WestOKstar

If the service is good now with just a couple thousand of the 40,000 satellites that SpaceX plans to launch, just think how good it will be when they get the rest of them in the sky. The price is the limiting factor, $135 is pretty steep but not totally out of whack, but with unlimited YouTube and Amazon ad revenue to play with, to content creators this is a mere bag of shells expense.

You are right, but the entire article made a HUGE deal out of there being no huge re-design of the machine’s exterior, regardless of what is inside and the capabilities. It took a long time to get to the hardware changes and capability changes because she railed at the looks of the computer and grumped about them not changing enough to suit her. The desire for a total exterior redesign took precedence over what is happening inside and that’s just silly, there is no real need for a total exterior redesign at every turn.

This "review" is a perfect example of what most reviewers think: They do not care one whit about what is inside the device, and this device can be from any manufacturer, not just Apple but any computer maker. They do not care what is inside or anything about its capabilities. All they care about is that the manufacturer MUST totally re-design the thing from year to year in order to get a positive review. If they don’t, these reviewers will rag on and on about "stale design", moan about the thing not looking "new and fresh", and on & on. It must LOOK totally different from the model that came before it, that is all. As long as it looks different and "new" they are happy. No, this laptop is not a total redesign from last year’s model, but it does have some pretty good new features inside, but it, like many other laptops from other makers, got a bad review simply, and solely, because it doesn’t look different enough to please this reviewer.

4K and HDR have become the 3D boondoggle of the ’20’s. Hardly any shows are produced in 4K, only some of the excellent documentaries on AppleTV+ and a few others. fAnd then if a show is actually available in 4K, the data-rate requirement to be able to watch it is far beyond what the average rate of internet service today. The streaming services have used the allure of 4K and HDR as one of the perks of becoming subscribers but then it rarely ever shows up. Classic bait and switch.

Nothing at all, and the carriers have done nothing at all over the intervening time to expand and enhance their low-band 5G coverage across the country, which is not encumbered by any build-out restrictions.

Yes, T-Mobile has a HUGE site density problem which makes their coverage paper thin and has long gaps between sites where coverage and data service is awful to non-existent. In the vast majority of places, their sites are spaced around 20 miles apart, which is fine for low-band 5G service, but these mid-band signals only travel 2-3 miles from a site, which leaves a 12-15 mile gap between those sites where the service is not available and the only way to fix the problem is to build a new site halfway in between. But T-Mobile is not doing this at all, not building any new sites, only upgrading existing sites, and only doing that a glacial pace.

Another device with a "modified" version of Android, and that version might come out as long as a year after the generic version of Android was released. Or they might get it out within 6 months of release for a couple of years and then something will happen causing a huge delay to a year, at which time the company will just tire of doing messing with it and stop and/or go out of business. Sound familiar? It is what happened with OnePlus and now that brand no longer exists. My McLaren edition OnePlus 7 only received 2 Android updates before they moved on and never updated it again, and they came out with two more phones before brand was shut down. The Android world is such fun, no long-term support or consistency at all.

"Can’t seem to build its own car" Really? What evidence is there that Apple has failed at building a car? What evidence is there that they are even GOING to build a car, let alone failed in any sort of attempt at doing so? Ragging on Apple for not being able to do something they have not even indicated or announced that they going to do or even have plans to do is just a bit disingenuous and dramatic.

Yes it is still Apple’s world, and I am quite fine with that. I am quite fine with the way my phone performs and that all the iPhones I have ever owned have performed, which has been excellent.

I have never felt that I needed to change absolutely everything about the look, feel, and operation of my phone the minute I turn it on for the first time. Good for Google for providing their users the means to do that if they so choose, but for me, I just don’t need it. I am quite happy with the way things are, and based on sales and user satisfaction statistics over the years, the vast majority of Apple’s customers seem to be just fine with it as well. It is only the bloggers, tech writers, pundits, et al who seem to always have problems with the way Apple does things. I enjoy reading their criticism, but I enjoy more the experience I have with my Apple devices.

OK, so which of the dozen or so different types of USB-C cables, each with different and varying power and data-handling capabilities is going to become this new "standard"? And which of the dozen or so different types of charging blocks, each with different voltage and "fast-charging" capabilities is going to become this new "standard"?

While I do think having a standard is a very good thing, currently the USB-C world is a complete nightmare of "standards" and capabilities, such that it is impossible to pick from a group of cables lying on a table the correct one for what you want to do because there are no labeling standards and just from looking at them, there is no way to pick the correct one.

Typical carrier BS: Available in "select" portions of "select" cities, never to be seen on a widespread basis for 20+ years. Get back to us when this is a real service.

Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon are not really working on their 5G networks at the present time. Both carriers have stopped 5G deployment right now. Both carriers have pretty much stopped deployment of 5G because the mid-band spectrum they are waiting on will not be available for them to use until 2024, and even then it will only be available in "select" portions of "select" cities. as millimeter-wave and the low-band they currently use are right now.

USB-C is simply a nightmare of specs and functional capabilities, with no real standard at all. Lay 12 USB-C cables on a table and try to pick out the best one or even the one that your device is supposed to use and there is no way to tell any of them apart except from basic construction and materials and those two things alone tell you nothing about the cable’s capabilities. USB-C should be done away with and something else come up with where EVERY cable will have the ability to do EVERY function the standard supports.

All the pundits gripe about having to keep a Lightning cable around to use with their Apple devices, but at least you know that EVERY single Lightning cable is capable of performing EVERY single function the standard supports.

Like most cable networks nowadays, The Weather Channel’s programming is a FAR cry from what their name suggests. Most of their program day is spent on reality shows and not forecasting the weather or even live weather reports. Nothing to do with actually what is going on outside at any particular location, and that makes a streaming service a no-go for me.

Just like MTV is no longer about music, Food no longer about cooking shows, only competitions, and on & on, Weather Channel is no longer actually about current weather. Like those other networks, they should just be done with it and change their name.