iSalmanPak

freeper said:

@Herbivore and @Macxpress:

Sigh. Why is Google doing this? Because unlike the Apple-only zealots - which are very few in number - the vast majority of tech users are multi-platform. So while Android phone sales are great, Android tablet and especially Chromebook sales are (comparably) horrible. So lots of people who take pictures and sync them to Google Photos using their Samsung, LG or Moto phones use their iPads and Macs to view them later. Just as most iPhone and iPad users actually own Windows PCs instead of Macs and use iTunes on that platform as well. The difference is that where Apple actually did try to use iTunes - as well as some of their hardware offerings such as the Mac Mini, MacBook Air and iPad - would cause Windows users to switch to their platform, Google doesn't care what platform you are on so long as you are using their software and services.. Please remember: Google created Android as a defensive measure against Microsoft, not as some grand scheme to compete against and bankrupt Apple. At the time, the iPhone did not even exist and even if Google knew that Apple was working on it, Google had no way of knowing that it would be anywhere near as massive. Apple had launched their various MSN-branded portals, was (at the time) huge in gaming with XBox and Direct X PC gaming, and gotten Yahoo to switch from Google to them on the backend. Microsoft also had a smartphone and feature phone platform, was using it to funnel search to what later became Bing, and was even using Microsoft Office applications to launch IE and perform searches. Had Google not come out with the Chrome+Android combination, Microsoft - at the time a much bigger and more powerful company that both Google AND Apple COMBINED - would have dominated search, eventually gotten much of Android's market share in mobile (though it is conceivable that Nokia and Symbian might have fared better at least for awhile) and Google would no longer exist. But apart from using Android to save itself from Microsoft, Google doesn't care what you use (so long as it isn't Windows Mobile). Even some Google executives use iPhones and a lot more of them use iPads. 

Cloud storage is not necessary because flash storage is so cheap? Sure ... except those local storage flash media options can't travel with you all the time. And since flash media is clearly preferable, I suppose you don't use iCloud either? Or watch HD movies rented through iTunes without downloading them? 

As far as Google not committing to anything without dropping the service in 12-18 months ... Google Photos has already been out 2 years. And considering that it's predecessor was a feature in Google+, that means going on 6 years. And Google Photos' true antecedent was Picasa, which has been in existence since 2004. Yes, Google does discontinue unsuccessful products. As does Apple ... remember iTunes Ping? But as Google Photos has over 200 million monthly active users, rest assured it isn't going anywhere. The Samsung Galaxy loyalists who also own iPads will be enough to keep Google Photos on iOS by themselves. If they had to buy the app on Android and then buy it again on iOS it  would at least make them think about it, but since it is free on both, why not?

ActuallyRational said:

It's nice to see commenters on here debunking the heavy implications of unfounded lies in this 'news' article. As they have detailed, the EFF found fault with the schools, and their poor grasp of privacy, not Google itself. 

I know this is an Apple-centered site but Jesus, you'll bend over backwards to twist a source to suite the 'Google is the worst tech company ever" mentality, won't you? Other commenters saying things like "Google needs to die" - Really, a hell of a lot more people use Google than Apple devices, so it terms of impact on the world, I think it should be the other way around. 

And yes, before anyone says "well you're on an Apple Fanboy site so", I created an account solely for this comment. Seriously, be rational, mature adults. Get out of your iCaves and stop hiding from what you don't like. 

Mike Wuerthele said:

iSalmanPak said:

I got my 2017 iPad yesterday. (128 GB WiFi). The non-laminated screen feels a little hollow and mushy, but it's certainly fast. Still trying to find out if I can use a 1st gen iPad Air case with it. The dimensions are the same but nobody seems to know if the magnets are in the same place for the sleep/wake functions.

I don't have a magnet cover for the Air, but I'll get my hands on one to test.