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[webny99]

Marketing is a lot more analytical than sales; over the long term you're basically trying different things and seeing which ones cause the sales figures to increase and which don't.

I think I'd enjoy the analytical side of it, but not the creative side. Just thinking about designing an advertisement, for example, gives me a bit of a headache.

[Scott5114]

Marketing is a lot more analytical than sales; over the long term you're basically trying different things and seeing which ones cause the sales figures to increase and which don't.

I think I'd enjoy the analytical side of it, but not the creative side. Just thinking about designing an advertisement, for example, gives me a bit of a headache.

That can be a pretty big chore, since there's a good amount of psychology involved with marketing as well, plus creative arts like graphic design and writing. It's a weird field.

[J N Winkler]

This is the feature I'll miss the most.  I used to use a GPS tracker app for road trips.  However, I was already realizing it was using too much data, so I would probably have been looking for an alternate solution anyway.

Which app were you using?  The one I've used since 2015 or so is Mendhak GPS Logger (for Android), which is now no longer maintained but is still available as a sideload.  I don't think it uses any data at all since, unlike Google MyTracks and some others, it doesn't have the ability to display GPS logs and thus doesn't have to download map tiles over wifi or a mobile data connection.  (I have two separate apps for displaying GPS logs, which I invariably record in GPX format, and they both take the underlying mapping from Google Maps.  GPX Viewer is the more user-friendly and can also display graphs of speed versus distance travelled and time elapsed since journey start.  Gpx Viewer--note case difference--is more bare-bones but, unlike the other, will display disjoint track segments as separate traces, and thus makes it easier to see dropouts and undesired pauses in recording.)

I especially like the fact that Mendhak GPS Logger records to files (using an user-configurable filename template) in internal device memory or on the SD card, rather than to one of the Android databases.  This means that GPS logs can be copied over to a PC for permanent archiving simply by plugging in the phone (or other mobile device) using the same USB cable that is used for charging.  As a general rule, data cannot be extracted to file from the Android databases unless the recording app includes that functionality or a separate backup/data extraction app is used (I have one for my text messages), which is another reason I think it's a bad idea to try living on a mobile device.  Recent versions of the GPS Logger app also offer automated backup to a variety of cloud services such as Google Drive.

[kphoger]

I was using Geo Tracker.

[ZLoth]

I had two occasions where having a smartphone came in extremely handy. Last night, my mother and I went to a concert at the WinSpear Opera House. The parking near the venue was a "pay in advance" where you had to scan a barcode to get to a secure web page, then put in the license plate and either pay by credit card or use PayPal. Then, a few months ago, I had to drop off a broken ironing board since it would not be taken by the garbage collector. In addition to my identification, they wanted either a city utility bill proving residency or $51 bucks. Three minutes later, I pulled up my bill on my phone and showed it to the gate which was accepted as proof.

Yes, I will continue to call my phone my "electronic leash", but at least it's extremely handy for curbside pickup.

[hbelkins]

^^^

$51 to dispose of an old ironing board? What a ripoff. And the fact that your garbage collection service won't take it is another ripoff.

[ZLoth]

$51 to dispose of an old ironing board? What a ripoff. And the fact that your garbage collection service won't take it is another ripoff.

$51 only if I didn't provide proof of residency of the city I lived in via a city utility bill. And, it was not enough for a Brush and Bulky Item Collection (BABIC) collection because it did not exceed 50 pounds.

[hbelkins]

$51 to dispose of an old ironing board? What a ripoff. And the fact that your garbage collection service won't take it is another ripoff.

$51 only if I didn't provide proof of residency of the city I lived in via a city utility bill. And, it was not enough for a Brush and Bulky Item Collection (BABIC) collection because it did not exceed 50 pounds.

Bend it, break it, stomp it, chop it with tin snips, and put it in your regular garbage.

[kkt]

$51 to dispose of an old ironing board? What a ripoff. And the fact that your garbage collection service won't take it is another ripoff.

$51 only if I didn't provide proof of residency of the city I lived in via a city utility bill. And, it was not enough for a Brush and Bulky Item Collection (BABIC) collection because it did not exceed 50 pounds.

Bend it, break it, stomp it, chop it with tin snips, and put it in your regular garbage.

Contemplate how long it's going to take to break it into pieces small enough for the garbage, and how much your time and dignity are worth.

[Scott5114]

Honestly, depending on what kind of metal it's made of and how close one is, it might be wisest to tear off any fabric/foam/plastic coating and take it to a metal scrapper. Steel prices are kind of ridiculous right now, but even if it was aluminum, you'd at least get paid a few bucks for it.

[epzik8]

Someone I lived with in east Baltimore in the spring of 2020 had a flip phone.

[ZLoth]

Honestly, depending on what kind of metal it's made of and how close one is, it might be wisest to tear off any fabric/foam/plastic coating and take it to a metal scrapper. Steel prices are kind of ridiculous right now, but even if it was aluminum, you'd at least get paid a few bucks for it.

The waste transfer station is just 1¼ miles away from where I live, but because of the roundabout route to get there, it's a three mile/10 minute drive from where I live. Thus, it was one of several errands I ran in July.

[ZLoth]

Sigh.... I hate silliness and pettiness of embracing a closed app ecosystem like this:

From DroidLife:

Google Goes After Apple's iMessage and "Bullying"

During Apple’s very public battle with Epic over the App Store and Fortnite, we learned a lot about the history of iMessage and how Apple’s executives were at one point split over whether or not to bring it to Android. The side that wanted to keep the messaging service as an Apple exclusive won the battle, leading us to a place where iMessage very much has a tight grip on iPhone users who have a fear of switching to an Android phone and becoming a “green bubble” in conversations with friends.

In a piece written by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, several stories of iMessage being used to create tension between friends or in dating situations were shared. The stories, which focused mostly on teens and the shaming that can happen if one of their friends owns an Android phone and brings a green bubble to their conversation, aren’t new. We’ve heard all of this before. It has been well documented that the younger population isn’t fond of an Android user in their messaging space.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[kkt]

Oh, yeah, being deliberately incompatible with other company's software is a tradition going back 50 years or more.

[Bruce]

Almost as if anti-trust laws aren't being enforced.

I'm hoping the EU steps up to force Apple to play nice with the open standards, like they've been trying to do with USB-C.

[formulanone]

Sigh.... I hate silliness and pettiness of embracing a closed app ecosystem like this...

Yeah, but for rest of us that use our phone messages like adults do, there's little difference. Words and maybe an emoji, wait for the incoming response or send a photo. Don't they all do that? I don't need an animated response, I'll just junk that.

I didn't even realize I could "like" a text until I accidentally pressed it too long.

[1]

iMessage tells you when the other person is typing and also if they've read the text even if they haven't replied. Standard text messages don't.

[Bruce]

iMessage tells you when the other person is typing and also if they've read the text even if they haven't replied. Standard text messages don't.

RCS should be able to handle it, along with the features that iMessage provides. But so do all the chat apps used around the world (and are more popular than iMessage).

Personally, I prefer Telegram.

[Scott5114]

Sigh.... I hate silliness and pettiness of embracing a closed app ecosystem like this...

Yeah, but for rest of us that use our phone messages like adults do, there's little difference. Words and maybe an emoji, wait for the incoming response or send a photo. Don't they all do that? I don't need an animated response, I'll just junk that.

I didn't even realize I could "like" a text until I accidentally pressed it too long.

The first time I got one of those, it was from my aunt reacting to a photo I sent her. Since I don't have an iPhone, I got a text message that just said "Laughed at an image". Not knowing this was an iPhone feature, my first thought was "Welp, she's finally lost it." It wasn't until I told my iPhone-using wife about it the next morning that I learned what was actually going on.

iMessage tells you when the other person is typing and also if they've read the text even if they haven't replied. Standard text messages don't.

I usually don't want the other person to know that information. Typing notifications are really only useful in a group chat situation to prevent people from stepping on each other. Read receipts can cause an expectation that you owe the other person a reply, when you may still need some time to ruminate on what to send back, if anything.

Personally, I prefer Telegram.

Discord is my message service of choice, mostly because it has a good desktop client. If I get a message that requires a kind of involved response, I can hold off until I'm near an actual keyboard, or ring the person up on voice. Also, its log search capabilities are pretty impressive, and the ability to pin messages for later reference is incredibly useful.

[vdeane]

I usually don't want the other person to know that information. Typing notifications are really only useful in a group chat situation to prevent people from stepping on each other. Read receipts can cause an expectation that you owe the other person a reply, when you may still need some time to ruminate on what to send back, if anything.

Agreed.  I find messaging to be far more stressful than texting, for exactly that reason.  Although I suspect that the reason we don't like those features may be the same reason others want them.

[1995hoo]

You can turn off read receipts in iMessage. Go to the Settings app, then Messages, then turn off "Send Read Receipts." Alternatively, you can do it on a contact-specific basis.

I don’t know whether that turns off the typing notifications.

[ZLoth]

Yesterday afternoon, I had to leave for a dentist appointment while my mother was out and about. And, my mother set off the home alarm system. While I was waiting at the dentist's office, I was able to:

• Verify via the driveway camera on a camera app that my mother had arrived home.
• Clear the alarm condition on the Alarm app.
• Answer the call from the alarm company to verify it was a false alarm.
• Contact my mother to let her know that I cleared the alarm.

Apparently, even though it is on the home screen of her phone, my mother couldn't locate the alarm company app. Without my smartphone, I would have to have bailed on my dentist appointment and rescheduled.

[J N Winkler]

I usually don't want the other person to know that information. Typing notifications are really only useful in a group chat situation to prevent people from stepping on each other. Read receipts can cause an expectation that you owe the other person a reply, when you may still need some time to ruminate on what to send back, if anything.

Agreed.  I find messaging to be far more stressful than texting, for exactly that reason.  Although I suspect that the reason we don't like those features may be the same reason others want them.

I use an Android phone, so I don't have iMessage, but I do use Facebook PMs/Messenger reasonably frequently, and it has both read and typing notifications.  My experience has generally been that only a few specific people at a time use them as tools to determine whether I have eyes on the conversation.  I take the position that, courtesy aside, we are all entitled to a measure of autonomy, and if someone is going to take me to task for not adhering to his or her expectations of availability, then those must have been laid out in advance and I must have agreed to them.

I generally try to telegraph what I am willing to undertake by noting that I often don't carry my phone with me or even have it in the same room, that I put it in the trunk of my car when I'm out and about locally, and so on.  I also try to communicate that I won't ask of others what I am not myself willing to do.  From this standpoint, notifications function for me more as tools to indicate whether the other party is still in the conversation so I don't inadvertently exit before it has reached a natural stopping place.

To my mind, a distinction exists between read notifications in interactive and semi-interactive communications media, such as SMS and various messaging platforms, and email.  I almost never allow return receipts to be sent in respect of emails I receive, nor do I configure my email client to send them automatically.  I have also never requested a return receipt.  To my mind, return receipts make more sense in a closed communications ecosystem, such as within a firm where employees are required to respond to emails in a certain way and are paid to do so.  If there is a matter for which I genuinely need a response and one isn't forthcoming by email, I will follow up by some other means.

[formulanone]

If you need receipt that I've read something, use the Phone app. It's even compatible with Blackberry.

The icon looks somewhat like a phone receiver from the days of yore.

[hbelkins]

I didn't know that green-message ostracizing was a thing until this thread.

The advantage of iMessage is that it's dependent on data, not voice. So if you are in an area with no cell service, but you have wi-fi (like the motel where my brother and I stayed in Mexican Hat, Utah, last summer) you can still communicate. You can also message with an iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac laptop if you have wi-fi or a wired Internet connection. It used the device's logged-in AppleID, not a phone number, for the communication -- for the most part, my mother- and sister-in-law use the same AppleID on their phones as my sis-in-law holds the account and set up her mom's phone, and a couple of years ago they had issues with messaging coming from or too the wrong person.

Not sure how Google/Android would leverage a messaging system that uses Apple's protocols.

While it is true that you can turn off read receipts in iMessage, you can't for Facebook Messenger.

I know nothing about WhatsApp, but wouldn't it be a cross-platform data-dependent messaging system?

There's always Google Voice, which will run on any device as well as through a web interface.