They have some symbiosis because Adobe Design Suite CS5 is loaded in all of the higher end computers on display in the Apple Store.
I went in yesterday to look at the high resolution MacBook Pro displays to see if my eyes could deal with it and it worked nice because I built a quick website in the store with the software I use all day.
They apparently want to push CS5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody
Great move.
I think they will "handle" Adobe and Microsoft by simply not carrying them in the store. Having them in the Apple store doesn't do anything for computer sales.
There is no way this is going to happen in the near or medium term.
As someone mentioned, there is the issue of software on discs, which is still a thriving secondary market, then there is the issue of bandwidth. Most of the country does not have broadband.
Yes, and it's a secondary market that most software publishers would do almost anything to put an end to. The bandwidth issue is more important, but lots of people have to deal with that today to get OS X security and system updates, which are often larger than most software would be, so, I'm not sure that will hold this back much.
I wonder if the "greenies" are keeping tabs on this. I'm sure they won't give Apple a gold star for eschewing paper packaging, but they will slap them with a red F for having too many gas guzzler tax-eligible cars in their parking lots.
Not to sound heartless, but I too, like this move away from packaging, shipping, etc. It sounds "greener" to me. Just a side note, most people recognize the impact on trees but there is also a major impact on water pollution....to get that paper "white" takes a lot of processing, water, bleaching not to mention the toxic inks used. I think this is a winner and I commend Apple for leading the way! Again!
I myself refuse to take the very attractive Apple plastic bags when I buy at the Apple store. I heard that Apple was doing away with the plastic bags...
I would like to see Apple stop using the current very beautiful packing boxes for iMacs, Laptops, etc. and go to basic cardboard with a simple black logo and UPC code on them. I understand products for display still need attractive packaging the but boxes kept in the back don't.
I understand Apple's emphasis on "elegance" but again, for the boxes kept in the back they could be plain boxes made out of recycled paper, etc. I'm sure the boxes would be top class knowing Apple!
Best
Are you nuts? Do you know how many people watch the Apple un-boxing p0rn videos? It would be so boring without the elegant packaging.
Gonna explain how you even came close to that conclusion or can we just write this post off?
with online purcases they will only increase profit. but they must go globally with it (so even i in bosnia can buy apple software) or leave boxed software for countries where they don't have app/itunes store.
The software I can live with but they need to keep the family pack or it's equivalent.
But what ever they do DON'T remove the optical drive from the larger systems, i.e., the MacBook Pro's, iMacs and Mac Pro's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcahill009
I agree with the family pack, but not with the optical drive, let it die. The mac pro will most likely be the last to keep them. But within 3-5 yrs. they will be completely gone from the mac lineup
I don't doubt that optical drives will become less important over time, but DVD-R is the most feasible (cheap/reliable) way to backup large, critical datasets. How the hell would you replace that?
Currently, my still photos alone take 2-3 DVD-Rs a month, and we make 2 copies, 1 for offsite. This is not stuff I'm going to store in the cloud; I am not willing to pay monthly fees for that when I can buy blank DVDs for 30-40 cents each, ONE TIME COST. No monthly costs, no connectivity requirements or download time. But more than that, I don't trust cloud services with data or photos that you need to keep indefinitely. There's no guarantee that any of these (especially the smaller) firms will even be around 5-10 years from now, and there have been cases where companies just went offline and data was gone.
I do think that eventually optical drives will slowly disappear (although it will be quite some time). I have no interest in putting family photos/video online, but I am concerned about changing media formats. What else do people use now? What are we going to be using 5 years from now? Flash/SD card keep increasing in density, is it possible that they become used for both capture and archival? Is anyone else concerned about this?
The software I can live with but they need to keep the family pack or it's equivalent.
But what ever they do DON'T remove the optical drive from the larger systems, i.e., the MacBook Pro's, iMacs and Mac Pro's.
You mean like they removed the floppy drive from the original iMac? I remember the whining and crying, the sarcastic questions about how to save and transport files without physical media. Same thing, different decade.
I went in yesterday to look at the high resolution MacBook Pro displays to see if my eyes could deal with it and it worked nice because I built a quick website in the store with the software I use all day.
Bit off-topic here, but I'm eyeing the high-res 15" as a replacement for my (now-ancient) first-gen MBP and would love to see how the display compares to the standard resolution. From a bit of Googling it seems that the high-res display is a BTO option and, as such, not something Apple shows off in the stores. Were you able to find one on display?
I don't doubt that optical drives will become less important over time, but DVD-R is the most feasible (cheap/reliable) way to backup large, critical datasets. How the hell would you replace that?
Currently, my still photos alone take 2-3 DVD-Rs a month, and we make 2 copies, 1 for offsite. This is not stuff I'm going to store in the cloud; I am not willing to pay monthly fees for that when I can buy blank DVDs for 30-40 cents each, ONE TIME COST. No monthly costs, no connectivity requirements or download time. But more than that, I don't trust cloud services with data or photos that you need to keep indefinitely. There's no guarantee that any of these (especially the smaller) firms will even be around 5-10 years from now, and there have been cases where companies just went offline and data was gone.
I do think that eventually optical drives will slowly disappear (although it will be quite some time). I have no interest in putting family photos/video online, but I am concerned about changing media formats. What else do people use now? What are we going to be using 5 years from now? Flash/SD card keep increasing in density, is it possible that they become used for both capture and archival? Is anyone else concerned about this?
Even adding a second hard drive, it is still cheaper per gigabyte then your disc's (unless my math is wrong-it can happen). Imho this is also far simpler and more convenient then messing around with individual dvd's. And while a hard drive can fail, disc's can get data rot.
What happens to folks still with Tiger or Leopard, is there app store in those releases now?
They will be "forced" to upgrade if they want to get future updates and software. Just like ios I expect apple to only support the current generation and the one previous will all updates and features.
All? How are they going to sell and install Mac OS X software? Hopefully they can figure out how to make 8GB USB flash drives for Mac OS X Lion cheap enough, but that is still a partition.
They already are. My new MBA came with OSX on a USB stick. I re-installed OSX the moment I received it to make sure it worked. So much faster than using the CD.
Just because they are removing shelf-space does not mean they will not keep boxed-copies in the back room. Just devote a small space somewhere with pick-up slips to give to the front-desk. I don't have a problem with that.
I do hope they don't totally move away from CD software. I could care less about the packaging but I can see times where if I have to re-install OSX for whatever reason, I may not have broadband for whatever reason and would prefer to re-load from CD or USB-sticks. It's a mixed-blessing though since I can recall only one or two moments in the past few years where I used my CD drive for that.
The less moving components in a computer, the better the reliability as far as I'm concerned.
Not at all concerned about reducing packing material manufacturing, burning up trees and oil to make wasteful paper and plastics. Industry evolves and workers need to as well.
They may not display them on the sales floor, but I'm sure they will still keep boxed copies in the back for the customers who need them.
Apple sells a lot of Microsoft Office.
I just checked the Apple online store and it is #7 in the software category.
It is also the only non-Apple title in the top 10.
Several people have pointed out that it's something that customers would want to get in their store (Office), but I think you're looking at it wrong when you talk about how popular it is. As the main article tells us, even if it was at the top of the list, the total amount of sales is minimal in dollars and cents. The only reason to keep it is for the customer assurance, not the money or the sales.
That being said, I know Microsoft has talked (and talked and talked) about delivering their software online for many years and I remember reading articles from five years ago that talked about it being just around the corner. Now that Apple has beaten them to it (again!), I would expect that even if they aren't in the Mac app store, they will find some way to offer it online.
So perhaps Apple would hand out the link to people, perhaps they would let people download it right in the store, maybe they would set it up for them, but I don't see it as a really big hurdle and I don't see them removing all the software boxes for their own products, yet leaving MS Office on the shelf all by itself.
At my workplace, we buy a blanket licence for the whole place and people individually download it to their computers from a central server. We haven't used disks for a long long time. I think there must be some way to accommodate the Office users even if it's just selling them a coupon with a keycode and a URL to download on it.
Comments
I went in yesterday to look at the high resolution MacBook Pro displays to see if my eyes could deal with it and it worked nice because I built a quick website in the store with the software I use all day.
They apparently want to push CS5.
Great move.
I think they will "handle" Adobe and Microsoft by simply not carrying them in the store. Having them in the Apple store doesn't do anything for computer sales.
There is no way this is going to happen in the near or medium term.
As someone mentioned, there is the issue of software on discs, which is still a thriving secondary market, then there is the issue of bandwidth. Most of the country does not have broadband.
Yes, and it's a secondary market that most software publishers would do almost anything to put an end to. The bandwidth issue is more important, but lots of people have to deal with that today to get OS X security and system updates, which are often larger than most software would be, so, I'm not sure that will hold this back much.
Not to sound heartless, but I too, like this move away from packaging, shipping, etc. It sounds "greener" to me. Just a side note, most people recognize the impact on trees but there is also a major impact on water pollution....to get that paper "white" takes a lot of processing, water, bleaching not to mention the toxic inks used. I think this is a winner and I commend Apple for leading the way! Again!
I myself refuse to take the very attractive Apple plastic bags when I buy at the Apple store. I heard that Apple was doing away with the plastic bags...
I would like to see Apple stop using the current very beautiful packing boxes for iMacs, Laptops, etc. and go to basic cardboard with a simple black logo and UPC code on them. I understand products for display still need attractive packaging the but boxes kept in the back don't.
I understand Apple's emphasis on "elegance" but again, for the boxes kept in the back they could be plain boxes made out of recycled paper, etc. I'm sure the boxes would be top class knowing Apple!
Best
Are you nuts? Do you know how many people watch the Apple un-boxing p0rn videos? It would be so boring without the elegant packaging.
If boxed software eventually disappears for the Mac platform, my costs as a consumer may increase! That would really suck.
Gonna explain how you even came close to that conclusion or can we just write this post off?
with online purcases they will only increase profit. but they must go globally with it (so even i in bosnia can buy apple software) or leave boxed software for countries where they don't have app/itunes store.
The software I can live with but they need to keep the family pack or it's equivalent.
But what ever they do DON'T remove the optical drive from the larger systems, i.e., the MacBook Pro's, iMacs and Mac Pro's.
I agree with the family pack, but not with the optical drive, let it die. The mac pro will most likely be the last to keep them. But within 3-5 yrs. they will be completely gone from the mac lineup
I don't doubt that optical drives will become less important over time, but DVD-R is the most feasible (cheap/reliable) way to backup large, critical datasets. How the hell would you replace that?
Currently, my still photos alone take 2-3 DVD-Rs a month, and we make 2 copies, 1 for offsite. This is not stuff I'm going to store in the cloud; I am not willing to pay monthly fees for that when I can buy blank DVDs for 30-40 cents each, ONE TIME COST. No monthly costs, no connectivity requirements or download time. But more than that, I don't trust cloud services with data or photos that you need to keep indefinitely. There's no guarantee that any of these (especially the smaller) firms will even be around 5-10 years from now, and there have been cases where companies just went offline and data was gone.
I do think that eventually optical drives will slowly disappear (although it will be quite some time). I have no interest in putting family photos/video online, but I am concerned about changing media formats. What else do people use now? What are we going to be using 5 years from now? Flash/SD card keep increasing in density, is it possible that they become used for both capture and archival? Is anyone else concerned about this?
Are you nuts? Do you know how many people watch the Apple un-boxing p0rn videos? It would be so boring without the elegant packaging.
Yep! Forget I mentioned it!
The software I can live with but they need to keep the family pack or it's equivalent.
But what ever they do DON'T remove the optical drive from the larger systems, i.e., the MacBook Pro's, iMacs and Mac Pro's.
You mean like they removed the floppy drive from the original iMac? I remember the whining and crying, the sarcastic questions about how to save and transport files without physical media. Same thing, different decade.
I went in yesterday to look at the high resolution MacBook Pro displays to see if my eyes could deal with it and it worked nice because I built a quick website in the store with the software I use all day.
Bit off-topic here, but I'm eyeing the high-res 15" as a replacement for my (now-ancient) first-gen MBP and would love to see how the display compares to the standard resolution. From a bit of Googling it seems that the high-res display is a BTO option and, as such, not something Apple shows off in the stores. Were you able to find one on display?
What happens to folks still with Tiger or Leopard, is there app store in those releases now?
I'm guessing a lot of the new-releases will require Snow Leopard. Tiger's been deprecated anyway.
I don't doubt that optical drives will become less important over time, but DVD-R is the most feasible (cheap/reliable) way to backup large, critical datasets. How the hell would you replace that?
Currently, my still photos alone take 2-3 DVD-Rs a month, and we make 2 copies, 1 for offsite. This is not stuff I'm going to store in the cloud; I am not willing to pay monthly fees for that when I can buy blank DVDs for 30-40 cents each, ONE TIME COST. No monthly costs, no connectivity requirements or download time. But more than that, I don't trust cloud services with data or photos that you need to keep indefinitely. There's no guarantee that any of these (especially the smaller) firms will even be around 5-10 years from now, and there have been cases where companies just went offline and data was gone.
I do think that eventually optical drives will slowly disappear (although it will be quite some time). I have no interest in putting family photos/video online, but I am concerned about changing media formats. What else do people use now? What are we going to be using 5 years from now? Flash/SD card keep increasing in density, is it possible that they become used for both capture and archival? Is anyone else concerned about this?
Hard Drive Dock $40-70
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Newer...ard_Drive_Dock
2 Tb hard drive $79
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148413
Even adding a second hard drive, it is still cheaper per gigabyte then your disc's (unless my math is wrong-it can happen). Imho this is also far simpler and more convenient then messing around with individual dvd's. And while a hard drive can fail, disc's can get data rot.
What happens to folks still with Tiger or Leopard, is there app store in those releases now?
They will be "forced" to upgrade if they want to get future updates and software. Just like ios I expect apple to only support the current generation and the one previous will all updates and features.
All? How are they going to sell and install Mac OS X software? Hopefully they can figure out how to make 8GB USB flash drives for Mac OS X Lion cheap enough, but that is still a partition.
They already are. My new MBA came with OSX on a USB stick. I re-installed OSX the moment I received it to make sure it worked. So much faster than using the CD.
Just because they are removing shelf-space does not mean they will not keep boxed-copies in the back room. Just devote a small space somewhere with pick-up slips to give to the front-desk. I don't have a problem with that.
I do hope they don't totally move away from CD software. I could care less about the packaging but I can see times where if I have to re-install OSX for whatever reason, I may not have broadband for whatever reason and would prefer to re-load from CD or USB-sticks. It's a mixed-blessing though since I can recall only one or two moments in the past few years where I used my CD drive for that.
The less moving components in a computer, the better the reliability as far as I'm concerned.
Not at all concerned about reducing packing material manufacturing, burning up trees and oil to make wasteful paper and plastics. Industry evolves and workers need to as well.
Hear, hear!
They may not display them on the sales floor, but I'm sure they will still keep boxed copies in the back for the customers who need them.
Apple sells a lot of Microsoft Office.
I just checked the Apple online store and it is #7 in the software category.
It is also the only non-Apple title in the top 10.
Several people have pointed out that it's something that customers would want to get in their store (Office), but I think you're looking at it wrong when you talk about how popular it is. As the main article tells us, even if it was at the top of the list, the total amount of sales is minimal in dollars and cents. The only reason to keep it is for the customer assurance, not the money or the sales.
That being said, I know Microsoft has talked (and talked and talked) about delivering their software online for many years and I remember reading articles from five years ago that talked about it being just around the corner. Now that Apple has beaten them to it (again!), I would expect that even if they aren't in the Mac app store, they will find some way to offer it online.
So perhaps Apple would hand out the link to people, perhaps they would let people download it right in the store, maybe they would set it up for them, but I don't see it as a really big hurdle and I don't see them removing all the software boxes for their own products, yet leaving MS Office on the shelf all by itself.
At my workplace, we buy a blanket licence for the whole place and people individually download it to their computers from a central server. We haven't used disks for a long long time. I think there must be some way to accommodate the Office users even if it's just selling them a coupon with a keycode and a URL to download on it.
What happens to folks still with Tiger or Leopard, is there app store in those releases now?
Great idea but how with the App Store distribute OSX Lion? The only way that comes to mind is a physical DVD.
Hear, hear!
Just hope your reasoning doesn´t help cable companies to charge for bandwith, specially with OS distributions.