charlesn

macgui said:

charlesn said:

 But I've yet to read of even a hint of wow factor for what's coming, assuming it is coming at all. Seems like the marketing tagline for the iPhone Fold should be, "Now Apple Makes a Folding Phone, Too!"

But if it gets the customers who want and are willing to pay the bleeding edge price, then it's better than Samsung or some other company getting their money.

The idea that people choose between Apple and Android based on who's got the "best" hardware is an outdated idea. People generally stick with the eco system they are in, and Apple's eco system is especially sticky. We already know from years of Android folding phone sales that "the customers who want and are willing to pay the bleeding edge price" is really niche, like low single digit percentage of overall sales. Why chase this market with a "me, too" product? 

"If it sounds too good to be true..." 

Words to stay safe by. Not even a minute after I read this article, wouldn't you know it, but "Warner Bros. TV" contacted me to offer $1000/day for simple work from home, plus an extra $1000 bonus for every three days I work in a row. Amazing! Can't wait to get started! 

Another one making the rounds, but based on a threat--I've gotten this one myself: an email claims that your computer has been thoroughly hacked and that unless you send the hacker money, he'll make your life a living hell with all of the private information, passwords, credit cards, bank account numbers, etc that he now has. As "proof" of his hack. and his supposed skills, he points to the fact he sent this email to you from your own email address. And, indeed, the sender will appear to be you and your email address. But in fact, there has been no hack, he has simply spoofed your email address, which is no doubt out there in public, and spoofing it is pretty easy. But hey, maybe you don't know that, and you'll send him the cash. 

ravnorodom said:

I'm sure parents would love to have this folding iPhone so they can show off their newborn on a larger screen while on the go. I would, too — to showcase my creative portfolio as a designer.

Except the roughly square aspect ratio of unfolded phone screens make them a poor match for media, So unless you're shooting square photos, the image isn't going to be larger than what you'd see on a Pro Max screen because the height of the image will remain the same when you unfold, and the width of the image isn't going to expand to flill the additional width real estate from unfolding. In other words, you can't take a rectangular aspect ratio image and enlarge it to fill a square screen without very significant distortion. Same applies for video content which is usually at least 16x9 or more. . 

When Apple is as late to the party for a given tech device as it is with a folding phone, it usually makes up for that with a best-in-class device that leaps ahead of competitors in one way or another. But what's absent from all the iPhone Fold rumors is any suggestion that it will define itself in some unique way that clearly sets it apart from competitors. In fact, the existing premium folding phones from the top Chinese manufacturers completely blow away anything that I've read rumored about the iPhone Fold. It seems to be an iPhone that folds, and that's that. We already know that the premium pricing of best-in-class folding phones has made them a very niche market, so it has never been clear to me why Apple wants to enter this market at all. If it was entering it with extraordinary tech of some kind and an incredible design, I could see a niche being worth it if for no other reason than to burnish the Apple brand. "Wow, look what Apple did!" But I've yet to read of even a hint of wow factor for what's coming, assuming it is coming at all. Seems like the marketing tagline for the iPhone Fold should be, "Now Apple Makes a Folding Phone, Too!"

iluvcrap2000 said:

Smoke and mirrors. They will "Invest" into a Limited Commitment and Take the Time till He gets out of office.  

Same for all these "investment' announcements. Foxconn in Wisconsin redux. A cough, "promise" of $10 billion and 13,000 new jobs. Big, splashy photo op with Trump shown shoveling dirt at the groundbreaking, when what he was really shoveling was bullsh*t. The whole thing ended up as a nothing burger.