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Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

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Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#331

Post by allsystemsgo »

GoofballJones wrote: post #224
kryptiskt wrote: post #85

The best part of the report is that iPad sales are plunging. It's a victory for general purpose computing that that segment of the walled garden is in decline. Let's hope that open systems can gain a toehold in phones sometime too.

Sorry, I've been on "open systems" and walled gardens and at this point in my life, I prefer the walled garden. Whenever I wanted to do something in an "open system", it usually turned into a giant pain-in-the-ass or I got preached/yelled at by everyone. "oh, sorry, you don't have a driver for that yet. Maybe write one yourself and put it on github? Oh sorry, this system doesn't support that format because that forma…

You're so god damn right. It's not that I mind open systems, it's that I'm too lazy. I don't want to deal with all the bullshit that comes with an open system.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#332

Post by Cthulhu_ »

puranjay wrote: post #52
fidotron wrote: post #6

Truly phenomenal. But then when no one else is making decent laptops this is what happens. If anything the gap has grown thanks to Windows 8. I'm not a fan of Yosemite by any stretch, but it is very much the least bad of the available options. And on mobile, iOS is very clearly in for the long haul now. There was a time a couple of years ago when Android looked like it might gain enough momentum to sweep them away, b…

Google's lack of oversight in the Play store (which is actually a core philosophy) is really holding back Android. There are countless really, really crappy apps and clones crowding the app store. Plus, since most people pirate, developers can't make money (Monument Valley saw around 95% piracy rate and just $250k in revenue from Android, vs. $5.5M from iOS). This sunk Windows Mobile, which I still believe has the be…

> There are countless really, really crappy apps and clones crowding the [play] store.

TBF, the app store's main problem is app discoverability - I think only 1% of the apps actually sells well enough, the others are only found if you actively look for them. And the formula behind the Apple app store hasn't changed in forever - actually the only thing they changed was allowing (short) videos and a change in how they present in-app purchase-funded apps, which dominate the 'free' listings (of course).

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#333

Post by sswaner »

adl wrote: post #121
potatolicious wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than Windows sucking, the OEM laptop industry has largely fumbled hardware. For a while it looked like Dell and/or Samsung might actually give Apple a run for its money in terms of design and quality, but that fell flat on its face. I'm a pretty biased sample, but honestly I know more people running non-OSX on Apple laptops than I know people running non-OSX on non-Apple laptops. Apple's laptops beat the rest of…

Serious question, what makes Apple laptops beat the rest of the industry? No docking station, can't change batteries, no touch screens, no spill resistant keyboards, no matte screen option,etc. You also need those dongles for ethernet and video and can't upgrade RAM or hard drives on the retina models. Sure, the OS (if you need/like OSX, there is little choice), and the trackpad (if you like that those) are good, the…

I am one of a handful of MBPro users in a sea of corporate Dell laptops. My 18 month old Pro still looks great. Dell laptops look very used after just a few months. This is true even of the newer Dell ultrabooks that look like plastic imitations of a MacBook Air.

And I get many comments from people wishing they could use a Mac instead of a Dell Windows machine.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#334

Post by patrickk »

Shivetya wrote: post #262
ykl wrote: post #9

Sometimes just to wrap my head around really large numbers like this, I like to put things in units of aircraft carriers. The US Navy's last finished carrier cost $6.2 billion[1], meaning that $74.6 billion[2] is enough to buy Apple 12 nuclear carriers, a.k.a. a nuclear carrier fleet larger than that of the US Navy. Of course this is an inaccurate and very silly comparison[3], but at least for me it does give some se…

When it comes to realizing what a billion dollars is like, i always fall back on a streamer who recently used notepad to demonstrate a billion dollars. Some not safe for work language but it really explains the sheer immenseness of this value. Let alone the fact there are streamers who have received tens of thousands of dollars. In this case there really is a very rich person in the middle east who has given tens of…

That's an exceptional visualisation!

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#335

Post by alphakappa »

hnnewguy wrote: post #326
john_b wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to argue general economic principles, then do so [1]. Just don't cherry pick examples to prop up your perspective. I don't think anyone, even Reagan or Thatcher, would have stood behind the assertion that a luxury phone and computer maker with a hoard of cash would benefit the poor. You're attacking a strawman here. [1] Just keep in mind that "trickle-down economics" is a political philosophy, not an econ…

> that a luxury phone and computer maker with a hoard of cash would benefit the poor. If they were forced to re-patriate and pay taxes on that cash, how could that not "help the poor"?

Repatriate what? Income that was earned overseas?

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#336

Post by slantyyz »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #208
slantyyz wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I would rather run Windows on an Macbook Pro than any of the other hardware I honestly don't get why people often say that Macbooks are the best Windows laptops. I have always found the Windows on Mac experience to be sub-par with respect to the key placement, driver behavior, and oversensitive scrolling with Apple mice. I far prefer running Windows on a similarly equipped PC laptop. On the two Macbooks that I hav…

That hasn't been my experience. I find the mouse experience equivalent to my Lenovo. The Lenovo maxes out with an HD screen (1920 x 1080) and has about 2/3rds the battery life. I will concede the keyboard point. I pretty much hate all laptop keyboards equally though.

I probably should have specified that my issue is with the Magic Mouse with Windows in particular. It just scrolls when I don't want it to, and when it does, it's stupid fast. I don't have that issue with any non-Apple mouse that I have.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#337

Post by slantyyz »

72deluxe wrote: post #258
slantyyz wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> In general Apple's laptops are just well built and feel solid. Some PCs are like that, many aren't due to cost. If I'm going to use a machine every day for 4 years I want to know it's well built and holds up well. Be glad you're not like me and are stuck with a lemon like the 2011 Macbook Pro. It's a well built (chassis-wise, at least) and solid brick with a well known design defect that Apple refuses to acknowled…

I have a 2012 MBP and it's the last of the good ones I feel. A real pity because I don't know what to move to when the time comes! (I too fear the insane RAM prices).

The good thing is that the 15" models have CPUs that are pretty fast, even today. The 2012's CPUs produce much less heat than the 2011s, so I tend to think that you're good beyond 2017 if you don't do anything that requires you to constantly get CPU speed bumps.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#338

Post by djrogers »

hnnewguy wrote: post #326
john_b wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to argue general economic principles, then do so [1]. Just don't cherry pick examples to prop up your perspective. I don't think anyone, even Reagan or Thatcher, would have stood behind the assertion that a luxury phone and computer maker with a hoard of cash would benefit the poor. You're attacking a strawman here. [1] Just keep in mind that "trickle-down economics" is a political philosophy, not an econ…

> that a luxury phone and computer maker with a hoard of cash would benefit the poor. If they were forced to re-patriate and pay taxes on that cash, how could that not "help the poor"?

>If they were forced to re-patriate and pay taxes on that cash, how could that not "help the poor"?

That would mostly benefit politicians and their beneficiaries, not exactly 'the poor'. Very little of the $$ spent by the government helps 'the poor', unless you're counting our severely underpaid military.

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#339

Post by djrogers »

exprL wrote: post #306
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No docking station Don't need one. Wifi, bluetooth keyboard/mouse, external display, and other external peripherals haven't been relevant in the past five years. > can't change batteries Fair point I guess, but the battery life is pretty long already (also compared to competitors), and for me personally, I have a static workspace so I don't miss it. > no touch screens I think OSX was slowly heading towards that a w…

A static workspace where you prefer to look downwards on a relatively small monitor on level with the keyboard, to a properly placed desktop monitor and accessories placed where they are physically convenient to use? What does your work consist of, exactly – not using the computer?

MacBooks come with built in HDMI and/or displayport - what about that precludes an external monitor?

As for the keyboard/mouse combo, bluetooth has worked well there for ages...

Re: Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

#340

Post by thrownaway2424 »

AlexandrB wrote: post #324
thrownaway2424 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather have a ThinkPad, too, and I'm using one to write this. But I think you have to recognize that the PC market is massively fragmented and if you walk into a retail outlet you're going to see a lot of laptops, and none of them are going to be ThinkPads. Lenovo undermines their own products through the same fragmentation. If I just search on Google for "laptop" there are 8 top-ranked shopping items, one of whi…

Recent Thinkpads are a horror show. The t440p has a touchpad so atrocious it renders the trackpoint unusable (because the L/R buttons are part of the touchpad). Palm rejection is nonexistent. And yes, the screen is awful, with a tiny vertical viewing sweet spot.

It looks like the X1 Carbon (3rd Gen) might be adequate, but the more compact X240 still has the virtual mouse buttons.
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