Hmm.  The "dial" seems like more of a gimmick than a real move forward.  I don't see it getting used much.  But the Surface Studio would be a great machine to play Pokemon Go on.  Microsoft should send me one for free (and if they don't ... well, you know the rest).

The point is, Microsoft did something moderately interesting this time around; Apple totally blew it.  Neither has done a giant leap forward in desktop or laptop technology this year.

On the other hand ... leaked prototypes of the iPhone 8 are starting to appear.  It has no speaker, microphone, or screen.  It also has no battery and no external ports.  It only has the Apple logo.

PCs.

Tue Nov 01 2016 01:55:24 PM EDT from Ragnar Danneskjold @ Uncensored

I think that people consider Apple to be an innovation company - it's really not.

They weren't the people who invented the tablet, the MP3 player or the smartphone.

But they DID redefine what all of those could be.

This article seems to agree:

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-11-15/apple-is-no-longer-a-tech-trendsetter

Apple's revenue has declined for four straight quarters.  The last time that happened was in 2001.

There is question about what Apple can do next.  This year's releases are "meh."  The article suggests that they may have a go at their version of Google Glass.  This wouldn't be the first time Apple tried their hand at something others have already failed at -- and sometimes when they do, they have a win that shows the rest of the industry how to do it.  The original Android prototypes looked more like Blackberries, but the iPhone was such a smash hit that Google and the rest of the world immediately changed course.  Microsoft failed at tablets for decades until Apple showed them what consumers actually wanted.

Can Apple do the same with wearables, car computing, or some other area in which a category killer hasn't yet emerged?  Or did that knack go to the grave with Steve Jobs?

So the son of a client has an iPod Touch 4 stuck in a boot loop. No backup, but the content is important to him. "My life is on that thing, coolest playlists in the school" type of thing.

Parents are willing to pay me, even the software I need to rescue the data. Question is now: What's the best tool for a task like that?

There seems to be a bunch of programs on sale, I currently lean towards either Icarefone or Dr.Fone (full suite). The latter seems a bit on the expensive side, even with discount vouchers I found. Do you have some insights to share?

For the record: I bought iCareFone and it was able to repair the iOS. Data seems intact, didn't dare to dive into the hell of teenage content on the phone. Will give more feedback when the thing is returned to owner.

Btw, it didn't work out the first times, it finished with an "omg can't do anything" message the first time, the second time it just stalled. I had to give it a third go after some reset and reboot, but then it worked. Although the process was frighteningly slow.

They did announce two other phones as well, less expensive, same features other than the full screen.  They still have the button though.