beowulfschmidt

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beowulfschmidt
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  • Apple reiterates stance on privacy as a human right in new interview

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    entropys said:
    Not a human right. But a constitutional right we all deserve.

    Constitutional rights are human rights.  I wish the phrase "Constitutional Rights" would just go away.  The U.S. Constitution is not a grant of any rights to anyone, it is a grant of power to the government from the people.  It is designed, according to the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence, not to grant rights, but to protect from violation by government those rights that are yours simply by virtue of you having been born.  The Founders originally intended for the rule to be "if it ain't in the Constitution as a granted power, the government can't do it."  One of the reasons there was such a fight over the Bill of Rights was because some felt it to be too much like granting rights, which was to be avoided.  Turns out those concerns were correct, since that's how most politicians seem to feel about it these days.  "The Constitution doesn't give you the right to X!" is a refrain often heard from people who don't understand the principles that are supposed to underlie our system of government.  It should be "The Constitution doesn't give the government the authority to do that."
    JMStearnsX2watto_cobra

  • Look out MapQuest, Apple Maps debuts on the web in beta

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    Apple Maps is available on the web in English only. It works in Safari, Chrome, and Edge browsers for now, and additional browsers and languages will be added with time.

    Yay!  One browser that isn't available on Windows, and the two most privacy invasive browsers ever!  Awesome!

    Yes, I'm being curmudgeonly.  I know it's a beta.  I know they went for high market share browsers for the penetration.  Still annoying.

    williamlondonmaltzwatto_cobra

  • Apple has reportedly dropped Qualcomm modems on two 2025 iPhones

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    neoncat said:
    if apple can produce these for less, then hopefully they can charge less. it would be nice to see the option for cellular drop from about $130 to maybe $50.

    On what planet is Apple—king of the upsell and margins so fluffy and plush it'd make a down jacket blush—going to pass along even a nickel of cost savings? Are you completely out of your mind? 

    This.  In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Apple were to charge more for it's own modems.  Because obviously an Apple modem would be superior to Qualcomm's in every way, right?

    As for comments about it taking so long, Apple does not want to pay anyone else licensing fees if it can avoid doing so, which means not using anyone else's patented technology, or buying those patents outright (or, cynically, using them anyway and hope they're invalidated).  All that research takes time, and engineering a new modem to not infringe on existing patents is no small task.
    thtwilliamlondontmaywatto_cobra

  • Android switchers boost iPhone Sales -- but not for the iPhone 15

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    blastdoor said:
    This says to me that people an are moving to iPhone because they like the Apple ecosystem (“walled garden”) and view these less expensive phones as an affordable way to enter.

    All of the DIY propeller heads and EC micromanaging bureaucrats might not like it, but curation, privacy, security, and frictionless interoperability arising from vertical integration are VALUABLE things. The propeller heads can whine without consequence but the EC bureaucrats might face consequences if they deprive e European citizens of something they clearly want.

    Agreed.

    I know at least 3 people who've switched, one of them because they've gotten sick of what one of them described as "this stupid google everywhere nonsense".  I assume they had one of the Google phones, and not a generic Android one, but I couldn't say for sure; I literally have no knowledge of the Android world.

    But one of the others said that they wanted to try it just to try it, but weren't going to spend $1,000+ to do it, so they went to a refurbed 12, I think.

    All of them seem happy with the switch, and not just "meh, it's a phone".
    watto_cobra

  • iPhone SE 4 rumored to feature FaceID, OLED display in substantial redesign

    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt
    brianus said:
    Still don’t understand why they aren’t giving it the iPhone mini form factor. That was the main selling point of the original SE. Mini sales were soft, but if this is being sold as the sole  “budget” option in their lineup, what difference does it make? The budget constrained consumers who they see as its target audience will buy it in preference to a much more expensive iPhone or iPhone pro, no?

    im holding on to my 13 mini until it falls apart and is no longer repairable because it’s gone vintage by that point. Wish Apple wouldn’t put me in this position.

    My guess would be because it's not profitable enough or they want to push people to more profitable phones or both.
    muthuk_vanalingam