stantheman

foggyhill said:

jameskatt2 said:

Looks like he was poached by another company. Google? Samsung?

Or maybe, he did what he had to do, got well paid for it, and moved on to some other interesting thing.

That’s what the Lone Ranger did every week. “Who was that masked man? I wanted to thank him.”

Apple should get into this game and offer both privacy and net neutrality to internet users in every state.

Fortunately, it would not take a long time for Apple to do that, because of new technology that is just around the corner. In 2020, 5G cellular (phone) technology will provide much faster speeds than today’s 4G service, rivaling speeds offered by today’s cable-based internet service providers. For that reason, the move to 5G will directly pit mobile operators against ISP’s in the provision of internet service. In this battle, the ISP’s will be at a big disadvantage because their markets are segmented into relatively small market areas and because they don’t have established toeholds with hundreds of millions of mobile phone users.

With that in mind, Apple should purchase T-Mobile for some $52 billion and fully upgrade its network for 5G service over the next two years. Then it could invite everyone in America to purchase a package of wireless, go-anywhere internet service plus unlimited phone calls and texts for perhaps $50 per month — including the aforementioned privacy and neutrality benefits.

T-Mobile has already started down this path by offering free streaming of a limited range if lower-quality video, but what Apple could do with T-Mobile’s network would be far more ambitious. For a start, millions of devoted Apple customers would catapult T-Mobile to a scale that rivals AT&T and Verizon. That would enable Apple to extract concessions from TV networks and movie studios which have heretofore spurned Apple’s attempts to develop a full range of video entertainment similar to what it has done with Apple Music.

Having a major player (Apple/T-Mobile) offering privacy and neutrality would also incentivize other ISP’s and wireless operators to follow suit, to avoid losing even more customers to Apple.

Apple could accomplish all of this without undermining either company's culture by leaving current T-Mobile management in place, and issuing a few guidelines that establish the company’s new mission. Apple’s deep pockets, brand name and well-known commitment to privacy virtually guarantees the success of such a venture. After all, T-Mobile will upgrade to 5G in any event, so its prospects could only brighten with Apple accelerating the transition and attracting millions of new customers.

Finally, Apple needs a large, high-quality investment where it could deploy a large amount of cash that earns more than a portfolio of government bonds. However, if Tim Cook is reluctant to acquire T-Mobile, he could pay T-Mobile $1 billion each year to offer the $50 monthly package of phone and internet services to iPhone users, plus a zero-interest loan to finance its 5G network upgrade. The ability of iPhone customers to get a bargain on mobile phone and internet services would give iPhone a marketing advantage not enjoyed by the buyers of other phones.

Maybe Rubin is out because the phone he designed was a disappointment. The fraternization issues mentioned in the article would have been dealt with by Google many years ago.

I got a leather case for my iPhone 8 (not X), and it is both thin and attractive. I have never been a user of cases, but am a happy customer with this case. The case does not interfere with inductive charging.

Just for the sake of argument, assume that Bloomberg’s report is 100% accurate. Apple promised 1-in-1 million accuracy during the launch of iPhone X. That continues to be its standard (=20x50,000), AFTER all of the events reported by Bloomberg. So evidently Bloomberg is reporting on things that happened prior to the launch date. The iPhone X going on sale this week is not as good as an iPhone X the world was never told about.

Those 200 workers pulled off the assembly line are responsible for a very small proportion of iPhone X production. Altogether, the iPhone X line may include 200,000 workers or more.