Pema

I am certain that Tim Cook is not queuing up for free handouts at his local church charity 

StrangeDays said:

CiaranF said:

Maybe people are getting pissed off with your prices eh? Your actions on the market then drive up the prices of other smartphone manufacturers cos then they get greedy too. I remember buying my first iPhone 3GS for £299 or £349 back in 2009 or so. Now the same equivalent for me in a Pro Max model is circa £1400. That’s greed too, not inflation. 

You’re price comparing to the top of the line model. You should compare to the base iPhone. 

Why don't you buy a feature phone from Nokia. They still make them for £35. I don't believe a prestigious, high-quality iPhone 15 Pro is for you. Maybe you ought to give it to your kids, they may appreciate it. You should stick with what you can manage: a feature phone. 

Alex_V said:

A good journalist ought to explain things that are of concern to their audience. After all, a review is a form of guidance or advice intended to help their readers get by in the world. Therefore, every tech review of, for example, a Google/Alphabet product ought to have at least one paragraph on the subject of how the company makes money. Because Google/Alphabet is primarily an advertising company. Google provides a product or service only to harvest their users’ data for the purpose of advertising. And their appetite for our data is insatiable. This level of invasion of privacy is unprecedented in human history, for one company to know so much about so many of us, and it’s dangerous to say the least. They collect data mostly surreptitiously, by disguising their intent, such as by offering Android software for free. And their efforts mostly go by unacknowledged, as in this article. I think that must change. I think that every review of Google/Alphabet must be accompanied by a paragraph laying out these basic facts. Then, at least, a potential buyer will know that they are not comparing apples with apples, but rather, apples with some-dude-in-a-raincoat-standing-outside-your-apartment-and-following-your-every-move. 

I don't know about this paranoid viewpoint. 

Yes, Google collects data, but not surreptitiously. And you can clear the data harvest if you follow Google's guidelines. 

I own a MacAir and an Android Phone (4,5,6,7 and now 8). I use Brave on both the Mac and the Phone and it blocks at the amazing rate of some 30,000 intrusions per week. Regardless if they are upfront ads or underhanded, surreptitious attempts. Hence I do not feel violated. 

I use Google daily for research and plain search. I don't know how I would do without such an amazing search engine. I am an author and an academic and Google is invaluable to me. 

Also remember, that Google pays Apple billions of dollars each year to make Google the default search engine on all iPhones. 

Finally ' some-dude-in-a-raincoat-standing-outside-your-apartment-and-following-your-every-move'. I don't know about this super paranoid statement. But even if it were slightly true better have a dude in a raincoat following me around that a homeless, dude in tattered clothes begging for money or food (AKA MS Bing). 

Boy! I had no idea that Apple had that many stores in China. Any more and Tim & Co will consider a second home in China. 

After several attempts at creating a compelling tablet, and failing, Google finally released the Google Tablet. And, OI, what an ugly duckling that was. I own a Pixel 8 phone and my partner an iPhone. I really, really, wanted a Google Tablet. 
I couldn't believe that ugly, ugly, ungainly, attempt that that they came up with. A tablet with an unwieldy hump. I have repeatedly asked Google if they will sell just the tablet without that hunchback and they refused. Even though you can purchase that hunchback for $189 if you want it - I can't imagine anyone clamouring for that appalling design disaster. 

I understand and appreciate that Google is not a hardware-oriented company, but surely they can understand that hardware in this day and age is both about style and substance. Otherwise we would all be lugging around a car battery with a watch band, i.e. Made in the USSR. 

Someone at Google must be able to see the lack of design that is so apparent and hire an outside agency to design their products for them. 

The Pixel 8 is nice enough and I a throughly enjoying its myriad features despite the annoying lack of integration of functionality with the Google desktop. 

Google, if you are reading this, free the hunchback from the tablet and you have a guaranteed sale from me.