I haven\u2019t been able to order a new iPhone.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a simple thing, I want a completely unlocked phone right from the start. I don\u2019t want to have to monkey around with unlocking a phone from a carrier or any of the other bullshit contractual obligations that are included in the fine print of a purchase.<\/p>\n
T-Mobile, you really need to train your reps in Costco better\u2026 Based on my interaction with a blue hair guy? girl? Amorphous fat ass? I\u2019m seriously reconsidering our working relationship.<\/p>\n
No, your representative wasn\u2019t rude or whatever. He\/she\/it\/they\/them, was simply not listening. I\u2019ve been noticing that more and more with your representatives across the board, since T-Mobile and Sprint merged.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always questionable which corporate culture will survive when two companies merge. This is especially true if one corporation is diseased and shitty as Sprint was, and the other corporation is relatively healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think from here on out, I\u2019ll be betting on the shitty corporation infecting the healthy corporation and taking all the services to the lowest, laziest, common denominator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only benefit I received at the T-Mobile Kiosk was that I got to see the new iPhone in person. It\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t going to go through the machinations necessary to order one on the T-Mobile account, then trade in my current phone, then pay off the T-Mobile Payment plan purchase early, then go to T-Mobile to unlock the phone. That\u2019s just a load of annoyance that I don\u2019t want to deal with.<\/p>\n
I was tempted…<\/p>\n
I\u2019m glad I waited. There have been some interesting articles about the new iPhone Pros getting nice and toasty while in use. 107\u00b0F by one article\u2019s account. There have been reports of the phones being blemished or outright damaged right out of the box.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How disappointing would that be? Your brand new hotness, right out of the box, with a nasty gouge in it as you peel the protective plastic off.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also seen at least one photo of an iPhone Pro Max that looked like not only did the back glass of the phone shatter easily but the new titanium frame looked like it had cracked too.<\/p>\n
Titanium is strong, light and useful for a lot of things, but I seem to recall that it\u2019s kind of crystalline when you see the raw metal. I also seem to recall that if you don\u2019t make it just right, it\u2019s prone to cracking. I\u2019m wondering if that\u2019s not part of what we\u2019re seeing in some of the reports about the phones glass, (front or back) shattering.<\/p>\n
In the announcement event, there was some mention of alloying the titanium frame with aluminum structural components within the phone, presumably as a heat sink. Titanium can be alloyed with a number of other metals, but again, that has to be done carefully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wonder if this is another situation where China\u2019s sloppy quality control has created a disaster. Or maybe manufacturing at the scale Apple is attempting is just not yet reliable. Maybe it\u2019s a little from column A, and a little from column B.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, I\u2019ll just wait until the iPhone 16 and hope they make it in a color I like.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also been some chatter about Apple\u2019s replacement for leather. Folks are finding that a week or so of use presents them with staining indicative of fabrics, instead of the durability of leather. I\u2019m thinking that my future phone cases will either be silicone from Apple, or I\u2019ll be buying leather from another vendor. Most likely silicone…<\/p>\n
Before you get your panties in a twist over my consideration of leather, let me present the following use cases.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m using a Franklin leather binder that I\u2019ve had since 2008. It\u2019s in very good shape and I have no intention of replacing it anytime in the near future. I have two TUMI leather briefcases. The smaller one is the one I use most often. That case is 4 -5 years old, the larger one is 15 years old. TUMI will repair a briefcase at a reasonable cost and send it back to you.<\/p>\n
So if you talk about sustainability. How is using leather unsustainable? Sure, if you replace leather items every year, then that\u2019s a problem. But if you buy leather, take care of it, and don\u2019t find a need to buy the item over and over I\u2019d bet the sustainability equation tips in favor of leather.<\/p>\n
How much energy does it take to make these new fiber cases? How often will consumers replace them and why? Are these new fiber products biodegradable, and how long does that take?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Honestly, if Apple would stop changing the phone shapes every year so that last years case doesn\u2019t fit this years phone, perhaps sustainability would go up and pollution would go down in amounts equal to their switch from using leather goods.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t purchased one of Apple\u2019s leather cases since the iPhone 5. I found that their leather case wasn\u2019t grippy enough and I dropped the phone twice, then went third party silicone with nice grippy knurls on either side. No more dropping my phone.<\/p>\n
Since I replace my phone every 3-4 years, after the iPhone 5 debacle it\u2019s never seemed reasonable to invest in leather unless, like the MagSafe wallet, it could be used on other iPhones.<\/p>\n
Sustainability and being climate responsible isn\u2019t just about companies. It\u2019s also about asking questions of yourself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Questions such as:<\/p>\n
Do I need a new phone? It\u2019s okay to want, but feeling like you need to buy the newest, latest, flashiest every year might be part of the problem.<\/p>\n I\u2019d like a new iPhone because there has been enough change that a new phone is a pretty substantial upgrade to what I have. But\u2026 do I need it this year? Not really. My old phone works just fine, (the battery is showing signs of its age,) but I can go another year and avoid what may be an Apple screw up in the iPhone 15 Pro.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019ll do. I\u2019ll keep reading the articles to see what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I haven\u2019t been able to order a new iPhone. It\u2019s a simple thing, I want a completely unlocked phone right from the start. I don\u2019t want to have to monkey around with unlocking a phone from a carrier or any of the other bullshit contractual obligations that are included in the fine print of a … <\/p>\n
Do I need a new leather jacket, phone case, or brief case? The leather jacket bit is funny, because with vintage all the rage people buy \u201cVintage\u201d looking stuff but don\u2019t have the patience to make it \u201cvintage\u201d by wearing it year after year.
I guess the question really boils down to \u201cDo I Need<\/span> xyz\u201d or \u201cDo I Want<\/strong><\/em> xyz\u201d.<\/p>\n