zoetmb

Back in the day, when car radios in many cars were standard DIN sized, I used to always buy an aftermarket radio, usually an Alpine.   But today, in most cars, even older cars without bit-mapped screens, since the entertainment system and the HVAC system are integrated, I don't see how an aftermarket system can work, although it obviously worked in the Chevy.   

Are there any common standards for these units like there used to be?    

apple ][ said:

I'm glad that I don't have any Google or Amazon surveillance devices listening into any of my conversations.

I am also glad that I do not use Android for my mobile OS, as I do conduct banking transactions from my devices and I do use them to make payments. I protect my privacy and I care about my finances.

Can you imagine some rabid liberal working at Google or Amazon or Facebook or some other place listening into my private conversations? Haha. Not a chance in hell that I would ever trust them or any extremists working there, as they have been busted so many times in the past for their unethical behavior. They would probably embark on a private vendetta against me, because my private conversations would most definitely trigger some snowflake asshat that was working there.

I do not trust them, I do not trust their intentions and I do not believe what they claim.

Why do you think that it's just "liberals" who are going to be listening to your private conversations and only liberals who would engage in unethical behavior?   That's completely ridiculous.   I can give you thousands of examples of unethical behavior by conservatives beginning with the man at the top.   

If you have a conversation about gay sex or discuss the possibility of an abortion with someone, who do you think is going to be more disturbed - a liberal or a conservative?

The fact is that anyone, of any political persuasion listening to my private speech is an invasion of one's privacy.  Some people won't care.  They'll trade the benefit of the convenience of these devices for their privacy.   I won't.  I suspect you won't either.   

Apple has been criticized for not including more functionality into HomePod, similar to what the competitive devices do.  But maybe that's a good thing.   Maybe because it's primarily geared to just playing music, it's far more secure, although I personally wouldn't use a Home Pod either.  

rwx9901 said:

Corporations do not pay taxes. Period. They collect taxes. Nothing more.

Are you insane?  That's only true when it comes to sales taxes.  Corporations are supposed to pay taxes on profits period.   It's the main way countries used to fund services.   If the rich don't pay much and corporations don't pay much, countries go broke.   

shahhet2 said:

Soli said:

airnerd said:

Soli said:

rogifan_new said:

mac_dog said:

Apple is still a disrupter. The credit card, insurance  industries are possibly the last of the sectors that, thus far, have skated by without any real innovation. And they’re soiling themselves. 

What innovation has Apple brought to the credit card? What are they doing that no one else is doing?

A: Higher rewards when using Apple Pay (over the physical card) to help push the adoption of a more secure payment system.

The offered rewards are lower than my current card.  While it may help those that own the new CC to use apple pay, it is no incentive to convert customers to the new CC.  

What card do you have that offers you better than 2% on Apple Pay-based purchases and better than 3% on purchases through Apple?

You already know and I have already pointed out that Citi Double Cash gives 2% on everything and not only just 2% for Apple Pay. (Or Fidelity 2% rewards visa)
As far as Security is concerned, you can add that card to Apple Pay and have same privileges. (Like current Credit Card are not secure enough)
Addition to that there are many other benefits which are better and each card will have their plus/minuses.
For e.g. this offers 24 month extended protection, which is much better benefit in itself.
It also has Price Protection, where you can use Citi Rewind if you find lower price, Damage and theft protection or secondary car insurance.
Enough with the FUD.

None of that matters.   Citi must have over 100 different credit cards.   The issue isn't whether Citi (or anyone else) happens to have a card that matches or beats some of what Apple is providing.  The question is how effectively they market it and what the demand for it is.   All of the credit card offering banks have made credit cards unduly complex and they've overwhelmed consumers with offers.   I get offers in the mail every day.  I don't even look to see if they're better than what I have today - I throw them all in the trash and since there's a trash can next to the mailboxes in my apartment building, I see that many other people do as well.   And while it might be foolish for consumers to care about the Apple brand, they do.   How many consumers care about the Citibank or Chase or HSBC or Fidelity brands?  The issue isn't what the cards actually offer - it's what is the overall perception of what the card offers to the typical consumer and especially to Apple fans.   It's also foolish for consumers to care whether their card is "ordinary", silver, gold, platinum or black.  But they do.   And because of all that, Apple is going to do very well.    

Apple is very smart.  Just as when Steve Jobs returned to Apple and simplified the product line into four quadrants:  Pro Desktop, Consumer Desktop, Pro Laptop, Consumer Laptop, Apple is issuing ONE credit card.  Interest rates may vary depending upon one's credit rating, but it's one card.  No fee.   Simple cash back program.    Increased security.  Very easy to understand.   Having said that, there is one segment of the credit card market that probably wouldn't be interested in Apple's card and that is those who use their card to collect airline mileage/hotel program points, which they probably care about more than the 2% cash back.    And it also doesn't seem to have the attributes that would make it a practical business card issued to employees by corporations.  But other than that, IMO (and I could well be wrong), it's going to be huge.   I think under-estimating Apple, even with their occasional failures, is a massive mistake.  

We've heard this all before from other brilliant industry analysts:  

John C. Dvorak, 1984
“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a "mouse". There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I don’t want one of these new fangled devices."
 
former Apple VP Gaston Bastiaens, January 1996.
“Within the next two months, Sony will acquire Apple. … Sony will be the white knight who will step into the picture."
 
Michael Dell, October 1997
"I'd shut [Apple] down and give the money back to the shareholders."
 
Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe, 1998.
"The iMac will only sell to some of the true believers. The iMac doesn’t include a floppy disk drive for doing file backups or sharing of data. ... The iMac will fail. 
10/5/2000   Michael S. Malone
Apple R.I.P.
…“Nevertheless, the bloom is off the rose. The incredible run-up Apple stock has enjoyed since Steve's return is over, and the sheen of success that had enveloped the company has been tarnished. 
A temporary setback? Don't be too sure. Unlike, say, Hewlett-Packard, Apple has always been a company that deals poorly with failure. When things go bad at Apple, they go very bad. “
5/21/2001  Cliff Edwards  
Commentary: Sorry, Steve: Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work 
“New retail outlets aren't going to fix Apple's sales “
 
12/23/2006 Bill Ray (Mobile)
“Why the Apple phone will fail, and fail badly”
It's the Pippin all over again”
 
1/14/2007 Matthew Lynn
Apple iPhone Will Fail in a Late, Defensive Move
“…Don't let that fool you into thinking that it matters. The big competitors in the mobile-phone industry such as Nokia Oyjand Motorola Inc.won't be whispering nervously into their clamshells over a new threat to their business…
The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant”
 
3/28/2007 John Dvorak
Apple should pull the plug in the iPhone
Commentary:  Company risks its reputation in competitive business
“… Now compare that effort and overlay the mobile handset business. This is not an emerging business. In fact it's gone so far that it's in the process of consolidation with probably two players dominating everything, Nokia Corp…and Motorola Inc.” 
 

In fiscal 2018, Apple Services was a $37 billion business, a 24% increase over fiscal 2017.   If it were spun off, it would be a Fortune 500 company.   

The proof of Apple's success in the credit card space will be when Chase, Citibank, HSBC and others will rush to issue cards that emulate the Apple Card, which I believe they soon will in a defensive move, although it will be difficult for them to do so because their profits are in late fees and annual fees.   While I don't have data to back it up, it seems to me that the Apple Card is going to be a huge.  No annual fee and no problem with late payments?   Huge.   And yes, there are some cards out there who might have a certain benefit that's equal to or better than one of Apple's benefits.  But you have to look at the benefits as a package AND it's not what's out there if you look for it - it's what the average consumer has that counts and most consumers have high interest cards with annual fees if the card comes with any benefits.   

As far as AppleTV+ is concerned, there are too many players out there, Apple is getting in late and there are more players coming, like Disney and AT&T Warner.   With those new players, the studios with streaming services are initially going to attempt to be successful by keeping their content from the other services.   So Netflix definitely and Amazon maybe is going to lose most of the Disney and Warner titles.   The question is, what is Apple going to get?   If Apple's reliance is going to be primarily on original content (which is where Netflix is going and where Amazon has attempted), then the question becomes is their original content better than the competition and even if it is, how many different streaming services will the average person subscribe to?   I would say two services, three tops.    If Apple really wanted to be in this business, they should have bought Warner Bros. and not let AT&T get it or even gone up against Disney and Comcast to acquire 20th Century Fox.    On the other hand, one would be a fool to under-estimate Apple.