Technology catch-all thread

[southsider2k5]

...and millions still are.

 

And their stock is at a record high because of it.

[Y2HH]

And their stock is at a record high because of it.

 

Actually their stock went down yesterday because of the "disappointing" iPhone5 numbers. That "disappointment" being a record breaking 5 million sold in one weekend...not including the 4 weeks of back orders they current have.

[StrangeSox]

That people are still buying the phone doesn't excuse technical blunders. That's a marketing argument.

[Y2HH]

This would be how you factory reset a Samsung Galaxy S3 using TouchWiz:

 

Create a link, and put this in the link:

 

 

Samsung better fix that...until then, people using Touchwiz, careful what you click on.

 

Note, this isn't an Android problem, it's a TouchWiz problem...introduced by companies that insist on messing with Android in order to make it their own.

 

This highlights one of the glaring deficiencies in Android's open source model. It bothers me that Samsung, via it's touchwiz skin, introduced this vulnerability to a system that otherwise couldn't be compromised by this. While it took Android a while to mature to a level in which I found it functional enough as to "not require hacking" (that being 4.1.1 Jellybean), you have to deal with issues like these. Samsung, HTC...and whoever else need to STOP messing with Android and re-skinning it/altering it. I understand they do this to differentiate themselves, but it bothers me...because it introduces massive security exploits into the base code which otherwise wouldn't exist, not to mention the possibility of compatibility issues. Try differentiating yourselves in hardware/build quality and stop messing with Android. It's better without all these stupid changes.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Y2HH

[Y2HH]

That people are still buying the phone doesn't excuse technical blunders. That's a marketing argument.

 

Nobody said it did.

 

But let's not pretend Microsoft and Google haven't made their fair share, too.

[StrangeSox]

Touchwiz sounds like a urinal company

[southsider2k5]

That people are still buying the phone doesn't excuse technical blunders. That's a marketing argument.

 

If people are buying it anyway, why would Apple change what it is doing? In essence they would be spending more money, to earn pretty much the same amount back.

[StrangeSox]

Pride and integrity? A desire not to embarrass themselves? Nothing lasts forever?

 

You're still making a marketing argument, though, not a technical one. That people may still buy sub-standard* products because of the effectiveness of the marketing doesn't excuse the technical failure.

 

*iPhone 5 is not a sub-standard product itself, but the mapping program is.

[southsider2k5]

Pride and integrity? A desire not to embarrass themselves? Nothing lasts forever?

 

You're still making a marketing argument, though, not a technical one. That people may still buy sub-standard* products because of the effectiveness of the marketing doesn't excuse the technical failure.

*iPhone 5 is not a sub-standard product itself, but the mapping program is.

 

That means nothing at all unless people aren't buying the product because of it. At the end of the day, that is all Apple really cares about.

[Y2HH]

That means nothing at all unless people aren't buying the product because of it. At the end of the day, that is all Apple really cares about.

 

If Apple made repeated missteps such as this, people would take notice and perhaps then, it would affect their bottom line. I think that's his point.

 

On a side note, this is being blown out of proportion by the media and namely, Fandroids. Even Steve Wozniak mentioned that while the Maps app isn't good, it's not nearly as bad as the media is making it look right now, especially in light of the many alternatives. And that guy is about as fair minded as anyone when it comes to gadgets/software.

[RockRaines]

That's 3500 in the company including folks in sales, accounting, hr, tax, public affairs, etc. Not really comparable.

 

Google has 7000+ people solely dedicated to mapping.

Tomtom only does GPS and mapping, Googlr does WAY more and actually generates revenue from those other business units.

 

 

Second, the "google" map Pre-ios6 sucked balls anyway, not sure why everyone is making a big deal out of it unless you are pushing android simply for mapping. Anyone who used their phone for GPS didn't use the map function and google will have an iPhone app shortly just like YouTube. This is such a non-issue its hilarious to me. Google as a company doesn't care this much about maps.

[Y2HH]

Tomtom only does GPS and mapping, Googlr does WAY more and actually generates revenue from those other business units.

 

 

Second, the "google" map Pre-ios6 sucked balls anyway, not sure why everyone is making a big deal out of it unless you are pushing android simply for mapping. Anyone who used their phone for GPS didn't use the map function and google will have an iPhone app shortly just like YouTube. This is such a non-issue its hilarious to me. Google as a company doesn't care this much about maps.

 

I get the feeling a lot of Android users assume the maps application Google had on iOS was the same one they have on Android, when it was basically maps.google.com in an app, with limited functionality and no turn by turn.

[BigSqwert]

Tomtom only does GPS and mapping, Googlr does WAY more and actually generates revenue from those other business units.

I know tomtom is a company who's main products are mapping and GPS. It doesn't mean that every single person that works for the company is directly involved in product development. That's why I was trying to compare the 7100 people on google's side. Those people in the google figure are dedicated to the development and maintenance of the actual mapping product and not a mix of other folks who are indirectly involved such as lawyers, accountants and HR folks, which your employee count from tomtom or wherever includes.

[flippedoutpunk]

#scratchgate

 

http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/25/apple-svp...aims-via-email/

Edited September 25, 2012 by flippedoutpunk

[Y2HH]

#scratchgate

 

http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/25/apple-svp...aims-via-email/

 

These "gates" are often made up or just downright stupid...like this one, and nothing more than click fodder for some ad money.

 

Anyone that has ever owned an iPad, or Mac, or even the original iPhone has had experience with their aluminum shells. They scratch relatively easy, and they always have. Specifically, the black iPhone 5, because when scratched, it is silver underneath the anodized black coating, making it easy to see...but this has always been one of the drawbacks of aluminum cased electronics, regardless of who makes them.

 

HTC was the first to discover this issue: http://www.connect-utb.com/2012/04/potenti...-the-htc-one-s/

 

Only almost nobody cared, because it was HTC, not Apple...so there was no "gate".

Edited September 25, 2012 by Y2HH

[RockRaines]

I know tomtom is a company who's main products are mapping and GPS. It doesn't mean that every single person that works for the company is directly involved in product development. That's why I was trying to compare the 7100 people on google's side. Those people in the google figure are dedicated to the development and maintenance of the actual mapping product and not a mix of other folks who are indirectly involved such as lawyers, accountants and HR folks, which your employee count from tomtom or wherever includes.

Dude there are not 7100 doing coding for google maps, if there was that would be a tremendous waste of resources. Google puts a lot more emphasis on things like google apps, and I know this first hand. Google like every other company we are mentioning gets their maps and map data from a third party company they partner with. And I personally think its hilarious people think a mapping application is an arms race. I bet navteq er Nokia is out there shaking in their boots too.

[Y2HH]

Dude there are not 7100 doing coding for google maps, if there was that would be a tremendous waste of resources. Google puts a lot more emphasis on things like google apps, and I know this first hand. Google like every other company we are mentioning gets their maps and map data from a third party company they partner with. And I personally think its hilarious people think a mapping application is an arms race. I bet navteq er Nokia is out there shaking in their boots too.

 

Google has about 1200 1100 or so ACTUAL map employees, the rest are contractors. And like I said previously, who knows how often those contractors work, or how many hours...most of them drive around in streetcars. The 7100 figure is a stretch of reality...but to be fair, do they have 7100 employees working on maps? Sure. 7100 full time employees? No.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Y2HH

[RockRaines]

Google has about 1200 or so ACTUAL map employees, the rest are contractors. And like I said, who knows how often those contracts work, or how many hours...most of them drive around in streetcars as part of their contract. The 7100 figure is a stretch of reality...do they have 7100 employees working on that? Sure. 7100 full time employees? No.

They hire college kids for min wage to drive those routes. Real high tech jobs there.

[BigSqwert]

They hire college kids for min wage to drive those routes. Real high tech jobs there.

What better way to prove that a road exists or how to effectively guide someone through an area?

[Y2HH]

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/25/...raised_in_china

 

Looks like Apple maps rock the house in China.

[Y2HH]

What better way to prove that a road exists or how to effectively guide someone through an area?

 

An airplane flyover?

[Y2HH]

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/25/...apples_new_maps

 

This is a long but well written, and fair minded article on what's wrong about Apple maps, and what it's still undiscovered strengths are.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Y2HH

[BigSqwert]

Apple Insider? Are these proganada articles written by Apple's marketing team?

[Y2HH]

Apple Insider? Are these proganada articles written by Apple's marketing team?

 

No, it actually points to its deficiencies, etc...it's a pretty good read.

[BigSqwert]

An airplane flyover?

Who's you trust directions from? A driver who's driven to the place you're headed to and validated the route or an airline pilot who flew over the city?

Edited September 25, 2012 by BigSqwert