“Would you like to use the browser by Company X, or the browser by the company that survives on half-a-billion dollars a year from Company X, or the browser by the company that gets paid an estimated $20 billion a year by Company X even though it can survive without it?”
We desperately need a web browser by an independent organisation funded by EU taxpayer money and maintained for the common good.
Some blind Android users really want the Eloquence TTS engine back. It will die when 64-bit phones become the norm. They went as far as seriously debating of they could ask phone carriers to step in. It's sad, both because Google could easily have licensed Eloquence, put it in a 32-bit ARM container, and there you go. It's sad that Apple is the only big corporation that spent five minutes and thought "Oh hey we have a license for this now, let's containerize this and ship it for VoiceOver." It's sad that Google doesn't inspire confidence from the blind community at large of Google's ability to uphold an accessible OS and a competitive screen reader. And it's definitely sad that another TTS engine hasn't come along that is any better than Eloquence, which is from the 90's.
For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, with most of the ire directed toward in-car infotainment.
So we are about to lose access to WhatsApp, Apple and Facebook in the UK. If it happens I cannot imagine what the reaction of the public will be [irony]?
Seriously what on earth are the Tories thinking? They are as reliant on these platforms as the rest of us. Do they think that the tech companies are bluffing and that the UK is too important a market to exit? If they do, they could be in for an awful shock.
Wkrótce premiera #watchOS 10 i trochę się jej obawiam. Zmienia się sposób otwierania centrum sterowania z przeciągnięcia palcem na kliknięcie przycisku, którego nie umiem nacisnąć. Zawsze używałem sztuczki z otwieraniem i zamykaniem latarki, żeby wracać do tarczy, a skróty do ulubionych aplikacji miałem na kilku tarczach. Teraz nie będę mógł otwierać latarki.
Nie wiem co robić.
I suspect VR headset manufacturers with pass-through capabilities are going to have to try find ways to minimize or ideally prevent drivers wearing them while driving. It's not going to be easy to do this while not preventing passengers from wearing them, but the specter of a driver going literally blind instantly when a headset crashes or pass-through is otherwise disabled is nightmarish. #Apple#Meta
First they require in-person #returnToOffice, then they relocate business units from one location to another, and force those who can’t uproot their lives to leave.
The Apple location in #SanDiego isn’t going away. But they intentionally forced 121 people to choose between moving to #Austin, or lose their jobs. Make no mistake, this is a layoff.
Never mind the fact that #Texas is hostile to anyone with a uterus, or is not cishet—why the hell anyone would move to that state? If anything, Apple should be shutting down their Austin office, and paying for people to relocate to a state that better ensures their safety.
“Apple to Shutter 121-Person San Diego AI Team in Reorganization”
Apple has acknowledged user complaints that iPhone 15 and 15 Pro phones are overheating, reports Forbes, but said that contrary to speculation, it has nothing to do with the phone’s hardware design. Forbes noted an update to Instagram has already rolled out with version 302, released September 27th, to address some of the...
If #Apple continues on this path I’m going to have to switch back to Android. The idea that they deserve a fee from developers for people simply running programs on their operating system is unhinged. The App Store fee is justified because it’s a distribution channel. But whatever this is, is nonsense.
Reminder that Apple uses a technology literally invented in 1984 to brainwash their users into thinking anyone using a non-Apple device is poor.
This lie is rampant and reinforced by the billionaire CEO of Apple, the richest company to ever exist.
Apple intentionally makes their devices bad at communicating with other devices because it means kids without Apple devices might get bullied into giving Apple more money. Apple knows this, and plays into it.
#RightToRepair has no cannier, more dedicated adversary than #apple whose most innovative work is dreaming up new ways to sneakily sabotage repair while claiming to be a caring environmental steward, a lie that covers up the mountains of #ewaste that Apple dooms our descendants to wade through.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Gosh y'all, some of these Android users are just, like... It's like they have a hate boner for Apple. Like, wow. Not even I feel that strongly about Google, or Apple, or Microsoft really. They're companies who are full of people, with their own tragectories, with tiny accessibility teams, and their own strengths and weaknesses. Apple manages to have enough internal communication to make things work well together. Google runs just about everything an everyday user uses. And Microsoft has kept Windows going for decades.
I mean, I rarely hear any iPhone users just plain have an anger-orgasm over Google. At most, it's apathetic "Yeah I wish they were better but there's not much I can do about that, so I'll keep writing my novel in Ulysses with my Braille display," or something. I mean, maybe I've just not seen this secret group of Google-hating blind people. I mean, my choice to use, and lightly suggest, an iPhone is from my experiences with Android. I've used this Samsung phone for like a year and a half now. I went 6 months without even touching my iPhone, especially after I got Google TalkBack on there instead of Samsung's out-of-date version. And still I've come back to iPhone. And I still don't hate Google. I don't hate anyone at Google. I think they could work together more, especially the TalkBack, Assistant, dictation, and Android UI teams to give TalkBack a way to shut up while a core part of the phone is recording, no matter what phone you're on. But I'm not cumming in rage at them. In fact, I'd still gladly work with them. Honestly I'd work with all three of the OS companies, and the FOSS orgs, to make things more accessible or enjoyable to use. Because there is no perfect OS for blind people right now. Every single one has their good and bad parts. A sighted person may be able to just move between them all, able to do anything on each one. I want that for us blind people.
Tomorrow, Apple will shut down My Photo Stream, after 12 years of service.
I wrote the code that ran the service on iOS devices back in 2010, and it has been faithfully syncing hundreds of millions of photos between iPhones and iPads and their respective macOS Photo libraries for more than a decade. It survived the introduction to iCloud’s Shared Photo Streams (I also wrote its client software), the shutdown of Aperture, and the introduction of iCloud Photo Library. And today, we finally bid it goodbye.
It’s been a good 12 years. 1000 photos, hosted for 30 days, for free, so you can save them on your Mac—those were the days, eh?
So, Mac users. What apps for Mac keep you on Mac, or make you miss it when you're on other platforms? Can be accessibility-related or not. And they should work on Intel Macs too. I know, but I've seen like one or two that only work on M-series Macs.
Recommendations of non-Apple products with similar longevity?
EDIT: Getting a ton of great responses thanks everyone
People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their cars (www.theverge.com)
For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, with most of the ire directed toward in-car infotainment.
How Apple became the king of sci-fi (news.yahoo.com)
Apple TV+ has eclipsed other streamers' science fiction offerings
Apple blames iOS 17 bugs and apps like Instagram for making iPhone 15s run hot (www.theverge.com)
Apple has acknowledged user complaints that iPhone 15 and 15 Pro phones are overheating, reports Forbes, but said that contrary to speculation, it has nothing to do with the phone’s hardware design. Forbes noted an update to Instagram has already rolled out with version 302, released September 27th, to address some of the...