Stwert

saltyzip said:

The pixel 2 is only sold in a few countries which are Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico, Spain, United Kingdom and United States, so you have to take that into account with the sales numbers.

At the end of the day the pixel 2 has been rated as a superb phone, and most of those educated in this business seems to carry one and use it as their main driver, stipulating the camera is incredible.

Also Samsung makes prettier phones at the pixel 2 price range, the uneducated don't take into account software updates or unlimited photo and video backups and no bloat at the point of sale.

Unless the sales staff advise their customers of this the customer will walk out with a Samsung everytime.

If all that matters is someone in an industry praising a camera on a phone to get a person to buy it. Then we could just throw in Steven Soderbergh waffling on about how amazing the iPhone is and how he shot an entire movie on it. 

Most of today’s top tier devices have great cameras for the average consumer. It’s just one small piece of a much larger pie. Encompassing everything from the phone hardware, it’s OS, software, services and broader device compatibility and integration. 

I think the majority of people now know these devices. It’s not like ten years ago when you had to hold granny’s hand and explain what a mobile phone is. Heck even my 70 odd year old neighbor knows exactly what she wants in a smartphone. 

The exceptions to the the rule will, of course, as you say buy whatever the idiot salesperson is trying to shift that particular week.  

There’s not even quite so much platform switching as there was in the past. It’s not even brand loyalty as such, it’s knowing what you want. Those of us who do, make our choices based on a broad range of criteria and barring some monumental shift in needs or a company’s strategy, we’re going to fall into either iOS or Android. 

Everything has it’s merits and its drawbacks, with both platforms. But I’d like to think we’re all capable and intelligent enough not to base our, not insignificant, spending on, well x person likes it, so it must be the best. 

cali said:

“Funds added to a user's Apple Pay Cash card can only be used for Apple Pay purchases in stores, online, and in apps, but cannot be transferred into a user's bank account.“

Damn i was hoping this would replace my Square Cash App me and my friend use it to pay each other back. Apple Pay adoption has been sluggish in certain areas like utilities so I wouldn’t wanna be paid this way. 

Apple making these transfers Pay exclusive makes me wonder though....
Do you think we’ll be seeing Pay gift cards in stores soon?

That’s a mis-quote, funds are available to transfer to your bank account. There’s just a short delay. 

From the Apple support document:

When someone sends you money, it's automatically and securely kept on your Apple Pay Cash card. You’ll see your new Apple Pay Cash card in Wallet, and you can use the money to send to someone, make purchases using Apple Pay in stores, within apps, and on the web, or transfer it from Apple Pay Cash to your bank account.

dagaz said:

My problem with Lightning headphones is that there is no way that Lightning ports are going to become as ubiquitous as the current 3.5mm jack. With my current headphones I can listen to them on every audio device I currently own, including my home stereo. With Lightning headphones I could listen to them on only 2 of my current devices (not even on my MacBook). I can understand Apple wanting to ditch an old standard for a new standard, but I do not see Lightning becoming a new standard outside of Apple's ecosystem.

There is of course always the other option, the one people seem to be all too conveniently overlooking at the moment. 
Buy the right headphones in the first place. There will be, just as there are now and have been for some time, headphones which not only offer Lightning but also the legacy 3.5mm connection. Some offer wireless to go along with it. 
Imagine, one pair of headphones you can use on any device you own regardless of the format it chooses to support.

Hardly going to solve the charging situation of course and I do realise that seems to be a real issue for some people. Not encountered it myself for a long time thankfully, I learned back in the days long before smartphones to keep topping my devices up at every opportunity, even if they didn't really need it. So I've not run out of juice for the best part of a couple of decades now. Even when travelling, those 10 or 20 minutes when you're not using your headphones, get the battery pack plugged in, you get a lot of audio use from even such a small top up. Still, that aside, I've very little doubt that solutions will become available before too long. Manufacturers aren't going to just bypass a golden egg situation to capitalise on the need for a compact cable allowing you to charge and listen. 

Still, there's always going to be perceived issues that apparently can't be solved with some lateral thinking. Trouble is the change is happening now if we like it or not. We're going to have to learn to adapt, or be left behind eventually. 

lkrupp said:

mac_128 said:

Ha -- so the rumor is no major substantive upgrade, AND the customer still has to replace all of their accessories? Even my SE can use all of my 5s accessories.

i knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Somebody would bitch about this. That’s ALL that ever happens around here anymore. Nothing but bitching, disappointment, sadness, disgruntlement, and depression. Just do yourselves a favor and move to Android. You’ll be much happier.

I must be in the minority of people looking forward to the next, and the next and the next..... iPhone, regardless of design or anything else, it's still going to be an improvement on the previous model. New tech is always awesome, especially when it's got an Apple badge on it