jdw

carnegie said:

Apple's market cap has already, based on yesterday's closing price of $191.17, fallen below $3 trillion because of the updated outstanding share count that we got. That updated count took about $18 billion off of Apple's market cap.

The fall continues, with it now trading at $181.99 only two days after your post. 

I disagree with Ming-Chi Kuo and Retrogusto for the specific reason of knowing there are a lot of people out there like myself.

I still use an iPhone 7.  That's why the iPhone 15 is extremely appealing to me, regardless of the price increase.  Price increases hurt, but I am frugal and offset that by NOT upgrading every year, or even every 3 years.  I got my iPhone 7 in 2017, for example.  That was 6 years ago.  

USB-C marks a huge change for the iPhone and will therefore become the new standard for connectivity (despite the ability to charge wirelessly), which is why I never considered the 14, and is why I didn't purchase thermal cameras or other Lightening peripherals because I knew that port change was coming.  

The periscope lens on the top end models appeals to me, because I want the best camera tech Apple has to offer.  And being able to shoot amazing photos in low light is also something I'm looking forward too, as my iPhone 7 is lacking in that area.  Close up photography as well!

Thinner bezels are not a huge reason I am liking the 15, but such improvements are always welcome.  I will miss the home button because I absolutely HATE gestures (I can't remember them), but the other feature improvements over my existing iPhone 7 should make that loss a bit less painful.  I hate notches and dynamic islands, but again, the other feature benefits, like MORE RAM (my God, how important that is!) will be a rich blessing.  I HATE going to Flipboard and opening an article, reading it half through, and then I need to focus on something else for an hour, come back, and stupid Flipboard has reloaded and no longer retains the place where I was reading in the article!!!!  More RAM can solve those horrible app reloads!

Longer battery life, not to mention having a brand new battery, will be great. (I paid Apple to change the battery in my iPhone 7 once.)  And even though I use cases and protective glass, knowing that modern iPhones are built to be even more robust than my iPhone 7 is very reassuring.

Then of course, being able to run the latest iOS (which my iPhone 7 cannot do, due to age), will be nice because it will be more secure (in theory).

I don't really like to be forced to use an eSIM.  I would prefer the option to also use a physical SIM, but the other improvements in the phone take the pain out of that.

So what I think will drive iPhone 15 sales are people like me who don't deliberately drill holes in their wallets by upgrade every year or every other year.  Not having upgraded in 6 years, the changes between iPhones are huge and make the upgrade very much worthwhile.  But of course, that also means people like us will not be upgrading again for at least 5-6 years after the iPhone 15 purchase, and perhaps longer if the price is really high and if the faster processor, great camera and more RAM and still adequate for us in in 2029.

chasm said:

I hope the Indian authorities are incredibly harsh in their punishments for this horrifyingly awful and self-centered couple. They need to be made an example of as a deterrent to other idiots.

While abhorrent, the above sentiment about retribution and harsh punishments (the "lock 'em up!" mentality) does very little to "reform" anyone.  It merely contributes to prison overcrowding and making bad people worse.  When did prison really reform anyone?  At least in the USA, prison merely amounts to rich people committing suicide because they can't handle it, and pretty much everyone else getting same-sex raped or abused in some form.  The mental anguish and bad conditions don't often make people reflect on the bad they've done, nor does prison often end up provoking positive and lasting change that benefits them and society.  Then when they get out, they are marked for life, and they find it difficult getting good jobs or fitting into peaceful society.  Many commit crimes after getting out so they can go back!

It's all about people who aren't in prison having this fanciful idea that our current system is reasonably good (it isn't) and that it can help people who commit crimes so as to better help society as a whole (it largely doesn't).  

At the end of the day, prison is basically a very bad place that keeps people who allegedly (but not always) did something wrong (as per a judge and/or jury consisting of fallible human beings) out of the eye of "decent/innocent" society.  Locking the bad guys away tends to protect people on society, although at taxpayer expense.  But prison is also is a training ground for bad behavior when and if these people ultimately are released back into society on parole.  

Some say it's the best we can do, but that's only because most people don't want to give more thought to it than we have already.  In the end, it's sad when I read stories like this because I know the people involved probably won't be reformed, and the people who scream "lock 'em up!" really aren't bettering society in the end.

Guess who pays for this legal lunacy?  That's right... YOU & ME!  Every Apple product consumer pays for the madness, which is why I for one demand that end it be ended swiftly by a judge who does the right thing and throws it out.  No freebies!  Seriously.  "FREE" is their ultimate goal.  Until the App Store charges ZERO fees, there will be a group of developer nuts who get together and do this over and over again.

anonymouse said:

jdw said:

I am not inclined to believe that Apple lied about not working with governments to create back doors, nor is there any hard evidence to support that either.  But it is unsettling that the NSA could (and possibly still can) infect certain iPhones simply by sending a text message, and the iPhone recipient need not have clicked on anything at all for the malware to become rooted to the phone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9MzWw9G3o

Well, if you are genuinely rattled by that, and not just affecting concern, you might as well turn off all your devices, from Apple and everyone else, and/or keep them air-gapped. There always have been, and will for the foreseeable future be, software defects capable of exploits, and people willing to invest enormous resources in finding those.

I don't post here unless I am rattled or have concerns or have a passionate opinion, but I am not going to turn off all my devices because that is totally ridiculous advice.  My concern is not about being hacked, but rather about the truthfulness of Apple with regard to their defense of our security, and their public statements that they do not work with governmental organizations like the NSA, FBI, etc., to create back doors.  If the NSA has found a hole, then it would be up to honest Apple to eventually block that hole.  And while that doesn't mean other holes may not be found, and while that doesn't mean people are perfect or there is perfect software, it does mean that known holes can and should be filled.

And there you have it.