It’s not the entry level mode, that’s the base iPad.

Not being able to receive phone calls is the single greatest feature of the iPad.

LCD iPhones defo had this. I thought it was to do with panel supplier

Im usually big on refresh rates but this one doesn’t bother me. I move between 60hz iPads and iPhone to 120hz iPad Pros and my mind doesn’t register a difference between them.

I can see the 120hz nice scroll when I’m paying attention but I’m normal use on these devices I forget about it. Basically it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker for me but I agree it should probably be the standard

You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

So much character in these old interfaces.

The drum stops rotating while cycled is paused

I’m not sure you can even buy top loaders in the uk.

Front loaders can go into kitchens which is usually where washing machine is located. They can be ‘built into’ cupboards etc.

Mines in my garage and I have a separate drier which sits on top of the washing machine..

So it’s probably largely space and location concerns.

It depends what you mean by ‘listening’. If you look at how this actually works - it’s basically only ever looking for a certain waveform

‘Listening’ sort of implies intelligence is paying attention to what is said. It’s more ‘hearing’ than ‘listening’

There are documents on how these activation words work

To look for a certain waveform, wouldn't you need to obtain all of the mic data at all times? I think that's what's implied by "listening" here, but semantics are rarely an interesting discussion.

Yeah, I can see maaaany layers to have to differentiate between when discussing. E.g., for just a few random examples:

- The microphone always vibrates from the sound waves

- The microphone is powered in a way that the sound waves change electrical readings in some way

- The electrical readings are sent to another component reading them

- A component receiving the data does some kind of unbuffered processing related to triggered actions (e.g. a clapper or a activation wave)

- Some component temporarily uses a buffer of the data but not for permanent storage (e.g. live, unstored transcription for the deaf or a 'nevermind' after a triggered activation)

- Some component stores or sends data generated by the sound, but not necessarily the original audio or even any attributions of who (e.g. voice trigger web search sends the search query as text)

- Some component generates a stored copy of the transcription with attribution of who

- Some component stores the actual audio in a way that can be later replayed

I'd say this "sounds" like a mess to deal with, but then I'd be worried about falling into a category ;).

A Clapper[0] from the 80s "looked for a certain waveform", but definitely didn't "listen".

What the smart speakers and devices do with the keyword is closer to the clapper than an actual transcription.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper