Hello Sieghard and all, To directly contradict one of your points about Tile, the company will indeed send you prepaid shipping envelopes along with new Tiles, for around 50% of the retail price for the product, when the battery begins experiencing issues or around the one year mark after purchasing Tile. This is to compensate for the battery not being user-replaceable. I too wish that I could replace all the batteries in my devices, but the trend seems to be for batteries to be sealed in in favour of more compact devices and better battery life. The reality is that you have a tiny Bluetooth tracker, on at all times, guaranteed to last for at least a year, which doesn’t seem so bad. I’d certainly love for the technology to be improved so the battery could last far more than a year.
Whether or not Tile is valuable to you depends on your needs. As someone who constantly leaves my keys, wallet, bags, etc. lying around I have absolutely loved my Tiles as they have basically taken the stress out of locating my stuff when I’m in a hurry. The Tile is loud enough that I can usually hear it throughout my house, so if I’ve lost my keys or other possessions it saves me the trouble of touching and exploring every surface until I locate them. I agree with you about the privacy concerns (not to mention the impact on battery life) with having location tracking on all the time, but you can turn that off if desired and still use all the other features of Tile. You can also ping your phone by double-pressing any Tile, which I also used to use a fair amount before getting an Apple Watch. As others have mentioned the accessibility of the Tile iOS app has deteriorated, and I’m really disappointed to hear that you can’t create an account independently. I recently reset my iPhone, and I was able to log into my existing account without sighted help. The iPhone app has a number of unlabeled elements which can be worked with if needed, but the Apple Watch app is perfectly accessible. I’d certainly encourage others to lobby the Tile folks to work on improving the accessibility of their iOS app. All this to say quite frankly I’ve really enjoyed my Tiles and have found they’ve improved my workflow. Still, there’s improvement needed, especially with the iOS app. > On Feb 4, 2017, at 1:53:15 PM, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca> wrote: > > Hi Pablo, > > Everybody decides what to spend money on and how connected one wants to be. I > didn't say the Tile is a bad thing, I just made a point about how some > technology is created to make you continuously spend money, how many > companies try to collect as much information about your habits and likes as > possible and how many products are also designed not to last too long and to > be replaced rather than repaired which of course adds to one of the biggest > but least discussed issues of modern life - garbage. > If you like the Tile anbd find it useful that's great, I was just saying that > my personal choice is that I would not buy a product like the Tile which I > know I have to replace in a year or a bit more than a year. I dislike the > idea that the company says they can do what they want with the information > they collect and I wonder what happens to the Tile when the battery is done, > do you send it back to the company when they send the replacement or do you > throw it in the trash or recycling bin? Given the cost and how much shipping > costs I somehow don't think they'll send you a prepaid return label so you > can mail it in to them where they replace the battery and use it again. > Another great example of waste is with most printers today. You can buy one > for $50 to $100, when the ink runs out it's often cheaper to throw it away > and buy a new one because often new cartridges cost as much as the printer. > If something happens there is no way it can or will be repaired because again > it would cost more to do that than to buy a new printer. Then there is all > the packaging, many small things come in big blister packs and all of it goes > in the garbage which is why there is a pile of junk floating in the pacific > that is twice the size of Texas and that's just the north pacific patch (one > out of 5 garbage patches in our various oceans). > All that plastic is broken down by sunlight, the salt water and waves and now > is starting to show up in the fish we buy at the super market. I think that > problem is just beginning and they now found traces of micro plastic not just > in the fish stomachs but actually inside the flesh and nobody even knows yet > what consequences this will have on our health in the long run. Most people > as well as many companies make a big point about "being green", they drive > electric cars and design office buildings that are energy efficient while > along they way they continue to produce garbage in record levels. Most of us > don't plan ahead so we bring reuseable bags to the supermarket to put our > groceries in, you go to the deli and ask for half a pound of ham and it gets > wrapped in plastic and then it's put in a ziplock bag instead of people > bringing the container they use at home and which could be used for years and > years. > I'm of course just as guilty as many when it comes to consuming and while I > try to do what I can to reduce the waste I produce I'm not always successful > and often can't be successful because if I buy something I need and it comes > in a package that is three times the size than it would have to be there is > little I can do. But I have started to realize that even with fun gadgets > sometimes less is more. I sometimes wonder about Android, but I like my > iPhone, it does what I need it to do and I just don't see why I should buy a > second phone which most of the time would only sit there and then in a year > or two it's outdated and I would need to replace it etc. Just my opinion. > > Regards, > Sieghard > > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>[mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Pablo C. Morales > Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2017 11:00 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> > Subject: RE: Tiles and tile app? Not! > > That is not true. You are able to replace one, or as many tiles you want. > They are going to give you a better price after you buy them the first time. > If you buy one tile, the price is higher than if you buy 12 tiles, but later > you are able to replace one, or as many you want. Now about the > accessibility on the tile app, I have found that on android this app is a lot > more accessible. I have been writing to the tile tech support regarding the > accessibility on IOs, but I haven’t seen any improvement, however on android > is a lot better. > I have more than one year using tile, and it is very helpful, and moreover > they are pretty small. If we compare the size of the tiles with the other > devices that I have seen, really tile is very small. I don’t consider tile > waste of money, I think it is a tool that helps sighted and visually impaired. > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>[mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Kevin Chao > Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2017 12:53 PM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> > Subject: Re: Tiles and tile app? Not! > > TrackR is accessible and replaceable-battery > > On Sat, Feb 4, 2017 at 9:44 AM <englishride...@gmail.com > <mailto:englishride...@gmail.com>> wrote: > I heard of an item tracking device quite a while ago that let you replace the > battery yourself. I can't remember the brand, but I think it was Motorola or > LG or something. > > > Thanks, > Ari > > On Feb 3, 2017, at 8:45 AM, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca > <mailto:siegh...@live.ca>> wrote: > > I’m a bit late to this discussion, but while this sounds pretty cool at > first, it’s in my opinion also a money grab and privacy collector. After I > read about the Tile I realized that it’s basically yet another subscription > since the battery in these things is supposed to last about a year after > which you have to buy a new Tile since the battery can’t be recharged or > replaced. Yes, they say they sell you consequent Tiles at a discount, but if > you have a few of them it still works out to another $4 or $6 or even more a > months. I think many people nowadays don’t realize how much we pay each > months for renewing the things we need and want. Start with the big things we > all need like rent/mortgage payments, then food, utilities and your monthly > phone/internet bill which are now considered essential services. Then there > is your TV even if all you have is a Netflix subscription, then most of us > have some sort of music subscription like Apple Music or Spotify, then many > of us nowadays have some sort of software which requires an annual software > maintenance agreement or we may subscribe to various software on a monthly or > annual bases like Office 365, KNFB Reader etc. Then there are the small > things like maybe a bit of extra iCloud Storage, optional devices like maybe > a Ring Video Doorbell and on and on. > Secondly it appears that when you install the Tiles app and start using it, > you give the company permission to collect data about the movement of your > Tile which, if you put one on your phone or keys means your movement and to > use said data any which way they like including to share or sell it to third > parties. I guess you could argue that your phone already collects this data > except when you have an iPhone you can turn this or some of this off, you > could choose to turn off your phone completely if you don’t want to be > tracked and, at least in the case of Apple, I trust them the most that they > aren’t sharing this information with everybody who may want it. Apple unlike > Google does not make its money from gathering information about you which > they can then use to target you with ads, they make their money with devices > and services and given their stand on this in the past are probably one of > the companies who cares about privacy the most. > <> > Best regards, > Sieghard > > From:viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>[mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Andrew J. LaPointe > Sent: Friday, February 3, 2017 4:27 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> > Subject: Re: Tiles and tile app? Not! > > Hi, yes, lets see how this pans out. The Tile is a good idea though as > long as you don’t loose it. It does not take much to loose something like > this. Andy and Shubert > > From: Mike Ulrich <mailto:mulr...@centurylink.net> > Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 5:21 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> > Subject: RE: Tiles and tile app? Not! > > I had a long talk with a Malware Bytes support person on the phone yesterday. > She told me that I would need a sighted person to help set up everything. I > told her I didn’t have that luxury. > I was very nice and gave her a long list of reasons Malware Bytes should > consider making this what seems great product, accessible. I would think it > so very simple to make both the app and website accessible. She gave me all > the answers we’ve heard before when it comes to advocating for better > accessibility on websites and apps. > > She said she understood the blind community’s complaints against non > accessibility, and that the company has had many complaints in the past. She > then said there should probably be an upcoming update to make the app more > accessible for blind users. > > So let’s see what happens. I did tell her that I’ll keep the app and the one > tile I did purchase from Amazon; and hope for this update to come out soon. > So I’ll give it a couple of months, and if it’s all hogwash, anyone wanna buy > a single stick on tile on the cheap? > I believe 9 out of 10 sightlings prefer it! LOL! > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>[mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>]On Behalf Of Andrew J. LaPointe > Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 5:01 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> > Subject: Re: Tiles and tile app? Not! > > ` Hi, I got a tile for Christmas from my son. My son mentioned about the > Tile sometime in November and I downloaded the App to my I Phone. Well, > Accessibility was in the toilet. I have the Tile installed but, my son had > to install it. It works great but, with sighted help. Andy and Shubert > > From: Mike Ulrich <mailto:mulr...@centurylink.net> > Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2017 3:57 PM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> > Subject: Tiles and tile app? 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