You Don't Need An iPhone

[Eric1285]

Android is based heavily on the Linux Kernel and has used many of the linux command line tools. If rooted you can even run busybox on it, in conjunction with a terminal app, to get a full linux command line experience out of it.

iOS is based on a highly modified Darwin (the underlying OS which OS X essentially runs as a GUI on top of), Darwin essentially stole a combination of FreeBSD and BSD-Lite which. BSD is one of the original Unix systems.

Since Linux is a Unix-like operating system, you could argue that both Android and iOS are mobile *nix implementations, yes.

Apple pulled a fast one with OS X when it first came out. The BSD license says essentially that you can use all of its code, as long as you publish your work for free. Apple was devious, so they stole essentially the entire underlying BSD OS and - with some minor modifications - called it Darwin, and then wrote the GUI as a closed source proprietary program that runs on top of Darwin. In keeping with the BSD license, anyone can download the Darwin source code without the OS X GUI for free (but no one really wants to, because without the GUI, and without the FreeBSD GUI, it is kind of useless. The GUI is closed source and not shared under the BSD license.

So Apple essentially used a lawyerly loop hole in the BSD license to steal the entire underlying BSD code and build a proprietary OS on top of it, which IMHO, really isn't cool.

Interesting bit of history...hadn't heard that before, although I know Apple has a long history of borrowing good ideas.

 

[Zepher]

I disagree. There are a lot of times I'm not going to carry my DSLR, but I always have my phone. For daytime shots, the iPhone is definitely good enough, but outside of bright light, it's pretty iffy (at least it has been up through the 6s+) ONe of these days, Canon and Nikon are going to pull the head out of their ass and start making more modern/user friendly devices, but for now, most of those cameras don't even have built in WiFi! WTF?

The new Canon 5D Mk IV has WiFi, came out today for $3500.

 

[BinarySynapse]

Android is based heavily on the Linux Kernel and has used many of the linux command line tools. If rooted you can even run busybox on it, in conjunction with a terminal app, to get a full linux command line experience out of it.

iOS is based on a highly modified Darwin (the underlying OS which OS X essentially runs as a GUI on top of), Darwin essentially stole a combination of FreeBSD and BSD-Lite which. BSD is one of the original Unix systems.

Since Linux is a Unix-like operating system, you could argue that both Android and iOS are mobile *nix implementations, yes.

Apple pulled a fast one with OS X when it first came out. The BSD license says essentially that you can use all of its code, as long as you publish your work for free. Apple was devious, so they stole essentially the entire underlying BSD OS and - with some minor modifications - called it Darwin, and then wrote the GUI as a closed source proprietary program that runs on top of Darwin. In keeping with the BSD license, anyone can download the Darwin source code without the OS X GUI for free (but no one really wants to, because without the GUI, and without the FreeBSD GUI, it is kind of useless. The GUI is closed source and not shared under the BSD license.

So Apple essentially used a lawyerly loop hole in the BSD license to steal the entire underlying BSD code and build a proprietary OS on top of it, which IMHO, really isn't cool.

Darwin is based on NextStep/OpenStep, which predates FreeBSD

And there's nothing wrong with taking open-source code and building upon it as long as you're following the license, which Apple is.

 

[CharonPDX]

Sia (the, uh, "WTF IS THAT!?" in the picture) was a pretty groundbreaking singer when she first burst on to the scene. Since then, all of her songs sound identical. During they keynote, I thought the was starting one of her older songs when she started the new song. Lately, she has gone all Madonna/Lady Gaga on the "make myself look completely crazy to draw attention" wagon...

Edit: Also, holy crap, I had no idea Sia was as old as me. I figured she was in her early 30s at the oldest. She's about to turn 41.

 

[CharonPDX]

Darwin is based on NextStep/OpenStreetMap, which predates FreeBSD

And there's nothing wrong with taking open-source code and building upon it as long as you're following the license, which Apple is.

NextStep/OpenStep (I assume OpenStreetMap was a bit of autocarrot fail?) was based on "regular" BSD - when Apple went to modernize it for Darwin / OS X, they moved to basing it on FreeBSD rather than "regular" BSD. But yeah, there's nothing "stealing" about using open-source code in a commercial product. Apple freely redistributes the open-source components of OS X (specifically the "Darwin" kernel,) and even has direct-Apple, non-BSD-derived code available in FOSS licenses. Hell, they took a closed-source programming language (Swift,) and open-sourced it!

Here's a far-too-complicated chart of the mess that is "UNIX": Unix-like - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[BinarySynapse]

NextStep/OpenStep (I assume OpenStreetMap was a bit of autocarrot fail?) was based on "regular" BSD - when Apple went to modernize it for Darwin / OS X, they moved to basing it on FreeBSD rather than "regular" BSD. But yeah, there's nothing "stealing" about using open-source code in a commercial product. Apple freely redistributes the open-source components of OS X (specifically the "Darwin" kernel,) and even has direct-Apple, non-BSD-derived code available in FOSS licenses. Hell, they took a closed-source programming language (Swift,) and open-sourced it!

Here's a far-too-complicated chart of the mess that is "UNIX": Unix-like - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ouch, I even made an attempt to proofread and edited the post.

 

[VirtualMirage]

You get use to the size of the plus, though I had a 6 bfore I got the 6s+. I know one thing, you have to have a case. The phones are way to slippery without one. I bought a spiegen with a kickstand, which is nice for watch video on the phone.

I ended up not going with the 7 Plus and instead pre-ordered the iPhone 7 128GB in space black.

I was comparing the size specs of the two phones again my aging iPhone 5s and my Droid X (which was my first true smartphone) and found it really hard to justify the size difference between them and the 7 Plus. Compared to my 5s, the 7 Plus would be 1.35" longer and .76" wider whereas the 7 would only be .57" longer and .33" wider, an additional difference of .78" and .43". The 7 is closer in size to my old Droid X, with the 7 only being .43" longer and .06" wider. Both the 7 and 7 Plus are thinner than the 5s and Droid X. Holding and pocketing my wife's 6s (with case) just felt much more natural and comfortable to deal with.

As for a case, I am pretty certain I will be grabbing one, probably another Otterbox Symmetry unless I can find a clear case that I like (which Otterbox does sell). The Symmetry on my wife's 6s and on my 5s has already paid for itself multi-fold with the number of drops it has taken. The new ones don't add as much thickness to the phones like the old ones did.

 

[nightfly]

At the very end of the article, this:

Nobody wants to mate with someone known only for being “the iPhone kid.”

Yet, Apple has absolutely convinced it's customers that being 'the iphone kid' WILL make them more attractive to others. And that's all it takes to sell the things.

 

[MostComfortable]

At the very end of the article, this:

Yet, Apple has absolutely convinced it's customers that being 'the iphone kid' WILL make them more attractive to others. And that's all it takes to sell the things.

Depends on who you are. Their performance and first target priority from software developers is why I still use them.

From Anandtech: The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Review: Part 2

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Review: Part 2



Android flagships from this year are on average slower than iPhones from a year ago, and this new one is supposed to be 50% faster than those models. After the iPhone 7 comes out Apple will have five of the fastest smartphones on the market. Like them or hate them but nobody can touch their silicon. Qualcomm has seriously been dropping the ball while Apple has been just running away with performance.

I'm very curious to see analysis on the A10 once tech sites like Anandtech get their hands on it.