olivertwist

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olivertwist
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  • Apple Pay debuts in Poland with support for 8 banks

    olivertwistolivertwist
    michasam said:
    cancerman said:
    Well thats alot more then here in sweden. We have three or four banks so far that support Apple Pay
    That's still a lot more than our zero Banks in Germany, that support it  :)
    Yet, Pay works pretty much everywhere in Germany and Austria as well. I stopped updating the list of retailers, restaurants, etc. that accept Pay a couple of years ago. Even the public toilets at the train stations accept Pay even for €0,60 entrance fee!

    One thing I notice is any card readers that have bright red Sparkassen-Händlerservice stickers on them don't accept Pay after working fine for a couple of years. I contacted Sparkassen-Händlerservice to enquire about it, but nothing from them. Another reason to hate Sparkasse,the most vile of all banks in Germany!
    watto_cobralostkiwi

  • EU regulators ramp up probe into NFC tech at core of Apple Pay

    olivertwistolivertwist
    jbdragon said:
    There is the Government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong yet again.  No one if forced to use Apple Pay.  There is Android Pay and Samsung Pay and Garmon Pay and on and on.  Let alone QR Codes and other methods.  I use PayPal a lot of the time.  

    Apple only has a small percentage of the market in the EU anyway.  It's mostly Android.  Talking about a lock in the marketplace by Google!!!!  Google can spy on people world wide.

    Android has double the market share of iOS. in the EU.  If you don't like what Apple does, you are free to buy any other phone.YOu can buy a Google phone, a Samsung phone or a dozen other Android phones.  Why doesn't any company in the EU develop its own OS and phone to sell in the market?  Because the EU and their laws make developing anything there to costly for most all companies there.  Just like with Game Consoles.  Where are they?  Not a one developed in the EU.  Then they go crying about it.  

    This is the BEST explanation! Who remembers the fiasco with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari? That was colossal waste of taxpayer's money and massive ridicule for the EC. Nothing new...

    To put things in perspectives, Margrete Vestager, a Danish vice president of European Commission (EC) department responsible for the "fair (sic) competition practice in the digital age", has always gone after Apple and other foreign corporations whose European headquarters are in Ireland (for the corporate tax advantage). She was quite bitter about how the corporate tax agreement between Apple and Irish government subsequently went sideways.

    Interestingly enough, Mr Juncker, the former EC president and her mentor, had negotiated with several foreign corporations to establish their European headquarters in Luxembourg prior to his stint as the EC president. Ms Vestager would not go after the Luxembourg-based corporations because of Mr Juncker. So, that's "fair competition practice in the digital age".

    The bottom line: let the consumers vote with their wallets what sort of technology they want.
    williamlondon

  • Jony Ive designs $60,000 turntable for Scottish hi-fi pioneers

    olivertwistolivertwist
    jimh2 said:
    beowulfschmidt said:
    Words are inadequate to express my bewilderment.
    If you are unfamiliar with the high end audio world then the price of this product is a shock, but what you do not know is the high end audio world has no problem paying insane dollars chasing perfect sound. Interconnects and speaker wire costing thousands of dollars, supports for holding speaker wire above the floor, amongst a ton of snake oil. There is no question that as you move up the cost chain there are improvements but they diminish fairly quickly when you move much above $10K. The improvements are there, but most would not care. The craziest waste of money I have seen is a network switch being sold as an "audiophile" switch. It is a relabeled cheap switch that is sold for more than $500. You have to go to an audio forum to see how insane the claims are. 

    Good thing I am deaf since birth and have no abilities to enjoy listening to the music and such. I'll spend £50,000 on something useful than obsessing over the "perfect" sound system...
    watto_cobra