Technology

[argew]

surprised to see the love for the iphone x here

apple presented it as if it were a revolutionary product, while it has no revolutionary features at all
facial recognition and full screen phones have been done before and it's not like these flopped (galaxy s8 comes to mind)

the iphone 8 is fine though
they should've just given the 8 facial recognition, but if they'd have done that the iphone x would've had no new features at all (besides a big screen & a slightly better camera and screen lol)
glad they didn't make wireless charging exclusive to the x at least

also want to add that i'm not some anti-apple guy, i've used their products exclusively for the past 8 years
just disappointed in the iphone x and i wasn't even hyped for it

[smiles]

It seems to me that we are giving away too much for too little reward when we allow apple to acquire this additional layer of personal information. Who knows what they are planning for facial recognition in the future. Whatever comes, ease of use is only the side effect, the fundamental aim will be to convert your personal data into value for apple.

[smiles]

I'm sure the actual data is (relatively) secure, but my point still stands. There's a large difference in the amount of control you have between a password only you know, and your face, which everyone can see. Not to mention all the ideology and biases built into apple's software and system.

Other people were raising concerns that the police could force you to unlock your phone under duress. That's not something I'm worried about for me personally but I can see the potential danger in that.

[argew]

wasn't this possible before too, due to touch id? to be fair you don't even have to use face id/touch id, you can still use a code
i still very much understand your concern though!
not trying to sell you on my view, but i just want to add that apple has a reputation of being secure with their data (the issue with the US government asking for a backdoor in the OS comes to mind: https://www.apple.com/customer-letter/)

maybe reaching a bit here and going too far with the dystopian future/cyberpunk stuff but:
something i (and other people online) seem to be worried about is that face id knows when you're looking at your phone
it's a good feature on it's own, but imagine video ads on youtube that require you to look at them to play before you can get to your video

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

The heart study thing was really good.

[smiles]

Oh certainly, and as far as things go, apple is definitely one of the "good" companies. What I am trying to point out is exactly your second concern. We don't know what this technology will be used for, we don't really know anything about about apple wants, and we cannot possibly fathom the amount of data that Facebook, Google, Axciom, Oracle, Exquifax (!), and many others are collecting every second.

I like this article about Facebook: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n16/john-lanc ... he-product

And this report is pretty good about consumer data collection: http://crackedlabs.org/dl/CrackedLabs_C ... llance.pdf

Edit:

and this article from Chelsea today: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/opin ... &smtyp=cur

Another thing I hadn't considered, but which seems relevant now is that as this technology (and many other kinds that erase the line between our personal and internet selves) become more and more popular and prevalent, the more conditioned we will be to accept them as neutral and passive. Apple may have their face recognition technology locked down, but who knows about the next app or device that comes along that uses it in a similar way.

Edit two: I'm not anti-technology.

[rjbman]

Really good book on this subject by Adam Greenfield:

Re: touch/face ID right now the US does not consider forcing unlocking of the phone via TouchID to be a violation of the 5th Amendment (though it clearly ought to be). So if you have anything less reputable, make sure to disable TouchID while traveling.

[fun_yunchables]

call me paranoid but i don't think any data is ultimately as secure as in meatspace. putting my trust into a company (with its own interests) to keep data secure is not something i'm particularly keen on. i mean, equifax had every incentive in the world to be extremely "secure" but look where it got them.

but then again, i am one of those people who tapes up the webcam on my computer.

on the note of phones, i'm not a fan of the large phone trend. but i don't forsee getting a new phone until my currently one (5s) completely dies. it does everything i want it to do just ok, so i don't really have any reason i guess

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Plenty of 'meatspace' data is insecure! If you're worried about privacy and security you have to take steps to own your own data or minimise your exposure.

See you all on (privatised and anonymised versions of) the blockchain.

[fun_yunchables]

enviro impacts of bitcoin

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... tocurrency

[IAustin]

I've found a good source where the latest apps are described. This can come in handy for those who are bored with old useless apps. Tried following their recommendations and I'm not disappointed.

[bels]

I used to enjoy http://onethingwell.org/ as a great place to find the latest apps but I see it's no longer updated due to the authors health concerns. A shame.

[bels]

Anyway, why's the new iPhone called the iPhone XS? I thought that meant it would be smaller, you know? eXtra Small. Instead it's even larger than the old iPhone. Is that what the XS stands for? XSively large?

*wild audience applause, screaming and adulation*