One issue that was noticeably absent (IMNHO) was the omission of the performance specs of the Air Buds vis-à-vis the wired variety of such.

Not that my hearing is what it was many years ago, I’ll still be interested in the opinions of true audiophiles and sound technicians.

For me, too much attention was spent on watch bands, colors of the products, etc., that could have been spect on operational/performance detail.

While I remain a hardcore Apple fan boy, I am a bit disappointed in today’s show.

At least one commentator has said the new earbuds are targeting a market a step above Beats. I will be interested to hear an audiophile's opinion as well. I am also interested in what kind of sound Apple is getting from the iPhone 7 speakers now that there are two of them.

I will be getting an iPhone 7 Plus for the new dual lens camera system. The ability to zoom from wide angle to telephoto along with the adjustable depth of field makes it a credible replacement for all but the most demanding photographic work and I will almost always have it in my pocket.

As a card-carrying Luddite, I will NOT be getting an iPhone 7 or any other smartphone because:
• I'm cheap
• I primarily use my land-line telephone to call out and for dialup Internet
• I can't get any definitive answers to "What's it gonna cost me?" to operate
• I can't get any comprehensible and practical explanation of what "data" is and why its cost might potentially bankrupt me
• And, most important, the clear and present danger to my privacy and security

Any explanations and/or counterarguments?

I have been using TracFone for awhile and it suits my needs. I just use it for phoning my wife if I'm away from home and, rarely, phoning ahead to a destination. I buy 90 days of service at a time, which includes 60 minutes of talk time (actually 120 because I have double minutes enabled). The best that I can say is that it fills my very minimal needs. Reception is good although TracFone's phone support is awful.

If I had more requirements, I probably would switch. But for an average cost of $7 per month, it's fine.

Jon & ryck:
Some good points.
I would only remark that for only making phone calls, a smartphone is truly overkill. It also obligates one in unnecessary ways. And simple flip phones, at least in my locale, have gone the way of the dodo (ie, they are no longer supported by any service provider).
In the past 2 decades I've never experienced the need or desire to make a phone call "on the run".
So, until they drag my landline out of my palsied hands, I'm sticking with the status quo.
Onward and downward, as we troglodytic Luddites are wont to say.

I think the Air Buds are an interesting development, for reasons that go way beyond "oh, look, stereo Bluetooth earphones."

Wires are going away. More and more often, we are wearing our electronics--not wearing them the way we have in the past with headbands and things, but wearing them. The Air Buds are wearable electronics in a very literal sense; you wear them like jewelry.

Look to more of this in the future.

I think Apple has realized that wearables are the way of the future and have started exploring what that means. As time goes on, our electronics are increasingly going to move in that direction--not things with bands or things we hold in our hand, but things that we wear like rings or earrings. That's a big shift, it's going to take time to get there, but I think the Air Buds are a harbinger of what's to come.

I wonder if Apple's working on developing printed circuit tattoos as the next step after wearables.

I differentiate between cheap and careful. I learned a long time ago that "cheap" is often more expensive in the long run. I don't know how many times I have bought cheap only to have something break or prove inadequate to the job. Had I spent more, sometimes only a little more, in the beginning. I would have saved myself time, money, and in one case a trip to the ER. Cheap is way too expensive for me.

Dialup internet⁉️You are a lot more patient than I am. With today’s application downloads, I am surprised you can even maintain the connection that long. I know more and more people who are giving up their landline altogether. My son has a landline phone only because he lives in the mountains of Southern Colorado and he has to climb to the top of a nearby mountain to get a cell signal. That is a movable feast with today’s data plans and they are changed often. Data is anything other than a phone call or text, but it does include Skype. However some carriers are not counting some streaming such as movies as data. Still other carriers such as AT&T (and maybe T-Mobile) are not charging for data overages but if you go over their monthly limit they are throttling — drastically slowing — the data speed for the rest of the month. Since you are accustomed to dialup internet that should not cause you any problem unless you are streaming a favorite movie to your iPhone or iPad. (Personally I don’t watch movies on the iPhone, it causes way too much eyestrain on my elder eyes. The answer to that is simple. Stay off of the internet entirely, whether it be via computer or smart phone. In truth your Mac is probably more vulnerable than either an iPhone or iPad.
This is a matter of personal choice and I am not about to say your choice is wrong. Obviously mine is not the same as yours. Six months ago I was talking myself into a mid range DSLR. Instead I ordered an iPhone 7 Plus, not for the phone and smart features rather for the camera which offers most of what I was looking for in a DSLR and unlike any DSLR I might have chosen it will invariably be right there in my shirt pocket ready to go. In the long run a DSLR with lenses would have cost at least twice what I am paying for the iPhone 7 Plus so I put it in the “careful” column. (At least that is what I tell myself. 😇)

A a interesting sidelight, I have recently talked to at least half a dozen people who have commented that they are using their laptops much less these days because they find they can do most of their “work” on their iPhone and like the utility of the camera in the iPhone, it is always there.

Good points for those who care about using such devices in the ways you describe. I don't share any of those interests: cameras, trying to use tiny screens that I can't see, stupid game apps, social media, etc.
RE security and privacy: I disagree with your claim that "The answer to that is simple. Stay off of the internet entirely, whether it be via computer or smart phone. In truth your Mac is probably more vulnerable than either an iPhone or iPad." I don't recall any way that my GPS coordinates can be monitored on my desktop iMac, on which virtually all interactions are encrypted, in addition to my having a different IP address every time I use the Internet.

Just to be certain, is the "Enable..." box at System Prefs > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Location Services checked or unchecked? (I don't know if that setting reads your GPS coordinates or some other info.)

Thanks for the reminder. It's unchecked.
According to David Pogue's Mac OS X Lion The Missing Manual "The Mac figures out your location based on its proximity to known WiFi networks." However, he qualifies that statement with the proviso that "It's the feature that lets your laptop figure out ...", which would seem to exclude desktop computers such as the iMac.
And without WiFi access (ie, WiFi Network turned off) I assume that it could not use that function.

NOTE: This discussion is getting perilously close to hijacking the thread — which is not the intent. If the moderators agree, please strip it out as a separate.

I think you and I are going to have to agree to disagree which does not make either of us wrong, but I want to comment on...


I am not one of those people who live their life through the lens of a camera. I have never taken a "selfie", I much prefer to "enjoy the moment". So while I had fooled with cameras in the rather distant past (50 or 60 years ago), I didn't get really interested again until I saw the results I was getting with my iPhone and the amazing ProCamera app together with the fact it is always there to capture those once in a lifetime images. So I am hooked once again.

As to the tiny screens, I have observed that men, including me, often prefer the 5.5" iPhone Plus, because it has a bigger and therefore easier to read screen. Women on the other hand often express a distinct preference for the smaller model and will almost invariably say it is because it fits their hand better.

By the way, with the latest versions of iOS and MacOS and a decent data connection (dialup internet probably would not work) you can now make and receive telephone calls from your Mac or iPad using your iPhone account and number. If you call 911 through the Mac it will report the physical address you specified during the setup. One less reason for having a landline phone.

Are you able to do that because you are on a dial-up (yikes!) modem? I don't think Homeland Security allows people to change IPs here.

I guess I get some Luddite brownie points for being on the AMPS cell system until the 1990's. It was kinda sweet during the time when the 2G network was new and overloaded.

Yes.

My address on Verizon DSL changes periodically, but people know who I am in spite of it.

Hasn't joemike said repeatedly that everybody other than those who are willing to pay big bucks for static IP addresses (like his son) have dynamic ones?

Yes I have said that and it is generally true for DSL, Cable, Fiber Optic, and Satellite but it is not uncommon to get the same IP address repeatedly and especially so if you are using a router. A router only renews its IP lease when it has to or at some fixed interval and depending on many factors that may not be very often. Even then the router immediately requests to lease a new IP address and since the one it giving up is likely to be available may get it again and again.

For a number of technical and financial reasons, dialup services tend to have fewer IP addresses provisioned and the connections are not continuous as with the other services so the odds of getting the same IP address twice in a row are generally much lower than it is with the higher speed services. Because of the mobility inherent in cellular networks and the attendant network topology, their data connections are less likely to give an individual the same IP address each time than even dialup.

If you have need for hyper security and are willing to spend some money and give up some speed use a VPN.

But no matter whether you use dialup, cell, DSL, cable, whatever never kid yourself that you are invulnerable.

For all of the self confessed luddites out there you may not be as much of a computing luddite as you think you are. Check out this Ars Technica article on some users who are working hard to keep OS 9 alive and breathing.