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Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

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Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#261

Post by amelius »

dragonwriter wrote: post #257
amelius wrote: post #117

Why don't we all steer towards the IBM PC clone model, but for smartphones? Why do we have free/open Linux on PCs and not on phones? By the way, ironically, with its single user OS, an iPhone is more a "Personal Computer" than most PCs.

> Why don't we all steer towards the IBM PC clone model, but for smartphones? The PC model was an accident and not generally considered a win for IBM, even if it was for other players (especially Microsoft) in the surrounding ecosystem; but Android is largely Google being trying to the Microsoft of the PC clone model without anyone having to be IBM (with much of their OS free, so that it enables the Linux-equivalent—…

Yes, but it's relatively cheap to create a new phone especially if you don't need the best specs (see all the cheap Chinese brands). The main feature of the phone needs to be that it is standardized and open. The initial market could be large.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#262

Post by abalone »

lewisinc wrote: post #167
Wavelets wrote: post #130

What a silly article. How someone could look at Apple's chip developments (A, T, S, W, etc. series of processors) and think they aren't innovative is mind-boggling. Apple developing key silicon in their devices is a major security benefit for their users and I consider that an innovative model. The Apple ecosystem itself is innovative and I don't think there's a single company that does it better. They still lead in…

> It feels like Apple hate is becoming a meme. Hasn't it always been, though? This probably comes off as conspiracy-theoretic, but I feel like there's a real financial incentive to keep their stock prices as in-flux as possible to allow for proper buy-in/cash-out gains.

The financial incentive is much more pedestrian: hot take clickbait for struggling news organizations.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#263

Post by drb91 »

village-idiot wrote: post #242
drb91 wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting conditions on the use of the hardware is distinctly harmful to consumers in a way that otherwise good design cannot ameliorate.

Which has nothing to do with innovation. You might not like it, but it’s a meaningless argument when you’re asking about whether Apple is innovative or not. Also, good luck finding a phone that doesn’t do that.

I wasn't arguing against them being innovative, I was pointing out that they are definitely also a landlord.

> Also, good luck finding a phone that doesn’t do that.

Not a good defense of amoral behavior.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#264

Post by empath75 »

hinkley wrote: post #200
askafriend wrote: post #15

I think people in the mainstream media and even most people period just don't understand innovation cycles. They expect novelty every year, but they don't realize that revolutions are created by consistently great evolution over a long period of time. We're nearing the top of the S curve with regards to the smartphone business. Upgrade cycles are getting longer. Phones are getting as powerful as laptops and people ar…

I think we may soon be entering a post smart phone era but the replacements just aren’t ready yet. I had hopes that the Apple Watch 4 would be the iPhone 3g moment, but it’s not enough faster, smaller, or long running to make that logical leap. For instance, if I could make calls from my watch and have an iPad mini 5 without also carrying a phone around with me, I might be tempted by that. But neither the hardware no…

The apple watch 3 was probably the 3g moment. It's the best selling watch in the world. They're probably mostly limited by the requirement of owning an iphone.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#265

Post by wlesieutre »

scarface74 wrote: post #150
Apocryphon wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of that stuff is great, and does not explain why the Mac Mini, an entry-level Apple computer, is somehow proportionally worth $300 more than it used to be.

The $499 Mac Mini came with 4GB of RAM, a 5400 rpm hard drive and had a 1.4Ghz CPU. A usable Mac Mini was at least $699.

That was 4 years ago, so that was probably as reasonable an amount of memory as 8 GB is today. And the Macbook Airs start at a 1.6 GHz dual core, so Apple isn't above using slower processors in new products. It'll work fine for some people.

The SSD is non-negotiable today though, I'll give you that one.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#266

Post by wool_gather »

jandrese wrote: post #98
raverbashing wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. "Early 2014" is not a good model description

This drives me crazy with Mac products. Would it kill Apple to print the damn hardware revision on the case? It doesn't have to be big, just a tiny line of text in the back corner that tells you exactly what hardware you have.

They do do this. There's a "Model A####"included in the tiny text on the back of iOS devices, and on the underside of laptops.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#267

Post by wtallis »

lewisinc wrote: post #167
Wavelets wrote: post #130

What a silly article. How someone could look at Apple's chip developments (A, T, S, W, etc. series of processors) and think they aren't innovative is mind-boggling. Apple developing key silicon in their devices is a major security benefit for their users and I consider that an innovative model. The Apple ecosystem itself is innovative and I don't think there's a single company that does it better. They still lead in…

> It feels like Apple hate is becoming a meme. Hasn't it always been, though? This probably comes off as conspiracy-theoretic, but I feel like there's a real financial incentive to keep their stock prices as in-flux as possible to allow for proper buy-in/cash-out gains.

I can certainly believe that there are plenty of people that try to manipulate the stock price, but most Apple haters aren't playing the stock market.

By far the most common cause of Apple hate I see is what appears to be consumers who are essentially disgruntled that none of Apple's products are targeted at their own use case: eg. gamers who always decried the Mac Pro because they wanted a cheap traditional desktop, not a workstation; or people who wish Apple was competing in the $500 laptop market, or the 8+lbs mobile workstation or gaming laptop market. A large portion of complaints about Apple hardware being overpriced can be traced back to misunderstandings about what Apple's actually selling and how it differs from the Dell that somebody tries to compare it to. (Of course, there are plenty of things that Apple does over-charge for.)

Next most common are probably the people who despise the "walled garden". They're quite vocal in these parts of the web, but I doubt they outnumber the previous category of Apple detractors.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#268

Post by sleepybrett »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #158
bepotts wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows just isn't cool, no matter how hard Microsoft tries to rebrand it. It'll never be cool until Microsoft does something to not make it ubiquitous. Windows is what you use when you're a kid at a public school or have parents that don't have the money to buy a Mac. Macs and iPhones are trendy because not everyone owns them, they're really nice, and they're pricey. Windows is like Wal-mart while Apple is Whole Foo…

Windows isn't cool because of BSODs, constant restarts and waiting for it to update, and Candy Crush advertisements in the start menu. And the hibernate/sleep function worked terribly (at least for the longest time, don't know if it's fixed now), compared to Apple's fold down the screen when you want to go and open it back up to what you were doing and it works all the time.

Lets also not forget the shell is so shit that they finally started shipping the linux subsystem.

Honestly I would have gone to primarily linux instead of mac years ago if osx hadn't been what it is (bsd/*nix).

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#269

Post by tensor »

yeswecould wrote: post #3
techsocial wrote: post #2

I like this part: Apple is milking its essentially captive audience. I hesitate to call it “loyal” — these are, essentially, people who look with trepidation at the idea of moving years of photos and other data to a different system. My wife gnashed her teeth when she got one of the new, wildly overpriced iPhones — but she just can’t imagine switching to Android.

The main Android dealbreaker for me is all the viruses, followed by OS fragmentation and finally the fact there is no privacy protection ( i.e. secure enclave )

The main iOS dealbreaker for me is the lack of strong AI offering. Google's ecosystem is just so good on that front. Siri is not competitive with the google assistant.

I don't have update issues as I only buy Nexus/Pixel. I've yet to encounter a single piece of malware in the years I've been using android, so this seems like an overblown issue. Mind you, I don't download that many apps, just use some of the more mainstream ones.

I believe Google protects my privacy just fine, but I do admire the extra security that iOS has built into the OS. Wish android did better here.

Re: Apple Used to Be an Inventor. Now It’s Mainly a Landlord

#270

Post by rwc »

scarface74 wrote: post #170
bepotts wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows just isn't cool, no matter how hard Microsoft tries to rebrand it. It'll never be cool until Microsoft does something to not make it ubiquitous. Windows is what you use when you're a kid at a public school or have parents that don't have the money to buy a Mac. Macs and iPhones are trendy because not everyone owns them, they're really nice, and they're pricey. Windows is like Wal-mart while Apple is Whole Foo…

40%+ of smart phones sold in the US are iPhones There is no exclusivity in owning an iPhone.

Tell that to people who deride their “green bubble friends”
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