iPhone5- Wtf. Not impressed

I’ve found the Apple Maps fine, the turn by turn nav is much better than google – I ran it in parallel with my Garmin last weekend and to be honest my traditional SatNav is now redundant for the UKI’ll use the phone and only use the SatNav abroad (to save data roaming charges).

In terms of phone vs smart phone vs iPhone .. we have hoover, biro etc – many brand names are used instead of the generic term. The fact the word iPhone is being used IMO reflects it’s dominance.

@winrya – I’m amazed you’d buy two phones, perhaps they make sense instead of getting them with a contract. I haven’t paid for a phone in years

Yes, he could. But he didn’t. Lets move on shall we?

or he could at least have given some good reasons why it is so crap.

It’s not.

As I said on another thread, I used the new Apple maps to guide me round all week last week (About 700 miles) after my satnav went on the blink.

And, shock horror, it worked perfectly. In fact, if a hard reset hadn’t started my Garmin back up like it did, I would have just carried on using it. It’s at least as good as the Garmin, maps wise, and calculates routes and re-routes far faster.

But hey-ho. It’s always the negative comments that people latch on to.

Have you used it?

In terms of phone vs smart phone vs iPhone .. we have hoover, biro etc – many brand names are used instead of the generic term.

I’ve never heard the term ‘iPhone’ used to describe a non-iPhone phone, ever. I don’t think that’s (yet) quite the same thing. I wonder idly if that’s just a matter of time though; ‘iPod’ is starting to mean ‘generic mp3 player’.

I wonder if it’s actually a fragmentation thing. People will routinely refer to their iPhones and Blackberries by name, but the broad selection of brands and models means that Android / WinMo devices don’t have the same zeitgeist penetration individually. There isn’t a collective noun other than “Android Phone” which isn’t particularly snappy. Which might be a bit of a marketing misstep by Google, thinking about it. “Droid”?

Yes, he could. But he didn’t. Lets move on shall we?
or he could at least have given some good reasons why it is so crap.
It’s not.

So, write to him and let him know he’s wrong, in fact it’s great.

As I said on another thread, I used the new Apple maps to guide me round all week last week (About 700 miles) after my satnav went on the blink.

And, shock horror, it worked perfectly. In fact, if a hard reset hadn’t started my Garmin back up like it did, I would have just carried on using it. It’s at least as good as the Garmin, maps wise, and calculates routes and re-routes far faster.

While it may function perfectly adequately as a postcode sat nav, most people are dismayed by it’s other failings. POI, building locations and the visualisation of roads.
I’m sure it’ll come together though, Google maps wasn’t built in a day.

Have you used it?

Yes I have. On iPhone and iPad, though sadly not for turn-by-turn because for some reason best known to Apple they don’t offer that on the iPhone 4 😐

It is okayish round here. Usable, but not great.

Certainly doesn’t have the detail of Google Maps, the local search is a bit rubbish, the aerial views are very mixed (some a cloudy blurry mess, others quite good). Directions seem okay provided you can find where you want it to go. I’m quite impressed with the 3D flyover thing, very nice when it works. This is me looking down the Tyne Valley to the sea from somewhere above my house:

But the 3D model does seem to go a bit mental when it reaches bridges or other “suspended” objects of which we have a few in Newcastle, presumably because of the way it tries to automatically work out the 3Dness from multiple photos.

But hey-ho. It’s always the negative comments that people latch on to.

I agree and it is probably a good measure of how often Apple get it right that when they get it wrong everyone jumps on them for it because their expectations are so high.

BUT.. the Map simply isn’t good enough. I look forward to it improving.
Meantime I’ll carry on using third party satnav like Waze, NavFree and BikeHub – all of which can manage turn-by-turn directions on the iPhone 4.

Have you used it?

I have yes, and it was fine mostly…but it was mrs deadly holding it and giving me the instructions. One thing though, do the turn by turn instructions come up automatically, or do you have to manually scroll them across?

EDIT: forget that question, I have a 4 too and just saw Gee2DaEss’s post. 🙁

EDIT Squared:

because their expectations are so high.

Because they can’t resist a bit of schadenfreude more like it.

Because they can’t resist a bit of schadenfreude more like it.

Yeah him too.

anyone else seen this..?

what do we make of it…?

What do you make of it?

I reckon the nets are to stop folk chucking out bags of parts/finished units, to accomplices below, to sell on any number of cheap Chinese tech ebay pages

They’re on the dorm rooms, not the factory.

iOS10 Glitch

Yep.

It’s very sad yunki, but it’s hardly a iPhone or Apple issue.
Foxconn make a LOT of electronic devices for a LOT of manufacturers. Good to think about these things, but sitting at a PC and complaining about iPhones being made by Foxconn is missing the bigger picture.

but sitting at a PC and complaining about iPhones being made by Foxconn is missing the bigger picture.

is it Grahame..? Is that what it is..? Missing the bigger picture..?

or is it just not really giving a shit, just like everyone else.. 😀

Or perhaps we should burn all of our home technologies and simply sit at home shouting at our hands..?
Personally, and not for the first time, I’m staging a dirty protest in my own front room.. that’ll teach ’em

Missing the bigger picture, and the Graham’s point. Foxconn are massive, they make chips for just about everyone. It’s not solely an Apple issue.

If you don’t give a shit, why post it in the first place? Odd.

is it Grahame..? Is that what it is..?

Well you could call it “incredibly hypocritical” if you prefer. 😆

Point is, unless you happen to have manufactured your PC and all it’s components yourself, using minerals that you have mined from your own land, then you have to face the fact that its construction involved shafting lots of people who are much poorer than you.

And that goes for pretty much everything in our cushy Western lives (TV, car, phone, PC, furniture, clothes, food).

Pointing at one particular thing and going “Oh isn’t it awful” is just a little bit silly.

It’s not that I don’t give a shit, it’s just that I can’t really do very much about it.

yada yada yada.. condescending nonsense.. bit silly

😆

how not to open the box with your new iPhone 5 in it;

The foxconn suicide stuff is a good example of stats gone wrong.

There have indeed been a number of workers there kill them selves. Each individually very sad.

But foxconn employ 100s of 1000s of people.

So at a population level their suicide rate is lower than average. A foxconn worker is less likely to kill themselves than an average chineese person.

So it’s just a good headline to bash Apple but not actually a real issue.

So with that nonscense banished we can go back to complaining about the new iPhone itself!

It’s not that I don’t give a shit, it’s just that I can’t really do very much about it.

And there I was thinking you were a consumer…
I really can’t be bothered, I’ve rephrased this several times. Basically, I think your apathetic display on a public forum is as shameful as it is contagious. I find it arrogant that you feel that your actions are safeguarded because you know the bigger picture. I feel dismayed that you feel you are not to blame, and I am disappointed that you see the Suicide Net picture as, yes ‘saddening’, but otherwise purely in terms of whether or not it is Apple’s fault.

To stop it, Stop buying crap you don’t need.

yada yada yada.. condescending nonsense.. bit silly

🙄 okay what do you suggest yunki?

Would the lives of those Foxconn workers be enhanced if we all stopped buying gadgets and put them all out of a job?

To stop it, Stop buying crap you don’t need.

Same point to you then scuzz. How will reducing demand and putting them out of work improve their lives?

how not to open the box with your new iPhone 5 in it;

Whoaa, is that real? 🙁

…well hellloooo doggy-heaven

interesting camera glitch yesterday…

[/url]
Untitled[/url] by jambo-uk[/url], on Flickr

I don’t know the socioeconomic situation in China well enough to comment with any authority, but my argument is based around ‘stop giving China money and their government will stop stealing the workers’ farmland, their worker’s sons won’t move to the cities looking for work, their worker’s sons won’t see a job at Foxconn as the best alternative in a bad situation’.
Who knows what the Chinese know? I sure don’t. I just know that the systematic exploitation of cheap labour is wrong, and I don’t want to say anything today that may perpetuate it.

okay what do you suggest yunki?

Would the lives of those Foxconn workers be enhanced if we all stopped buying gadgets and put them all out of a job?

I only asked what folk thought about the article ya daft wee hiccup.. 🙄
you and scuzz are the only fellas suggesting a boycott..

If pushed for a solution, I would suggest that folk get in a mood about it if it suits them, and see where it takes them..

…well hellloooo doggy-heaven

Yes. It’s just great that someone’s hard earned cash is up the spout isn’t it? Get real.

their worker’s sons won’t see a job at Foxconn as the best alternative in a bad situation

From a BBC Article about Foxconn:

Foxconn is famous for his industrial revolution approach to manufacturing; the workers eat, sleep and live in huge dormitories adjacent to the factories where they work round-the-clock shifts. The company even provides doctors.

The plant in Shenzhen, which includes bakeries, banks and acupuncture clinics, for example, employs over 400,000 people.
..
[Foxconn] responded to the worldwide media attention by raising wages, shortened working hours and installed counsellors on site. It also installed suicide nets to factory living-quarters at its Shenzhen factory.

And Apple sent independent inspectors from the US Fair Labor Association to audit their facilities, who found “significant issues” among working practices there.

Apple said it “fully accepted” the report’s conclusions.

Despite being a lightning rod for criticism, Foxconn is regarded as one of China’s better employers by many Chinese labour rights groups, paying workers on time and for all the overtime.

So… we should shut them down? Putting 400,000 people out of work (at just one plant!), and forcing them to seek employment at less reputable factories which haven’t had the benefit of worldwide scrutiny.

Let me be clear: I don’t approve of “the systematic exploitation of cheap labour” either, but people in developing economies do need jobs.

I think raising worldwide public awareness of conditions and putting pressure on companies we buy from to ensure their suppliers treat workers well and pay them properly is a much better way forward than just boycotting everything made in China or any other developing nation.

i think re the foxxconn stuff the relentless pursuit of the newest gizmo is the problem, when theres nothing wrong with your previous phone/pc/tablet etc

Let me be clear: I don’t approve of “the systematic exploitation of cheap labour” either, but people in developing economies do need jobs.

I agree, I’m simply disheartened to see another economy becoming more and more westernised. This is purely emotional, mind you.

I think raising worldwide public awareness of conditions and putting pressure on companies we buy from to ensure their suppliers treat workers well and pay them properly is a much better way forward than just boycotting everything made in China or any other developing nation.

This is exactly what I’m trying to achieve with my posts, as well as my avoidance of products that produce massive margins which do not trickle down to the workers. I’ve had to draw a line somewhere. I’m not advocating boycotting everything made in China, I’m suggesting that the way things are are not the only way they can be, and ultimately we are all responsible for this consumerist cluster-love-in. This was mainly in response to your comments along the lines of ‘lots of other companies do it’ and ‘there isn’t much I can do about it’, as well as the general apathy you displayed.

my avoidance of products that produce massive margins which do not trickle down to the workers

But as that article states, it is one of the better employers and wages have been increased, so arguably it is the very kind you should be supporting as it IS trickling down some of those margins.

his was mainly in response to your comments along the lines of ‘lots of other companies do it’

Fair enough, maybe I should have worded that better.

It just seems a bit odd that people post images like that deriding Apple (who actually responded to pressure by instigating the FLA independent inspection and trying to improve conditions) but make no mention of Acer, Amazon, Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba or Vizio who also use Foxconn and don’t appear to have done anything.

as well as the general apathy you displayed.

There’s a subtle difference between apathy and resignation.

i think re the foxxconn stuff the relentless pursuit of the newest gizmo is the problem, when theres nothing wrong with your previous phone/pc/tablet etc

Isn’t this what drives employment?

It just seems a bit odd that people post images like that deriding Apple…

but make no mention of Acer, Amazon, Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba or Vizio

I was just raising awareness.. where better to enquire about the issue in the image than a thread full of gadget obsessed fanbois..? as you said, by far and away the best policy..
thankfully you’ve filled the gaps very concisely Graham, and for that you deserve a big fat kiss..

(please make an effort to remember not to shoot the messenger in your frantic scramble for the moral high ground in future though.. hey kiddo..? 😉 )

But as that article states, it is one of the better employers and wages have been increased, so arguably it is the very kind you should be supporting as it IS trickling down some of those margins.

Long may these benefits increase, but the margins are still too large on many items of desirable consumer electronics for my conscience.

It just seems a bit odd that people post images like that deriding Apple

I view these images as a natural response to cult following that Apple products enjoy. There are people that are complete ‘Apple fanbois’. There is a stereotype that Apple users are smug about their phone and irrationally view it as the best-phone-ever, making them a preferential target compared to someone who shuts up about their phone. Coupled with the aforementioned media oversaturation of all things Apple, Apple products in general get an awful lot more exposure than other brands. Likewise, the negative impacts of Apple’s choice of manufacturing also gets greater attention. I feel Apple’s praise and derision are linearly related. No one goes on about how bad Toshibas manufacturing policies are because no one goes on about how good their products are.

There’s a subtle difference between apathy and resignation.

Indeed, my apologies

i think re the foxxconn stuff the relentless pursuit of the newest gizmo is the problem, when theres nothing wrong with your previous phone/pc/tablet etc

Isn’t this what drives employment?

Maybe, but it also drives pollution and the consumption of resources.

Foxconn’s suicide rate is estimated to be 4.7 per 100,000 per year

That is lower than all 50 US states, significnatly lower than China as a whole and the UK.

It is less than half that of working in the NHS.

So if you don’t want to feel guilty for buying an iPhone (or any of the other tech they make) you don’t have to. But if you visit the doctors your really should go with a guilty concience.

@scuzz – it’s economically beneficial for a Chinese person to work in a factory than it is for them to be a subsistence farmer. It’s just the same revolution every developed country has been through. Did you see the program on the BBC last night about Marxism ? They pointed out that the Victorian mining employers who paid their workers more invariably went out of businesses vs their competiton. That doesn’t really help the worker does it ? If the Chinese government doesn’t chose to set national standards for pay and employee welfare a foreign company cannot do it alone.

it’s economically beneficial for a Chinese person to work in a factory than it is for them to be a subsistence farmer.

Of course, I’m simply arguing for the more quixotic life where benefits aren’t measured economically, that’s all. As I said, it’s my emotional reaction. There are many farmers who have been forced off of their land and have previously had no desire to chase a more economically viable way of life.

Apple have consistently shown that they can sell their product at a premium price compared to the competition; they have far more to offer a consumer than mining companies ever did, where I would imagine price pays far more of a factor – No one ever considered the mine from which the coal in their pocket originated as a lifestyle choice.

they have far more to offer a consumer than mining companies ever did

Eh?

One is a luxury item, one is a necessity. Not sure how you can compare?

i think re the foxxconn stuff the relentless pursuit of the newest gizmo is the problem, when theres nothing wrong with your previous phone/pc/tablet etc

While that may well be true, what is also true is that very many Apple products get passed along to other family members, or sold on to people who can’t afford the latest version, and as such have a useful life many times longer than most such products. The phones go to spouses/children/relatives, as do computers and pads. I still have, and use, an eight year old PowerBook, at work we have three old desktop Macs, two in use, which date back to 2001, the other to 1999. In the last few months, I have personally seen nearly twenty gutted PC’s go for scrap. This is no different to bikes, really, the buying of the latest whizzy new ‘steed’, and the re-cycling, (ha!) of the older, less whizzy bike to those less impressionable/fortunate. That’s been going on on here since I first started using STW back in 2002/3.
Let’s all live in mud huts and wear hair shirts, wailing and bemoaning consumerism, why don’t we! 🙄

Ive just had a play on the Note II. Jesus the video definition is 😮

Zoom in to a playing vid and its ultra-sharp. Cant be good for battery life but boy for once I will pay money upfront for a phone (£69) and wait until the 17th. **** it feels quality as well.

A sort of Samsung S3 Turbo.