Hi, Thanks for bringing that up Jason. I'm not wishing to be a defender, but we do need to look at the big picture. Whether Mac or iOS, Apple introduced and continues to maintain this software as a no-cost item. No, I'm not sure how much it costs on the Balance Sheet, but it has to affect the overall expenses category for sure. MacOS, iOS, stock apps, numerous other apps, Apple School Manager and other education services, as well as accessibility features are continually developed and updated at no visible charge to the end user. Of course, these are all encompassed in the Apple experience, so they're not really free, but we don't need to buy most of this separately. One could argue that why should I pay for things in this manner when I don't use them. My answer is two fold. First, by spreading this across the cost of all hardware and other services, each individual actually pays less for the software. Second, some of us could say that I don't need Pages, or iMovie, or GarageBand, so why should I pay for them, but there's a huge population that could say why do I need to have accessibility features. If the cost of accessibility was just passed on to us as accessibility users, it would be much more expensive to purchase and likely less of a priority to Apple due to the smaller population base. In addition, it is really excellent that a six year old device such as the 5S can still run the latest iOS, so upgrading is not a necessity, mostly a desire.
All this doesn't mean that I like having to spend over a grand on a phone, along with the knowledge that their profits are through the roof, but it is a capitalistic economy that we live in at the moment and there's only so much that you can go against your shareholder's wishes. JMO. Later... Tim Kilburn Apple Teacher (with Swift Playgrounds Recognition) Fort McMurray, AB Canada On Sep 27, 2018, at 06:54, 'Jason White' via MacVisionaries <[email protected]> wrote: My current phone is an iPhone 5S purchased in 2014. I think the upgrade to the iPhone XS (expected to arrive today, incidentally) is worth it on several grounds, including the better LTE band coverage that it offers, the dual SIM capability, superior performance, and other details that I've weighed in making the decision. Generally, I'm of the view that one should buy high-quality hardware and make it last until there's a good case for upgrading. If I had a more recent device, I wouldn't even consider the purchase. Am I correct in remembering that Apple makes more revenue from the associated services (app purchases, books, music, video, and so forth) than from hardware sales? Based on what I've read, it's no secret that they operate on high margins. Of course, one is also paying for the software development costs, the technical research in both hardware and software, and their other operational costs - I don't know what that amounts to per unit. However, it seems reasonable to conclude that they make a substantial surplus. The accessibility features are undeniably good, apparently now including additional braille display navigation commands as of iOS 12 that I haven't explored yet. On 9/27/18, 07:28, "'Donna Goodin' via MacVisionaries" <[email protected]> wrote: I have to believe that that time will come. Sure, there are a bunch of silicon valley geeks with money to burn, but that isn't the reality for most of us. And frankly, even if I had that kind of money, I would object to spending a thousand dollars a year for a phone, that's ridiculous! I used to upgrade every year. But when you spend $1000 for a phone, you want to at least get a couple of years out of it. I'm sitting out the phone upgrade this year, and maybe next year too. I doubt I'm the only iPhone X owner who's doing that. So sure, they get more money per phone, but it kind of balances out if people who used to upgrade yearly suddenly start upgrading every other year, or in my case, maybe every third year. And yeah, I'm super excited about the new watch, but I'll do the same thing I did with my series 1, use it until I can't any more. Cheers, Donna -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
