All-Purpose Guru

@Applemagic, These options have been in iOS for a while; my examples are from iOS 9. iOS 10+ might be slightly different but similar options are available.

When you change or set up your passcode, you get a button that says Passcode Options under the passcode entry field. When you tap that, you get a choice of Custom Alphanumeric Code, Custom Numeric Code or 6-Digit Numeric Code.

1. If you enter a Custom Alphanumeric Code you can use the entire keyboard and have a code as long as you wish, using letters, numbers, and special characters, terminated by ENTER.

Note that the full keyboard is available, so you can put in accents, umlauts, and any other special characters. That is what @Soli meant by a simple long press character. I don't know if emoji work.

2. If you enter a Custom Numeric Code you can type in as many numeric digits as you wish, but will have to hit ENTER at the end of the code. The benefit of this is you get the numeric keypad to type in your code, which is less fiddly to use than the alphanumeric keyboard.

3. 6-Digit Numeric Code uses the numeric keypad, but you don't need to hit ENTER because it knows you are putting in 6 digits. (Also realize that anyone trying to crack your code ALSO knows you only have 6 digits.)

Highest security is a long custom alphanumeric code, but it's a PITA to type in if you don't have Touch ID or something like that.

dewme said:

In some ways Apple may have benefited more if it had packaged the 2018 iPad in a polycarbonate case (or some variation thereof) and sold it for slightly lower price, say $299.

Given that this device is designed to be used in schools I think a polycarbonate case would be a tragic mistake-- especially since it will require more cost to design and produce than the rehash of the previous case that is currently used.  I would wager that a polycarbonate case might be too flimsy and bendable for a tablet-sized device, which means a need for internal stiffeners that will ALSO consume development time.  Since the aluminum case is already designed and in mass production, it probably is the cheaper alternative and more appropriate for the environment the devices will be used in.

This device is designed for use in the classroom, and all of its compromises are actually benefits for the classroom environment.

1) non-laminated screen-- much cheaper to replace
2) low-res selfie camera-- probably not going too much use in a student environment, so a low-res camera that saves money is a feature.
3) slow touch id sensor-- again, probably not going to be used in a student environment given its inability to be used with more than one user.
4) no anti-glare screen-- anti-glare screens tend to be more fragile than glossy screens-- and 90% of the usage of these devices will be indoors.

night9hawk said:

maestro64 said:

tokyojimu said:

Those huge leveraged buyouts never seem to work out well. Another example this week: Toys ‘R’ Us. 

Yeah i was thinking the exact same thing, and Wall Street wants Apple to do large buyout like this.

I did not realize iheart was Clearchannel, knowing that it could not have happen to a nicer group of people. Clearchannel destroyed music listening, they started the whole fix format radio, got rid of radio personalities, and just played music loops or rebroadcast interviews across the country. For the channel where they had live people and they did a Music artist interview, they would send out a taped answers to questions, and the local radio station would ask the questions, then play the tape with the answers. I remember Howard Stern getting hold of one of these and creating his own questions and edited the answers.

iHeartRadio didn't originate the recorded answers sort of "interview". That sort of thing has been around for decades. I've seen video of answers recorded for local TV newscasters from back in the 60s. Doesn't mean that iHeartRadio hasn't destroyed local radio, but the method of their destruction is a bit different than you describe. Last year I was on the road quite a bit driving from Ohio to PA via WV. It was a bit odd to hear the same "local" newscasters on radio stations from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. I think I would hate to have that sort of gig, recording "local" newscasts for the top and bottom of each hour hour after hour.

I never noticed that, but I try *really damn hard* to not travel long distances by car. Do they use the same names on all stations? In the SF Bay Area I can remember having the same traffic people (traffic was another thing that Clear Channel "optimized") on different stations with different names. They would sit in the helicopter (or in some cases just a newsroom) and do traffic reports over and over around the clock, using different names for each station. It got really entertaining when they would use the wrong name on the station they were reporting for.

I'm really getting tired of the music industry being in denial about the impact they're having on their customers.

Albums were a way for the music industry to package more content from the musicians and sell it, whether it be less-successful music tracks or additional artwork and stories centered around the material.  iTunes LP was a way to take that additional content, with its additional sales volume, and bring it to the download industry.  The reality is that people don't want albums any more-- people aren't interested in the things the music industry wants to shovel at them and they have been in their death throes for a while.

If they don't embrace the changes they are being forced to endure I don't have much hope for them-- much like I don't have much hope for the brick-and-mortar stores and the DVD purchase industry-- these are industries that are being made irrelevant quickly by modern technology and the adage "adapt or die" is becoming more and more appropriate.

Beware of "security methods" that put someone other than you in control, especially for no apparent reason.