'I Asked Apple for All My Data. Here's What Was Sent Back' (zdnet.com) 172
"I asked Apple to give me all the data it's collected on me since I first became a customer in 2010," writes the security editor for ZDNet, "with the purchase of my first iPhone."
That was nearly a decade ago. As most tech companies have grown in size, they began collecting more and more data on users and customers -- even on non-users and non-customers... Apple took a little over a week to send me all the data it's collected on me, amounting to almost two dozen Excel spreadsheets at just 5MB in total -- roughly the equivalent of a high-quality photo snapped on my iPhone. Facebook, Google, and Twitter all took a few minutes to an hour to send me all the data they store on me -- ranging from a few hundred megabytes to a couple of gigabytes in size...
The zip file contained mostly Excel spreadsheets, packed with information that Apple stores about me. None of the files contained content information -- like text messages and photos -- but they do contain metadata, like when and who I messaged or called on FaceTime. Apple says that any data information it collects on you is yours to have if you want it, but as of yet, it doesn't turn over your content which is largely stored on your slew of Apple devices. That's set to change later this year... And, of the data it collects to power Siri, Maps, and News, it does so anonymously -- Apple can't attribute that data to the device owner... One spreadsheet -- handily -- contained explanations for all the data fields, which we've uploaded here...
[T]here's really not much to it. As insightful as it was, Apple's treasure trove of my personal data is a drop in the ocean to what social networks or search giants have on me, because Apple is primarily a hardware maker and not ad-driven, like Facebook and Google, which use your data to pitch you ads.
CNET explains how to request your own data from Apple.
The zip file contained mostly Excel spreadsheets, packed with information that Apple stores about me. None of the files contained content information -- like text messages and photos -- but they do contain metadata, like when and who I messaged or called on FaceTime. Apple says that any data information it collects on you is yours to have if you want it, but as of yet, it doesn't turn over your content which is largely stored on your slew of Apple devices. That's set to change later this year... And, of the data it collects to power Siri, Maps, and News, it does so anonymously -- Apple can't attribute that data to the device owner... One spreadsheet -- handily -- contained explanations for all the data fields, which we've uploaded here...
[T]here's really not much to it. As insightful as it was, Apple's treasure trove of my personal data is a drop in the ocean to what social networks or search giants have on me, because Apple is primarily a hardware maker and not ad-driven, like Facebook and Google, which use your data to pitch you ads.
CNET explains how to request your own data from Apple.
Re:Would you like to buy a bridge? (Score:5, Insightful)
Tinfoil hats are fine, but they should not stop you from thinking logically. Why would they risk withholding information? It would be a PR nightmare for Apple when found out and as far as I know it would make them non-compliant with the GDPR. The EU would be jumping somersaults at the prospect of being able to fine Apple 4% of their annual global turnover and Apple would be very foolish in risking that.
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No, the PR damage would be much worse. Apple has stated multiple times it's stance is to protect the privacy of its users and has promoted multiple times this stance to differentiate itself from Google.
Furthermore, class actions are the least of your problems if you have provided the EU a reason to fine you 4% of your global turnover.
Re:Would you like to buy a bridge? (Score:5, Insightful)
The "slow down older phones" brouhaha was way overblown in the media. Apple had a choice between slowing down phones with a marginal battery or having them randomly crash at times of high workload. They made the right choice, one that resulted in a much longer device life and higher customer satisfaction. All they did wrong was failing to communicate why the phone slowed down.
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Re: Would you like to buy a bridge? (Score:1, Insightful)
No, the alternative would be telling people what they had done to the Apple devices they owned. Like, when somebody came into the Apple saying their phone was acting slow and non-responsive, telling them it had been throttled that and a battery replacement would speed it up again. Instead they would sell them a new phone.
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In industry, the goal is to get the solution out as quick as possible and not to say to mangement "nothing can be done". They could just ignore the problem and just let phones go blank in hours. Or they could make use of the power saving features built into the hardware and underclock the CPU based on battery capacity.
There is nothing worse than having a low battery level on a smartphone (close to 1%/0%), enough for one last outgoing call, when some Facebook notification or recruiter spam activates the wire
Re: Would you like to buy a bridge? (Score:1)
And, speaking of shit, the display in the iPhone X is made by Samsung.
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And, speaking of shit, the display in the iPhone X is made by Samsung.
And thanks to the things Apple changed about it, it's been tested as the best cell phone display. Ahead of those in shitty high end Samsung phones.
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"High end" phones in general are beta test platforms. My phone was $120, though I've seen it for $80, too. I apparently was a little too early of an early adopter.
It's so nice that there are suckers who will spend all that money for a cell phone, so 'the rest of us' [youtube.com] don't have to.
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Oh BTW, you sure as hell spend more on smartphones than me, so what does that tell you about yourself?
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Apple had a choice between slowing down phones with a marginal battery or having them randomly crash at times of high workload.
That's what they claim. Odd, then, that they always timed these "fixes" for when a new version of the iPhone came out?
"The U.S. study analysed worldwide searches for 'iPhone slow' and found that the search term spiked significantly around the time of new iPhone launch."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci... [dailymail.co.uk]
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Apple had a choice between slowing down phones with a marginal battery or having them randomly crash at times of high workload.
That's what they claim. Odd, then, that they always timed these "fixes" for when a new version of the iPhone came out?
"The U.S. study analysed worldwide searches for 'iPhone slow' and found that the search term spiked significantly around the time of new iPhone launch."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci... [dailymail.co.uk]
Yes. And it did so years before any throttling actually took place.
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You have no proof of that so its not actually a fact.
https://benchmarks.ul.com/news... [ul.com]
Why do searches for "iPhone slow" spike when new models are released?
Our benchmarking data shows that, rather than intentionally degrading the performance of older models, Apple actually does a good job of supporting its older devices with regular updates that maintain a consistent level of performance across iOS versions.
That said, there are some factors that might affect people's perception of performance after updating an older device with a newer version of iOS. An update might add new features that use more resources or require more processing power. New apps developed for the latest models might not run as smoothly on older devices. Conversely, apps designed for an earlier version of iOS might not take full advantage of optimizations in the latest version. And then there is always the psychological effect of knowing that there is a new and improved model available, which can make your own device seem outdated.
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https://benchmarks.ul.com/news [ul.com]... [ul.com]
You know what's funny about that article? Apple came out and admitted they were intentionally slowing down the devices on updates, of course for "good" reasons, completely refuting the claim by the article that Apple was not doing that. Their benchmarks didn't catch it.
Step out of the reality distortion field.
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https://benchmarks.ul.com/news [ul.com]... [ul.com]
You know what's funny about that article? Apple came out and admitted they were intentionally slowing down the devices on updates, of course for "good" reasons, completely refuting the claim by the article that Apple was not doing that. Their benchmarks didn't catch it.
Step out of the reality distortion field.
Try to follow the thread. Then shut up.
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Apple had a choice between slowing down phones with a marginal battery or having them randomly crash at times of high workload.
Funny... almost every other device I've used ever has either given me a low battery warning or failed to turn on at all, citing insufficient power. Crashes due to low battery power rarely happen.
I wonder why Apple has such a hard time simply detecting power draw and informing users that the battery needs to be replaced, just like every other company in the universe. If everyone but them can do it, it must be a really hard problem to solve.
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The issue was never that Apple wanted to fix a flaw or whether or not it was even a flaw. The issue is that the device was modified after it became the customer's property. If Apple had felt that such a decision should have been made, they should have offered it as an option to the consumer instead of forcing it upon them.
We can see what not asking the owner of the device for permission to modify the behavior of the device can do.
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The "slow down older phones" brouhaha was way overblown in the media. Apple had a choice between slowing down phones with a marginal battery or having them randomly crash at times of high workload. They made the right choice, one that resulted in a much longer device life and higher customer satisfaction. All they did wrong was failing to communicate why the phone slowed down.
Erm... Either that answer is utter bollocks... or the phone is incredibly badly designed.
I've got a Nexus 5x which is approaching 2.5 years old. The battery, as predicted is no longer holding the same charge as it did new (I still get a full day out of it, 2 if I don't use the phone much, but 3 or 4 days between charges is no longer possible). The OS does not crash under high workload, devices crash under high workload for 2 reasons, 1. OS is incredibly poorly designed or 2. The hardware is incredibly po
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Just like it would be a PR nightmare to slow down an older phone without asking? Just like it would be a PR nightmare to put a keyboard prone to failure in one of the most expensive laptops available? Yeah, you're right that would be a big mistake. People might create class action lawsuits.
I don't know, nvidia is hit with giant class action lawsuits all the time and everyone still buys every new $800 nvidia gpu as soon as it hits the store shelf. But I was happy to replace my $2,000 dead gpu gaming laptop with the $100 netbook Nvidia offered. Thanks class action lawsuit!
https://arstechnica.com/tech-p... [arstechnica.com]
https://www.consumeraffairs.co... [consumeraffairs.com]
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In the ebook case the court disrupted the whole business strategy Apple tried to put in place to win the ebooks market.
In the Irish tax case we're talking about the largest tax fine in history (although technically it's more a tax recovery).
Claiming these were "slap on the wrists" is just ridiculous.
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Slap on the wrist means there is punishment but it's bland enough to be ineffective. In the ebook case the sentence barred Apple from doing business in the ebook marked the way they wanted for years, not including the damages it had to pay.
I'm unsure what people expected if what amounted to effectively a death sentence to their business strategy in that market was apparently only a "slap on the wirst".
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415 millions might be a relatively small amount compared to Apple's overall revenue and assets, but it's a fine to their ebook operations and compared to their ebook yearly revenue it's about 25%: it's actually quite a big deal.
I'm unsure what you would consider "adequate" if disrupting a multi-billion dollar business and a 13B dollar tax recovery are "not enough". What would you impose, a 50B fine? 100B?
For reference, the larges fine ever against a company was 20B, against BP for the Deepwater Horizon envi
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What should the penalty be? Enough to affect stock prices, for sure.
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I want to know how two dozen Excel spreadsheets is "roughly the equivalent of a high-quality photo snapped on my iPhone".
I'm not sure anybody who writes sentences like that is qualified to judge what Apple is up to.
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Bits is bits, man. It's just a bunch of ones and zeroes.
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Then it's the English of the writer and editor that is sub-standard. It's the file size that is equivalent, not the content. (if writer added "which is" before "roughly" in that sentence nobody would comment.
I have my fair share of grammar fails and typos but article writers should write better than an average poster if he/she wants to be respected with any air of authority.
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PR nightmare? Apple? Surely you jest.
Apple had the guts to tell people they were holding it wrong, and then initially charge people $30 for a plastic bumper to fix the problem that didn't actually exist. Later they did offer to give away the bumpers for free, but only if you could demonstrate that you were having a problem with your device. That was when Jobs was alive, which was quite a while ago. Since then they've only continued to go downhill while their customers kept buying like crazy and their p
Re:Would you like to buy a bridge? (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless you think they have a National Security Letter holding a gun to their head you are just stupid if you think they hold more than that.
They aren't going to risk 100% hardware profit margins to pick up a couple advertising pennies in front of a scandal steamroller.
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You are ignorant if you think that. Apple's advertising revenue is in the billions.
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yeah see people keep saying that when the exact opposite is true, they would have gotten more hardware sales by letting the problem be the way it was, i.e., randomly shutting down the phone
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If by old devices you mean pretty much anything more than two years old that you were gullible enough to accept an OTA upgrade on then sure. Until about 2 years ago I was still rocking a Samsung S3 (circa 2012).
Why yes I am a cheap bastard, that's not my point. My point is that it still worked fine in 2016 and even the battery died I could have replaced it myself insid
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You are also a fool. Why did Apple write iOS? Why did Google write (buy?) Android?
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you've surely seen the statement that if a business isn't selling you their product, then you are the product.
A bit like Slashdot, then?
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Exactly like Slashdot. Your point?
Re: Would you like to buy a bridge? (Score:2)
I wasn't being sarcastic, that's what I meant by my post. Apple writes iOS because selling $1000 phones is a good business, and having an OS that drives those sales rocks. Google wrote (bought?) Android because it wanted a collection device in the hands of more people.
I agree with your point, I have seen that quote, and that's what I meant by my post.
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If I'm using my R250s Neither Apple nor Droid will get my data.
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Why would they sell their data? They don't want anybody else to have it.
If you pay them enough they might promise to show your adverts to some relevant users of their products but there's no way they're going to anybody a zip file full of user data.
Dang... (Score:5, Funny)
There's really not much to it. As insightful as it was, Apple's treasure trove of my personal data is a drop in the ocean to what social networks or search giants have on me, because Apple is primarily a hardware maker and not ad-driven, like Facebook and Google, which use your data to pitch you ads.
Dang... I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Apple hating conspiracy theorists suddenly cried out in righteous fury and fired up their flamethrowers..
Re:Dang... (Score:4)
I tried to explain this to a friend recently. I believe that Apple tries its best to protect my privacy because its business model is selling devices. That is not Google's business model. If you think that you can protect your privacy while doing business with a company who's model is sell your data then you're dreaming.
I wish there was a good, third, open source alternative. Maybe Librem [puri.sm] will see the light of day.
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Easier to explain it this way: customers pay money for services. If you aren't paying Google, you aren't Google's customer. People that pay Google for your info are - and your information is Google's product.
Google is not a charity, running all those data centers and doing all that android development for charity.
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It's possible that I am wrong about this, but I think that you have Google's business model back to front.
I think Google guards the data it holds on people very carefully. It doesn't sell that data. Instead, it uses that data to place ads on behalf of the ad buyers. In other words, it sells access to relevant eyeballs. It's possible that it also uses the information it has to manipulate people into buying products, reading websites, viewing more ads, etc..
I don't think that you
Re: Dang... (Score:2)
You are correct, that is what I meant, but you have put it much better. The bottom line is that their model requires that they collect as much data on you as possible and then profile you to advertisers.
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Are you ignoring that i os devices have only one ad provider? (themselves)
What a load of crap. Tell me you get paid to write this, and don't actually believe that.
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Why would Google sell your data? Aside from being illegal where I live, it would be giving away a major source of revenue.
Their business model isn't selling your data. It's selling ad impressions guided by that data. Ensuring your privacy is a key part of the model, because the moment that data leaks out its value is destroyed and users will no longer trust them with it.
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Why would Google sell your data?
They don't need to sell all of it, they simply give out enough that their customers have enough to rob you blind (figuratively). Like IP addresses and Cookies, as well as the target information. Which the advertisers can cross-corellate with similar data from other ad-networks.
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I don't know man, why don't you buy bread from a homeless guy on the street corner instead of from the grocery store?
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What data does Google sell?
Better question would be what data does Google NOT sell. When it comes to advertising there is no bad data, everything someone does can be used to make the perfect ad to entice a purchase.
Re:Dang... (Score:5, Interesting)
Google at least makes it easy for you to get a copy of your data should you wish to leave or change services, and to delete data they've collected on you from their servers [google.com].
I read TFA a few days ago when it first came out. What's notably lacking is that this isn't a way to delete your data from Apple's servers. Just a way for you to request a copy.
Re: Dang... (Score:2)
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I don't trust any companies. I am sure they have backups of your datas even if you ask them to delete them. :(
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Can confirm. I called Apple years ago to get my account deleted. You couldn't do it online back then, don't know if you can now. Anyways, after 20.minutes of warnings and legal agreements and "are you sure?" they deleted it...
Except that they said I could never sign up with the same email address again, so clearly they didn't delete everything.
Oh, but today the GDPR comes into effect, so I might contact them again.
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Can confirm. I called Apple years ago to get my account deleted. You couldn't do it online back then, don't know if you can now. Anyways, after 20.minutes of warnings and legal agreements and "are you sure?" they deleted it...
Except that they said I could never sign up with the same email address again, so clearly they didn't delete everything.
Errm, yeah, either they clearly didn't delete everything, or they try hard to avoid that anybody (including you) can just open an account under a name that already had been used i the past, and then receive messages send now intended for that old account.
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Oh yes of course. Anyone critical of apple is one of those dreaded apple haters. Revel in your ignorance. Put the word 'critical' in front of the word 'thinking' and you have something more blind apple worshippers should start doing.
You need therapy.
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Your original comment make me think maybe you should lose the Star Wars Underoos and move out of your parents basement.
Is that really the best insult you could come up with?
Apple wanted to be advertising driven (Score:5, Interesting)
[T]here's really not much to it. As insightful as it was, Apple's treasure trove of my personal data is a drop in the ocean to what social networks or search giants have on me, because Apple is primarily a hardware maker and not ad-driven, like Facebook and Google, which use your data to pitch you ads.
You can thank the fact that iAds failed miserably (because Facebook and Google already locked-down the ad sector) or they'd have even more information on you, given the lock-in/walled-garden approach they have.
You are putting the cart before the horse (Score:5, Insightful)
You can thank the fact that iAds failed miserably (because Facebook and Google already locked-down the ad sector)
You are assuming that is why iAds failed. The whole point of iAds was that Apple would not collect data the way other advertisers were - so is it any wonder iAds did not gain traction when the advertisers could not acquire a huge amount of demographic data on you?
Apple has never changed it's approach on privacy, not even for advertising. Even if iAds had worked they still would have nothing more on people than they do today.
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Apple has never changed it's approach on privacy
Really? Because it seems we've covered changes in Apple's privacy policy on a yearly basis.
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The changes have just been made to re-assure people what they are not collecting, as it was brought to light what Google has been collecting all along... so what the hell is your point here?
As stated, they've never been collecting the kind of data Google has been collecting since day one.
Yet another pointless attempt from an Apple Hater to make Apple look bad when they are the only company who actually gives a damn about privacy. How many others have you hurt in your attempts to steer other people away fro
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The changes have just been made
So there have been changes.
to re-assure people what they are not collecting
You know an easy way to assure people? Not have a terms of service saying we will harvest your soul in the first place. There's no arguing that Apple's policy especially right now is a cut above the rest, but if you believe that their practice has been consistently this way then I have a bridge to sell you.
Yet another pointless attempt from an Apple Hater
It's all about perspective fanboi.
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The whole point of Google's ads is that advertisers can't gather information on you. That separation of the company holding the personal/demographic data and the advertiser is the whole point of their model.
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The whole point of Google's ads is that advertisers can't gather information on you. That separation of the company holding the personal/demographic data and the advertiser is the whole point of their model.
Yeah, you just proved you are a gullible fool. See, Google doesn't have to sell me that info, your claims about Google prove that.
Re: You are putting the cart before the horse (Score:1)
He's parroting their past and current behavior. They haven't sold us out yet. So far so good. Nice troll shill.
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[T]here's really not much to it. As insightful as it was, Apple's treasure trove of my personal data is a drop in the ocean to what social networks or search giants have on me, because Apple is primarily a hardware maker and not ad-driven, like Facebook and Google, which use your data to pitch you ads.
You can thank the fact that iAds failed miserably (because Facebook and Google already locked-down the ad sector) or they'd have even more information on you, given the lock-in/walled-garden approach they have.
iAd failed because Apple didn't give out "enough" personal information, you deceptive little shitheel. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2475874/data-privacy/apple-values-your-privacy--ads-firms-complain.html [computerworld.com]
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Reminds me ... (Score:5, Interesting)
.. of the scene in Das Leben der Anderen [wikipedia.org] where Dreyman goes to the Stasi headquarters to view all the files they had on him. They bring out hand trucks with boxes full of paper files.
Isn't technology wonderful? Now they can just hand you a thumb drive.
Excel - synonym for spreadsheet ? (Score:1)
> The zip file contained mostly Excel spreadsheets,
Looking at the screenshots, one can see a bunch of .csv files. Text files where data is comma separated. That's hardly an excel spreadsheet, though one can use excel to look at those.
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More worrying is that ZDNet's security editor apparently can't tell the difference.
Forgive me if I harbour doubts regarding their security credentials too.
If you're NOT on social media (Score:1)
GDPR (Score:2)
Sent within minutes? (Score:2, Interesting)
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Slashvertisement? (Score:1, Troll)
This Slashvertisement brought to you buy Apple.
Anything else you want to tell us about this wonderful company while you are here?
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"u will be plugging their product/products"
What am i plugging? i just think this reads like one of those "paid advertisements" you sometimes find in newspapers. Sort of like an actual story, but clearly placed as an ad.. but iwhtout the "paid advertisement" banner.
FWIW, I have an iphone SE and android Galaxy S8.. both have pro's and cons and both are from for-profit companies...
I think (Score:2)
I think they DO keep text messages (Score:2)
I write âoeif I remember wellâ since I may be confusing with icloud. It is definitely the case, and desirably so of course as it is its reason of existe
Kind of a stupid take (Score:1, Interesting)
So Apple doesn't send a Numbers spreadsheet? It sends Excel?
Numbers can export Excel document nimrod, they sent out what they thought would be most compatible...
Only someone as stupid as an Apple Hater can take a positive action by Apple (sending out the most portable document format) and pretend it's a negative.
I can tell why you post as AC, to hide your shame (which is substantial). But you know in private, we all know you cry yourself to sleep at night...
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Come on, stupid... You can be an Apple customer (iOS, ITMS etc.) without owning a computer that runs macOS and Numbers ("its own spreadsheet program").
Well, if you are an Apple customer and don't have a Mac, you can still use Numbers on your iPhone, or at iCloud.com.
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Why the fuck is Apple using Excel?
Because Excel was made first for Apple in 1985. Windows didn't get Excel until 1987. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
Re: Excel? (Score:1)
Originally Excel was a Macintosh-only software product. At the time Microsoft's spreadsheet for MS-DOS was Multiplan. They didn't produce a PC version of Excel until they released Windows.
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Originally Excel was a Macintosh-only software product. At the time Microsoft's spreadsheet for MS-DOS was Multiplan. They didn't produce a PC version of Excel until they released Windows.
But Apple does currently offer the competing product iWork Numbers.
Re: Microsoft spies on you more than all others (Score:1)
There are multiple setting changes you can make to reduce the amount of telemetry sent to Microsoft with Windows 10.
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There is no black/white perfect world out there. I am not happy with the level of telemetry intrusion within Windows 10, but it's not over-the-top outrageous. It's certainly no better or worse than most Android implementations.
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