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Free EarPods with an iPhone are a financial and environmental waste

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A report today suggests that Apple may not include free EarPods in the iPhone 12 box.

While Kuo indicates that this is intended to boost sales of AirPods, I personally don’t think it would do that. What it will do is reduce pointless waste …

 

Back in the days of iPhones with 3.5mm headphone jacks, I’d long argued that it was silly including EarPods in the box. It made sense back in the iPod days, when the idea of a portable music device was a relatively new concept; it made no sense when anyone who listens to music on the move already has a pair of headphones.

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A huge proportion of 3.5mm EarPods were just thrown away or left in the iPhone box for the next owner when it was resold or gifted a year or two later – likely for them to throw away instead.

The switch from 3.5mm to Lighting EarPods changed things for a time. While almost anyone who wanted headphones already had them, almost nobody owned Lightning headphones when the iPhone 7 was launched. It absolutely made sense to include a pair in the box.

Four years later, however, we’re back in the situation we were with 3.5mm headphones. Most iPhone owners upgrade their phones at least every 3-4 years. That means that by the time the iPhone 12 comes out, most of them will already have at least one pair of Lightning EarPods – and a great many of them will have bought either AirPods or some other wireless headphones.

Once more, the majority of the EarPods that come in an iPhone box would not be used. Mine don’t even get removed from the case.

That’s a waste of money on Apple’s part, but also has an environmental impact: making headphones that won’t be used, along with the packaging they come in.

Indeed, you could argue that Apple’s silly deceptive packaging – with makes the free EarPods look like AirPods – is a negative, creating a little frisson of excitement which is rapidly followed by disappointment.

Is Kuo right, that this is a move to boost sales of AirPods? I don’t think so. If you’re happy with Lightning headphones, you can buy a pair of official Apple ones for $18, or third-party ones for even less. If that’s all you want, then you’re not in the market for spending anything from $159 to $249 on AirPods.

The same is true at the other end of the scale, if you’ve spent more on your headphones than the cost of AirPods, then that’s because you want better quality. Again, the inclusion of free EarPods is irrelevant to you.

Even if Kuo is right about promotions, it’s still a different market. If you want AirPods, you’re going to buy them whether or not Apple includes a pair of wired EarPods in the box.

It would have been the right thing to drop the 3.5mm EarPods back in 2015, and it would be the right thing to drop Lightning EarPods today.

Do you disagree, and think there’s still a role for free EarPods? Or do you agree it’s time to recognize that everyone who wants headphones already has some? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.

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Model doesn't feel safe wearing designer clothes in Canada's biggest city | Canada – Daily Hive

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A model says she feels like a “sitting duck” wearing designer clothes in downtown Toronto amid a general state of unease in the city in response to an uptick in violent crimes.

Hanya Kizemchuk posted a video on Instagram and TikTok where the local model claimed that she sprinted two blocks to her car after a recent modelling shoot in Toronto after being overcome with the sense that her expensive attire read as “a stop sign screaming ‘rob me.’”

In the video, Kizemchuk describes the scene on a cold, rainy night after finishing a shoot, explaining, “I wrapped my head in my Louis Vuitton wrap. I had my Louis Vuitton duffle bag with all my shoes and makeup and whatever I need for that job. I was wearing my Gucci crossover and I was wearing my black leather Burberry coat.”

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“And as I jumped out onto the street, I have to say that I realized for the first time ever in the city of downtown Toronto, I was truly like a sitting duck and that this is no longer okay to be running around like this, that I need to be a little more downplayed so that I don’t attract attention.”

Kizemchuk says she was “a little unnerved” and felt compelled to run “two blocks to my car and continuously check to see if anyone was popping out from somewhere because I was like a stop sign screaming, ‘Rob me.’”

“And that’s how I felt for the first time ever in this beautiful city of Toronto, which I grew up in and don’t recognize anymore.”

A few chimed in, sharing comments siding with Kizemchuk.

Others questioned why she would run away without identifying any specific threats and then make a post online about feeling unsafe.

One user pointed out how this video is another example of wealth inequality and the ever-growing divide between the rich and poor in Toronto.

According to Toronto Police data, major crime indicators have spiked year-to-date in several categories during 2024, including assault (+10.9%) and robbery (+19.7%).

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Forged by friendship, this year's Stampede boots pay tribute to Stoney Nakoda iconography – MSN

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If not for Duane Mark and Lloyd Templeton’s budding friendship, this year’s Calgary Stampede boot design would have never existed.

While the boot was only constructed in recent months, the process began when Templeton, a Calgary-raised artist in his early 20s, approached Mark with a request to use images of the Stoney Nakoda teepee-holder and educator for artwork he was preparing for the Calgary Stampede.

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The two clicked from the get-go. By November, after hours together, Templeton’s piece featuring Mark — dressed in full regalia standing in the foreground of the Calgary Tower among a diverse group of parade participants — was chosen as the 2024 Stampede poster artwork.

On Thursday, Templeton’s art was unveiled as the design for this year’s Stampede boot — now the second product of their friendship that’s been produced for this year’s 10-day rodeo and fair.

“What comes to mind is the growth of a young man named Lloyd,” Mark said, when asked what he sees in this year’s boot design.

The artwork on the exterior reflects key Stoney Nakoda First Nation and Treaty 7 iconography, Templeton said at Thursday’s unveiling. Stitchings of Alberta’s mountain range and the golden eagle flying through a rising sun — two important symbols for the First Nation’s culture — line the outside of the boot.

The boot’s interior has the words Oyadé Gichiyabi, Ahogichopabi Îyûhabith inscribed, which roughly translates in Stoney language to “be empowered to foster peace and respect,” which was selected at Mark’s recommendation.

A recent graduate from the Alberta University of the Arts, Templeton is becoming a household name in Calgary’s arts community at a pace that’s not lost on him.

“Just last year I was making school projects, and a year later, there’s going to be people wearing my art. That’s nuts,” he said.

Working in three dimensions was a new challenge for Templeton. To start, he would tape paper to the back of the boot to get a feel for the shapes he needed to produce. He then drew the designs by pencil, scanned them into his computer and produced it into a special file that allowed it to be etched by laser onto the boots.

“My poster was oil paint, a very traditional process,” he said. “I was kind of making it up on the go to see what worked. I liked the challenge of that.”

Margaret Holloway, the Stampede’s 2024 First Nations Princess who also provided input on the boot design, said she was “breathtaken, speechless” when she first saw the design. Breaking from tradition, this year’s design will be available on five different shades of boot. Alberta Boot normally creates one special boot for each Stampede.

The 22-year-old jingle dancer is the first person from Stoney Nakoda to be named First Nations Princess in more than 20 years.

Holloway’s family teepee at the Elbow River Camp has three large eagles on it, she said.

“Back home, we see the eagles fly and we feel blessed by their presence, and we feel amazed just by their beauty of soaring in the skies. To see that on this year’s Stampede boot was absolutely unbelievable.”

With their latest creation publicly revealed, Templeton and Mark’s friendship will extend far past their artistic collaboration.

“He’s the coolest dude. We have a lot in common — a good sense of humour, listen to the same music and movies. We make a lot of the same jokes,” Templeton said.

Mark said he’s watched the young artist grow and mature in front of his eyes. Over the past year they’ve discussed “deep Indigenous philosophy,” which Templeton has evidently absorbed into his own life, he said.

“We became the best of friends and will continue to be the best of friends,” Mark said.

mscace@postmedia.com

X: @mattscace67

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Huawei's new Kirin 9010 brings minor CPU improvements – GSMArena.com news – GSMArena.com

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Huawei announced the Pura 70 series today, and once again offered no details regarding the chipsets. However, early benchrmarks confirmed they feature a new platform called Kirin 9010, which has an 8-core CPU, identified by apps as 12-core unit due to hyperthreading.

Hyperthreading is nothing new in the chipset industry, as the Taishan cores have been supporting the technology for some time; it has been part of the Kirin 9000s and now is a part of the 9010 as well.

First Geekbench results revealed a minor improvement in raw performance, coming from slightly faster core speeds. The numbers show improvement single digit percentage improvements in both single core and multi core tests.

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Kirin 9000S on Geekbench

Kirin 9010 vs Kirin 9000S on Geekbench

The actual octa-core combination of Kirin 9010 is as follows: one 2.30 GHz Taishan Big, three 2.18 GHz Taishan Mid and four 1.55 GHz Cortex-A510. The GPU remains Maleoon 910 at 750 MHz.

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