mac_128

OK, I’ll be the guy who points out, and likely take the abuse, that Apple streaming devices would be a lot less attractive if they did not have access to Netflix. There’s two sides to this issue, and neither is very pretty. Apple wanting to take a cut of a subscription service which does need their platform to succeed is kind of ridiculous. Netflix developed the iOS and tvOS app primarily for the convenience of their Apple customers, not to leverage the Apple platform to increase their visibility. If I couldn’t get Netflix on my Apple TV, I probably wouldn’t have bought one, and gone with a Roku instead, which is how I handled Amazon Prime (literally switching boxes to watch Prime content, and some others). We’ve already seen this play out with Amazon pulling the Apple TV from their website because it didn’t offer a Prime App, which was entirely up to them to provide or not, likely over similar issues, which is why we likely now have an Prime app that doesn’t allow in app purchases. Fortunately, this is not a major issue for me.  Going to the Amazon app with one click purchasing is no more difficult than buying it in app.

yojimbo007 said:

Who will carry the Apple pencil with/on them all the time.. with its currunt size and ergonomic issues.. ?

Don't need to carry it around all the time. When I head out to a meeting, I don't have to take my huge iPad and look like a geek trying to balance it on my leg and take notes. Now I just grab my phone and my Pencil and off I go, easily holding the phone in one hand and writing on it.

Each use case will vary, but I'm very much looking forward to the possibility -- except for the part of carrying around a 6.5" phone. I really hope this means they'll update the iPad mini, or add a 6.5" iPod Touch with pencil support.

MplsP said:

plovell said:

A wooden toothpick is a good tool too. More effective than a Q-tip.

This has worked well for me many times.

Mike Wuerthele said:

grifmx said:

not a common problem? excuse me? unless you wear plastic clothes and live, work, and drive in a clean room and never venture outdoors

Getting lint in there is common. It building up until it causes a cable connection problem is greatly less so.

I have to disagree with you here - I've had to clean the lightning port on my 6s several times, as well as my wife's and my kids' and several coworkers, so by my experience it happens quire frequently. The lightning connecter is surprisingly finicky with this - anything that keeps it from seating completely, even a fraction of a mm, is enough to disrupt connection and charging. 

Yours is anectdotal, even though it applies to all members of your family. The reason I point this out is that in 10 years of using an iPhone, without a case, sliding it into my pockets and clothes, I have never once had to clean out the Lightning connector as a result of it not charging. Not once.

It would indeed be interesting to see the data on this to learn just how common the problem is, and why I would not have had the problem after 10 years, and all members of your family would have it routinely.

boltsfan17 said:

seankill said:

I see a problem with this idea. To view the passport, you will unlock your phone, breaking your security measures. You are forced to identify yourself with your phone and risking the phone being confiscated without a security measure. Further, don’t forget software and battery concerns, I will stick to the old fashion method on this one. No battery, no software, always works unless stolen. 

Another problem with this idea is the new automated passport control kiosks at airports in Europe and here in the U.S. The one I used in Schiphol in Amsterdam a few days ago, the passport went inside the machine to scan it. This wouldn't work unless the kiosks are replaced or upgraded. I highly doubt countries will want to pay to have this feature. I prefer having a physical passport, especially since I like having the stamps from all the countries I've visited. 

Except — I now use a digital boarding pass almost exclusively when I travel. Instead of investing in new equipment to accomodate that new technology, it would have been a lot cheaper to just to keep using the old equipment and systems in place. But now I can scan my phone. Eventually, they’ll need to invest in equipment that uses an NFC chip so passengers merely approach a kiosk and the data is read and confirmed without even removing the phone. 

Also, your nostalgic need for stamps in your paper passport is not the governments problem. Many countries are giving up on archaic stamps and using electronic methods instead, which are much easier for tracking visitors. Australia doesn’t stamp anymore. Some EU countries actually charge people if they want a stamp! Much easier and cheaper to impart a visitors entire entry/exit/visa information in a single burst of data connected to a national database, than a stamp which conveys little information.

ElCapitan said:

seankill said:

I see a problem with this idea. To view the passport, you will unlock your phone, breaking your security measures. You are forced to identify yourself with your phone and risking the phone being confiscated without a security measure. Further, don’t forget software and battery concerns, I will stick to the old fashion method on this one. No battery, no software, always works unless stolen. 

Usually people don't carry their passport on a day to day basis, so the chances of losing it or having it stolen is small. OTOH phones are now carried almost 24/7 and constantly unlocked so the chance of something happening to, including the content is relatively high. I doubt authorities would want the passport being backed up to iCloud or other backup services for restore, so when a phone is lost, stolen or sold, there is bureaucracy to get a new passport onto the phone again.

Depending on destination and airline, passports can be collected on boarding the plane, and the crew will do document control in-flight, only to return the passport before landing.

Likewise, in some countries and destinations you have to deliver your passport when checking in to a hotel, only to be returned on checkout. 

If visiting another country, the police or immigration authorities may confiscate your passport to prevent you leaving the country in certain situations. Likewise a citizen's passport may be confiscated to prevent (or make it harder for) the citizen to leave the country.  In both cases it may not be desirable to confiscate the phone, and countries usually will not revoke the passport of a citizen when abroad (that only happens to people like Snowden...)

1) a method will have to be implemented and approved by governments to ensure their concerns are met. In the long run, replacing a digital passport would solve a lot of problems for governments, and a lot of incentive to do so. A digital passport would be a convenience anyway, allowing the physical passport to be stored safely during the entire trip.

2) airlines will be able to do this much more efficiently by simply scanning the digital signature of the passport output by the phone. I can’t even pay with cash on an airplanes anymore.

3) I have to keep track of the various rules and regulations of every country already. Again the digital passport is not a replacement for the physical one, but a convenience which allows the physical passport to be stored safely. If a hotel has it in their safe, I know it’s safe, while still having the use of it as needed in places which might result in it being stolen..

4) with a digital passport, there’s no need to confiscate anything. The country in question merely inputs a flag into their database, and attempting to use the passport to leave the country, digital or otherwise is thwarted. For those countries who are not online with digital passports, you’ll still have a physical copy — probably being held by the hotel of that country anyway!

ihatescreennames said:

rogifan_new said:

How about starting by replacing drivers licenses with something digital? My health insurance card is now digital. The only reason I still carry a wallet is for my drivers license.

Same here. I’d be much happier if my driver’s license went digital than if my passport did. 

It seems like that would be much simpler to initiate, in the US anyway. 

Yup. I would love this. I wish my company ID were on my phone too. This would solve so many problems, and I could stop carrying a wallet at all eventually.