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The Mac Pro is delayed till end of 2019 for a reason. What processors could Intel possibly produce that would be comparable to the A13 series silicon?

The A12 already beats every Intel Core processor except the overpriced i9, at a fraction the power/heat/size, and probably at a lower cost. Current A12 processors are limited by battery/size/cooling limitations of iPhone and iPad - whereas on a desktop such limitations are largely irrelevant. Double the core count on an A12 and you handily beat every Intel Core processor. Quadruple the core count and you blow past the Xeon line. 

Apple is leading the silicon revolution right now. The 7nm processor in the iPad Pro outruns 90+% of all laptops sold (not sure if they were referring to unit volume, model lineups, or dollars).

We've hit the end of Moore's law 3 years ago, and the industry looks like it's consolidating. You can make money in this era by maximizing sales of existing lines (Intel at 14nm and re-opening 22nm lines), or you can forge ahead with new lines (Apple, TSMC at 7nm and going to 5nm) though with high risk and exponentially increasing R&D costs. It looks like Samsung feels that going forward is better. 

I seldom see a 11-year plan announced, especially in the technology industry where things change so fast. 
Bloomberg's comment, "Samsung unveiled the investment plans the same week it suffered a setback in its mobile phone business." gives a very strong rationale for the announcement. 

Plan A Folded, so on to Plan B: improving its most important area of revenue. 

I've always believed that education and positive communication were some of the best hallmarks of being human. I thought the World Wide Web, by allowing 24x7 access, at very low cost, the ability to link, and now the ability to search, would improve education. That people might read more and learn and think more. 

But from this forum, I see people gaslighting, alternating between bullying and pretending to suddenly be curious again, and being disingenuous, and intentionally stomping out a good discussion. There is no place for this kind of bullying behaviour. You were therefore shut out of the WayTools Fora, and in your current replies I see no remorse for your behaviour, nor even the simplest reflection in considering that you might have been bullies.

If you were on StackOverflow, your comments would have been downvoted so much, the physical evidence of wrongdoing would be obvious and you might have to face such consequences and reflect upon your bullying and gaslighting behaviour. 

I believed education can replace ignorance with more enlightened behaviour and attitudes, and that knowledge can replace blind unverifiable beliefs with actionable improvements. For those reasons, plus the need to defend what is good and right, I think some people have tried to reply to your comments.

I think most tech aficionados want "nice things", which take deep research and development. In this climate where funding is cut and mostly resource-extraction is being funded, it takes a certain mentality to have hope for the future and to create "nice things". When you abuse such people, you force them to waste time and energy defending themselves rather than creating nice things. So, the verbal violence exhibited by @Rolanbek, @ericpeets, @TextBladeDenied, @arkorott, this verbal violence is "why we can't have nice things." You are ruining it for all of us. I may not see your replies - because for my own sake, I've added you on my ignore list. I don't wake up wishing to be subjected to see the latest abuse you have heaped on others. 

ericpeets said:

Programming bluetooth is not hard. Even junior programmers I work with can get things working. BT protocol is kinda messed up, has been from the beginning. Even the authors state as much, but programming it to get simple device like a keyboard is not hard. Several mech keyboards for example can be retrofitted with bluetooth chips and get bluetooth functionality up and running within a day. Have you done any bluetooth programming, or are you just repeating what Waytools and others on the forum said?

In the forums, they disclosed that the vendor-supplied stack was insufficient. Also the OS vendor stacks had bugs that they had to work around. Also, I haven't seen anyone support 6 (or 12) jumps with a single radio. Others support multiple pairings by using multiple radios - not good for battery life, cost, nor portability. 

Doing "Bluetooth" has never been hard. Perhaps that is why so many products ship with such shoddy quality. And perhaps why Logitech still ships products with their own dongle. Nobody wanted to put in the effort to make it work as "it should". One of the first to get Bluetooth headphones right - was Apple, with AirPods. 

Discourse, which is the forum software they use, has such features. Download a copy and look at the source code. You can set a user so he's unable to start a thread, and also you can limit him to just like a post and nothing more. If you're not able to read the code, just take a gander at the textblade subreddit. Most of the BMW'ers there were either force-cancelled or shadow-banned. A few still have their accounts, but can't say anything.

Regarding anonymous posts, Taco has stated several times early on the merits of speaking anonymously, thus his reasons for keeping it, though the label is tongue-in-cheek. One of his reasons, IIRC, alluded to a rape victims forum where it was almost mandatory to be anonymous. Just because you think people who post anonymously just spits out racist BS and are of cesspit ilk doesn't mean there's no value. 

Yes, you pointed out one special case where anonymity is important. But Slashdot does not fit that case. Anonymity has allowed it to become a cesspool filled with racist vitriol. 

5. WayTools isn’t pompous or arrogant. What I find is a startling lack of understanding of technology on the internet. So if they have to use an analogy for “new technology that is hard to develop and takes a long time to get right” then I think a comparison to Tesla is warranted. People “get” car development takes a long time. For some reason they don’t realize software development is far more difficult. 4 wheels and a motor is hard, but one that doesn’t drive you into parked fire trucks and concrete barriers, is at least 100 times harder. 

What are you trying to say? Pomp and arrogance is the correct way to deal with people who are not that hip on technology? I don't know about you, but I've been on both sides of BOFH, and it never helps the situation. I can probably stomp on some people with what little tech know-how I have, but what does that accomplish, especially if those people were paying me, even more especially if I failed to deliver? I guess you don't see any arrogance on Waytools' part because you hate the same people Waytools abuse and/or think yourself much higher than them.

I think what I wrote was pretty clear. "WayTools isn’t pompous or arrogant." They aren't. Quite the opposite. They've never encouraged arrogance, and every time I've grown to be more caring and less standoffish, they've encouraged my growth in that direction. 

Yes, they use analogies. No, they don't think they're hotshots. When they mention Tesla, it's an analogy. Like I said "new technology that is hard to develop and takes a long time to get right". Most people are aware of how long Tesla's efforts have been. How long people have waited for a Model 3, etc. How the Teslas have software issues, and how hard they are to correct. And that they are diligently being worked on. I think it's a good analogy. 

6. You’re overlooking the many people who read the forums and don’t say anything. People who wait patiently. They comment when they feel they can add. Unsurprisingly, TREGgers have a lot to say about a keyboard on a keyboard forum, especially one that has become their favourite keyboard. It’s not a cult board. There are lots of participants from many walks of life, and when the topic is right, they say something. I didn’t even know there were pilots on the forum, until they commented on Boeing - in a post that was examining how Boeing had trouble with software. 

I'm one of those who said almost nothing and waited for nearly two years. I wasn't one of the vociferous ones, either. But after another year of trying to get some simple questions answered, I got fed up. If the remaining people are so excited about their TBs, why not talk about it on geekhack or deskthority, rather than just singing to the choir? IMO, most of what you guys find amazing and revolutionary have all been done and discussed on those boards, possibly except for the size.

I assure you, it's not been done. A cursory look through the WayTools forums reveals so many different aficionados who have tried every new keyboard that has been announced. For myself, I couldn't be bothered. I have TextBlade and nothing else comes close. The original author says, even with whatever issues he has encountered, whatever delays, it's the best portable keyboard. 

Hoo boy, probably great waste of time, but here goes...

While taking the time to correct a wrong thought is time-consuming, it certainly is not a waste of time. If everyone took the time and care to correct the anti-vaccination propaganda every time they heard it, we wouldn't have Measles outbreaks. 

The development of vaccines was hard work. We squander that effort away when we don't defend what is good. 

I feel that people slandering WayTools is unfair, unwarranted, and simply unjust. The WayTools team are kind, thoughtful folks. They are diligent, and really care about how you use your keyboard, and much more. 

1. First of all, bluetooth issue is only the latest excuse by Waytools, something they've been milking for close a year now, to justify their never-ending delays. 

2. My girlfriend and I ordered their six-pack set (over a $1,000) in March of 2015 for her students because she fell for their marketing tactic: Keys for Kids, in which Waytools promised to donate $1 million worth of their keyboards to schools. A promised they failed to keep, never mentioning it again.


3. Later in 2015, they went on a ridiculous tirade accusing any people asking questions about delays as being saboteurs working for imaginary competitors, force cancelling their orders and either silencing their account or shutting them down all together -- a practice they still practice today.


4. Though they have a rant section, It's apparently only there to weed out people they don't like -- those who dare to complain or ask tough questions will end up being shadow-banned or having your entire order cancelled. And their usual response is some passive-aggressive post like: "We were forced to cancel your order, because this order is causing you stress. And we don't want to stress you. Goodbye."


5. In fairness, heir product may well be great, revolutionary even (their words, not mine). But that's only half of the story. When you buy a product, you get a company as well. While the product may be good, the company half is truly a pain to deal with. I love tech gadgets, but there is no tech amazing enough to deal with Waytools' pompous, arrogant talking down to, or the seemingly endless semantic games, their endless comparison of themselves as Apple, Tesla and Samsung, and other such BS.


6. After four years of force cancelling orders and shutting down accounts of anyone who dared to ask tough questions (usually regarding delivery), the forums are now left with only handful of the aligned who continually heap praises on Waytools and the wonders of the Textblade. Check the latest in their forums and you'll see they're mostly TREG users who talk about how they spent their day with a Textblade, how beautiful their experience was, with pictures and videos, written by repeat posters who step over each other to heap even more praises about the Textblade and Waytools. It reads like a bizarre cult blog -- typed on a Textblade, fueled by Waytools.

7. It wasn't like that in the beginning. Early on, there were many gadgeteers and keyboard fanatics who provided lively discussions about interesting topics, but they all got fed up or were force-cancelled by Waytools. So, if you're into one-off tech gadgets which you'll probably toss out after the novelty wears off, and you're okay with waiting possibly for years with a good chance it may never ship. put in an order.


Otherwise, I recommend you stay away from Waytools. No product is worth this kind of company.

Wow! You’ve somehow managed to invent a negative reason for everything that has happened! 

Because the mobile AppleInsider forum site doesn’t let me break up your quotes by section, I’ve numbered your points and will respond by number. 

1. Reliable Bluetooth is hard. See everyone else’s comments about getting keyboards and headphones to work reliably. The only headphone that I’ve heard “just works” is AirPods, and so it’s no surprise it took the world by storm. Touted as “Apple’s best product” even though they also make the iPhone that you pair it with. The most humorous anecdote about Bluetooth that sums it up for me, is John Gruber’s comment - the Bluetooth slogan should be: it’ll work great next year. 

2. They haven’t gone to General Release yet - something they are honest about. Keys for Kids would logically come after General Release - there’s no point shipping incomplete products to kids. 

3. I’ve never seen them silencing an account. I’ve been on the forum at least 2 years, maybe 3. If you sound like the $99 is causing you more stress than it should, they will refund you immediately, and give you a week to exercise the option to reinstate your order without losing your place in line. If someone is distressed about the money and doesn’t reinstate their order, then I’d say WayTools did the right thing in refunding them! 

They don’t silence posts. Some people on the forums go on such a ridiculous tirade, that any mature adult will recognize that’s just BMW (bitching, moaning, whining). If you were to BMW amongst your friends who were having fun, they’d point it out to you and probably you’d snap out of it. Or you’d flush with embarrassment. I think that happens when someone gets called out on the forums for BMW. As it should. We are adults, and we should be called out on bad behaviour. 

There’s nothing that makes the internet a cesspit more than the racist BS posted by “Anonymous Coward” on SlashDot. Done in real life, in public, there’d be stares of disapproval and others crossing to the other side of the street to avoid you and show you that such viewpoints are not acceptable. It doesn’t seem to work on the internet. 

4. I’ve never seen a shadow ban, so kindly link to one as proof. I have seen people not staying on topic, and go off on a serious tangent. It’s seriously not fun to read those posts - and just like the racist posts on SlashDot, these posts even get upvotes?!?!? Where is the ban feauture you allude to? 

As for refunds, see point #3. I feel most of the refunds are amply justified, though others may disagree. 

5. WayTools isn’t pompous or arrogant. What I find is a startling lack of understanding of technology on the internet. So if they have to use an analogy for “new technology that is hard to develop and takes a long time to get right” then I think a comparison to Tesla is warranted. People “get” car development takes a long time. For some reason they don’t realize software development is far more difficult. 4 wheels and a motor is hard, but one that doesn’t drive you into parked fire trucks and concrete barriers, is at least 100 times harder. 

6. You’re overlooking the many people who read the forums and don’t say anything. People who wait patiently. They comment when they feel they can add. Unsurprisingly, TREGgers have a lot to say about a keyboard on a keyboard forum, especially one that has become their favourite keyboard. It’s not a cult board. There are lots of participants from many walks of life, and when the topic is right, they say something. I didn’t even know there were pilots on the forum, until they commented on Boeing - in a post that was examining how Boeing had trouble with software. 

7. TextBlade is not one-off tech. Honestly I wish people would stop posting one-off tech in the WayTools forums, but hey, keyboard fanatics post there all the time.