davidlewis54

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davidlewis54
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  • Apple offering week of App Store freebies for the holidays

    davidlewis54davidlewis54
    This will, no doubt, start the plethora of complaints as we had before and I don’t blame Apple for stopping it.  Oh, yes, comment Number 2: that didn’t take long, did it? 
    ronnJaiOh81StrangeDays

  • Apple Arcade may cost $4.99 per month to access iOS games

    davidlewis54davidlewis54
    dysamoria said:
    Getting sick of company after company pushing subscription models. I will not participate. I can not afford to participate. The “low rates” are a trap for people who don’t see how small bills add up.

    Every damned media company wants to have people subscribing to their own video streaming service. Do you know how many of these there are now? There are still more coming.

    Now there are subscription services for gaming and anyone who doesn’t know how messed-up the game developer industry is right now should go inform themselves. Between the gambling mechanics and the employee abuse, it’s become a total dumpster fire. I’m sure subscription models won’t help anyone because we see how the push for constant garbage materials for micro-transactions keeps the stress on developers even after the product has supposedly shipped.

    Many if not most software developers are jumping on the subscription model too. It’s not just business tools (which people seem to think are justified: “if you can’t afford to subscribe, you don’t need the software”, apologists will say). It hurts hobbyists and small businesses who rely on software tools, but the corporate-boot-lickers don’t care about people and won’t tolerate criticism.

    At this point, average consumers may find themselves subscribed to multiple non-utility-classed services every month (phone, cable, internet, several video streaming services, music streaming services, maybe some apps on their phones) on top of their monthly utilities bills and other expenses.

    The people with content-creation hobbies will have even more (music creation tools, Adobe products, video products, 3D modeling & rendering packages, etc).

    Then the people who are also gamers may have even more, now that access to gaming itself is being pushed as a “service”.

    It doesn’t matter if you think 5-15 bucks is a small amount. That’s the point. They all add up, and the push to normalize this is increasing.

    This market trend is not good for consumers whatsoever. It is a trend *because* of the fact that it IS abusive; just like the micro-transactions in gaming. It is end-stage capitalism’s latest effort to use psychological manipulation to squeeze more blood from the stone that is saturated markets and purchase-averse/financially-troubled consumers.
    Ultimately, it’s up to each individual to work out if it can afford a subscription.  It’s the same as any shopping: if you can’t afford it you don’t buy it and charging for it is not the suppliers’ fault. 
    lollivermuthuk_vanalingammatrix077watto_cobra

  • Smart speaker market growing steadily but dominated by sub-$50 models

    davidlewis54davidlewis54
    HomePod is a very sophisticated device, playing music with a very high tonal quality.  I tend to listen to music as a pastime, rather than having a jangly noise in the background.  Consequently, I pay more for sound reproduction equipment.  To that end, HomePod is not expensive when taking into account its quality in every respect.  Ultimately, you get what you pay for.  I suspect most people buy the cheap devices for what it provides, other than music, so the requirement is different. 
    mobirdStrangeDaysn2itivguywatto_cobra

  • Read the fine print of Apple Card's customer agreement

    davidlewis54davidlewis54
    Re: interest rates.  In the UK, the standard rates are around 20%, with some rates around 30% or more, so 13ish% looks like a bargain.  On other points, we don’t use cheques much and monthly payments are by VADD, and we don’t link cards. It will be interesting to see what happens if and when the Card comes to the UK, in relation to its T’s and C’s and in relation to who gets one with credit scoring.
    watto_cobra

  • Apple suspends Siri quality control program, will let users opt out in update

    davidlewis54davidlewis54
    Ooh, highly sensitive recordings. How exciting! Anybody is more than welcome to listen into the rubbish my Home Pod would record: how was your day? Okay, thanks. My hayfever’s bad today.  I had some weird dreams last night. Heh, Siri, what’s the weather like in London today? Heh, Siri, play some smooth jazz, etc.
    Bart Yzroger73