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The Mac Platform Decline

milen.me

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Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#71

Post by Terretta »

wtbob wrote: post #45
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…

> BTW, I'm not sure at all why they ditched MagSafe. They did all this and kept the RCA port. Now that's a head scratcher. It makes sense to me: we'll have RCA ports long, long after MagSafe, USB and FireWire are nothing but memories. As long as man has two ears, we'll have RCA ports.

Does it still have the mini-toslink optical fiber connection inside the headphone jack? They've had these since 2005. Could be a reason to keep the headphone port.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#72

Post by pjmlp »

parasubvert wrote: post #51
pjmlp wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I can tell you that in Europe it surely doesn't look like that.

Companies like Salesforce, Amazon, Google or Facebook and similar are the snowflakes of Fortune 100.

There are plenty of other companies out there, and for the large majority software development is a by product, not their main business.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#73

Post by jeffehobbs »

This recent round of updates made me consider what I need from a "work" machine. For me, it comes down to three items:

* Can I code on this machine? This means at minimum three tasks: write, deploy and test code. This also connotes a lot of things, including but not limited to access to a non-unobfucated file system.

* Can I view all file formats easily and successfully? This includes formats like XML and json which are not typically meant to be viewed by a human.

* Can I use and move freely between several web browsers? This also connotes a lot of things, including but not limited to access to browser extensions, console, etc.

The answer to all these questions is "Yes" for Mac/Win/Linux and solidly "No" for iOS. Which, is too bad, because I'd love to use something like an iPad Pro for work. But Apple has placed several software based restrictions on iOS which, above and beyond other hardware restrictions (lack of multiple monitors, poor selection of input devices) add up to there being no reasonable way to get "work" done on the platform.

I don't see myself as a power user, either: Apple seems completely stuck in a time where all users needed was access to a decent office suite and the ability to email and print in order to "do work".

That's not an adequate description of "work" any more, but apparently no one has told Apple.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#75

Post by monkmartinez »

matt4077 wrote: post #59
monkmartinez wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

You are right... In my defense, it is not only "funner" to say the same thing differently, but sometimes drives the point home "more better."

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#76

Post by eknkc »

trurl wrote: post #69
zepto wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep seeing people say things about how the Mac is sidelining serious developers and content producers, but I haven't seen any actual argument as to why this is so. Can you explain?

Because serious developers require computers with more horsepower (CPU, GPU, memory, etc.) than Apple is providing? 16GB is nowhere near enough for my work. And I can't seriously justify buying a iMac or MacPro at this point when their hardware is so out of date.

Not arguing, just curious. What type of work are you in?

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#77

Post by jasonjei »

zepto wrote: post #63
jasonjei wrote: post #52

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. Lo…

I keep seeing people say things about how the Mac is sidelining serious developers and content producers, but I haven't seen any actual argument as to why this is so. Can you explain?

TouchBar killed the tactile ESC key. People using vim or BootCamp and/or Linux, Windows, VMware, or Photoshop are in for a more difficult ride. So instead of having access to ESC/Func keys, we can type emoji or use Apple Pay.

The hardware on all Macs are updated on a very infrequent basis as mentioned in the article. GPUs sold with machines today are often the same as ones sold years ago.

Apple killed their external monitor option.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#78

Post by jasonjei »

stock_toaster wrote: post #67
jasonjei wrote: post #52

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. Lo…

I don't know. R&D has seen big increases[1] (from around $3B under Jobs to now around $12B) in spend under Cook. I don't know that doing that lines up with a "focus on immediate short-term bottom line improvements rather than long-term investments". [1]: http://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2016/5/11/apple-rd-reveals-... (linked for the graphs, not the article's hypothesis)

Microsoft, I'm sure, also threw a lot of R&D money at things. I just think the money under Jobs's Apple was directed more wisely.

Re: The Mac Platform Decline

#80

Post by paulddraper »

jeffehobbs wrote: post #73

This recent round of updates made me consider what I need from a "work" machine. For me, it comes down to three items: * Can I code on this machine? This means at minimum three tasks: write, deploy and test code. This also connotes a lot of things, including but not limited to access to a non-unobfucated file system. * Can I view all file formats easily and successfully? This includes formats like XML and json which…

Agreed on all counts, though if you are coding, reading XML and JSON, and switching between multiple web browsers, you are the creme de le creme "power user", no?
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