are expensive.  The amount of control and information I have with the RT2600 and MR2200 and the performance they give me makes me a very happy customer. 
    ca_mac_miniwatto_cobra

  • Review: Synology DS-1618+ network attached storage device is the best kind of overkill for...

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    Do anyone know how this Synology would compare to a similar QNAP nowadays?

    QNAP tend to be higher powered both in terms of the processors they use, and the ways you can connect to their NAS.  QNAP has Thunderbolt port options that Synology does not have.  But you will pay a premium for the QNAP.  If you are doing heavy duty work that requires transferring huge files fast, or processor intensive applications like running a ROON core on the NAS you are better off with the QNAP if money is no object (although my ROON Core runs mostly OK on the Synology).  Otherwise save some coin and get the Synology. 

    I cannot comment on the QNAP software and interface.  I know the Synology is easy to use and I like their software and interface.  But I have no experience with the QNAP. 
    watto_cobra

  • California approves limited testing of self-driving cars without wheels or backup drivers

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    crowley said:
    paxman said:
    Absolutely the future of autonomous vehicles. PodCars. For city folks this will 'change everything'. I just can't imagine anyone would actually own their own vehicle. It wouldn't make sense.
    Well, let's see if this makes sense then. Let's shift gears. Imagine this scenario:  you're in a rush... man, you're in a hurry & you've gotta go... right now... time is of the essence, it's here so you gotta commit regardless... you open the door, step inside, have a seat & live with the consequences, captive for the duration...

    Would you rather be sitting in :  
    a) your own personal, hygienic home bathroom or;
    b) on some convenient albeit septic, herpes-infested public toilet seat?

    I bet people will prefer their own self-driving cars. 
    As someone who takes public transport on a daily basis in the UK, do transport providers in the US not clean their vehicles?

    Aside from that, I'd rather fly in my own private jet than on an airline.  Cost and practicality has a part to play though; in cities parking space carries a premium.
    You bring up a point.  I'm late for a meeting.  Need to jump in my car and get their fast.  A self-driving car will never break the laws.  You will drive 5, maybe 10 over the speed limit where you think you can.  That reason alone will mean no one, and I mean no one will ever want a self driving car.  Also, I prefer to hold my own penis when I pee.  That should explain it too.  There are some things we're not going to want to give up to automation.  Driving and peeing will be two of them.
    holyone

  • Apple captures more than 103% of smartphone profits in Q3 despite shrinking shipments

    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan
    The article title has the word profit in it.  If you lose money you do not make a profit and the result is returned as zero.  You mad zero profit.  In fact you lost money, but that does not mean you make negative profit just like you can't eat negative ice cream.

    Another way to look at this is how much profit is out there and how much did Apple get of it?  the amount of profit does not go up when someone loses money.  When someone loses money the amount of profit did not expand (all else being equal).  The amount of profit stayed the same.  It is just someone lost money.

    So profit is the whole pie.  Companies that don't have profit don't count at all, you exclude them.  Apple can't have more than 100%.  Apple is not the only company to make profit.  Out of those companies that make a profit how much does Apple have? 

    Last, Apple does not make more money because someone else loses money.  What they make relative to the losing company may be larger, but Apple makes the same amount of money. 

    You can do the math either way.  One way becomes very misleading.  You can have more than 100% growth in revenue.  You really can't have more than 100% market share.  You're selling everything and someone is selling negative something or buying back last year's inventory?  Simply does not make sense. 

    That is how it is done in the real world.  Glad my MBA comes in handy once in a while.