[belval]

Realistically (and I am not singling out Apple here), we are more and more captive of an ecosystem. My Android phone is needed to login to most online service through 2FA, I can pay with it, have my calendar and emails on it.

Losing my phone at this point is worse than losing my wallet and Apple is pushing for even tighter integrations with their customer's life which will ultimately centralize all that information.

[whatarethembits]

If I lost my iPhone (and the FindMy network wasn’t able to locate it), the watch can get me by just fine as if nothing even happened. Oh and this was all setup in a couple of minutes when first buying the watch, so unlikely to be in a situation where the watch can’t adequately take over phone duties because I didn’t dedicate a semester to set everything up and keep it in sync on a regular basis. It’s all automatic. Integrated devices > non-integrated devices all day long. Back to the lost phone; I would then walk into an Apple store when time permits, and get or buy a replacement (depending on Apple care coverage status) phone, enter my Apple ID on the new phone and voila its in the exact state as the old one before leaving the store. End of saga, I go meetup with mates as planned in the evening.

Try to do the same with non-Apple ecosystem or with physical cards and keys. I wish there were (dependable) options, but other large organisations have proven to be utterly incompetent in this area. They have no vision and/or ability to pull off something like this. Or their own actions have made their reputation unpalatable even if they somehow offered it in the future.

Also I hate having to remember to carry five different things every time I leave the house, and feel the sensation of those bulky items moving around in my pocket while walking (Europe, we walk a lot) or running. And I hate having to be limited to trousers/joggers/shorts that have deep enough pockets to fit all those items in, and them falling out while out for a run etc etc etc.

[sem000]

>Realistically (and I am not singling out Apple here), we are more and more captive of an ecosystem.

Yes, we definitely are. But I am not so sure that is a bad thing? And it's nothing new... how many businesses had their entire operations tied to Blackberry, Microsoft, Lotus, etc. for so long? The market might be a little slow, but it's not stupid.

I personally like Apple products and services. I like the integration. I like that I don't have to go out and find third party apps for certain things and hope for the best.

> Losing my phone at this point is worse than losing my wallet and Apple is pushing for even tighter integrations with their customer's life which will ultimately centralize all that information.

The great thing about this is a replacement phone can be loaded almost instantaneously with all your info again. How long would it take to have every credit card company and the DMV send you replacements?

[stale2002]

> Yes, we definitely are. But I am not so sure that is a bad thing?

Well, it is the basis of anti-trust law and pro-competition law, that the legal system supports competition and opposes anti-competitive effects.