mistergsf

lukei said:

I have 6 homepods and 2 Echo devices. Former are great speakers but Siri is so far behind Alexa it is at times incomprehensible that a company like Apple allow this state of affairs. 

Apple need to up their game otherwise they remain as now just speakers that I use for basic HomeKit tasks.

I have a pair of HomePods in my master bedroom; a pair of Alexa-enabled Sonos Ones in my living room which controls my Logitech Harmony that controls my home theater. I'm always hearing and reading how "far behind" Siri is to Alexa and I wonder exactly how far?

In my usage Siri has performed on par with Alexa. In fact the most frustrating thing about Alexa is the numerous times it gets activated by dialog coming from the TV. When I'm watching "Schitt's Creek" it constantly gets activated when it hears the name, "Alexis" for example.

I have many HomeKit devices that also have Alexa skills so I'm able to ask Siri or Alexa to do the same things. My experience is I have to repeat my commands more often with Alexa. Also, there was an instance back in November right before Thanksgiving, where my Logitech Harmony skills just stopped working for a few days. I checked on Twitter and discovered I wasn't alone. This was after I had already wasted about an hour of my time troubleshooting. When I got back from the holiday, it was working again.

All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.

Mike Wuerthele said:

foggyhill said:

Oiled wood? Like wood with no other scellant than oil? That's not a surface I have a lot around here. All my woods have a varnish, laquer or paint on them.
Obviously, something in oil (or whatever other product in that) leaching something out of silicon.

From a chemistry standpoint, the fact that the ring fades at least some with time doesn't suggest a leaching, but probably an oxidation/reduction-type reaction.

We're still looking into it. 

I hope this is not blown out of proportion. I can tell you that this happens with a whole host of things that have rubber bottoms or feet. I have a lot of Mid Century modern furniture pieces and I encounter this problem all the time. It mainly affects wood that is oil stained and not sealed with a lacquer or varnish. When I got my HomePod last Friday, I had it sitting on my desk at home which is a vintage desk and oil stained. I picked it up and saw it left a ring and I realized "oh", it's got a rubber bottom. The ring faded after a while but I usually use Howard Feed n Wax to remove rings quickly.  Just don't ask me about the chemistry of it all cause that is not my strength.  I just wanted to say that it hasn't permanently harmed my desk.  On my same desk, I have an AirPort Extreme Time Capsule which I have on top of a coaster because it does the same thing.

xyzzy01 said:

tshapi said:

Apple releases a bundle to attract more customers. Oh my God! It’s the end of Spotify were to greedy to lower or prices in competition!  

Given the state of Spotify profits, saying they are greedy would be pushing it... Most of their costs are licensing costs to the music industry (around 75%), so they're not free to lower it either.

Using a dominant position in one market to gain market share in another is usually considered bad - in particular, I guess bundling it with iCloud storage. If they just bundled it with AppleTV+ I don't think Spotify (or customers) would care.

Wait, so it's "bad" for Apple to offer me a bundled price for services I already have and use?

How is it different from Comcast offering Home Phone and Home Security services in their Triple Play packages?

This is what humanity has been reduced to? Complaining about a credit card showing signs of early wear and tear? For chrissakes.

king editor the grate said:

DAalseth said:

Oh GREAT 🤬
I still don’t know where half the stuff is from the last update. 

Testify! I've taken to immediately using search bar.

I've gotten used to it now. But in the beginning, it drove me crazy.  The Search bar was my savior too!

Pema said:

The app does nothing more than mimicking a few minor functions that are of little value to the motorist. 

I will never, ever use Apple Car Play not since the fiasco with Apple Maps when motorists where directed off the road to an embankment then to an airport in front of airplanes. Apple Maps is like Microsoft Bing never, ever to be used or trusted. 

That said there is no reason why Apple cannot add a feature to Apple Car Play to distinguish it from Google Car Play in order to let the motorist cast the phone screen to the head screen. Not minor, silly functionality. 

Incidentally Google Car Play does not do that of itself. You have to root the phone. 

Apple CarPlay does not "mimick", it mirrors your iPhone's features through the vehicle's infotainment screen. This includes navigation, calling, messaging and music.  I find all that of great value.  Especially lane assist and announcements when traffic cameras are around for example.  Also, being able to open and close my garage door.  Can't live without these conveniences anymore.

Also, to not use Apple Maps because of a poor rollout in (2012?) is short-sighted.  It's 2024 and it's been improving year over year.  Give it a go.  You might be amazed when you get into your car and CarPlay knows you have an appointment to get to and offers directions before you even back out of your garage.

I don't believe it's legal in California (and other states) to have video playing in the driver's seat so that's why no "casting" from iPhone to display.

tundraboy said:

 '"Forcing users to use the App Store instead of Dapps (websites), or IAP instead of crypto payments, reminds me of what Microsoft did back in the day (forcing users to use IE if you were on Windows) which led to all their antitrust issues," Armstrongs says. '

No Mr. Armstrong.  Windows had a monopoly (okay an overwhelmingly dominant market position) in desk/laptop OSes.  iPhone doesn't even have a majority of the smartphone market.  Your analogy doesn't apply.  Complaining that Apple is a monopoly because it is the sole seller of Apple iPhones is like accusing Audi of monopolizing the market for Audi cars.  It's stupid talk.

Besides, why would Apple, or any other private company, want to promote a currency and technology that enables drug dealers, cyber criminals, tax evaders, terrorist organizations and all other sorts of nefarious characters?  Why should any private company that is not a monopoly or a public utility be compelled to enter into a line of business that it does not want to be in?  Why is it a private company's obligation to promote a technology that it doesn't want to be involved in?

Frankly, cryptocurrencies have not proved their value to society.  Even on a conceptual basis no one has made a credible case yet on how you can stop criminals from using it to conduct illegal transactions.

I still don't fully comprehend how Bitcoin works let-alone "cryptocurrencies".

omasou said:

I was riding my motorcycle the other day and unknown to me the jacket was pushing on the side button. I thought someone was calling me, so I ignored it. Then I thought, I was hearing a siren sound but wasn't sure what it was.

When I finally got home, I see a text from my brother (emergency contact) asking what was going on. Looked at my phone and there were multiple calls to 911 and texts to my brother. I had to turn off the side button feature. Just pushing the button and then cancel w/o selecting the SOS choice was calling and texting?

This happened to me as well recently.  The edge of my riding glove at my wrist was pushing on the side button.  Luckily, I noticed it and stopped before I got on the freeway.  When I explained what had happened to the dispatcher, she was just glad that I was safe and that I did the right thing by answering.

Mike Wuerthele said:

Xed said:

get serious said:

Wistfully recalling the days spent creating custom folder icons when we only hard greyscale to work with.

That's a deep "back in my day" comment.  

Here's another:

ResEdit!

ResEdit!!!  Now that is taking me way, way, back.