All Things Mac/ Apple
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I thought at least SOME sort of Beats announcement was a conspicuous absence from the event, but it is nice that the watches are customizable. The branding is maddening though. They should have called it iWatch. "Watch" has no caché. iWatch immediately calls to mind an Apple wearable. And don't get me started on Apple Watch "Edition," that's some of the worst branding Apple has EVER perpetrated.
Everything Apple announced was catch-up. This has happened in the past, but typically they would put an angle on it that made it unique and compelling; I don't see that this time. The model has been to wait so that they could perfect a given technology; in this case I don't think they perfected anything. The one thing that may be a game-changer is Pay, since Google hasn't been able to get that done with Wallet.
They are just not the same company and are no longer terribly interesting to me, which saddens me because they did so much for technology when they were driven by vision. I won't even waste time watching the keynote. The plus side is that nothing will be compelling me to make an expensive shift back into the Apple ecosystem (other than replacing my aging MacBook Air).
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MCL, I think they've changed their focus. I'm sure the watches will have mega appeal with those in school/uni/college, and that appears to be their aim IMO. Smart Watches are trying to fill a void that noone really wants/needs. I still see it as a fad. Fitness tracking for most is a fad as well. I have Withings Pulse and Scales, I do keep track of what I get upto and it subtly changes my lifestyle, but it's not a competition. Most people really couldn't give a shit long term about their steps, it's meaningless after the first few weeks. Then the watch goes away, unless you're sending secret messages in classes or something from your wrist. I see the target audience of the watch being in the mid-teens to mid-20's.
You'd of seen the link in DF about TC's interview stating the 6+ was to try pull some people back from andriod who wanted the larger res, it's designed as a response to market demand for the size, not to innovate there.
Pay I still think if they can get it rolling will be The Thing. If they can even get it rolled out world wide. You would have no idea how annoying payments are down here now. PayPass/PayWave (aka NFC) is taking off, but a lot of terminals don't support it. Added then 50% of places don't take AMEX. Goes like, hand over AMEX, they try NFC, it fails, then they realize AMEX, then hand back, then hand over Visa, NFC fails again, then Chip&Pin insert, then enter pin, then hand terminal back to person. Really really broken process. Even places I go regularly NFC will stop working on their terminal, or on my card or something. That's outside of the security fuzzies of Apple's solution.
I'll be picking up 1 of the 13" MBP's once Yosemite is out. My MBA is now into it's 4th year of daily commuting as my work beater. It generally has over 100 days of usage/uptime, has travelled around the world multiple times, has been in 5 bike accidents where I've hit the road with it in my back, whilst in hibernate, and the thing has not missed a single beat. Even yesterday going to work I had a feeling I wasn't carrying it with me, so light that I'm still not used to it. They make the best hardware in the world, bar none. The OS is solid @ it's core, fuck the shiny feature on top.
Christ I'd kill for a real world F2F conversation with you guys sometime!
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One day we hopefully will meet F2F!
I was thinking about it, and the very idea of a watch is probably premature. There needs to be technology to sustain at least 44-48 hours between charges IMO.
What if they had made a sensor band, super small and light, hopefully with decent battery life due to a lack of display (or perhaps an LED clock as the sole display), that had NFC and BT LTE. Keep all the fitness tracking / computation on the phone, and just use the band as a sensor / fitness / sleep tracker / NFC device.
The plus side for consumers would be that you could have NFC for your legacy, NFC-less phone via the BT connection to your phone. Of course, Apple would never be a fan of something like that that inhibits purchase of the New Thing.
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snowy, i find that the pin payment is already a step up from signature payments. in singapore, there's still not option for a pin payment via visa, master or amex. it's all signature based though they're using a chip that they reckon is much more secure than the magnetic strip. having you nfc payments too like paywave and paypass has its downside too that if someone steals your cards, they can make multiple payments up to $100 multiple times with out any verification of fraud.
though that's where the point of NFC via phones come in. if in any case you lose your phone, you'll still need access to a device that you'll need to use to disable those payments. until it really takes off, i reckon you'll still find the problems with current paywave paypass problems where some places may not have that system to accept those payments.
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…which is why I thought optical bar codes was a smarter approach. Those are already everywhere.
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I've had an IPhone 5 for two years now. Pretty much always have a mophie case on it.
Here's it compared to a cut out of a 6+. It doesn't seems that crazy to me.
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…which is why I thought optical bar codes was a smarter approach. Those are already everywhere.
Probably easier to spoof a barcode than an NFC Token Request.
Good details on how it works over @ http://bankinnovation.net/2014/09/heres-how-the-security-behind-apple-pay-will-really-work/?utm_content=buffer40115&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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A 16-digit number? That's pretty trivial to represent optically. I think NFC is a solution in search of a problem. Starbucks and others have demonstrated optical bar codes working fine for mobile payments. $0.02
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Yeah, I'm sorry for not being more clear, it would be an ad-hoc token generated for each purchase.
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so correct me if i'm wrong but these tokens or barcodes we're talking about here is like a one time pin when you purchase something online?? like when you purchase something online and your cc issuer sends you a one time pin to confirm the purchase.
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Yep. You'd have a secure channel to your bank and the token would be combined with a unique device identifier and a timestamp and sent to the bank. It's a simple technology that is already in use. No new hardware would be required and even device based POS systems like square could use the camera on the iPad or whatever to process the payment.
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after selling off my first batch of iphones 6 and 6+ camping overnight, oh god how good i finally feel to be able to secure the 6+ i wanted having been in front of my comp trying reserving over the past few nights. gonna collect tomorrow, so ecstatic that i managed to secure it!!
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Does anyone else think apple is kind of wack now? Fuck. I mean seriously…coming out with 2 phones is just weird for apple, and I tried them today and even the 6 is super borderline to me. Keep in mind I usually never ever get the old hardware, but I'm heavily considering a 5s. It's just such a bummer since everything else about the 6 is sick (screen in particular), but I feel like I'd just be a tad annoyed carrying it all the time. I've got until the 6th to decide though....
I straight up can't believe anyone would get a 6+. This is my hand fully outstretched, and with a 5 it can reach the tip of the phone easily in the same position
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Apple has lost sight of what made them great. Very sad to see.
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Yup. In a few years they'll really resemble android to an insane degree…a shame indeed
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The thing is they will maintain profitability for a long time and won't feel the sting of not putting the product first until it's too late. I saw the warning signs shortly after Jobs passed. Certain things are getting out the gate. I'm not saying that bad things didn't happen in the Jobs eras, but I cannot accept that Apple would release, for example, Safari on iOS 8 that cannot upload a file (functionality we've had in browsers since the 1990s), or a phone that can bend simply by being in your front pocket while you're seated, or a major release with almost no innovation and rife with "me too" functionality.
Apple used to operate as though they were in a silo, now they are clearly motivated by their competitors. I think I've said here before that that's not a game Apple can win, as a vertically-integrated business–Samsung can get into feature wars, Apple will have longer design and production cycles and need to differentiate on a seamless user experience, not a feature arms race.
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For sure… also, is it just me, or what the fuck is up with these leaks too? Back in the day apple was actually fucking secretive. The iPhone 4 scandal was huge and I believe they tried to sue whoever got ahold of it... now everybody and their fucking mother apparently has a perfectly working copy? Some videos straight up guessed almost every feature of the new phones and also mentioned the iWatch. How has apple let it slip that bad? Personally, I really don't care that more information is out, but I don't like that it's something that's drastically changed about Apple since jobs, and this change has already led to changes in philosophy and the product line. And not for the better.
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Ben, I'd get a 6 over a 5s, for Apple Pay. As long as the 6 fit in my front jean pockets, not looked at/tried as my 5s still has a year left on it. I think Apple Pay will slowly take off over the next 2 years…..
Bendgate is really interesting, no comments on it either way. PR nightmare for Apple for sure!
