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So three years after the headphone jack was removed 24% in 2018 didn’t buy an new iPhone or upgrade. That doesn’t track.

WTF?!?!!?!?

That MEANS every little bit counts (as in all the factors add up) not that it's been the only reason (can't say I'm shocked to see you twist it, though). Most people are probably tired of paying $800-1000 for a god damned cell phone (I paid $38 for mine + $99 SD Card 3 years ago and it works good enough for me) when there's nothing wrong with their old except that Apple keeps purposely bloating the OS every revision so that it seems like it's old/slow so you'll buy another one just to keep pace.
 
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WTF?!?!!?!?

That MEANS every little bit counts (as in all the factors add up) not that it's been the only reason (can't say I'm shocked to see you twist it, though). Most people are probably tired of paying $800-1000 for a god damned cell phone (I paid $38 for mine + $99 SD Card 3 years ago and it works good enough for me) when there's nothing wrong with their old except that Apple keeps purposely bloating the OS every revision so that it seems like it's old/slow so you'll buy another one just to keep pace.
What?

What it means is that on the internet anyone can say anything. Apple would be foolish if they didn't do the market research and understand the sales and churn patterns.

It’s not about “every little bit” counts...far from it. It’s about moving toward a vision Apple has for its products and services and if you the customer don’t jive with that vision...you can find an alternate device manufacturer. Apple has already figured the numbers.

I’m surprised you are not discussing this or maybe don’t understand that point about Apple.
 
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CONGRATS SAMSUNG FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT
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But that's exactly what Apple did. Removed it to sell Airpods and dongles. It's not hate, it's a fact.
Companies that think like this, IMO, end up like Enron (Along with pushed off customers) and don’t make $52B in a quarter.

So I’m of the opinion, apples’ removal of the headphone jack was not to sell their own products, because pissing off customers could backfire and rational line that eventually leaks and hits the net.
 
Companies that think like this, IMO, end up like Enron (Along with pushed off customers) and don’t make $52B in a quarter.

So I’m of the opinion, apples’ removal of the headphone jack was not to sell their own products, because pissing off customers could backfire and rational line that eventually leaks and hits the net.

Apple is well indeed on its way to become Enron (or at best Ballmer's MSFT), and they've already managed to piss off a lot of their customers. Their products are becoming sloppier, pricier yet assembled with cheaper components by the calendar year, an entire product category (adapters) is the "solution" to a problem Apple itself has created, a new "scandal" pops up each week, and their stellar stock performance is the product of stock buybacks.

I really have no faith in them left, and I know some of you are gonna taunt "then don't buy their products". Well, other than having been part of their brand/ecosystem for the last 20 years, the fact is that the only Apple products I'm using at the moment are my company-provided MBP and iPhone, and whereas I consider my personal iPad Pro and Watch S4 to be the two most compelling products in their respective categories right now, they might soon be on their way out together with the rest of my Apple stuff that ended up on eBay.

If you think this is a positive development, to have longtime users abandon the brand out of built-up disappointment and keep only the cheery enthusiasts locked, then I also got news: it doesn't scale. Nor will the services if the customers stop buying the devices that the services are (exclusively) living in.
 
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Apple is well indeed on its way to become Enron (or at best Ballmer's MSFT), and they've already managed to piss off a lot of their customers. Their products are becoming sloppier, pricier yet assembled with cheaper components by the calendar year, a new "scandal" pops up each week, and their stellar stock performance is the product of stock buybacks.

I really have no faith in them left, and I know some of you are gonna taunt "then don't buy their products". Well, other than having been part of their brand/ecosystem for the last 20 years, the fact is that the only Apple products I'm using at the moment are my company-provided MBP and iPhone, and I consider my personal iPad Pro and Watch S4 to be the two most compelling product families right now but might soon be on their way out together with the rest of my Apple stuff that ended up on eBay.

If you think this is a positive development, to have longtime users abandon the brand out of built-up disappointment and keep only the cheery enthusiasts locked, then I also got news: it doesn't scale. Nor will the services if the customers stop buying the devices that the services are (exclusively) living in.
If Apple becomes Ballmers MSFT they will ultimately be in a good place in about 15 years as history shows.

Apple has so many customers it’s bound to piss some off and I believe they factor that into their thinking.

I think it’s a positive development that Apple can attract newcomers such as us and go in with much of the product line: iPhones, macs, iPads , Apple TVs, Apple Watchs, airpods, etc.

What you call scandal seems normal, blown out proportion, items that happen to big business.

YMMV on all of this.
 
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But that's exactly what Apple did. Removed it to sell Airpods and dongles. It's not hate, it's a fact.

I think if someone is convinced that Apple is out to squeeze every last cent out of them, then they will view anything and everything that Apple does as an intentional effort to accomplish this goal.

For example, the iphone has been criticised for not having expandable storage or removable batteries since forever. The opt-parroted explanation is that Apple wants to sell you more internal storage, while a sealed-in battery is forced obsolescence that forces users to upgrade their phones more often.

The way I see it, Apple didn’t implement those features because it undercuts their design philosophy. Apple is about minimalism and purity in hardware design. In the eyes of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, perfect products are made by cutting out everything not absolutely required in the design. Apple products aren't about having the most features, or being the "most useful", but distilling out the purest mixture of form and function possible.

It's obviously not something everyone agrees upon, but people need to remember that this is through the eyes of Apple's design department, not the general population. And while you may disagree, you have to admit that they're close to correct.

I won’t pretend to know that I understand exactly why Apple removed the headphone jack. I have a few theories, and none of them involve selling more airpods and dongles (through I do not deny that Apple does stand to profit from this).

It may sound nonsensical to you, but that’s why I say time and time again that Apple is a design company, not a conventional tech company. They don’t see product design the same way other companies do (which explains products like the 1-port MBA in 2008 at a time when every other company was competing to see who could cram in the most ports).
 
Other than the strength of your own conviction, there's no other "proof" that your opinion stands more than mine. And that's fine.
That’s not the issue, and don’t try to draw a false equivalence.

You claimed your opinion was a fact. You laid out a conspiracy theory and followed it up with “it’s a fact”. Like I said, you don’t get to decide what a fact is. Stating your opinion is fine. Trying to pass it off as fact is not.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts—Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
 
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That’s not the issue, and don’t try to draw a false equivalence.

You claimed your opinion was a fact. You laid out a conspiracy theory and followed it up with “it’s a fact”. Like I said, you don’t get to decide what a fact is. Stating your opinion is fine. Trying to pass it off as fact is not.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts—Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

I'm not drawing a false equivalence, just using an Occam's razor to cut through your glib meandering defence of Apple's decisions.
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The way I see it, Apple didn’t implement those features because it undercuts their design philosophy. Apple is about minimalism and purity in hardware design. In the eyes of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, perfect products are made by cutting out everything not absolutely required in the design. Apple products aren't about having the most features, or being the "most useful", but distilling out the purest mixture of form and function possible.

However Steve and Jony aren't running the company anymore, neither do designers & engineers get to have the first say in the matter. Operations excellence Tim and his clone army of MBA COO wannabes do. Steve may have had the acumen and creative passion to truly come up with "what the user doesn't know they need", radically cut out fat, and still make it stick. When Tim attempts to do the same it's just so blatantly obvious he's doing it for the bottomline and the end user is an afterthought.
 
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If Apple becomes Ballmers MSFT they will ultimately be in a good place in about 15 years as history shows.

Apple has so many customers it’s bound to piss some off and I believe they factor that into their thinking.

I think it’s a positive development that Apple can attract newcomers such as us and go in with much of the product line: iPhones, macs, iPads , Apple TVs, Apple Watchs, airpods, etc.

What you call scandal seems normal, blown out proportion, items that happen to big business.

YMMV on all of this.

Lol what? Microsoft is in a better place now but certainly not thanks to Ballmer..

Sure, big business is all about throttling, component locking and glueing, and customer ecosystem lock-in that makes dark UX look like welfare.

I think you're still in a state of denial about the deepening rift Apple has been creating with customers, old and new alike. They can blatantly see how all the new product designs in the "pipeline" (lol) are purely optimised for extracting more money from their accounts without creating added value for their daily use cases.
 
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Lol what? Microsoft is in a better place now but certainly not thanks to Ballmer..
That's a topic for another day.

Sure, big business is all about throttling, component locking and glueing, and customer ecosystem lock-in that makes dark UX look like welfare.
Sure, let's cherry pick somethings, as if it's the entirety of apple.

I think you're still in a state of denial about the deepening rift Apple has been creating with customers, old and new alike. They can blatantly see how all the new product designs in the "pipeline" (lol) are purely optimised for extracting more money from their accounts without creating added value for their daily use cases.
It's hard to tell who is in denial. I personally have not talked to the nearly 1 billion apple consumers, so I don't know their state of mind. But if apple is screwing up as badly as you claim, then it will show in the numbers.
 
I'm not drawing a false equivalence, just using an Occam's razor to cut through your glib meandering defence of Apple's decisions.
Occam’s razor? Yeah no.

You: Apple dropped the headphone jack because they want moar profits. “It’s a fact.”

Me: In my opinion, your opinion is wrong. And you don’t get to decide what’s a fact.

You: Well, either do you.

Me: ummmm... I didn’t. But you did. So stop it.

You: We did the same thing!

Me: No, we didn’t and don’t try to say we did. You tried to pass off your opinion as fact. You’re entitled to your wrong opinion, but it’s not a fact just because you say “it’s a fact”. It’s not a fact, it’s your opinion—and you’re wrong.
 
Who said anything about Henry Ford.....
The comment was about cars replacing horses as the main mode of transportation. Stop pulling at straws and moving goalposts
You're ignorant of the Henry Ford quote about wanting faster horses then. Go look it up.
 
However Steve and Jony aren't running the company anymore, neither do designers & engineers get to have the first say in the matter. Operations excellence Tim and his clone army of MBA COO wannabes do. Steve may have had the acumen and creative passion to truly come up with "what the user doesn't know they need", radically cut out fat, and still make it stick. When Tim attempts to do the same it's just so blatantly obvious he's doing it for the bottomline and the end user is an afterthought.

Steve Jobs and Jony Ive may no longer be around at Apple, but I believe that the design principles instituted over all those years continue to endure.
 
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No. They did it so they could sell you Airpods. They did it to get more money out of you.
And if removal of the headphone jack, pissed people off, the last thing they would do, imo, is buy another apple product. Therefore this doesn't make sense from that point of view.

However, airpods are such a good product I bought them anyway.
 
And if removal of the headphone jack, pissed people off, the last thing they would do, imo, is buy another apple product. Therefore this doesn't make sense from that point of view.

However, airpods are such a good product I bought them anyway.

No. It's not that black and white. Sure some folks might be pissed off enough to boycott Apple products entirely, but as the Apple Defense League members on this forum love to point out, those are a tiny minority. I suspect most folks scuppered by the headphone jack removal would just shrug, annoyed or not, and replace otherwise perfectly fine wired headphones and purchase the Airpods or. Either way, this isn't merely about space or aesthetics. It's first and foremost about creating a new revenue stream.

As for the Airpods being a good product. To that I'd say they need to fix the horrendous battery life decay problem first before I'd label it as good. Right now, as it stands, they are highly disposable as a consequence. Which is of course also in Apple's interest. Furthermore, their fit isn't for everybody. They quite simply won't stay in my (or my spouse's) ears longer than 5-10 seconds. And that's when I'm perfectly still. Forget running, yawning, chewing, because that's an instant fail.
 
No. It's not that black and white. Sure some folks might be pissed off enough to boycott Apple products entirely, but as the Apple Defense League members on this forum love to point out, those are a tiny minority. I suspect most folks scuppered by the headphone jack removal would just shrug, annoyed or not, and replace otherwise perfectly fine wired headphones and purchase the Airpods or. Either way, this isn't merely about space or aesthetics. It's first and foremost about creating a new revenue stream.

As for the Airpods being a good product. To that I'd say they need to fix the horrendous battery life decay problem first before I'd label it as good. Right now, as it stands, they are highly disposable as a consequence. Which is of course also in Apple's interest. Furthermore, their fit isn't for everybody. They quite simply won't stay in my (or my spouse's) ears longer than 5-10 seconds. And that's when I'm perfectly still. Forget running, yawning, chewing, because that's an instant fail.
Well this is all opinion all the way around. It's my opinion as to what I quoted and I'm also of the opinion that airpods are a great product. As far as disposability, I don't know how disposable or not the competitions products are. As far as staying in my ear, for me and my spouse they are a perfect fit.

However, back to the headphone removal, I stand by my opinion, that pissed off customers do not buy products from the company they are pissed off at. So if airpods are a good product to people looking to buy a b/t headset and airpods are the product they want, seems like a win-win.
 
No. It's not that black and white. Sure some folks might be pissed off enough to boycott Apple products entirely, but as the Apple Defense League members on this forum love to point out, those are a tiny minority. I suspect most folks scuppered by the headphone jack removal would just shrug, annoyed or not, and replace otherwise perfectly fine wired headphones and purchase the Airpods or. Either way, this isn't merely about space or aesthetics. It's first and foremost about creating a new revenue stream.

As for the Airpods being a good product. To that I'd say they need to fix the horrendous battery life decay problem first before I'd label it as good. Right now, as it stands, they are highly disposable as a consequence. Which is of course also in Apple's interest. Furthermore, their fit isn't for everybody. They quite simply won't stay in my (or my spouse's) ears longer than 5-10 seconds. And that's when I'm perfectly still. Forget running, yawning, chewing, because that's an instant fail.

Or people, like my wife, will just use the dongle that came with the phones or use the pair with the lightning connector that Apple now includes...

I think the AirPods are a great product. I’ve had my pair for a couple years and use them daily on my commute and haven’t noticed much of a battery life drop. I do only mostly use them for music, so not sure how much the talking makes a difference. I’ve had a lot of people ask to try my pair to see if they fit and haven’t once had someone have an issue. Small sample size of course but just saying, YMMV.
 
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No. They did it so they could sell you Airpods. They did it to get more money out of you.
It’s obvious that space is an issue in smartphones and that the jack is a relatively large component. So I don’t see any reason to doubt this.
 
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