CloudTalkin

razorpit said:

Is T-Mobile civerage as good as they show on their map? I have AT&T and my coverage is nothing like that.

Be careful not to read too much into coverage maps.  They are good for showing where the carrier has a signal.  They are not an accurate indicator of how good the signal will be where you are.  Variables like your location, your hardware, network density, etc. play a part in determining how good of a signal razorpit might get.  Are you urban? You can probably get a good reliable signal from any of them.  Suburban? Rural?  Rule of thumb seems to be the further out you go, the more all roads lead to Verizon.

Just from a coverage standpoint, it's typically Verizon with the greatest coverage, followed by AT&T, TMob (damn near neck and neck), and the red headed stepchild Sprint.

https://www.reviews.org/mobile/best-cell-phone-coverage/  ← interesting little article.

StrangeDays said:

CloudTalkin said:

ihatescreennames said:

CloudTalkin said:

Is there any advantage to charging an AW flat?  Every charging solution that I've seen, that looks even remotely functional, has the AW being charged at a right angle or at 15-30 degrees.  It would seem awkward to charge an AW on a flat mat and it loses any of the utility of the screen.  Place anywhere chaging is a solved problem.  Incorporating the AW charging only seems to add complexity with no tangible benefit.  To me this seems more like an exercise that answers the question of "Why?" with "because we can".

The advantage isn’t in charging the AW in a horizontal position. The advantage is that I can have one place to put my AW, iPhone and AirPods every night when I go to bed. If this product sees the light of day that place will be on my nightstand, directly next to my bed.

Currently I have an iPhone dock next to my bed and my Apple Watch charger on my dresser. I use the dock to charge my AirPods when it it’s free of charging my phone. The AW charger (or a Lightning cable without a dock) is constantly slipping off of whatever surface I place it on so I have to find something to put the cable under to keep it in place. All of that is a little bit of pain. My wife found some little clip thing that attaches to her nightstand and can keep 3 Lightning cables in place but it’s kinda ugly, inelegant and still looks messy with cables everywhere.

Having one mat that uses one cable but charges 3 devices would be a welcome change. I imagine the mat would be heavy enough not to slide around from the weight of the cable attached to it. Another plus is that I would have 1 thing to pack when I travel.

You may be unaware, but you've been able to have all three devices charged via 1 cable for quite some time.  Nomad's Base Station AW edition does just that.  You can wirelessly charge 2 devices + the AW.  It does it with one cable, leaves the AW in a useful position, and has the ability to wired charge two additional devices via USB-C and USB-A ports. https://nomadgoods.com/products/base-station-apple-watch  The use case you described has been solved. 

StrangeDays said:

CloudTalkin said:

Is there any advantage to charging an AW flat?  Every charging solution that I've seen, that looks even remotely functional, has the AW being charged at a right angle or at 15-30 degrees.  It would seem awkward to charge an AW on a flat mat and it loses any of the utility of the screen.  Place anywhere charging is a solved problem.  Incorporating the AW charging only seems to add complexity with no tangible benefit.  To me this seems more like an exercise that answers the question of "Why?" with "because we can".

Not at all. Placing the watch flat allows for one charging mat to charge all three devices without the need for another charging cable or weird arm/dock jutting out. For a travel solution this is ideal — one cable, one mat, next to no space. So far no product does this. Day 1 buy. 

As I stated to ihatescreennames, the issue you describe has been solved.  Most notably by Nomad's solution.  There's nothing weird about an arm or mounting surface for an AW.  It arguably adds functionality to the AW while charging.  Laying flat on a mat - if the watch can even do so without awkward band manipulation - the watch would lose the utility of the screen.  An argument could be made by some that "well, I don't need the screen utility while it's charging.  I just want it to charge".  The mere presence of the utility of using the watch face while charging doesn't mean one has to use it.  It would be there for those who'd want to take advantage.  Others could ignore it.  Not having the the ability to use it would be a detriment imo.  A flat pad would represent that detriment.

No, what you’ve stated is a work-around. One that you care about. Not one that I care about. My use case is dropping all devices onto a slim mat and is easy to travel with, ideally and hopefully itself powered by a removable lightning cable. My use case is not concerned with holding the Watch up to use it as a clock. No shits given. My current Watch charger is mounted on the side of my bed frame, I never, ever use it as a bedside table clock. 

And the Nomad only has 3 coils, you have to align your phone correctly, and apparently you cannot charge two phones at the same time either. From reviews:

“because the Apple Watch charger is permanently attached to the station, you can not charge two iPhones at the same time. It also takes a while to find the sweet spot in charging the phone vertically.”

https://nomadgoods.com/products/base-station-apple-watch

...glad it works for you, but it’s a different set of use cases than what the AP promised. 

What you seem to be doing is missing the point (or simply not caring) that I'm speaking from a general standpoint.  You're discussing your personal use case and seem to be getting more personally invested with every comment.  Happy to hear you give no shits.  Generally speaking Nomad's solution solves the issue brought up by you and ihatescreennames: Charging all 3 devices (AW, iPhone, and AirPods) at one time with one cable.  Placing 2 phones and/or place anywhere were issues broached by neither of you.  My response directly address the points that were presented.    The argument that was presented by ihatescreennames is represented by the picture below.  It also solves your issue 'cept the desire to lay your watch flat.  Practically speaking, what's pictured below is a more functional approach imo.  We obviously disagree and that's perfectly fine.

ihatescreennames said:

CloudTalkin said:

Is there any advantage to charging an AW flat?  Every charging solution that I've seen, that looks even remotely functional, has the AW being charged at a right angle or at 15-30 degrees.  It would seem awkward to charge an AW on a flat mat and it loses any of the utility of the screen.  Place anywhere charging is a solved problem.  Incorporating the AW charging only seems to add complexity with no tangible benefit.  To me this seems more like an exercise that answers the question of "Why?" with "because we can".

The advantage isn’t in charging the AW in a horizontal position. The advantage is that I can have one place to put my AW, iPhone and AirPods every night when I go to bed. If this product sees the light of day that place will be on my nightstand, directly next to my bed.

Currently I have an iPhone dock next to my bed and my Apple Watch charger on my dresser. I use the dock to charge my AirPods when it it’s free of charging my phone. The AW charger (or a Lightning cable without a dock) is constantly slipping off of whatever surface I place it on so I have to find something to put the cable under to keep it in place. All of that is a little bit of pain. My wife found some little clip thing that attaches to her nightstand and can keep 3 Lightning cables in place but it’s kinda ugly, inelegant and still looks messy with cables everywhere.

Having one mat that uses one cable but charges 3 devices would be a welcome change. I imagine the mat would be heavy enough not to slide around from the weight of the cable attached to it. Another plus is that I would have 1 thing to pack when I travel.

You may be unaware, but you've been able to have all three devices charged via 1 cable for quite some time.  Nomad's Base Station AW edition does just that.  You can wirelessly charge 2 devices + the AW.  It does it with one cable, leaves the AW in a useful position, and has the ability to wired charge two additional devices via USB-C and USB-A ports. https://nomadgoods.com/products/base-station-apple-watch  The use case you described has been solved. 

StrangeDays said:

CloudTalkin said:

Is there any advantage to charging an AW flat?  Every charging solution that I've seen, that looks even remotely functional, has the AW being charged at a right angle or at 15-30 degrees.  It would seem awkward to charge an AW on a flat mat and it loses any of the utility of the screen.  Place anywhere charging is a solved problem.  Incorporating the AW charging only seems to add complexity with no tangible benefit.  To me this seems more like an exercise that answers the question of "Why?" with "because we can".

Not at all. Placing the watch flat allows for one charging mat to charge all three devices without the need for another charging cable or weird arm/dock jutting out. For a travel solution this is ideal — one cable, one mat, next to no space. So far no product does this. Day 1 buy. 

As I stated to ihatescreennames, the issue you describe has been solved.  Most notably by Nomad's solution.  There's nothing weird about an arm or mounting surface for an AW.  It arguably adds functionality to the AW while charging.  Laying flat on a mat - if the watch can even do so without awkward band manipulation - the watch would lose the utility of the screen.  An argument could be made by some that "well, I don't need the screen utility while it's charging.  I just want it to charge".  The mere presence of the utility of using the watch face while charging doesn't mean one has to use it.  It would be there for those who'd want to take advantage.  Others could ignore it.  Not having the the ability to use it would be a detriment imo.  A flat pad would represent that detriment.

Rayz2016 said:

cornchip said:

Beats said:

bageljoey said:

godofbiscuits said:

What happened in 2018?  Was there a single event?

Also: don't you find it telling that Apple and in particular, Steve Jobs has *always* been about switchers?  The stats that always seemed to make SJ so happy were those who were new to Macintosh, and those who'd switched from "some other OS".   He liked to then underscore those who were purchasing their first Macintosh.

This makes sense to me.  Apple has traditionally had relatively high customer loyalty. So retaining customers was not as important as bringing in new ones.  Especially, in the bad old days, when building up user numbers was critical to supporting software development

Numbers are still important.

The problem with these charts is Android users buy more iKnockoffs. So 1 Android user can buy 10 iWannabes(2/year) meanwhile an iPhone user is still using their iPhone 6.
This equates to 10 Android sales vs. 1 iPhone sales. In this case, "activations".

Very good point indeed. It’s still a shame that platform is as popular as it is.

If Android  wasn’t as popular as it is, Apple would be in court, fighting to keeping iOS secure. As long as Android has the larger installed base, then it’s one less argument that can be used to break up Apple. 

Besides which, competition is a good thing. Companies without competition become lazy. 

Your comment demonstrates a lack of understanding regarding Apple's issues with courts claiming anti-competitive behavior.  Android having a larger installed based doesn't help Apple at all.  None of the courts are claiming Apple to be anti-competitve relative to the smartphone market in it's entirety.  They are questioning Apple's activities within the iOS ecosystem.  The iOS ecosystem can only be practically accessed through Apple.  They have monopoly control over it.  How they use that control over the iOS ecosystem is what the courts are questioning.  Android existence has no bearing on Apple's control of iOS.

cornchip said:

Beats said:

bageljoey said:

godofbiscuits said:

What happened in 2018?  Was there a single event?

Also: don't you find it telling that Apple and in particular, Steve Jobs has *always* been about switchers?  The stats that always seemed to make SJ so happy were those who were new to Macintosh, and those who'd switched from "some other OS".   He liked to then underscore those who were purchasing their first Macintosh.

This makes sense to me.  Apple has traditionally had relatively high customer loyalty. So retaining customers was not as important as bringing in new ones.  Especially, in the bad old days, when building up user numbers was critical to supporting software development

Numbers are still important.

The problem with these charts is Android users buy more iKnockoffs. So 1 Android user can buy 10 iWannabes(2/year) meanwhile an iPhone user is still using their iPhone 6.
This equates to 10 Android sales vs. 1 iPhone sales. In this case, "activations".

Very good point indeed. It’s still a shame that platform is as popular as it is.

I don't understand that mentality.  Why is the popularity of Android a shame to you?  People like something different.  It doesn't affect your affinity towards iOS at all.  According to the retention stats above, both ecosystems retain their customers at essentially the same rate.  Both bases seem to like what they like.  Disliking something because you like something else seems kinda juvenile imo.  Just as juvenile as my Mustang better than Camaro mentality, but juvenile nonetheless.