crriser

boredumb said:

I'm not clear how this gives any virus-specific info...in which case, it just seems like another attempted excuse to be given access to our phones.

The way this worked for Singapore and S. Korea was a combination of cell phone tracking to see who you were around AND a ton of expedited tests. This system does not work unless you can test everyone who may have been exposed pretty much immediately. So say you found out you were infected. The government then grabbed your tracking data, found every phone you came close to, then contacted that phone, most times via text. The message essentially said you have come in contact with someone who has tested positive so please report to “testing site” and get your test. You were given a tag that identified you to the test. In China you were also given a wrist band tracker that you were required to wear. If you tested positive, the whole thing started again from your phone and you stayed quarantined, using again your cell phone OR a wrist tracker to verify you stayed at home. By doing this, they quickly identified who was infected, who THEY infected and locked only those people down. In S. Korea, this method stopped the virus completely with NO social distancing or shutting down of their society. I am NOT suggesting we should do this here. Though I have been saying since reading about these instances that it would be an interesting opportunity to test just how much Americans really do care about their privacy AND if it would be the back door into our systems the government has been itching for years to get.

As someone already posted, Apple does things for the “long view”. With billions of dollars in the bank, they could care less whether they are #1 this year, or even next year for that matter. When taken as part of the entire company, one section can lose money for a long time. Heck the original Apple TV was referred to for years as just a “side gig” ... something they were just playing around with. In any event, I truly don’t care if there is a break out hit as almost EVERYTHING I watch on AppleTV keeps me focused. Yeah, See bogged down ... but I thought it was still better than just about anything on any other network. I find myself, when looking for something new to watch, drifting back to AppleTV over and over. My wife and I are truly enjoying watching various series together. For All Mankind is actually something my entire family sits and watches. So did AppleTV “knock it out of the park”? Probably not. But they made a compelling service that has slowly drawn us in. Like Apple Maps, taking their time, slowly improving, and one day ... maybe three years, maybe five years ... we will look up and see them suddenly in the front.