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The Pitiful-Cure Edition Sunday, November 20, 2016

Customers Not Happy With Apple's 'Pitiful' Cure For iPhone 'Touch Disease', by Sophia Harris, CBC

"I think it's pitiful," says iPhone owner Trina Rae Wiegers from Prince Albert, Sask.

She claims that many smartphones get dropped, so if that's the culprit, lots of different iPhone models should be suffering from the same problem.

"You can't just pick one and say apparently people are just dropping the 6 Pluses."

Kindergartners Break Into TV Biz, by Eric Wildstein, Gaston Gazette

Students in teacher Jozette Hyatt’s classroom at Lingerfeldt Elementary are using iPads and a green screen to learn how to create their own videos and become TV news weather forecasters. They’re working collaboratively to write scripts, operate the iPad video camera, enhance their public speaking skills and learning to think critically.

“They learn so much from the activity,” said Hyatt, who is in her fifth year at Lingerfeldt. “It’s a lot of excitement for 5- and 6-year-olds.”

Manhattan D.A. Reopens Encryption Battle With Apple, by Colin Daileda, Mashable

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said Thursday that he wants Apple's encryption to go back to how it was in early 2014. Back then, police could basically extract any information they wanted after getting a warrant.

"Doing nothing about this problem will perpetuate an untenable arms race between private industry and law enforcement," Vance said on Thursday. "Federal legislation is our only chance to lay these arms aside."

The Apple Watch Nike+ Will Make You Miss Running With Your Phone, by Pete Pachal, Mashable

And there's the rub, the reason the Apple Watch Nike+ isn't worth the experience it's seemingly promising: Without a data connection, it's a step backward. Running with my iPhone, I can stream music, get notifications and even take calls while I run. With the Apple Watch, I can do none of those things.

Notes

Apple Should Go Back To The Future With The Mac Pro, by Rob Griffiths

Instead, Apple should design one Mac that can become anything and everything to each type of “Pro” user. While that may sound daungting, the good news is that Apple’s already done this in its recent past. And done it very well, I might add…

When has Apple done this in the past? As recently as 2012, the last year of production for the old Mac Pro. That’s right, the old Mac Pro.

Apple Offering Big Discounts On iPhone 7 And iPad In India After Currency Ban, by Vinod Yalburgi, International Business Times

Apple is offering massive discounts on iPhone 7 and iPad purchases, following a major ban on Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes in India. Reports indicate that the sales of Apple smartphones have more than halved in the wake of the ban imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to curb the black-money menace in the country.

Given the fact that most people usually buy an iPhone using cash, sales of the iPhone has faltered a bit in the last few weeks owing to the cash crunch created by the new government rules, following the currency ban in the sub-continent.

When Tech Is A Problem Child, by Bruce Feiler, New York Times

By now, all parents know that technology poses at least some threat to children. Just last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a study that said while digital and social media can help early learning, they also come with a host of risks, including negative effects on sleep, attention and learning, along with higher incidence of obesity and depression. The group recommends that parents develop a Family Media Use Plan.

Fair enough, but what should be in such a plan? As the parent of adolescents, I want more than bromides. I want to know what other parents are actually doing that works.

McLaren Shareholders Have Rejected Bids, Not Looking To Sell, by Costas Pitas, Reuters

"There wasn't a bid from Apple," said Flewitt.

"They visited. We talked. We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition," he said.

Bottom of the Page

Microsoft has always pursued a single-operating-system-for-all-devices strategy. At the time when Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone, the Windows operating system serves as the backbone for 'normal' PCs, tablet PCs, media PCs, server PCs, as well as PDAs and mobile phones.

No wonder Microsoft was so slow to react to the iPhone threat, spend quite a few years to adjust the operating system, and lost all its marketshare (and profits) for mobile devices, as well as making Windows irrelevant to the PC market.

This may explain why Apple seems to be abandoning 'power' Mac users as it refines its operating systems strategy to pursue the mass market. To have a 'single' operating system - whether we are talking about iOS or macOS -- that serves both the mass market and the high-end market is not going to work. Sandboxing, portability, power savings are just some of the features that different markets demands different optimization. To have a single operating system that serves different needs mean Apple will not be able to react fast for the future.

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Thanks for reading.