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Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

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Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#431

Post by adamlett »

scholia wrote: post #416
adamlett wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world is not divided into rich tech elites who can afford the best, and uneducated, poor people whose only hope to join the tech revolution is buying the cheapest of the cheap. There is a huge segment in between. It's true that Macs have never been the cheapest, but many, many ordinary people buy them none the less. Why? Maybe because a lot of people need a computer, but hate using it. So they choose to spend a l…

> many, many ordinary people buy them none the less. True, but Windows still has around 90% (or more) of the global PC market. Windows actually brought computing to the masses. Apple didn't.

We are using the same words to mean different things. When I say accessible, I mean approachable and usable, whereas you seem to mean affordable. When I say the masses, I mean in contrast to the elite, whereas you mean the overwhelming majority.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#432

Post by detaro »

wildmusings wrote: post #426
coldtea wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, it's not thin and weighs 1.5 pounds more than a 15" MBP. It also doesn't run OS X, and lots of other stuff. If you try to understand it as "value for money", then there are far better computers for number crunching that are way cheaper than a Mac. Instead with Mac you get lots of marginal returns, that, if you have the money can appreciate, and they are all focused on things other than raw performance per dol…

> Even not having to bother with 200 customization options is a feature for some. I agree with that. Buying a PC is still a terrible experience. Lenovo alone has more than 20 different lines of laptops.

It's not a feature right up to the moment you need something that is not part of the core offerings. Which I think is one of the major reasons for the screaming with the new macbooks. I can relatively quickly par down the ranges that interest me, but in the PC world I can be relatively sure that if my requirements change, somebody will make something that does what I need (both desktop and laptops).

What's really bad is that none of the big manufacturers is able to have useful website, so figuring out what you might be interested in is needlessly painful and involves external communities.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#433

Post by jannotti »

I was just struck at how Trumpian this sounds: "If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that."

Though I also notice the Obamian "let me be very clear". Tim Cook for President?!

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#435

Post by ClassyJacket »

toyg wrote: post #238
Clubber wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they spend a whole lot of energy on the iWatch and it didn't pan out the way they hoped.

That and the iPad Pro were real duds. Good concepts, underwhelming execution ("let's just slap iOS on a big-ass screen, it will do").

Huh? The Apple Watch is a fantastic execution. The Taptic engine is one of the coolest and most useful pieces of technology I've seen in years.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#436

Post by tossedaway334 »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #419
josteink wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sure. But it's not a Personal Computer (or compatible). Sure it is. It made out of stock X86 hardware components. It uses stock PC expansion modules. It can boot and run both Windows and Linux. Exactly how is not a PC?

It's not about wether it can run Windows or Linux. It's about wether it can run PC-DOS 1.0 and applications written for it.

modern non-apple x86 uefi systems cannot run PC-DOS 1.0 or the applications written for it either.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#437

Post by digi_owl »

toyg wrote: post #264
jacobolus wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The larger size iPad Pro is an amazing drawing tablet, I’m really glad to have one. I’d recommend one to anyone trying to take notes with a pen, make sketches, design anything (from furniture to web apps), work as an illustrator, etc. I find the pen and display to beat anything else available right now, unless you need a very large display. There’s definitely room for software to catch up for other types of uses, but…

> that’s more a matter of third party developers stepping up. I think the hardcore sandboxing iOS forces doesn't really work well with "Pro" workflows. Say you want to edit a Word document and insert a picture - unless both your word processor app AND image-editing app are somehow integrated with dropbox / icloud, you can't do it; if you don't want to store your multi-gb image on "the cloud", you can't work with it;…

Not too sure.

Been using a Windows tablet recently, and there is a sharp line between the Win32 programs and the metro apps.

Thus you can say that a Windows tablet is a Windows desktop computer with Windows Mobile embedded.

As for the sandbox thing, i agree highly. Sadly the valley seems convinced that heavy sandboxing is the only way forward, no matter how much it infantilize the user.

Likely because the biggest proponents expect that they will always know the magic knock to get the sandbox to go away...

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#438

Post by wildmusings »

deanCommie wrote: post #418
wildmusings wrote: post #400

Personally, luxury laptop lines don't make sense for me at this point. There was a time when it was the only way to get decent hardware, but those days are long gone. Four years ago I spilled water on my 2009 17" MBP (RIP) and Apple wanted $1200 for the repair. Instead, I spent ~$1300, including three-year accident-protection insurance where they show up at your house THE NEXT DAY, on a Thinkpad T530 and I couldn't b…

I used to think every one of my friends with a MBP was a fisher price-loving brainless slave to Steve Jobs. Then I actually had to use one for work. I'll never go back. It's the little things that are not so little: 1) The wake speed 2) The battery life 3) The overall comfort and feel of the keys and the trackpad compared to ANYTHING I've ever used before from Lenovo or Dell. I can live in Mac mode and build almost a…

The trackpads on Macs are amazing (though I hear good things about the Surface Book and some newer Dells). But I've fallen in love with the trackpoint (red nub) on the Thinkpad.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#439

Post by hguant »

charlesism wrote: post #429
kalleboo wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Venturing into car analogy territory, luxury cars are notorious for needing a lot of (expensive) maintenance and not having user-accessible repairs. You want either a daily driver car or a ricer. (I don't disagree - Apple used to manage to make computers that were a rare a meld of all kinds - the eminently upgradeable PowerMac G4 with the hinged door! - but not any longer)

My metaphor is leaking! My point is that I would be quite happy to buy a $3000 machine if it were stelar quality, and I could rely on it for the next five years. Some people will always pay top dollar for pro gear. If you use and rely on a piece of equipment enough, it's worth it.

> My point is that I would be quite happy to buy a $3000 machine if it were stelar quality, and I could rely on it for the next five years.

Well if that's what you're into...

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-pro

One downside is that the battery life is crap (5 hours or so)...and the base price is $3600.

Re: Tim Cook assures employees that Apple is committed to the Mac

#440

Post by rleigh »

novembermike wrote: post #113
gurneyHaleck wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But don't actually LIKE the mac mini. It's not something I particularly want. I do kind of want the huge cinema displays. But they're expensive. I do kind of want the cylindrical mac pro. But it's expensive. Apple's laptops are the sweet spot. I want them. The price is right. And they have performed. Tablets and touchscreens suck compared to a solid laptop. Mac minis are borderline indistinguishable from any other ma…

I don't think anyone really wants the mac mini. What I want is a stackable, modular mac desktop. On top goes the core unit, with the CPU, Ram and integrated graphics. Below that, you can attach a graphics module if you want graphics, Storage modules, expansions etc. It's very possible with today's connectors and it feels like a very Apple thing to do. They don't seem to have an interest in really pushing desktops tho…

I would buy a new mac mini immediately, should they manufacture one that was worth buying. I still have the original PowerPC G4 mini, and upgraded the RAM and HDD in that. For a modern equivalent, I'd like to be able to replace the RAM and SSD at a minimum. But apart from that, I'm actually OK with the limitations; I have a beefy PC for the big stuff, but I do need a mac around for mac-specific stuff, and one with good enough graphics and CPU would suit me fine. It's a shame that they no longer make a suitable system.
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