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The Mac Platform Decline

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Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#51

Post by parasubvert »

pjmlp wrote: post #33
ascendantlogic wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but it's been steadily declining. I guess I should have added an asterisk and said "Amongst power users/developers" since those are almost exclusively Mac now (from my observation, YMMV)

I imagine you are living in a Mac bubble. On our main building, which has four floors, there are exactly 4 Macs. On two of the customers sites I visit regularly, with several hundred people on the respective buildings, only iOS developers have Macs, and they aren't that many on site.

It really varies; among many SF Bay Area companies, PCs are rare sights for the past 5-7 years. Go into any Bay Area coffee shop, for example.

Now in London, Tokyo, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, Toronto or New York it's probably more balanced, but I see plenty of tech companies that are Mac standard.

I work for a global software and services company of over 2500 people and I'd say maybe 5% are running PCs with windows or Linux, the rest are on Macs. (And we aren't specialist iOS developers).

I'm not sure what the share is in Salesforce, Amazon, Google or Facebook or the like, probably over 30% at least.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#52

Post by jasonjei »

I see a lot of parallels of Tim Cook's Apple to John Sculley's Apple. Tim Cook's, like John Sculley's, is focused on immediate short-term bottom line improvements rather than long-term investments. John Sculley kept staying the course, and Tim Cook is doing much of the same. If anything, the most recent iteration of MBP is sidelining serious developers and content producers.

So yes, Apple's bottom line is growing. Lots of revenue are being made from iCloud subscriptions to Apple Music. Steve Ballmer was very good at improving Microsoft's bottom line too. But they lost search, music, and cloud at the expense of chasing revenue.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#53

Post by shripadk »

> From where I'm standing, Apple are redefining (shrinking) their target audience for the Mac platform. If you feel left out by the latest updates and the neglect on the desktop, it's simple as Apple deciding not to serve your segment's needs. I know that it can feel quite personal to Mac devotees, like me, but it's simply business and strategy.

How does this work? Can someone please explain to me how Apple can neglect macOS if all iOS/watchOS/tvOS app development needs to happen on macOS?

I'm with you however on the fact that Apple has seriously disappointed me with the latest launch. I was hoping to finally get a much better, powerful notebook and an accompanying iMac. I feel very sad that the legacy left behind by Steve Jobs is being destroyed so badly.

If this is truly the decline of Apple as I'm starting to think, at the very least, Apple should open-source macOS.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#54

Post by monkmartinez »

bane wrote: post #46
ChuckMcM wrote: post #12

Wow, I really liked that article. I thought it articulated some really important insights, first that Apple could reasonably be seen as abandoning the core computer user market, and second an acknowledgement that the market they are leaving in favor of the consumer market is probably immaterial to their current business model. It is clear that there are two "kinds" of users of computation platforms, the "apps only" u…

Apple is fighting too many competitors at the moment. It used to just be Microsoft, but Google's dominance in smartphones and slow but constant pressure in tablets and "good enough for most people" laptops is causing the company to lose focus. Microsoft also traditionally didn't have a credible hardware story, giving Apple a complete vertical integration story. Now both major competitors are vertically integrating (M…

The problem with the iPad Pro is that it is still an iPad. Look at the metrics of iPad sales[1], down 15% or so. There is no compelling reason to upgrade iPads on a year over year basis for most people that have them. Everyone else bought a Kindle or Asus or here for $100 and called it a day.

[1]https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/26/iphone-ipad-and-mac-sales-...

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#55

Post by fzzzy »

snom380 wrote: post #38
jamisteven wrote: post #3

Its not just the mac but the entire product line. Unfortunately Jobs did not do a good job of finding a sufficient replacement prior to his health issues getting the best of him. - Round edges on the iphone6 - protruding lens on the iphone6 - removal of 3mm headphone jack on iphone7 - forcetouch keys on the new macbooks - video cam on the pro

Sorry, but Steve Jobs also released lots of products with rough edges like that. (Remember "antennagate"?) I think we won't see how Apples management really works until there's a new product space that Apple entirely misses, and I don't think we've seen that yet (it could be AI, VR, or something entirely different we haven't thought of). If they miss that just like Microsoft did in the tablet / mobile space, then we…

Steve Jobs died just over a year after antennagate. He had already been extremely sick for years at that point.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#56

Post by no1youknowz »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #49
CalChris wrote: post #30

I bought an SE rather than a 7. Size is a better fit for me and I still use the audio jack. A lot. So Apple had an upgrade path for me. But with the new MacBook Pro, they cut out USB-A. If they'd kept it on the entry level model, that'd be my upgrade path. Instead, I'll eek out maybe a couple more years on my current MBP. BTW, I'm not sure at all why they ditched MagSafe. They did all this and kept the RCA port. Now…

I think the losses of Magsafe and the 3.5" headphone socket will go down as the point Apple finally lost it. Magsafe was such a perfect example of Apple doing small innovation, utterly brilliantly; if they've ditched it purely to save half a millimetre off thickness, it's all the proof I need that the lunatics have taken over.

> I think the losses of Magsafe and the 3.5" headphone socket will go down as the point Apple finally lost it. Magsafe was such a perfect example of Apple doing small innovation, utterly brilliantly.

I agree 100% with magsafe. I am hoping a 3rd party (like the breaksafe but recommended by apple) comes up and fills the void. If not, I am not entire sure what my next upgrade will be. I may wait another 5 years!

Magsafe has saved me a whole bunch of times, which I have seen echoed in many other comments across the other threads over the past few days. I know some peoples comments were that the threads frayed. But surely they could have come up with Magsafe 3 with better cable shielding?

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#57

Post by zigzigzag »

Chyzwar wrote: post #41
nkw wrote: post #11

I think most of the statements in the article are true, the problem is there is not (right now) a superior alternative. Yes, Microsoft is trying with the surface, Linux I'm sure has come far, but there is simply not any alternative that can realistically compete with the Mac platform right now. There is simply no pressure on Apple to dedicate further resources to this area, because there is not much for them to gain.…

Linux is already superior for developers. You servers all running Linux, all dev tools are first released in Linux, everything just work with most hardware. For professional like video editing, photography, CADs, audio etc Windows is better when you can buy better hardware for the same price as Mac. There is no reason to by Mac when most hardware is terribly outdated and you don't know when next upgrade will happen.

If that's true why do I see so many developers using Macs?

Desktop Linux is a mess and always has been. The problem is structural. The people making it don't have any profit motive to make it better. They're all either volunteers having fun or subsidised by server products.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#58

Post by shripadk »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #49
CalChris wrote: post #30

I bought an SE rather than a 7. Size is a better fit for me and I still use the audio jack. A lot. So Apple had an upgrade path for me. But with the new MacBook Pro, they cut out USB-A. If they'd kept it on the entry level model, that'd be my upgrade path. Instead, I'll eek out maybe a couple more years on my current MBP. BTW, I'm not sure at all why they ditched MagSafe. They did all this and kept the RCA port. Now…

I think the losses of Magsafe and the 3.5" headphone socket will go down as the point Apple finally lost it. Magsafe was such a perfect example of Apple doing small innovation, utterly brilliantly; if they've ditched it purely to save half a millimetre off thickness, it's all the proof I need that the lunatics have taken over.

Can't agree with you more! The lunatics have indeed taken over.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#59

Post by matt4077 »

monkmartinez wrote: post #37
taylodl wrote: post #23

Is it too much to ask to wait until we get the actual machines in our hands and use them for 30 days before deciding our verdict? Maybe they suck. Maybe they don't.

You don't need a "hands on" nor 30 days to realize 16gb of RAM isn't going to be enough for the CAPEX of a $2500 to $4000 dollar machine over the span of (hopefully) 3+ years. That is just one example... there are many more.

Pfew, I may not believe how professional you are if you had just used the word "price" instead of "CAPEX".

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#60

Post by scotu »

shripadk wrote: post #53

> From where I'm standing, Apple are redefining (shrinking) their target audience for the Mac platform. If you feel left out by the latest updates and the neglect on the desktop, it's simple as Apple deciding not to serve your segment's needs. I know that it can feel quite personal to Mac devotees, like me, but it's simply business and strategy. How does this work? Can someone please explain to me how Apple can negle…

> How does this work? Can someone please explain to me how Apple can neglect macOS if all iOS/watchOS/tvOS app development needs to happen on macOS?

precisely because you are forced to use macos to access the lucrative ios market, they can get away with a lesser experience for developers. (Note that I'm not saying this is what is happening, just saying how that would work; although I often feel like they are indeed leaving the pro/advanced user market behind)

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