Midnight Wolf

Okay grandpa, let’s get you back to the retirement home and get you your pills. I know, I know, things were better when you were young, mmmhm… change is bad, sure, sure…

I have a pinephone, it was $200. It is also hot garbage, with the performance of a 56k modem with the software cohesion of liquid shite with sprinkles.

And I knew going in that it was bad. But it was so much worse. I tried using it as my main phone for a few days, and jesus it was pain. From programs not scaling, UI elements being inaccessible, the phone locking up, the lock screen freaking out, the camera not working, the fact that it only ‘works’ on 1/3 carriers in the US, I don’t think I ever got hotspot functionality working, then I threw it in a drawer for a few months, tried it again, manjaro’s package manager freaked out and corrupted itself (and some other stuff, it’s been a few years), and the only way to fix it without going insane and restoring file-by-file was to reinstall from scratch… which required setting up the distro from inside another system.

Jesus fucking christ, what a shitshow. And I’ve been using Linux off and on for just about 20 years now for desktops, 10 years for servers.

‘you get what you pay for’ couldn’t be any more true here. For a niche device, it can be good or it can be cheap. If it is both, it is using economies of scale, and thus is not niche. And let me tell you, every single phone that is running ‘full’/‘desktop’ Linux, I assure you, is a niche product.

[citation needed], my family all runs pixels and my father is still on the pixel 6, so nearing 4.5y of daily use. Other family members get my previous models (7 Pro, 8 Pro) when I upgrade, so they are getting phones that have been used heavily every day for at least a year before I upgrade. I haven’t heard any complaints from any of them regarding battery charge/duration. I upgrade whenever I am interested in the new model, or when their device goes EoL for security updates, then pass it on.

Last issue we had regarding hardware was the nexus 5X dying, and that was because LG fucked up during manufacturing… again…

Same thing but flipped: I have never understood the appeal of fat-fingering the screen and vaguely rolling over the keys of a word so software can take a wild guess at wtf you are trying to say. “byrpkugs”? Ah yes, buttplugs, clearly.

My first phone was a bar slider qwerty dumbphone, followed by a bar slider qwerty running android 2.1, if I remember right. The phones were both garbage but the physical keys were fucking fantastic.

I’m disabled now and so only have the use of one hand, otherwise I’d be all over phones like this. Shit, even though this is not ideal for me, I’m still like 🤔

Just a data point, but I’ve been using wireless charging since the… Nexus 6? Maybe the 6p. And I’ve owned most of the nexus/pixel phones, including the 6 Pro. Never had issues with wireless charging, even when actively using the phone. It would warm up a bit from the constant use, but it would still fill the battery. It’s my primary way to charge, I only use the cable if I need the phone next to me (streaming twitch at my desk, watching Netflix in bed…) and the battery is low. As soon as I’m done/back home, it goes straight to the wireless charger. Get a text, grab the phone, reply, back it goes.

You might have a fault somewhere :/

Cases that support magsafe/pixelsnap/qi2.3 (I think) can add the magnetic feature to a non-mag qi phone.

While it’s rarely by default (I actually don’t know any that do by default but), it is usually a simple checkbox during the installation. And a provided password, of course.

It’s the alternative to the other thing, duh!

My people

No NA sales :(

But you have heard of me

I’m not, that, innocent~ 🎶

Well, I kind of know what happened in that scenario… because it did. Until Pay, there was Wallet. The original Wallet, not the current one. Wallet had a physical and virtual prepaid debit card, that you would load up and manage in the app. I used it a few times (new tech woo), and distinctively remember ordering at a McDonald’s, the clerk announced the cost, I held my Nexus 7 to the new nfc pad, they started to say ‘uhh no you have to-’ and then a success beep, and their jaw dropped. They thought it was nuts, I told them in a few years ‘this will be everywhere’.

So before Pay, there was Wallet, and it’s own little sandbox of testing if anyone would use this. A couple years later the Wallet card discontinued, and Pay took its place.

That’s kind of a double edged sword though. Android got a foothold because a small scrappy unknown company in silicon valley brought them into the fold…

Aaaaaaany day now… guys…?

(I have a pinephone and no, it is absolutely nowhere near ready)

That is more the fault/worry of the financial sector and not G. The fact that they gave up this amount of leeway is shocking. Their risk tolerance is very low and giving G the ability to manage virtual cards and allow payments with them is huge in itself.

Even Privacy, which does part of the same thing/idea, still only works for some cards, doesn’t work at all for credit cards (last time I checked), and has been in the sector for a similar amount of time.

G had to lock down Pay to appease the financial sector’s risk management. Anything else was DOA.

Yeah, the only people I let hold my devices out of my sight are the ones I’m banging. And even then I still need to unlock the device for them to use it.

I’m not letting Sarah at Starbucks explore my phone files and apps, lol.

Well of course, it’s bread, not sauce.

Their laptops were known for having root kit drm in them. Their phones are only available in select markets and are massively overpriced (in NA anyway).

Aside from cameras/components and the Playstation, they seem keen to shooting themselves in the foot. I have a bravia TV and it’s… a TV with barebones ‘smart’ features that aren’t used. So kinda following the overpriced trend there too…

Bwaaahhh!