Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Ugh. Smart Phones.


bgavin

Recommended Posts

Hell has become exothermic.
I am being forced into my first smart phone.
I'm finding that texting is mandatory for interacting with the modern world, stock brokers, ad nauseum.

Tracfone has obsoleted my faithful flip phone.. and right after I bought a new battery for it.
This flip phone phone is boring.
It opens, it powers up, it connects and I speak to the person on the other end.
The battery lasts for weeks on end.

Tracfone has obsoleted this phone by it not being VOLTE compatible..
Sorta like what Netflix did to our nice Samsung big screen TV  (I bought a Firestick for it).
I can get on my daughters T-Mobile plan for $20/month, unlimited which is cheaper than the Tracfone.
Also, we can migrate our 30 year land line number to the smart phone, which pays for the smart phone line.

Both of these are pushing the $1k mark..
And all I really need is voice, a calendar, and a web browser.
My Nikon D850 blows the doors off a smart phone camera setup, except for in-pocket carry.
These things are relentless in their planned obsolescence. 

At first, I was tossed up between the Google Pixel 6 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
As it turns out.. the Apply product hides many things from the user, where Android does not.
Being an alpha tech geek, this is not acceptable to me, so the Android is the winner for me.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bgavin said:

As it turns out.. the Apply product hides many things from the user, where Android does not.

 

1 hour ago, Mad Dog Jack, SASS #77862 said:

What does the Apple system hide from you that the Android phone does not?

Yes, what he asked ^^^^^
 

 

I chose the iPhone because the Android and Google seemed to want and need all my personal secrets. iPhone did not. 
Of course, much like the 2 major political parties we have here the iPhone and the Android are starting to bleed together…wrong phraseology that I wish would happen to the parties…

Anyway, back to Mad Dog’s question.

Do tell. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From 32 years of using Apple hardware for business and personal stuff,  I’ve  found they support their products a lot longer than the competition. I once had an Android phone that became next to useless after a few system updates. My friends using Android phones tend to replace them often anyway so for them, it’s not an issue. But I like to get my money out of things and hang onto them for a long time, so I much prefer the Apple stuff. My wife’s iPhone 8 is still going strong. 
 

I too would like to see an answer to Mad Dog’s question. Not poking at you, just curious. 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For starters, connecting the iPhone to my workstation.
This requires installing the iExplorer app on the iPhone, and iTunes on my workstation.
Not acceptable, too much B.S. just to attach the phone as a disk mount point.

My current land line is Comcast VOIP, and it is not all that stable.
Many who call me have problems connecting.
Telemarketers fill my voice mail to full ever 24 hours, so I leave it clogged up.
It is time to give up the land line and reassign my number to a mobile phone.

After 30+ years as an AT&T landline customer, I finally had to kick them to the curb, because their line reliability was SO AWFUL.
I was working from home, multiple remote connections, all of which failed when the line burped.

I do not have a dog in the Apple/Android fight.
Both camps release and obsolete their offerings every year.
I was looking at iPhone 13 Pro Max, even though knowing iPhone 14 is coming in 2022.

I no longer do social media, so no burning need to do selfies or uploads to Facebook, etc.
I need a basic internet browser, a comprehensive calendar and not much else other than wireless charging.

[ edit ]

This is a comprehensive comparison I found on YouTube.
It is 18 minutes of education-by-fire-house, but is worthwhile.
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got an IPhone 11. It’s fine. I figured most of it out. It helped me while traveling today. Messaging is handy. I can’t have my slur handy all the time when I see a photo op. I wouldn’t spend the bucks for a 13 pro. I only understood about a third of what you were talking about. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife has an iPhone 6... does what she needs, but is obsolete.
I'm curious about how the Android is more invasive of personal info.
Google is notorious for this, so I'm not at all surprised if they continue this with the phone.

I'm not a fan boy, so I don't have a dog in this fight.
That YouTube video was compelling for IOS, for the functions I deem important.


IOS advantage:


App Install
Drag & Drop Across Apps
Facetime for Windows
Hide My Email
IMDB Search
Live Text OCR
Messages
Notifications
Search
Wallet & Pay
Weather


Android advantage:


App Hibernation
Approximate Location
Dynamic Themes
Gaming Mode
Live Text Equation Solve
Mic & Camera Disable
Privacy History
Quick Settings Panel
Settings
WiFi Sharing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

I got an IPhone 11. It’s fine. I figured most of it out. It helped me while traveling today. Messaging is handy. I can’t have my slur handy all the time when I see a photo op. I wouldn’t spend the bucks for a 13 pro. I only understood about a third of what you were talking about. :lol:

If you follow a third of it , Bob , you are about 5 times ahead of me.

I lost my flip-phone a while back , got a new I-phone , been lost ever since.

Rex :D , the poster boy for Luddite.:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Doc Shapiro said:

When I don't need the blasted thing for work any longer, I'm going back to a land line.

 

I have a supposedly smart phone, still have the land line. Good thing about the land line is that I have 147 extended car warrantees so I can travel anywhere and not have to worry about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, so it appears the Android better meets your needs. Go with what works, I say. 
 

I stilling think Androids, because of Google are more invasive, but you can limit them if you learn how. 
 

One thing I was surprised to find is Google on an iPhone can be just as invasive as it can be on an Android. 
 

I was working on completely removing myself from Google, much to my family’s chagrin. They all use Androids. I am the only iPhone user out of everyone except for my favorite sister. She does use an iPhone but she uses Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc so she might as well get a droid. 
 

I used to have an Android but I switched. Now I am so used to it that switching back would be like learning a new language. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, bgavin said:

Hell has become exothermic.
I am being forced into my first smart phone.
<SNIP>
Being an alpha tech geek, this is not acceptable to me, so the Android is the winner for me.

 

I suspect you mean ENDOTHERMIC.

 

I went with Apple simply because my wife tried out a few friends phones at the dinner table one evening many years ago, and found the apple Human Machine Interface (HMI) more easily understood, which is the whole point of having a smart phone.  As a then thirty year software guy I was pretty agnostic about O/S, just wanted to know what Apps were available.  Apple had that market cornered at the time, so the rest is history.  No point in changing either, we've gotten assimilated and there is no going back.

 

I switched to a 13 Pro-Max for the camera, and the size.  My hands like the larger phone body, and the macro is a wonderful replacement for several thousands worth of lens and adapter that I rarely used.  I also find the navigation software handy when I travel, and I have a number of Apps for that which I know work well in the UK, France, Spain, etc. as well as locally. 

 

My laptop is still Dell/Microsoft, but the next will probably be apple as well, for the weight.  I take it with me when we travel and I want a smaller unit to carry.

 

In spite of all the bitching some do I think they're absolutely amazing devices with a lot of power and capability, and they're so embedded in what we do anymore that I don't leave the house without wallet, keys, phone, gun, pocket knife and spare mag.

 

YMMV

 

SC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ShadowCatcher said:

I don't leave the house without wallet, keys, phone, gun, pocket knife and spare mag.

 

YMMV

 

SC

When I retired last August, I got a smartphone. It's apparently smarter than I am. I just went back to a flip phone, and I don't see much reason to change. Sometimes I DON'T carry it.

I'm sure that the technology is great, I just don't need it. 

And I still have a landline. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ShadowCatcher said:

I suspect you mean ENDOTHERMIC.

 

 

No, I mean exothermic, where heat leaves an object, i.e. Hell freezes over because its heat is released.

I appreciate your comments about the Max, due to larger hands.
I'm a year under half a century in the computer business, and understand the Apple is a closed system.
Many of the endless problems of Windows is the result of it being an open system.

The Android is an open system, meaning it will run the Netgear WiFi Analytics app, which IOS will not.
One simply has to dig deeper to find a similar app for IOS.
Bummer, as the Netgear app is one I could use for my clients wireless problems.

99% of me is not interested at all, in additional apps on the phone.
I have a monster workstation to do serious work.. just need a phone when I am *forced* to receive a password security text, etc etc.
All I want is a reliable machine that works for voice, basic internet and calendar.
The whole family is on iPhone, so "iMsg" will be important for me.

File transfer off iPhone is a PITA, meaning the phone requires iExplorer, and the workstation requires "iTunes".
I will install the same on a VM, and not pollute my big workstation with iTunes and Apple marketing junk.

Researching phones and cases has been an excellent diversion, as I am at the end of my gun and reloading research.
Both are successful at keeping me from having to renovate the kitchen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ShadowCatcher said:

I suspect you mean ENDOTHERMIC.

 

I went with Apple simply because my wife tried out a few friends phones at the dinner table one evening many years ago, and found the apple Human Machine Interface (HMI) more easily understood, which is the whole point of having a smart phone.  As a then thirty year software guy I was pretty agnostic about O/S, just wanted to know what Apps were available.  Apple had that market cornered at the time, so the rest is history.  No point in changing either, we've gotten assimilated and there is no going back.

 

I switched to a 13 Pro-Max for the camera, and the size.  My hands like the larger phone body, and the macro is a wonderful replacement for several thousands worth of lens and adapter that I rarely used.  I also find the navigation software handy when I travel, and I have a number of Apps for that which I know work well in the UK, France, Spain, etc. as well as locally. 

 

My laptop is still Dell/Microsoft, but the next will probably be apple as well, for the weight.  I take it with me when we travel and I want a smaller unit to carry.

 

In spite of all the bitching some do I think they're absolutely amazing devices with a lot of power and capability, and they're so embedded in what we do anymore that I don't leave the house without wallet, keys, phone, gun, pocket knife and spare mag.

 

YMMV

 

SC

Is the camera actually better on the 13  Pro Max? I ask because the numbers looked similar to my XS Max. I bought this one 3.5 years ago because “the camera is much better…” per the sales guy. It was a little. Low light shots still suck. 
 

I agree with you in regards to these being wonderful devices. They are amazingly versatile and I truly think if I no longer had my smart phone it would put me into a funk for quite a while. I never use my laptop at home. I do everything on my iPhone. 
Back in 2014 I tossed my Android and went flip phone for a year. 
It was very weird to lose that technology and the handiness of having weather, traffic, maps, camera, phone, internet, etc. 

I bought an iPhone in 2015 and haven’t looked back. 
 

You folks that love the flip phone, I see the attraction, but I am hooked. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, bgavin said:

No, I mean exothermic, where heat leaves an object, i.e. Hell freezes over because its heat is released.
<SNIP>

 
I might be confused, but I always thought of a hot place radiating heat as being exothermic, in that the heat is going exo or out, whereas
a cold place (frozen over) is endothermic, as the heat is going endo (inwards).  So if hell has frozen over, then it is no longer releasing heat
and is instead absorbing it, so it is now endothermic. 
 
 
 
 endothermic-and-exothermic-reactions-602105_final-c4fdc462eb654ed09b542da86fd447e2.jpg.7948cb18470f0f704fcf2641aafb2294.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Is the camera actually better on the 13  Pro Max? I ask because the numbers looked similar to my XS Max. I bought this one 3.5 years ago because “the camera is much better…” per the sales guy. It was a little. Low light shots still suck. 

<SNIP>

Better?  I suppose it depends on what you compare it to.  I like it's capability more than the 8, and not as much as my Leica M10.  Macro is really convenient and very good for 8x10 images, its' video is outstanding and all in all it's the best camera they have done so far.  I wouldn't try to do fine art with anything other than my M10, but it's the best cell phone camera I've tried yet.  Low light seems improved over other cameras, but I haven't done enough to be sure.

 

SC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, ShadowCatcher said:

Better?  I suppose it depends on what you compare it to.  I like it's capability more than the 8, and not as much as my Leica M10.  Macro is really convenient and very good for 8x10 images, its' video is outstanding and all in all it's the best camera they have done so far.  I wouldn't try to do fine art with anything other than my M10, but it's the best cell phone camera I've tried yet.  Low light seems improved over other cameras, but I haven't done enough to be sure.

 

SC

Thank you. I had an 8 “red” before this XS Max and I will would say they are both the same. Good, but not great. The XS Max has an excellent “Portrait Mode” the 8 didn’t. 
 

Thanks for the info. I may have to look at that 13 Pro Max. 
 

Sorry for the hijack bgavin. 
 

 

 

Now if these SOBs could fix Otto…

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exothermic is defined in Oxford as an object releasing heat into its surroundings.
Hell is defined as being infinitely hot.
No mention is made of this heat coming from an incoming (endothermic) process.

As Hell releases heat through an exothermic process, it cools and eventually freezes over..
The assumption being Hell exists in a void, such as outer space or other cooler surrounding.


Anyway, this is side tracking this smart phone discussion.  You think I am incorrect... I think you are incorrect.
Please let it go.


As far as cameras go, the Pixel 6 primary camera is some 50 megapixels, compared to the Max at 12mp.
I'm trying to dig out the sensor specs... not having any luck so far.


iPhone 13 does allow for RAW and ProRAW image creation.
Neither is for the typical point-shoot-upload user.
I shoot RAW in my Nikon D850 at all times, and process the images on my big workstation.


The iPhone sensor pixel measurements are difficult to find.
If my math is correct, the Apple 12MP sensor is 5.87 x 7.49mm with a pixel pitch of 1.9 microns.


Compare this with the Google Pixel 6 Pro sensor, 7.7 x 9.3mm, 50mp, with a pixel pitch of 1.2 microns.
Android down samples this very large image to 12MP for output.


The iPhone sensor is capable of producing a 300 dots per inch image of 10 x 13".
I suspect this is in RAW mode only, as the JPG I have seen from phones are all 72 dots per inch.
I don't know if Android has RAW image formats.


However, mobile phone images are intended for internet use, hence the low DPI values.
They don't have come close to Nikon or Canon quality for this purpose.

 


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:


Back in 2014 I tossed my Android and went flip phone for a year. 
It was very weird to lose that technology and the handiness of having weather, traffic, maps, camera, phone, internet, etc. 

I find that I don't NEED any of that on my phone. I can check the weather before I leave the house. Same with maps, OR take my Atlas, (GASP), with me, and there's nothing I need to do on the internet while I'm out and about. This Forum is the closest thing I have to social media, and I can wait until I get home to look at it. I'm pretty sure that nobody's going to email me anything that can't wait either. 

I don't have a problem with technology per say, (I LOVE my DVR), but I refuse to be a slave to it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

I find that I don't NEED any of that on my phone. I can check the weather before I leave the house. Same with maps, OR take my Atlas, (GASP), with me, and there's nothing I need to do on the internet while I'm out and about. This Forum is the closest thing I have to social media, and I can wait until I get home to look at it. I'm pretty sure that nobody's going to email me anything that can't wait either. 

I don't have a problem with technology per say, (I LOVE my DVR), but I refuse to be a slave to it.  

Good for you. You have found what works for you. I have found what works for me…and I am a slave to nothing or no one…except maybe my loving wife, of course. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/26/2021 at 9:40 PM, bgavin said:

My wife has an iPhone 6... does what she needs, but is obsolete.
I'm curious about how the Android is more invasive of personal info.
Google is notorious for this, so I'm not at all surprised if they continue this with the phone.

I'm not a fan boy, so I don't have a dog in this fight.
That YouTube video was compelling for IOS, for the functions I deem important.


IOS advantage:


App Install
Drag & Drop Across Apps
Facetime for Windows
Hide My Email
IMDB Search
Live Text OCR
Messages
Notifications
Search
Wallet & Pay
Weather


Android advantage:


App Hibernation
Approximate Location
Dynamic Themes
Gaming Mode
Live Text Equation Solve
Mic & Camera Disable
Privacy History
Quick Settings Panel
Settings
WiFi Sharing

Before I retired I used a flip phone that my employer supplied.  After retirement I needed a smart phone to access email when away from my home office.  The misses had iPhones from the model 3 on.  She upgraded & I inherited her 3.  I won't use an android because of the Chrome browser.  I used it for several years on Windows laptops until it took over a 3rd of the screen with adds.  For Google you are not a customer you are the product they sell.  I had to upgrade 3 times because I drowned two phones and lost one in the desert adjacent to my property.  My iPhone is a 10.  Until August 2019 when CC Communications switched to fiber the DSL service was getting slower & flakier.  The service degradation was due to the cable in the street deteriorating.  There were times when I had to use my iPhone as a wifi hot spot.  When at my office desk I'd keep my phone plug into a USB port which worked better than a wifi connection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made the quantum leap a few months ago. Got an iPhone SE. Can't imagine wanting anything it won't do, and I don't use a fraction of it. My wife had a 6 and was running into apps that wouldn't work it was so old. She liked mine so well she ordered one too. We got them from Consumer Cellular for like $250. We even got them for $20 downpayment and an extra $10/mon on the phone bill (no fees or interest) until it's paid for. Pretty painless.

JHC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had a few iPhones, 4, 5s, 11 pro.  The 11 has been unreliable on the hardware side.  The blue tooth never worked right, but by the time I figured it out, covid shut everything down.  Now at just over 2 years, the wireless charging has failed.  Will probably stay with apple as I find them a bit more intuitive than android.  I do have to say the bigger battery in the 11 was a huge leap forward.  The 5s was only good for about 2 hrs of screen time.  The 11 is much longer.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Still hand Bill said:

Had a few iPhones, 4, 5s, 11 pro.  The 11 has been unreliable on the hardware side.  The blue tooth never worked right, but by the time I figured it out, covid shut everything down.  Now at just over 2 years, the wireless charging has failed.  Will probably stay with apple as I find them a bit more intuitive than android.  I do have to say the bigger battery in the 11 was a huge leap forward.  The 5s was only good for about 2 hrs of screen time.  The 11 is much longer.  

That's another thing - the 13 Pro-Max has great battery life compared to older versions.  I rarely get below 90% by evening.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is one of the primary selling points for me.
The other is the larger display.
I understand the trade-off is the Max is a bit more unwieldy for "one hand" use.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fully understand that sentiment... and why I don't have one after a half-century in the computer business.
But... I am being forced into a smart phone that can text.
Same as we got the jab "go along to get along", is what I'm doing with the smart phone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.