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Yet another ignorant few who automatically assume rich parents spoil kids.

Ever consider the fact that iPhones are indeed superior in usability, convenience, streamline experiences and app store content? Not that "well I got an iPhone because I don't have to pay" but "I got one because _ _ _ and _ and right now my parents or I can pay merely $30 a month for it."

I've been over this before. My "El Cheapo" Microsoft Lumia 640 blows the doors off an iPhone when you consider it costs 1/20 the price!!! "It's not fast enough!" To do what???? WTF are you people doing on your phones that needs a super computer? My interface is fast. I've got 208GB of space for $138 total. It does 1080p video; plays every song, Skypes video chats, Bluetooth connects to my car stereo system. It has a real headphone jack. It plays Angry Birds and Bejeweled just fine and can show me a real time map view of London while I'm walking around. It could Facebook (no interest in that garbage). What ELSE does it need to do exactly that requires an extra $770???? I asked this in another thread and I got some weak reply about a fingerprint sensor, as if that is so earth shattering it needs an extra $770. "No one uses it". Good. It won't be hacked and it has something in common with the Mac!

I'm sorry, but you people ARE spoiled. You carry iPhones because you want to be hep cats. There is no other reason. There is nothing the iPhone does that is worth $800+
 
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I've been over this before. My "El Cheapo" Microsoft Lumia 640 blows the doors off an iPhone when you consider it costs 1/20 the price!!! "It's not fast enough!" To do what???? WTF are you people doing on your phones that needs a super computer? My interface is fast. I've got 208GB of space for $138 total. It does 1080p video; plays every song, Skypes video chats, Bluetooth connects to my car stereo system. It has a real headphone jack. It plays Angry Birds and Bejeweled just fine and can show me a real time map view of London while I'm walking around. It could Facebook (no interest in that garbage). What ELSE does it need to do exactly that requires an extra $770???? I asked this in another thread and I got some weak reply about a fingerprint sensor, as if that is so earth shattering it needs an extra $770. "No one uses it". Good. It won't be hacked and it has something in common with the Mac!

I'm sorry, but you people ARE spoiled. You carry iPhones because you want to be hep cats. There is no other reason. There is nothing the iPhone does that is worth $800+

Whether it's worth the extra money is subjective. I hardly think my wife and I are spoiled because we carry an iPhone.

I like the iMessage and call integration with my computer. I like the Lumia on paper, but I just don't like Windows Mobile.
 
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Not fooling myself thanks. I put all 3 side by side last night - iPhone 6+, Galaxy S5, Axon 7. The A7 was fastest, then about even GS5, iP6+. But then again I guess I should take someone else's word for what I saw with my own eyes.
[doublepost=1491930915][/doublepost]

I did these: Facebook, Web Browser (Chrome or Safari), Mail client, Waze, phone dialer, Lightroom, maps, and maybe one other.

iPhone 6+ (latest iOS) and Galaxy S5 (6.01) were about even - sometimes one was faster, sometimes the other was faster with launch times.
Azon 7 (7.1.1) was the fastest of all.

The best part is my Axon doesn't near lock up when some e-mails come in. That was one huge annoyance with my 6+.

The only area Apple is superior is wearables. The Apple Watch (I have one too) is easily the best. The Android Wear models seem to be a mess and not one really comes close to the Apple Watch.

Enjoy your budget Chinese stuff.
 
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Enjoy your budget Chinese stuff.

Well.

As opposed to highly marked-up Chinese stuff?
[doublepost=1491940598][/doublepost]
Whether it's worth the extra money is subjective. I hardly think my wife and I are spoiled because we carry an iPhone.

I like the iMessage and call integration with my computer. I like the Lumia on paper, but I just don't like Windows Mobile.

This was my favorite thing about using my iPhones 3S and 4S. I really loved the integration of iMessage. The problem I had was communicating with family/friends who were all over the place -- people who ONLY use iMessage, and people who ONLY used text messaging.

The compromise I found was Google Hangouts. I have a Google number, and now it's my only messenger. For my family who only ever text message, I send SMS to and from desktop/laptop/iPad/Android phone to and fro with them. And I also regularly text message anyone else that way as well. The Missus and I communicate via Google Messenger, which is on all platforms.

I like Apple stuff. But the walled-garden services are too limiting when I can find solutions that are more cross-platform.
 
Enjoy your budget Chinese stuff.

I will. And I'll have more money for other, more important things.

My last iPhone 64GB 6+ cost just shy of $900 with tax and a 1 year warranty. I bought the Axon 7 for $422 with tax and the included 2 year warranty. I could buy 2 A7's for the price of 1 iPhone 6+. They both are speedy, do the same things, and are about the same. The iPhone is nice but not 2x nice!
 
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Well.

As opposed to highly marked-up Chinese stuff?
[doublepost=1491940598][/doublepost]

This was my favorite thing about using my iPhones 3S and 4S. I really loved the integration of iMessage. The problem I had was communicating with family/friends who were all over the place -- people who ONLY use iMessage, and people who ONLY used text messaging.

The compromise I found was Google Hangouts. I have a Google number, and now it's my only messenger. For my family who only ever text message, I send SMS to and from desktop/laptop/iPad/Android phone to and fro with them. And I also regularly text message anyone else that way as well. The Missus and I communicate via Google Messenger, which is on all platforms.

I like Apple stuff. But the walled-garden services are too limiting when I can find solutions that are more cross-platform.

Why couldn't you use iMessage? It does SMS too.
 
I've been over this before. My "El Cheapo" Microsoft Lumia 640 blows the doors off an iPhone when you consider it costs 1/20 the price!!! "It's not fast enough!" To do what???? WTF are you people doing on your phones that needs a super computer? My interface is fast. I've got 208GB of space for $138 total. It does 1080p video; plays every song, Skypes video chats, Bluetooth connects to my car stereo system. It has a real headphone jack. It plays Angry Birds and Bejeweled just fine and can show me a real time map view of London while I'm walking around. It could Facebook (no interest in that garbage). What ELSE does it need to do exactly that requires an extra $770???? I asked this in another thread and I got some weak reply about a fingerprint sensor, as if that is so earth shattering it needs an extra $770. "No one uses it". Good. It won't be hacked and it has something in common with the Mac!

I'm sorry, but you people ARE spoiled. You carry iPhones because you want to be hep cats. There is no other reason. There is nothing the iPhone does that is worth $800+

You do have a point. I can admit i'm spoiled. My last laptop, a Dell Inspiron N4010's motherboard malfunctioned 2 summers ago. I didin't want any crappy one and, aimed for a high end system. I kept bargaining and ended up with a reasonably priced baby Alienware Laptop (which I paid half for). Now, this year I realized it was a early 2013 model and, I'm embarrassed. I still want to buy a 4K graphics card and upgrade the Ram from 16 to 32gb.

Similar story with my phone. I had a 4S which I kept for 3 years till it started having severe battery drain and got hot under small strain. I set my mind on the LG V10 and got it one month after it came out. I was outraged when I found out my parents got the AT&T bloatware model when I specifically asked for the international [due to having a bad feeling about being limited on rooting options]! Then, even with the AT&T H900, I bragged about owning a phone more intelligent than a iPhone (and later how it was so good Apple copied it.) On the bright side now, even after having a tendency to bootloop, I'm keeping this phone till LG cannot provide any more spare motherboards. Once my warranty expires this December, i'm tearing it apart to fix the rear camera and smoke out the side metal grip!
 
I meant when you used an iPhone. I have only used iMessage since the 4s and have not had any issues texting anyone, whether it was SMS or iMessage.

Well, I did, briefly. But by the time Apple updated to this, I found I could make WiFi phone calls from my Mac with a headset with Google number, which I could not do with Apple's services. Since I was already using Skype for work, this was incredibly convenient, and pleasantly freed me from being tethered to my cell phone. And since I soured on treating a consumable tool -- which is what I consider a phone -- by spending money as if it were actually a durable good, I didn't feel like unloading hundreds more on another iPhone when it was time to upgrade.

Computers are expensive, multi-purpose tools to me, that I will spend money on and be picky about. I don't care how high-tech they make phones to me, I am no more precious towards my cell phones than Saul Goodman is toward his.

Although, not for nothin', my "free" LG Aristo is as bright to view and pleasant to use as any of my iOS phones ever were.​
 
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Pure jealous. We found a sensitive chord in this one.

Hardly. I'm actually finding Microsoft to be the lesser of two evils lately. As bad as Microsoft was in the past, they at least are trying to improve the high-end PC and create something a consumer might enjoy (combination tablet/pc) while Apple keeps pretending nobody wants a tablet and computer in one case going so far as to make a "touch pad" for the function key row, but refusing to admit it's simply easier to touch something on the screen once in awhile for shortcuts or while using it as a pad. Besides that, Apple used to sell a lot of Macs to people that do a lot of Windows work because their computers were simply made better and you can always install Windows on it if you want to, but lacking a touchscreen hampers a Mac running Windows 10, which decreases the likelihood of someone buying one to run Windows most or all of the time. I used to play a lot of the old Falcon F-16 simulator and I always thought being able to just flick a cockpit switch on the monitor instead of trying to remember some keyboard button would make it so more easier and seem a bit more realistic, but even if they had an update to it these days, you couldn't use it on a Mac either way.

When it comes to phones, people seem to hate Microsoft purely due to a lack of apps. I didn't realize so many apps were so fantastic. I've had 5 generations of iPod Touch models and never found any indispensable software for it save perhaps the "Remote" app function to control the whole house audio/video system with iTunes/AppleTV, but now that I've moved to FireTV 4K units and Kodi, it's kind of moot. Admittedly, I got a lot of use out of the game Bejeweled over the years, but it's available for my Lumia, so it's moot.

Enjoy your budget Chinese stuff.

That's hilarious considering the iPhone *IS* Made in CHINA. :p

Maybe you just meant "budget" Chinese stuff versus "expensive" Chinese stuff? :eek:
 
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What ELSE does it need to do exactly

Run iOS is pretty much it for me. People often talk about how expensive Apple products are by talking just about the hardware, not realizing that many of us pay a premium to access the Apple software.

I live in the Apple eco-system. Sure it was a choice I made, but now that I run Apple across all devices it's just easier to be able to access Apple Music everywhere, access my iCloud documents everywhere. I like that when I take a photo on my phone it's automatically on my computer. I know there are other cloud services, but I like how Apple's works and I'm happy to pay the premium for all the little things that come from running iOS, tvOS, watchOS and macOS.

That and the watch that I wear required an iPhone :)
 
What's the sample size? All the teens I know have Android.
I'll bet they just surveyed a few big cities like LA or NYC.
 
Run iOS is pretty much it for me. People often talk about how expensive Apple products are by talking just about the hardware, not realizing that many of us pay a premium to access the Apple software.

I live in the Apple eco-system. Sure it was a choice I made, but now that I run Apple across all devices it's just easier to be able to access Apple Music everywhere, access my iCloud documents everywhere. I like that when I take a photo on my phone it's automatically on my computer. I know there are other cloud services, but I like how Apple's works and I'm happy to pay the premium for all the little things that come from running iOS, tvOS, watchOS and macOS.

That and the watch that I wear required an iPhone :)

In other words, you're so deep into their ecosystem, you really don't have a lot of choices without changing everything else as well. That's exactly what Apple counts on these days. I used to have a synergistic Mac + AppleTV Units + iPod Touch for a home audio/video system, but Apple was going nowhere with the AppleTV (and sadly still aren't, IMO with the current newer model despite apps). It's been a PITA to get everything to work with Kodi (I had to find a way to get Apple movies and TV Shows to run for one thing) and Kodi still has some bugs that tick me off (the dev team are absolutely against fixing anything users report and get hostile even looking at them funny so it's not the best bet either), namely songs will sometimes "skip" for no ascertainable reason what-so-ever. It might be an incompatibility with a Mac powered network; it might be something else entirely but it seems to not happen to everyone so I keep older AppleTV units around just for audio.

On the other hand, I can run home video AVI files without converting them (and losing quality), MKV files that easily handle DTS, etc. from Blu-rays, etc. and actually sort my library by FILE DIRECTORY in areas if I so desire (very handy for photo slideshows organization when you have thousands and thousands of trip related photos) or separate videos into vastly different areas. Even the 1st Gen AppleTV had more options than the current ones for organization (e.g. you could put all Back To The Future or Star Wars movies into "folders" by specifying "Show" in older iTunes. That was NICE. Kodi can do that with "collection" organizations for movies. But they removed that from iOS powered Apple TV units and newer iTunes won't directly let you edit the "show" field anymore unless you change the file type to something other than MOVIE (i.e. to TV Show temporarily). Kodi also STILL (over a decade later) can't read movie video tags which is RIDICULOUS considering the music player can read the information if you relabel a movie into a song! (making it obvious that it would not take a lot of work to add ID Tag support for movies and thus read M4V embedded information instead of depending on the file being labeled 'Just So' to work with a movie database to organize. In other words, neither system is "perfect" but I do not want to be dependent on Apple forever. They seem to be heading in the wrong direction lately and I have to face the fact I may have to go to Linux or Windows at some point if Tim Cook insists on destroying the Mac and/or AppleTV. You never know how long they're going to bother. They just killed the Airport routers that had been around for a long time, for example. You can't depend on Apple and you can't hardly predict them since they keep most of their future plans to themselves. I'd like a media library that is 100% agnostic and will work with Apple, Amazon or Windows or whatever.

The problem with iPhones and media is simultaneously that it works so well with iTunes and a Mac in particular but so bad if you want to use media elsewhere. Just moving songs to a USB stick for the car caused me trouble when selecting too many songs at once in iTunes and dragging/dropping. Frankly, I'm surprised it worked at all seeing how Apple would prefer if you bought a car that was Apple Play ready. But I'm not choosing my car based on my phone. Just copying/pasting music files to a USB stick also tends to copy over the hidden ".files" too and car players often choke on them so you have to take an extra step to remove them in a shell (beyond some people's knowledge level) and that never happens on a PC.
 
In other words, you're so deep into their ecosystem, you really don't have a lot of choices without changing everything else as well. That's exactly what Apple counts on these days. I used to have a synergistic Mac + AppleTV Units + iPod Touch for a home audio/video system, but Apple was going nowhere with the AppleTV (and sadly still aren't, IMO with the current newer model despite apps). It's been a PITA to get everything to work with Kodi (I had to find a way to get Apple movies and TV Shows to run for one thing) and Kodi still has some bugs that tick me off (the dev team are absolutely against fixing anything users report and get hostile even looking at them funny so it's not the best bet either), namely songs will sometimes "skip" for no ascertainable reason what-so-ever. It might be an incompatibility with a Mac powered network; it might be something else entirely but it seems to not happen to everyone so I keep older AppleTV units around just for audio.

On the other hand, I can run home video AVI files without converting them (and losing quality), MKV files that easily handle DTS, etc. from Blu-rays, etc. and actually sort my library by FILE DIRECTORY in areas if I so desire (very handy for photo slideshows organization when you have thousands and thousands of trip related photos) or separate videos into vastly different areas. Even the 1st Gen AppleTV had more options than the current ones for organization (e.g. you could put all Back To The Future or Star Wars movies into "folders" by specifying "Show" in older iTunes. That was NICE. Kodi can do that with "collection" organizations for movies. But they removed that from iOS powered Apple TV units and newer iTunes won't directly let you edit the "show" field anymore unless you change the file type to something other than MOVIE (i.e. to TV Show temporarily). Kodi also STILL (over a decade later) can't read movie video tags which is RIDICULOUS considering the music player can read the information if you relabel a movie into a song! (making it obvious that it would not take a lot of work to add ID Tag support for movies and thus read M4V embedded information instead of depending on the file being labeled 'Just So' to work with a movie database to organize. In other words, neither system is "perfect" but I do not want to be dependent on Apple forever. They seem to be heading in the wrong direction lately and I have to face the fact I may have to go to Linux or Windows at some point if Tim Cook insists on destroying the Mac and/or AppleTV. You never know how long they're going to bother. They just killed the Airport routers that had been around for a long time, for example. You can't depend on Apple and you can't hardly predict them since they keep most of their future plans to themselves. I'd like a media library that is 100% agnostic and will work with Apple, Amazon or Windows or whatever.

The problem with iPhones and media is simultaneously that it works so well with iTunes and a Mac in particular but so bad if you want to use media elsewhere. Just moving songs to a USB stick for the car caused me trouble when selecting too many songs at once in iTunes and dragging/dropping. Frankly, I'm surprised it worked at all seeing how Apple would prefer if you bought a car that was Apple Play ready. But I'm not choosing my car based on my phone. Just copying/pasting music files to a USB stick also tends to copy over the hidden ".files" too and car players often choke on them so you have to take an extra step to remove them in a shell (beyond some people's knowledge level) and that never happens on a PC.

Yeah, different strokes for different folks. You're right that what I'm saying is that I'm so deep in the ecosystem that I wouldn't want to change now. That said, I'm happy to be in it, I love all my Apple products and adore how they all work so well together.

In terms of all your stuff mentioning folders and collections and organizing and tags and all that - I used to be that way, but gave it up because I don't want to have files on my systems. If I want to watch something I stream it and I never use that media in a non-Apple device. If I buy a show on iTunes for example, it's already on my TV, on my Mac ready for PIP viewing, it's on my iPhone and iPad. So easy. If I want to listen to music in my car there's a bluetooth from my iPhone for that :) I don't fart around with USB sticks or folders or storage or anything that plugs in. It's a wireless world for me.

An example: If I want to listen to an album or watch a TV show, I don't worry about how well my "file directory" is sorted, because I don't have files. I just lift my Siri remote and say what I want :) I found it liberating deleting all my **** and just loving the cloud :)
 
Because Chrome or Hangouts works on every platform. iMessage doesn't.
Google has announced that Hangouts will go away. You're kinda dated.
[doublepost=1491962056][/doublepost]
In other words, you're so deep into their ecosystem, you really don't have a lot of choices without changing everything else as well. That's exactly what Apple counts on these days. I used to have a synergistic Mac + AppleTV Units + iPod Touch for a home audio/video system, but Apple was going nowhere with the AppleTV (and sadly still aren't, IMO with the current newer model despite apps). It's been a PITA to get everything to work with Kodi (I had to find a way to get Apple movies and TV Shows to run for one thing) and Kodi still has some bugs that tick me off (the dev team are absolutely against fixing anything users report and get hostile even looking at them funny so it's not the best bet either), namely songs will sometimes "skip" for no ascertainable reason what-so-ever. It might be an incompatibility with a Mac powered network; it might be something else entirely but it seems to not happen to everyone so I keep older AppleTV units around just for audio.

On the other hand, I can run home video AVI files without converting them (and losing quality), MKV files that easily handle DTS, etc. from Blu-rays, etc. and actually sort my library by FILE DIRECTORY in areas if I so desire (very handy for photo slideshows organization when you have thousands and thousands of trip related photos) or separate videos into vastly different areas. Even the 1st Gen AppleTV had more options than the current ones for organization (e.g. you could put all Back To The Future or Star Wars movies into "folders" by specifying "Show" in older iTunes. That was NICE. Kodi can do that with "collection" organizations for movies. But they removed that from iOS powered Apple TV units and newer iTunes won't directly let you edit the "show" field anymore unless you change the file type to something other than MOVIE (i.e. to TV Show temporarily). Kodi also STILL (over a decade later) can't read movie video tags which is RIDICULOUS considering the music player can read the information if you relabel a movie into a song! (making it obvious that it would not take a lot of work to add ID Tag support for movies and thus read M4V embedded information instead of depending on the file being labeled 'Just So' to work with a movie database to organize. In other words, neither system is "perfect" but I do not want to be dependent on Apple forever. They seem to be heading in the wrong direction lately and I have to face the fact I may have to go to Linux or Windows at some point if Tim Cook insists on destroying the Mac and/or AppleTV. You never know how long they're going to bother. They just killed the Airport routers that had been around for a long time, for example. You can't depend on Apple and you can't hardly predict them since they keep most of their future plans to themselves. I'd like a media library that is 100% agnostic and will work with Apple, Amazon or Windows or whatever.

The problem with iPhones and media is simultaneously that it works so well with iTunes and a Mac in particular but so bad if you want to use media elsewhere. Just moving songs to a USB stick for the car caused me trouble when selecting too many songs at once in iTunes and dragging/dropping. Frankly, I'm surprised it worked at all seeing how Apple would prefer if you bought a car that was Apple Play ready. But I'm not choosing my car based on my phone. Just copying/pasting music files to a USB stick also tends to copy over the hidden ".files" too and car players often choke on them so you have to take an extra step to remove them in a shell (beyond some people's knowledge level) and that never happens on a PC.
TLDR

Will wait for sales figures.
 
Steve Jobs dropped "Computer" from the company name. He introduced the iPod which signaled a shift within the company. He introduced the iPhone which further pushed Apple towards being less Mac centric. He introduced the iPad which only piled on the previous non Mac products.

Apple has been a CE company and not simply a computer company for many years now. It's not new nor did Cook take the company in that direction.
Yeah but we all like to go through this monthly shock whenever new news comes out that Apple does things that are not JUST Mac. We're bored and outrage is fun. Don't kill it man
 
Google has announced that Hangouts will go away. You're kinda dated.

As I recall, Google has punted a couple of times with what they're doing with Hangouts and SMS. I'm not a Google loyalist. I'll switch to another service that meets my needs.

I own a Google number. Which means I can send/receive calls through Hangouts. Including on Linux and Windows desktops. Is there an iMessage solution that can send receive calls/SMS if I don't have a current carrier or iPhone?

I am curious. Is there a solution here that is cross-platform from Apple? I cannot control the people I communicate with. I even redirected AOL messenger to SMS back in the day, work could "text" me from their desktops if there was an emergency. I couldn't get everyone I knew to do this to make communication easier in the era before smartphones.

I have friends and family who only contact me via text. I have to give them a number through which I can contact them. Hangouts works for this for now. Apple's walled garden just doesn't work for me.
[doublepost=1492012877][/doublepost]And I may be old. Maybe it's the nitrogen bubbles in my blood, but I've taken a liking to some of the habits of youngsters.

I understand that Millennials hate voice mail. I feel the same way. If I get voice mail, I'll hang up and send a text or email.

I have a standing policy that if you send me a long, meandering voicemail when you could have sent a text or email instead, I will burn down everything you've ever loved.
 
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