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What happens when it's all glass?

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71–80 of 93 posts

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#71
post #24

A few points: - Apple is pushing the boundaries of minimalism with their industrial design (to absurd levels in cases like the control-free iPod Shuffle). This is not necessarily better design, but it is the currently fashionable design. I would argue that the single button interface on the iPhone/iPad is an example of moving too far towards minimalism (from a purely functional perspective). The same button now perfo…

- A small point, but I think the comparison between a MacBook Pro an a Lenovo is a bit odd. ThinkPads are not far off from Apple in terms of build quality and are certainly more durable. You're going to have to justify that. A case made out of a solid piece of aluminum is about as durable as I can think of in consumer-level products. I beat the crap out of my MBP and it doesn't have so much as a scratch on it.

The sony vaio z series also has a lot of things that i wish apple would imitate, like being the same weight as a macbook air (3 pounds), yet having better battery life a significantly better i7 processor, dual ssds, 1080p screen, 13" screen factor and still has a replaceable battery, very essential for travellers. If OSX was native on a vaio z, that would be my laptop of choice.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#72

If this article is any indication, Apple needs to seriously needs to improve it's software. I love my Mac, I love the environment, but there are so many lost and forgotten pieces to their software that it's highly frustrating. Take iChat, for example. So limited, even the supposed features it has do not work (Bonjour for iChat fails to work to let me and my wife chat via her MBP and my iMac). Indeed, the entire Bonjo…

I find picasa significantly faster and easier to go through huge swaths of photographs than iPhoto, and it uses a simple directory method of organization, so it's easy to move around and send pictures to others.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#73
post #68
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bunch of screws, but not overly difficult: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-17-Inch-Unibody-T...

The newer laptops are a lot easier, and they reflect it by labeling the HD as user-serviceable without voiding the warranty. Meanwhile, I have this: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-MacBook-Pro-15... Which definitely qualifies as a PITA. Easy enough for me, though, as I've had far nastier, also from Apple (12" Powerbook): http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-PowerBook-G4-A... (they don't have a…

Old Thinkpads used to be awful as well though. Changing the keyboard on a 380D required burrowing in from the back :(

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#74
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Droid isn't less expensive than the iPhone was. Neither was even the miserable G1. The Galaxy S isn't a cheap phone. Nonsense. > My Nexus One cost me $550. How much did your iPhone cost you? The iPhone is $599 or $699, depending on model. In the UK it is £499 to £599, equates to $780 or $950. In the UK the Nexus One was just under $550, though VAT could take another bite out of the wallet. Right now in Europe t…

>Nonsense Obnoxious. >The iPhone is $599 or $699, depending on model. Ignoring the laughable notion that $549 compared to $599 makes one "cheap" relative to the other, my delivery price of the Nexus One was greater than walking into the telco and buying an iPhone 3GS (the option at the time) for full retail. Regardless, the number of iPhone owners who paid full retail approaches zero. It wasn't even possible until ve…

It wasn't even possible until very recently

That might be true for the US, but it’s basically untrue for the rest of the world.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#75
I don't know, what DOES happen when it's all glass? Is part metal, part glass supposed to be particularly difficult relative to that? And who says hardware is ever going to be 'all glass'? I don't understand.

My suggestion is that probably at that point, Apple will continue to have sleek, advanced products that dominate the high end of the market.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#77
post #72

If this article is any indication, Apple needs to seriously needs to improve it's software. I love my Mac, I love the environment, but there are so many lost and forgotten pieces to their software that it's highly frustrating. Take iChat, for example. So limited, even the supposed features it has do not work (Bonjour for iChat fails to work to let me and my wife chat via her MBP and my iMac). Indeed, the entire Bonjo…

I find picasa significantly faster and easier to go through huge swaths of photographs than iPhoto, and it uses a simple directory method of organization, so it's easy to move around and send pictures to others.

The way you organize photos in iPhoto is the best thing about it. Why would the creators of gmail (i.e. they understand the power of tagging) go with a "simple directory method of organization"?

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#78

If this article is any indication, Apple needs to seriously needs to improve it's software. I love my Mac, I love the environment, but there are so many lost and forgotten pieces to their software that it's highly frustrating. Take iChat, for example. So limited, even the supposed features it has do not work (Bonjour for iChat fails to work to let me and my wife chat via her MBP and my iMac). Indeed, the entire Bonjo…

Good points on most things but I disagree about app installs. I like how it is because I usually don't choose the folder it offers me anyway. I also instinctively shy away from the kind of installers you describe because it brings back memories of windows installers where I have to wonder what's actually happening (though I know the mac installer does more than just copy the files too).

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#79
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is assuming that once it's all about glass there isn't anywhere to go... Agreed. Apple has a patent on multi-touch in three dimensions already[1] so maybe the next i-device will move away from the screen and towards a more touchy-feely :-) approach. [1] - http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=FUOxAAAAEBAJ&dq=m...

maybe the next i-device will move away from the screen and towards a more touchy-feely :-) approach Once things get to the point where ubiquitous mobile haptics are just around the corner, will Apple's "no porn" policy start to be a big disadvantage?

I think the "no porn" thing is mostly in the US. One of the more popular apps where I live is a list of 70 sex positions. I haven't bought it myself, so maybe it's all text or cartoons or something but that wouldn't explain why it's so popular.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#80

If this article is any indication, Apple needs to seriously needs to improve it's software. I love my Mac, I love the environment, but there are so many lost and forgotten pieces to their software that it's highly frustrating. Take iChat, for example. So limited, even the supposed features it has do not work (Bonjour for iChat fails to work to let me and my wife chat via her MBP and my iMac). Indeed, the entire Bonjo…

Good points on most things but I disagree about app installs. I like how it is because I usually don't choose the folder it offers me anyway. I also instinctively shy away from the kind of installers you describe because it brings back memories of windows installers where I have to wonder what's actually happening (though I know the mac installer does more than just copy the files too).

That's a fair point. I'm mostly concerned with the actual drag and drop method anyways. It's cumbersome, and fairly difficult. Each installer has their own special graphical representation, and it's not always clear. Then you get the applications that have multiple files, and I'm sitting here wondering which one I'm supposed to install.

And while you do have a point, I think it could be solved through some other method.

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