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72 lines
3.2 KiB
72 lines
3.2 KiB
4 years ago
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title = "What The Hell Is Apple Doing?"
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date = 2020-10-30
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[taxonomies]
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tags = ["apple", "iphone", "charger", "earphones"]
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Apple announced that the new iPhone won't come with a charger or earphones, "to
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help the environment". And a lot of people said they are just trying to get
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more money.
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But maybe there is something more in this.
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<!-- more -->
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Apple is not a dumb company. One of the things they do (very well) is "train"
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people to accept their products, in a way that people don't realize they are
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being trained.
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One example: Apple developed the iPad before the iPhone. But they knew people
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won't understand why one would buy a touch screen with a (at the time) small
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processing power when there were laptops. But by released the iPhone, they
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"trained" people to accept the touch screen and, with that, allowed the iPad
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(and other tablets) to be generally accepted.
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Another example: In a time when the only screen resolution for the iPhone was
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4.7", for two (or three) WWDCs there were talks about how to use the
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contrain-based layout in iOS applications. This layout mechanic is based on
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defining things like "this element must be X pixels/Y% distant from that other
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element (or border)". But for something that always had the same resolution[^1]
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and the same size, why would anyone use this? The reason was the release of
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iPhone with larger screens. Again, Apple trained developers to think in a
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different way before making their move.
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So what the hell can we expect from phones with no charger and no earphones?
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First of all, let's think who doesn't need a charger or earphones: People who
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*already have* chargers and earphones. And who already have chargers and
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earphones compatible with iPhones? People who already have an iPhone.
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In a way, Apple seems resigned to the idea that people that buy an iPhone
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already have an iPhone. It's not people that are replacing their Android phones
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with an Apple solution, it's people who are updating to the newest version of
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the phone. Sure, there is that one person that is getting their first phone and
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won't have a previous charger+earphones, but that seems to be a small
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percentage in Apple's view.
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If that's the case, the "helping the environment" actually makes sense: Less
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materials required, less things just thrown in drawers that will never be
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used...
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Still, there is no "training" in this; it is simple "not used, not required".
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So what could be the training involved in this?
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And I believe that the plan is to offer an annual upgrade plan by Apple itself.
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Imagine this: You pay a plan, a very small fee every month or so and, every
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year, you go to an Apple store, drop your old phone and get the brand new
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model! What a deal! And, because the model is the latest version of the same
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thing, the charger and earphones are still compatible.
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I've seen this kind of model offered by phone companies already, but this
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strategy would cut the middle man and go directly to Apple. With the advantage
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-- to Apple -- that it would provide constant income instead of bursts of money
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once a year.
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---
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[^1]: There was a resolution change from the original screen to retina display,
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but that made the resolution twice as it was before, and the OS itself would
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change your "10 pixels from the left side" to "20 pixels from the left side".
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