To be more pedantic, it's probably safe to assume this is not even 0dB. Most people would probably consider a computer under 25dB-30dB as "silent" since most rooms background noise are around there.
Just arm chair speculation, but it seems like any religion that promised happiness or how to be happy wouldn't be wildly successful. Not many people turn to religion when they're happy, and promising happiness to a bunch of sad people isn't going to turn out very well. Telling people that their lives sucks for a reason, we just don't know it yet, and that at least when they die they'll be happier than they could ever imagine is a pretty easy promise to keep to the living. It also gives people hope which in turn can produce happiness or at least a sense of purpose.
I think that this can be a fundamental shift for the iPhone and iOS without being a paradigm shift that puts apple years ahead of the competition. I also didn't pick up an implication that this puts iOS years ahead of android while reading the article.
I loved that gesture, but I was shocked how many of my friends/coworkers didn't know about it. I think the iPhone X up and over arc is more reliable to trigger(once you figure out not to do up and hold).
How was Apple late to the game with edge to edge displays? They only started appearing on flagships in 2017, this is their first phone release since then. Not to mention most of the "edge-to-edge" android phones are not edge to edge. The S8/Note 8, Pixel 2/2XL, LG V30, and OnePlus 5t all have significantly larger chins and foreheads than the iPhone X. The only thing I think that comes close(and I'd say beats it) is the essential phone.
Samsung have been shipping OLED wrap-around-screens under the "Edge" branding since at least early 2015. Phones without front physical hardware buttons have been around even longer (e.g. Google Nexus).
Getting rid of a physical button is hardly a decent hardware feature. I would've been massively disappointed if apple had gone the android route and just slapped a virtual button i can tap onto the screen.
If you want to say apple ripped some one off with removing the home button, it wasn't android. It was Palm. Welcome back 2009 indeed.