GG1

andrewj5790 said:

ihatescreennames said:

crowley said:

How do Starbucks payments work, does the app display a barcode or QR code or something?

To add to that question, if someone had a compatible iPhone why would they use the Starbucks app at Starbucks when they could use Apple Pay instead? Is it easier? I don't know but doesn't using the app require that you "reload" the virtual card every so often?

lkrupp said:

chaicka said:

Guess the Americans should travel to China and other parts of Asia where mobile payment is a norm.

Customers, especially older ones, think Apple Pay is a gimmick designed to steal their money. 

I can't tell you how many people have told me they thought using Apple Pay would require them to pay more for whatever they were buying. The other excuse I have heard against using Apple Pay is that it's "too easy" and would thus lead the user to spend more money.

To answer, the app displays a barcode, yes. And the have special scanners that make it quite easy, but the main reason I use it is that they don’t accept Apple Pay in the store. They do through the app, though. So I load my Starbucks card with Apple Pay, and use it in the store. 

echosonic said:

madan said:

I'm not trying to make it hard on anyone.  But I am trying to clear things up so people know what they're getting into.  Buyers remorse sucks.  It would be a shame to spend 8k on a computer and find out that it competes unfavorably with a 5k iMac Pro.

It disturbs the bejeezus out of me that the base model has to start at 6k.  Thats BS.  There are other professionals who don't need the expensive graphics nonsense.  As long as I can drive a single HDMI monitor I am in business, and my business is audio production.  Why isn't there any method for dialing back the video power/cost on this thing to bring it down out of the ionosphere and into the stratosphere.

agilealtitude said:

"We take privacy seriously..."

Overused and meaningless.

tadd said:

How to reduce waste.  Stop requiring replacements due to electro-mechanical failures.  What about due to need for upgrade?  

It would be clunky and sort of look like military hardware from the 70s, but I wonder if more than a few would embrace the portable computer for life idea.  Imagine a cellphone built with entirely interchangeable parts with the idea that anything that would be upgraded, could be done without tossing out the other parts.  Some elements, like the CPU itself, are atomic, not separable, but battery, display, keyboard, cameras, radio transceivers, antennas, are certainly separable.  If size are cost were not design goals, but survivability and interchange-able components were, could a POCKET sized computer exist?  It would be handy if we could come up with an open-source chassis for such a system as a start.  You can imagine that this would be much more clunky than an iPhone!  

At some point the race to make dramatic improvements in the function of some devices stalls.  Is there a serious difference between a 2000 Toyota Corolla and the current model?  There certainly was a difference between a 1970 car and 1990.  Emission control, transmission, anti-lock brakes, seatbelts.  When we passed 16GB and 1TB and dual-core @ 1Ghz, modern computers went beyond where anybody not doing HD content creation or Augmented reality got bored with the race to upgrade.  Maybe video games keep the pressure up.. but I'm old so not really in that space.    What I'm seeing is cute features improvements and improvements to how the computer is built. But how far back do you have to go before a computer gets unusable?  There was a time around yr 2000 where 4 years back was pretty primitive.  HD sizes, network speed, and RAM capacity were barely keeping up with consumer applications.  I'm not saying the need for more isn't there, but compared to the rate of smart-phone improvements, demanded by a decent percentage of the population, computers are getting pretty boring.    My most recent home-computer upgrade was from a 2008 Mac Pro to a 2018 Mac Mini.   My office computer is a 9 year old quad core i7, 1st generation, and running MSWindows 7.   Could we get away with a 9 year old smart phones?   Hmm... iPhone 4.  maybe not.  But have we seen signs of a slowdown in technology growth?  

Arthur Clark wrote a story, 50 years ago, titled "Imperial Earth", which takes place in the future.  Humans are interplanetary.  In the story, Clark imagines a device called a Minisec.  A Minisec device would be acquired by each person, sometimes as a teenager, to be used indefinitely, and rarely exchanged.  Many have compared the modern smart-phones to that imagined creation.  Is a lifetime device possible?   Could we imagine keeping a smart-phone for 10 years?  Could they be built well enough to survive the pitfalls of being portable?   That would surely reduce waste!  

wonkothesane said:

mistercleanboise said:

Am I the only one interested in a wallet style case that wakes/sleeps the phone when the cover is opened/closed? Apple sells one for $140. I have been unable to find a third party solution with a more realistic price. Anyone know of one available?

Me neither. Got the Apple Folio as well because of the wake/sleep feature. I’m curious how it will age. For the price I would have liked to seen magnets for keeping it closed.