Originally published at: New “Apple Buying Advice” Website by Josh Centers - TidBITS
Do you or a loved one need a quick recommendation about which Apple products and accessories are best? TidBITS Managing Editor Josh Centers has launched a personal side project that can help.
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Josh, just to warn you that in its infinite wisdom Norton Safe Web browsing thinks your site is a dangerous web site and blocks it.
Since when is a little knowledge dangerous? Or on the other hand, I think I trust you a lot more than Norton.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check with Norton and see what the issue is.
I read that as Apple purchasing a web site from Josh Centers at first (Ala the New York Times and Wordle) and was all set to be congratulatory. This is fine too.
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That would be even better but is sadly not true. We’ve adjusted the headline now.
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This is a really nice idea for a website, but isn’t the design a little close to Jason Snell and Dan Moren’s Six Colors? At first glance, I thought this was some sort of new Six Colors site…
Not intentional! We both happen to use simple WordPress designs with inspiration from the Apple rainbow logo. His navigation bar shifts colors over time, he uses a lot more colors, we have different fonts, etc. The demands of responsive Web design that works well on both mobile and desktop can be pretty limiting.
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I do have to say something about getting the cellular version of the watch.
For men, it’s not an issue. We normally keep our phones on us in our pockets, so our phone is never far from the watch. For women who tend to not have pockets or tiny pockets, they keep their phones in their purse, getting the cellular version may be worth it. My wife goes hiking and her morning walk exercising without her purse and thus without her phone. That means contacting her is impossible. I got her a Watch SE sans cellular, and I wish I got the cellular version.
For me, cellular is not necessary. For my wife, it is.
I never understood the always on issue and why it’s so important. I have an Apple Watch Series 3 and every time I look at it, the display is on. Maybe it’s not on most of the time, but if I have my arm by my side, I really don’t care.
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Looks like a nice, useful, time-saving site. Good luck with it!
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One more advantage of the cellular version of the watch: you can get the cellular version and never activate a plan on the watch, but you can still make an emergency call with a cellular watch that does not have a plan (in most countries). If you are out and about with your watch and your phone, and your phone is stolen, breaks, runs out of battery, etc., you can still make an emergency call if you need help from the cellular watch. You cannot do that with the GPS only watch if the paired phone is not in bluetooth range or you cannot make a WiFi connection.
As for always-on, I won’t get a watch without it myself. It was always so frustrating to be out on a run with my old Series 2 and glance at a dark watch because I didn’t raise it in the proper way to light the display. In those cases I needed either to tap the display or do an exaggerated wrist raise, both of which can be awkward while you are running. However, I can understand saving money on that feature if you can’t afford the Series 7.
You might want to fix the Slack channel feeds as well then… I thought this was your retirement announcement having sold out big time for sixty bucks!
Congratulations and best of luck! Please be sure to let us know when you have a search button so we can suggest it for Rob Griffiths’ Websearch shortcut for Keyboard Maestro.
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It’s standard practice for many site blockers to blacklist sites that have a low number of visits which, of course, will apply temporarily to all new sites until somebody complains or the site goes viral.
Very informative site. I especially like the links to further information, eg the outlook for new Apple Silicon models in 2022. Keep up the good work and I hope your business plan works out!
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The SSL certificate domain is correct, but the hostname doesn’t match the public URL (the hostname is “cpanel”, which isn’t used in the public address.
It doesn’t generate a trust warning, but it might raise red flags for Norton.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check with Bluehost and see why that is.
Great idea! I haven’t dug into this properly yet, but two things that I noticed pretty quickly…
- The main image seems to be broken on my machine. I’m using Safari 13.0.4 on 10.13.6. It renders ok in Chrome, though. Hmmm.
- I’m in the UK, and use amazon.co.uk, not amazon.com. I suspect the current affiliate links might only work well in the US? If I follow the link to Beats Flex from Find AirPods right for you - Apple Buying Advice, I see “Currently unavailable”:
I’m not sure what you mean. I did repost the Facebook and Twitter links after we changed the title.
Oh, sure, it has advantages and I recommend one for Family Setup (because you have to have cellular). But for most people, it’s unnecessary headache and expense. I liked the idea of hailing an Uber directly from my watch, but Uber has dropped their Apple Watch app, unfortunately.
Guilty until proven innocent is a lousy policy. I’ve started the process with Norton to review the site. Apparently, they unfairly flag sites all the time, making you deal with them to get the flag removed. I’m not sure I’d recommend any Norton product. I installed their anti-virus back in the '90s and it screwed up my PC.
I have received a lot of traffic and newsletter sign-ups! Thank you all!
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Very nice Josh. But I have to take exception to this:
Don’t worry about the color because you should keep your iPhone in a case. The right case will save you from expensive replacements and repairs
And the recommended case is a monster! I have rarely seen any uglier case than an Otterbox Defender. It weighs 5.6 ounces! The iPhone 13 only weighs 6.14 ounces - you are doubling the weight. 
The only time I ever needed a case was with my iPhone 8 - because it was way to slippery - and I understand that people have different levels of klutzy but I don’t think as a general recommendation that a mil-spec plastic case that doubles the weight of the device is required for the vast majority of iPhone users.
I find it ironic that Apple engineers and designers spend their entire professional life trying to shave off millimeters of thickness and creating a beautiful hunk of metal, only to have it covered up with a clunky case.
Keep up the good work!
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