I don't do forecasts. Even the experts fail doing so. I remember when they say Windows Phone will be dominating by today. And would never imaging iPad sales going down so strong in two years.
Like I posted before, I posted some information and you are free to go the check it out in your favorite website. The MS blog I posted only announced the expansion of partners and some business who where early adopters of the SP4. Again, do your own research an check if it's true or not.
The 8% of growth you mentioned is the Microsoft Intelligent Cloud, which includes servers and other services and applications. From that division, Azure by itself had a growth of 135% YoY.
Your posts are a hoot. Thanks for the laugh.
1) You don't do forecasts. Except when you do.
2) Post credible sites in the future.
3) Kep slicing and dicing the market -- Intelligent Cloud, Azure, SaaS, Paas, Iaas -- and I am sure you'll find numbers and construct the reality you like.
Apple is designs to where the puck will be; and that puck lives in a wireless world; hence the Mac Book will likely never see a second USB port.
I do very well in a wireless world with my MBA. How having USB ports affect that?
Quote:
I guessing that the MBA is we know it will be deprecated within the next couple of generations as Intel provides increased performance within the same TDP as the MB, and a thinner, lighter 13 inch MBP will replace the MBA for those that want TB 3.
Bottom line is you will never get what you are asking for because it doesn't make sense for Apple to produce it, but I'm guessing that you already know that and just want to rant.
I don't see a problem with the Macbook being as the future mobile Mac's. What doesn't make sense is the way Apple did it, by abandon a great device as the MBA, which at least could have a better screen. Is that too much to ask?
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"Regarding the keyboard, most of reviewers agree with me, it's bad. Some of them say "you have to get used to it""
Actually, most of the reviews I have read don't state that it is bad, but do state that the user has to get used to the shorter travel, and some don't like the force touch track pad. That keyboard design is a necessary compromise for thin and light, and obviously, a differentiation with the MBA and MBP; if you don't like it, don't buy it or try it, and take it back within 15 days.
One wonders how well the Surface 4 / Surface Book keyboards work in comparison; those are compromised as well, and a necessary tradeoff.
First you mention the reviews that "don't state is bad", but later you said that is a "necessary compromise". If it wasn't bad, it would not be a compromise, right? I already try it, and I'll keep my MBA.
And since you mention the SP4, I tried yesterday and the keys felt better than the Macbook.
No, I'm not confused. I just listed some things Apple have failed.
iWorks - Looks like you agree is not that good.
No, I don't. I use it daily, and rather like it. I used Microsoft Office on Mac since before there was a Microsoft "Office" — it was Word only back then — and being able to switch to iWork was a huge improvement.
They've removed some options and limited in a few unfortunate ways, but these actually don't concern me, personally — and the full compatibility across all my devices is worth the trade-offs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanVM
Apple Music - Awful and confusing UI. Spotify is a better option. And if you think that it's a good services because they have 6.5m subscribers, then you should think that Windows 8 is better than OS X, since it has a larger market share than all OS X versions available. I don't agree with that.
I'll defer to your judgement on that, since I use neither Spotify nor Apple Music.
It does seem to me, however, that what you find "confusing" and "awful" is another case of people criticising precisely what are the advantages of Apple's product: it is fully and seamlessly integrated with your "own" music library, so that it becomes completely irrelevant where the music is coming from.
The people who criticise this are those who would rather keep the two completely separate, which is precisely what Apple has consciously decided NOT to do — in the interest of their users (of which I am not one, for a number of reasons, this being one of them).
Again: That people are critical of a product, or have good reasons for not wanting it, doesn't mean that it's a bad product — or even one that's less than excellent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanVM
Apple Watch - I don't have one, but the reviews and people feedback is not that positive.
iCloud - Maybe it's good for your needs, but the service as a whole is behind Google and MS.
iCloud as a whole is also behind Volvo, and behind Lufthansa and McDonald's. Elephants and penguins are terrible tree-climbers, but that doesn't make them just shitty monkeys.
There are definitely things iCloud could handle better for my needs, and I certainly haven't fully integrated Cloud storage of documents into my workflow, but my requirements would force additional complexity that would probably result in an inferior product for where Apple is going.
Apple Watch — "reviews and people feedback is not that positive"??? On what planet? Geeks don't love the thing for the same reason they prefer Android and Windows and Linux. "People feedback" translates to "customer satisfaction", which, from what I've read, is pretty much higher than it's ever been for any tech product in history.
I won't comment on the Surface Book, since it's too new, but I have seen the Surface Pro and it's a great device. I don't know why you think it's sucks.
"But then came the times where I wanted to take off my shoe and throw it at the Surface Book. A display driver crash alert repeatedly interrupted my work, and twice the thing rebooted on its own, causing me to lose unsaved notes. (Other reviewers told me they had similar issues.) Worst of all, a Surface Pro 4 and a Surface Book I tested failed to boot up fully because of faulty solid state drives. They simply would not allow me back into Windows"
It is completely obvious to anybody not just looking to rant that the new MacBook does certain things so much more effectively than any other laptop that it will become the de-facto standard by which all other machines are measured. Until then, the current offerings will continue to be gently updated and coast along as "hanging in there".
Also, it's cute that you write that the iMac at least had two USB ports. One was immediately occupied by a floppy drive, the other by a keyboard/mouse, leaving only the single port off the side of the keyboard for a printer. All full. No SCSI, either. People were LIVID. The MacBook has no such issues. The market it's aimed at is wireless; optical drives have been gently yesteryeared for seven years now, even presentations for travelling salesmen are more effectively served by keeping an Apple TV puck in the bag, if not an iPad.
I apologize if my post looked like a rant. I just posted my opinions, plus English is not my main language.
Going back to the Macbook, a part from screen and form factor, what other thing it does better than other laptop? Because right now, battery life, performance, expansion and keyboard are compromised compared to other devices. Does it will be better in the future? Yes, it will be. Until then, they should make the MBA better (at least offer a good display) instead of doing minimum upgrades to it. Don't you agree? Maybe the upgrade with Skylake processors includes a high quality screen.
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Also, FWIW, for every review criticising the new keyboard, I can find one that raves about it. Steve Kovach writes that it's his favourite thing of all about the MacBook, and that returning to the MacBook Air felt like sitting back at a typewriter by comparison.
Again: Don't confuse your personal preference with the best choice in product design.
And regarding the keyboard, I read the S. Kovach article about the Macbook. And the guy says it's the best keyboard he ever used, plus mention that "They don't press down as much as a normal keyboard, so it's almost like typing on a flat surface". If you like the feeling of typing in a flat surface, similar as an iPad or maybe the first gen of Surface keyboard, then be my guest. IMO, that's awful. And a lot of reviews I have read agree with me. I use a lot of devices because of my line of work, and the Thinkpads / X1 Carbon are the best. You should try them.
And I know the difference between personal preference and best choice. But it looks like most of reviews I have read agree with me, the keyboard is not good.
I apologize if my post looked like a rant. I just posted my opinions, plus English is not my main language.
Going back to the Macbook, a part from screen and form factor, what other thing it does better than other laptop? Because right now, battery life, performance, expansion and keyboard are compromised compared to other devices. Does it will be better in the future? Yes, it will be. Until then, they should make the MBA better (at least offer a good display) instead of doing minimum upgrades to it. Don't you agree? Maybe the upgrade with Skylake processors includes a high quality screen.
No, I don't agree. And more importantly, Apple don't agree. Rather than incrementally improve the existing platform from the last decade, they've decided to radically re-design it from scratch, with an eye to the next decade. That's what they do.
What the MacBook does better than the other laptops has been listed several times over, and just ignoring it and asking again and again won't make it go away:
Form factor.
Noise factor (fanless).
Retina display.
Keyboard (that you and many others don't like it doesn't negate that many others do).
Simplicity (port unification).
Redesigned battery technology for more efficient use of space within machines.
Force Touch (this is in the MacBooks Pro now, but would take re-engineering the MacBooks Air to incorporate the new trackpad technology and the taptic engine — which is effectively what they've done, anyway)
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Originally Posted by DanVM
And regarding the keyboard, I read the S. Kovach article about the Macbook. And the guy says it's the best keyboard he ever used, plus mention that "They don't press down as much as a normal keyboard, so it's almost like typing on a flat surface". If you like the feeling of typing in a flat surface, similar as an iPad or maybe the first gen of Surface keyboard, then be my guest. IMO, that's awful. And a lot of reviews I have read agree with me. I use a lot of devices because of my line of work, and the Thinkpads / X1 Carbon are the best. You should try them.
And I know the difference between personal preference and best choice. But it looks like most of reviews I have read agree with me, the keyboard is not good.
I think there's probably a lot of confirmation bias going on in there. I'll see if I can try one of the later Thinkpads or X1 Carbon at some point. I hated the first-gen Surface keyboard, though I actually find typing on the iPad display surprisingly okay.
3) Kep slicing and dicing the market -- Intelligent Cloud, Azure, SaaS, Paas, Iaas -- and I am sure you'll find numbers and construct the reality you like.
Here's a piece of advice: Hope =/= Expectation.
1) From what I have remember, I haven't post any specific numbers of expected sales.
2) I don't have idea of your criteria for credible websites, neither I care too much to learn about it. Like I posted before, you can check what I posted with your favorite websites.
3) I just clarified that MS Cloud Division includes on premise servers. From that, Azure by itself, which competes with Amazon, grew 135%. Is something bad about that?
No, I don't. I use it daily, and rather like it. I used Microsoft Office on Mac since before there was a Microsoft "Office" — it was Word only back then — and being able to switch to iWork was a huge improvement.
They've removed some options and limited in a few unfortunate ways, but these actually don't concern me, personally — and the full compatibility across all my devices is worth the trade-offs.
I wanted to clarify something. My comparison of iWorks is with Office 2016. Office 2011 was one of the worst application I have ever used. And I'm sure iWorks apps have a market for their simplicity. But compared to Office 2016, it's clear which one is more advanced.
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I'll defer to your judgement on that, since I use neither Spotify nor Apple Music.
It does seem to me, however, that what you find "confusing" and "awful" is another case of people criticising precisely what are the advantages of Apple's product: it is fully and seamlessly integrated with your "own" music library, so that it becomes completely irrelevant where the music is coming from.
The people who criticise this are those who would rather keep the two completely separate, which is precisely what Apple has consciously decided NOT to do — in the interest of their users (of which I am not one, for a number of reasons, this being one of them).
Again: That people are critical of a product, or have good reasons for not wanting it, doesn't mean that it's a bad product — or even one that's less than excellent.
Agree with you. And I know it will be better with time. But right now Spotify is a better option. BTW, Apple music family plan has a great price.
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iCloud as a whole is also behind Volvo, and behind Lufthansa and McDonald's. Elephants and penguins are terrible tree-climbers, but that doesn't make them just shitty monkeys.
There are definitely things iCloud could handle better for my needs, and I certainly haven't fully integrated Cloud storage of documents into my workflow, but my requirements would force additional complexity that would probably result in an inferior product for where Apple is going.
Apple Watch — "reviews and people feedback is not that positive"??? On what planet? Geeks don't love the thing for the same reason they prefer Android and Windows and Linux. "People feedback" translates to "customer satisfaction", which, from what I've read, is pretty much higher than it's ever been for any tech product in history.
iCloud could be doing far better, and both MS and Google has make this clear.
Apple Watch - I'll not comment until I try it. But based in reviews, not too good. And I don't see it with a higher customer satisfaction over iPhones and iPads. Let's see how it goes when I try it (if it happens, since I'm not to involved with the wearable thing).
"But then came the times where I wanted to take off my shoe and throw it at the Surface Book. A display driver crash alert repeatedly interrupted my work, and twice the thing rebooted on its own, causing me to lose unsaved notes. (Other reviewers told me they had similar issues.) Worst of all, a Surface Pro 4 and a Surface Book I tested failed to boot up fully because of faulty solid state drives. They simply would not allow me back into Windows"
Yes, I read about. I case you didn't know, all reviewers receive pre production devices. They even didn't had the Windows Hello during the reviews. Two days agos MS released an update to fix all issues. Now we have to see if it really fix all issues.
1) From what I have remember, I haven't post any specific numbers of expected sales.
2) I don't have idea of your criteria for credible websites, neither I care too much to learn about it. Like I posted before, you can check what I posted with your favorite websites.
3) I just clarified that MS Cloud Division includes on premise servers. From that, Azure by itself, which competes with Amazon, grew 135%. Is something bad about that?
Yawn. This is getting boring. I am not paid by the word, so I'll stop after this. Feel free to carry on. I've called you out enough.
A forecast does not imply specific numbers. I am done with telling you about websites. It's a free country. You can read/process what you want. Don't expect others to go along. Could care less about 'Azure,' whatever the heck that is.
No, I don't agree. And more importantly, Apple don't agree. Rather than incrementally improve the existing platform from the last decade, they've decided to radically re-design it from scratch, with an eye to the next decade. That's what they do.
What the MacBook does better than the other laptops has been listed several times over, and just ignoring it and asking again and again won't make it go away:
Form factor.
Noise factor (fanless).
Retina display.
Keyboard (that you and many others don't like it doesn't negate that many others do).
Simplicity (port unification).
Redesigned battery technology for more efficient use of space within machines.
Force Touch (this is in the MacBooks Pro now, but would take re-engineering the MacBooks Air to incorporate the new trackpad technology and the taptic engine — which is effectively what they've done, anyway)
For some reason, you don't like the idea of making a great device, as the MBA, better with simple things, as adding a better display. Is that so hard to do?
Regarding the MBA,
Form Factor - I already mention it as a benefit
Noise - Was the MBA a noisy device?
Display - I already mention it, and asked for it in the MBA.
Keyboard - Again, I have tried keyboards from a lot of vendors and Macbook is one of the worst.
Simplicity - I call it a compromise. Adding a single expansion port would make it a better device.
Force Touch - In the time I tried, I like it. And it's already in other Macbooks. So it's not a benefit single to the Macbook.
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I think there's probably a lot of confirmation bias going on in there. I'll see if I can try one of the later Thinkpads or X1 Carbon at some point. I hated the first-gen Surface keyboard, though I actually find typing on the iPad display surprisingly okay.
I'm not sure of the bias thing is about my post. If that's the case, be sure I don't care if a device is made from Apple, Lenovo or whatever other company. I can easily tell you that Lenovo keyboards are the best, while the trackpads are very bad (at least in the previous generation. I haven't tried the new ones yet). On the opposite, Apple trackpads are the best while keyboards are very good, with the exception to the Macbook. Those are my two cents...
I'm not sure of the bias thing is about my post. If that's the case, be sure I don't care if a device is made from Apple, Lenovo or whatever other company. I can easily tell you that Lenovo keyboards are the best, while the trackpads are very bad (at least in the previous generation. I haven't tried the new ones yet). On the opposite, Apple trackpads are the best while keyboards are very good, with the exception to the Macbook. Those are my two cents...
?The confirmation bias is in your claim that all the reviews you've read confirm that the new keyboard sucks. We tend to remember reading what we already agree with, interpret what contradicts our preformed viewpoint in such a way that it agrees, or ignore it entirely.
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Originally Posted by DanVM
For some reason, you don't like the idea of making a great device, as the MBA, better with simple things, as adding a better display. Is that so hard to do?
Regarding the MBA,
Form Factor - I already mention it as a benefit
Noise - Was the MBA a noisy device?
Display - I already mention it, and asked for it in the MBA.
Keyboard - Again, I have tried keyboards from a lot of vendors and Macbook is one of the worst.
Simplicity - I call it a compromise. Adding a single expansion port would make it a better device.
Force Touch - In the time I tried, I like it. And it's already in other Macbooks. So it's not a benefit single to the Macbook.
So, you've already agreed that there are a number of areas where the MacBook is already better than the MacBook Air, disagree on the keyboard and call it a tie on "simplicity". What's the difficulty here?
The first version of the MacBook already surpasses the existing best-seller in several ways that Apple considers important (fanless not only means noiseless, btw, but also no moving parts at all).
What is the target market for the Surface Book and Surface Pro? Enterprise or consumer?
- In enterprise, MS will have some of the same issues as Apple - the enterprise budget for purchasing employee devices tends to focus most on the upfront capital cost. High end devices are hard to penetrate. Apple's success here has been primarily with the lower priced iPad, with the iPhone (on par with other devices in price), and some growth in Mac with BYOD and now with some focus on TCO (where the support cost is lower but that isn't related to HW alone), as the IBM announcement highlighted. Are enterprises looking to purchase $1000-$2000 devices from MS, or $500-$1000 devices from HP/Dell/Lenovo?
- In consumer, MS has little track record in selling own computing HW (Xbox is a completely different market). DanVM's statement that MS dominates the consumer segment with Windows as OS overlooks the fact that those consumers didn't purchase Windows, but rather purchased a PC (often for lowest feasible cost) & Windows came with it. Do you believe that MS will greatly grow their % of the high end computing market with the Surface lines?
Creating a good product is only part of the battle to making it successful.
?The confirmation bias is in your claim that all the reviews you've read confirm that the new keyboard sucks. We tend to remember reading what we already agree with, interpret what contradicts our preformed viewpoint in such a way that it agrees, or ignore it entirely.
What I found interesting that some of the reviews I read of people that like the keyboard had to "adapt" to it. If it was good, why you have to "adapt" to it. Have you read about someone saying that have to "adapt" the Apple trackpads?
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So, you've already agreed that there are a number of areas where the MacBook is already better than the MacBook Air, disagree on the keyboard and call it a tie on "simplicity". What's the difficulty here?
The first version of the MacBook already surpasses the existing best-seller in several ways that Apple considers important (fanless not only means noiseless, btw, but also no moving parts at all).
I'm clear there is no perfect device, all of them have compromises. But doesn't make sense how Apple decided to stop making a better MBA, when right now it's clear the Macbook is not ready to replace it at all.
What I found interesting that some of the reviews I read of people that like the keyboard had to "adapt" to it. If it was good, why you have to "adapt" to it. Have you read about someone saying that have to "adapt" the Apple trackpads?
OF COURSE! To this day, there are plenty of people who hate trackpads, altogether, and exclusively use a mouse — in fact, just this week, a review of the new Magic Trackpad on MacTechNews.de, written by a dedicated mouse user, comes to the conclusion that a trackpad just isn't worth buying.
There are still people using IBM Model M or Apple Extended Keyboards from the late 80s/early 90s, because in their opinion, everything built since then completely sucks (and I understand where they're coming from. I just disagree.). Everyone else has adapted.
People hated the chicklet keyboards coming from the old aluminum PowerBook keyboards, but they adapted.
Writing that you need to "adapt" to something doesn't mean the newer is bad.
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Originally Posted by DanVM
I'm clear there is no perfect device, all of them have compromises. But doesn't make sense how Apple decided to stop making a better MBA, when right now it's clear the Macbook is not ready to replace it at all.
They absolutely decided to build a better MacBook than the MacBook Air. You're right that at this very moment, it's not quite there yet, except if those aspects described above matter enough to your usage. For all other use cases, you'll need to wait a generation or two to replace your MacBook Air.
OF COURSE! To this day, there are plenty of people who hate trackpads, altogether, and exclusively use a mouse — in fact, just this week, a review of the new Magic Trackpad on MacTechNews.de, written by a dedicated mouse user, comes to the conclusion that a trackpad just isn't worth buying.
There are still people using IBM Model M or Apple Extended Keyboards from the late 80s/early 90s, because in their opinion, everything built since then completely sucks (and I understand where they're coming from. I just disagree.). Everyone else has adapted.
People hated the chicklet keyboards coming from the old aluminum PowerBook keyboards, but they adapted.
Writing that you need to "adapt" to something doesn't mean the newer is bad.
When I posted about the Apple Trackpad, it was considering the person like using trackpads, and compare it to another trackpads.
If I understood your post, what the majority of people say about the quality of Apple trackpads is because they adapt to it and not because they are good or better than others. Am I right? In my case, I can adapt to something when is good or better that what I use, even if it's different. But when it's worst, I just tolerate it. But maybe you are right. Maybe after months of use, I could get use to the Macbook keyboard. But I'm not sure if I adapt to it or tolerate it. An like you said, it's a matter of personal opinion.
Originally Posted by spheric
They absolutely decided to build a better MacBook than the MacBook Air. You're right that at this very moment, it's not quite there yet, except if those aspects described above matter enough to your usage. For all other use cases, you'll need to wait a generation or two to replace your MacBook Air.
I won't comment on the Surface Book, since it's too new, but I have seen the Surface Pro and it's a great device. I don't know why you think it's sucks.
See and use is two different things, have been using portable computing devices since 1990 when Apple came out with the thier first laptop, and have only used a portable device ever since. I been on both Mac and PC during that time and I have used tables prior to the whole Ipad changing how it can be done and they all failed. Doing any real work requires real keyboard, and the properly weighted system so they the display does not weigh more then the place were you place your hands. The devices has to work in all places at all times. and the Surface acting like a tablet which acts like a Laptop does both things really bad. I am not saying the Ipad it perfect for all things, it is not. I carry my laptop around and my ipad, there is times I do not want to deal with my laptop to just read an email or look something up on the web or just do some mindly game. I use a PC Laptop for work and my ipad for personal stuff as well as some work stuff. In the past I use to carry around by my Mac Laptop and Work PC, today I got rid of my Mac Laptop and use my Ipad for most all things personal which is casual computing.
Long and short, the surface it no better than what was done years ago in the PC world, it is not really new, it just the same thing, you still need a keyboard and something other than your finger to input on the screen. I speaking from lots of experience not, from a bunch of marking hype that MS is putting out.
I wanted to clarify something. My comparison of iWorks is with Office 2016. Office 2011 was one of the worst application I have ever used. And I'm sure iWorks apps have a market for their simplicity. But compared to Office 2016, it's clear which one is more advanced.
Oh, you're talking about which product is "more advanced"? I was talking about which is the "better product".
Office 2011 was the point where I decided I'd had enough of their "advanced" crap and ditched Office entirely for iWork.
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Originally Posted by DanVM
Apple Watch - I'll not comment until I try it. But based in reviews, not too good. And I don't see it with a higher customer satisfaction over iPhones and iPads. Let's see how it goes when I try it (if it happens, since I'm not to involved with the wearable thing).
What have you been reading? The results are stellar, and pretty much unanimous.
Comments
Your posts are a hoot. Thanks for the laugh.
1) You don't do forecasts. Except when you do.
2) Post credible sites in the future.
3) Kep slicing and dicing the market -- Intelligent Cloud, Azure, SaaS, Paas, Iaas -- and I am sure you'll find numbers and construct the reality you like.
Here's a piece of advice: Hope =/= Expectation.
Apple is designs to where the puck will be; and that puck lives in a wireless world; hence the Mac Book will likely never see a second USB port.
I do very well in a wireless world with my MBA. How having USB ports affect that?
Bottom line is you will never get what you are asking for because it doesn't make sense for Apple to produce it, but I'm guessing that you already know that and just want to rant.
I don't see a problem with the Macbook being as the future mobile Mac's. What doesn't make sense is the way Apple did it, by abandon a great device as the MBA, which at least could have a better screen. Is that too much to ask?
"Regarding the keyboard, most of reviewers agree with me, it's bad. Some of them say "you have to get used to it""
Actually, most of the reviews I have read don't state that it is bad, but do state that the user has to get used to the shorter travel, and some don't like the force touch track pad. That keyboard design is a necessary compromise for thin and light, and obviously, a differentiation with the MBA and MBP; if you don't like it, don't buy it or try it, and take it back within 15 days.
One wonders how well the Surface 4 / Surface Book keyboards work in comparison; those are compromised as well, and a necessary tradeoff.
First you mention the reviews that "don't state is bad", but later you said that is a "necessary compromise". If it wasn't bad, it would not be a compromise, right? I already try it, and I'll keep my MBA.
And since you mention the SP4, I tried yesterday and the keys felt better than the Macbook.
No, I'm not confused. I just listed some things Apple have failed.
iWorks - Looks like you agree is not that good.
No, I don't. I use it daily, and rather like it. I used Microsoft Office on Mac since before there was a Microsoft "Office" — it was Word only back then — and being able to switch to iWork was a huge improvement.
They've removed some options and limited in a few unfortunate ways, but these actually don't concern me, personally — and the full compatibility across all my devices is worth the trade-offs.
Quote:
Apple Music - Awful and confusing UI. Spotify is a better option. And if you think that it's a good services because they have 6.5m subscribers, then you should think that Windows 8 is better than OS X, since it has a larger market share than all OS X versions available. I don't agree with that.
I'll defer to your judgement on that, since I use neither Spotify nor Apple Music.
It does seem to me, however, that what you find "confusing" and "awful" is another case of people criticising precisely what are the advantages of Apple's product: it is fully and seamlessly integrated with your "own" music library, so that it becomes completely irrelevant where the music is coming from.
The people who criticise this are those who would rather keep the two completely separate, which is precisely what Apple has consciously decided NOT to do — in the interest of their users (of which I am not one, for a number of reasons, this being one of them).
Again: That people are critical of a product, or have good reasons for not wanting it, doesn't mean that it's a bad product — or even one that's less than excellent.
Quote:
Apple Watch - I don't have one, but the reviews and people feedback is not that positive.
iCloud - Maybe it's good for your needs, but the service as a whole is behind Google and MS.
iCloud as a whole is also behind Volvo, and behind Lufthansa and McDonald's. Elephants and penguins are terrible tree-climbers, but that doesn't make them just shitty monkeys.
There are definitely things iCloud could handle better for my needs, and I certainly haven't fully integrated Cloud storage of documents into my workflow, but my requirements would force additional complexity that would probably result in an inferior product for where Apple is going.
Apple Watch — "reviews and people feedback is not that positive"??? On what planet? Geeks don't love the thing for the same reason they prefer Android and Windows and Linux. "People feedback" translates to "customer satisfaction", which, from what I've read, is pretty much higher than it's ever been for any tech product in history.
I won't comment on the Surface Book, since it's too new, but I have seen the Surface Pro and it's a great device. I don't know why you think it's sucks.
"But then came the times where I wanted to take off my shoe and throw it at the Surface Book. A display driver crash alert repeatedly interrupted my work, and twice the thing rebooted on its own, causing me to lose unsaved notes. (Other reviewers told me they had similar issues.) Worst of all, a Surface Pro 4 and a Surface Book I tested failed to boot up fully because of faulty solid state drives. They simply would not allow me back into Windows"
Originally Posted by spheric
Oh, come on!
It is completely obvious to anybody not just looking to rant that the new MacBook does certain things so much more effectively than any other laptop that it will become the de-facto standard by which all other machines are measured. Until then, the current offerings will continue to be gently updated and coast along as "hanging in there".
Also, it's cute that you write that the iMac at least had two USB ports. One was immediately occupied by a floppy drive, the other by a keyboard/mouse, leaving only the single port off the side of the keyboard for a printer. All full. No SCSI, either. People were LIVID. The MacBook has no such issues. The market it's aimed at is wireless; optical drives have been gently yesteryeared for seven years now, even presentations for travelling salesmen are more effectively served by keeping an Apple TV puck in the bag, if not an iPad.
I apologize if my post looked like a rant. I just posted my opinions, plus English is not my main language.
Going back to the Macbook, a part from screen and form factor, what other thing it does better than other laptop? Because right now, battery life, performance, expansion and keyboard are compromised compared to other devices. Does it will be better in the future? Yes, it will be. Until then, they should make the MBA better (at least offer a good display) instead of doing minimum upgrades to it. Don't you agree? Maybe the upgrade with Skylake processors includes a high quality screen.
Also, FWIW, for every review criticising the new keyboard, I can find one that raves about it. Steve Kovach writes that it's his favourite thing of all about the MacBook, and that returning to the MacBook Air felt like sitting back at a typewriter by comparison.
Again: Don't confuse your personal preference with the best choice in product design.
And regarding the keyboard, I read the S. Kovach article about the Macbook. And the guy says it's the best keyboard he ever used, plus mention that "They don't press down as much as a normal keyboard, so it's almost like typing on a flat surface". If you like the feeling of typing in a flat surface, similar as an iPad or maybe the first gen of Surface keyboard, then be my guest. IMO, that's awful. And a lot of reviews I have read agree with me. I use a lot of devices because of my line of work, and the Thinkpads / X1 Carbon are the best. You should try them.
And I know the difference between personal preference and best choice. But it looks like most of reviews I have read agree with me, the keyboard is not good.
I apologize if my post looked like a rant. I just posted my opinions, plus English is not my main language.
Going back to the Macbook, a part from screen and form factor, what other thing it does better than other laptop? Because right now, battery life, performance, expansion and keyboard are compromised compared to other devices. Does it will be better in the future? Yes, it will be. Until then, they should make the MBA better (at least offer a good display) instead of doing minimum upgrades to it. Don't you agree? Maybe the upgrade with Skylake processors includes a high quality screen.
No, I don't agree. And more importantly, Apple don't agree. Rather than incrementally improve the existing platform from the last decade, they've decided to radically re-design it from scratch, with an eye to the next decade. That's what they do.
What the MacBook does better than the other laptops has been listed several times over, and just ignoring it and asking again and again won't make it go away:
Form factor.
Noise factor (fanless).
Retina display.
Keyboard (that you and many others don't like it doesn't negate that many others do).
Simplicity (port unification).
Redesigned battery technology for more efficient use of space within machines.
Force Touch (this is in the MacBooks Pro now, but would take re-engineering the MacBooks Air to incorporate the new trackpad technology and the taptic engine — which is effectively what they've done, anyway)
Quote:
And regarding the keyboard, I read the S. Kovach article about the Macbook. And the guy says it's the best keyboard he ever used, plus mention that "They don't press down as much as a normal keyboard, so it's almost like typing on a flat surface". If you like the feeling of typing in a flat surface, similar as an iPad or maybe the first gen of Surface keyboard, then be my guest. IMO, that's awful. And a lot of reviews I have read agree with me. I use a lot of devices because of my line of work, and the Thinkpads / X1 Carbon are the best. You should try them.
And I know the difference between personal preference and best choice. But it looks like most of reviews I have read agree with me, the keyboard is not good.
I think there's probably a lot of confirmation bias going on in there. I'll see if I can try one of the later Thinkpads or X1 Carbon at some point. I hated the first-gen Surface keyboard, though I actually find typing on the iPad display surprisingly okay.
Your posts are a hoot. Thanks for the laugh.
1) You don't do forecasts. Except when you do.
2) Post credible sites in the future.
3) Kep slicing and dicing the market -- Intelligent Cloud, Azure, SaaS, Paas, Iaas -- and I am sure you'll find numbers and construct the reality you like.
Here's a piece of advice: Hope =/= Expectation.
1) From what I have remember, I haven't post any specific numbers of expected sales.
2) I don't have idea of your criteria for credible websites, neither I care too much to learn about it. Like I posted before, you can check what I posted with your favorite websites.
3) I just clarified that MS Cloud Division includes on premise servers. From that, Azure by itself, which competes with Amazon, grew 135%. Is something bad about that?
No, I don't. I use it daily, and rather like it. I used Microsoft Office on Mac since before there was a Microsoft "Office" — it was Word only back then — and being able to switch to iWork was a huge improvement.
They've removed some options and limited in a few unfortunate ways, but these actually don't concern me, personally — and the full compatibility across all my devices is worth the trade-offs.
I wanted to clarify something. My comparison of iWorks is with Office 2016. Office 2011 was one of the worst application I have ever used. And I'm sure iWorks apps have a market for their simplicity. But compared to Office 2016, it's clear which one is more advanced.
I'll defer to your judgement on that, since I use neither Spotify nor Apple Music.
It does seem to me, however, that what you find "confusing" and "awful" is another case of people criticising precisely what are the advantages of Apple's product: it is fully and seamlessly integrated with your "own" music library, so that it becomes completely irrelevant where the music is coming from.
The people who criticise this are those who would rather keep the two completely separate, which is precisely what Apple has consciously decided NOT to do — in the interest of their users (of which I am not one, for a number of reasons, this being one of them).
Again: That people are critical of a product, or have good reasons for not wanting it, doesn't mean that it's a bad product — or even one that's less than excellent.
Agree with you. And I know it will be better with time. But right now Spotify is a better option. BTW, Apple music family plan has a great price.
iCloud as a whole is also behind Volvo, and behind Lufthansa and McDonald's. Elephants and penguins are terrible tree-climbers, but that doesn't make them just shitty monkeys.
There are definitely things iCloud could handle better for my needs, and I certainly haven't fully integrated Cloud storage of documents into my workflow, but my requirements would force additional complexity that would probably result in an inferior product for where Apple is going.
Apple Watch — "reviews and people feedback is not that positive"??? On what planet? Geeks don't love the thing for the same reason they prefer Android and Windows and Linux. "People feedback" translates to "customer satisfaction", which, from what I've read, is pretty much higher than it's ever been for any tech product in history.
iCloud could be doing far better, and both MS and Google has make this clear.
Apple Watch - I'll not comment until I try it. But based in reviews, not too good. And I don't see it with a higher customer satisfaction over iPhones and iPads. Let's see how it goes when I try it (if it happens, since I'm not to involved with the wearable thing).
"But then came the times where I wanted to take off my shoe and throw it at the Surface Book. A display driver crash alert repeatedly interrupted my work, and twice the thing rebooted on its own, causing me to lose unsaved notes. (Other reviewers told me they had similar issues.) Worst of all, a Surface Pro 4 and a Surface Book I tested failed to boot up fully because of faulty solid state drives. They simply would not allow me back into Windows"
Yes, I read about. I case you didn't know, all reviewers receive pre production devices. They even didn't had the Windows Hello during the reviews. Two days agos MS released an update to fix all issues. Now we have to see if it really fix all issues.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49498
1) From what I have remember, I haven't post any specific numbers of expected sales.
2) I don't have idea of your criteria for credible websites, neither I care too much to learn about it. Like I posted before, you can check what I posted with your favorite websites.
3) I just clarified that MS Cloud Division includes on premise servers. From that, Azure by itself, which competes with Amazon, grew 135%. Is something bad about that?
Yawn. This is getting boring. I am not paid by the word, so I'll stop after this. Feel free to carry on. I've called you out enough.
A forecast does not imply specific numbers. I am done with telling you about websites. It's a free country. You can read/process what you want. Don't expect others to go along. Could care less about 'Azure,' whatever the heck that is.
No, I don't agree. And more importantly, Apple don't agree. Rather than incrementally improve the existing platform from the last decade, they've decided to radically re-design it from scratch, with an eye to the next decade. That's what they do.
What the MacBook does better than the other laptops has been listed several times over, and just ignoring it and asking again and again won't make it go away:
Form factor.
Noise factor (fanless).
Retina display.
Keyboard (that you and many others don't like it doesn't negate that many others do).
Simplicity (port unification).
Redesigned battery technology for more efficient use of space within machines.
Force Touch (this is in the MacBooks Pro now, but would take re-engineering the MacBooks Air to incorporate the new trackpad technology and the taptic engine — which is effectively what they've done, anyway)
For some reason, you don't like the idea of making a great device, as the MBA, better with simple things, as adding a better display. Is that so hard to do?
Regarding the MBA,
Form Factor - I already mention it as a benefit
Noise - Was the MBA a noisy device?
Display - I already mention it, and asked for it in the MBA.
Keyboard - Again, I have tried keyboards from a lot of vendors and Macbook is one of the worst.
Simplicity - I call it a compromise. Adding a single expansion port would make it a better device.
Force Touch - In the time I tried, I like it. And it's already in other Macbooks. So it's not a benefit single to the Macbook.
I'm not sure of the bias thing is about my post. If that's the case, be sure I don't care if a device is made from Apple, Lenovo or whatever other company. I can easily tell you that Lenovo keyboards are the best, while the trackpads are very bad (at least in the previous generation. I haven't tried the new ones yet). On the opposite, Apple trackpads are the best while keyboards are very good, with the exception to the Macbook. Those are my two cents...
I'm not sure of the bias thing is about my post. If that's the case, be sure I don't care if a device is made from Apple, Lenovo or whatever other company. I can easily tell you that Lenovo keyboards are the best, while the trackpads are very bad (at least in the previous generation. I haven't tried the new ones yet). On the opposite, Apple trackpads are the best while keyboards are very good, with the exception to the Macbook. Those are my two cents...
?The confirmation bias is in your claim that all the reviews you've read confirm that the new keyboard sucks. We tend to remember reading what we already agree with, interpret what contradicts our preformed viewpoint in such a way that it agrees, or ignore it entirely.
Quote:For some reason, you don't like the idea of making a great device, as the MBA, better with simple things, as adding a better display. Is that so hard to do?
Regarding the MBA,
Form Factor - I already mention it as a benefit
Noise - Was the MBA a noisy device?
Display - I already mention it, and asked for it in the MBA.
Keyboard - Again, I have tried keyboards from a lot of vendors and Macbook is one of the worst.
Simplicity - I call it a compromise. Adding a single expansion port would make it a better device.
Force Touch - In the time I tried, I like it. And it's already in other Macbooks. So it's not a benefit single to the Macbook.
So, you've already agreed that there are a number of areas where the MacBook is already better than the MacBook Air, disagree on the keyboard and call it a tie on "simplicity". What's the difficulty here?
The first version of the MacBook already surpasses the existing best-seller in several ways that Apple considers important (fanless not only means noiseless, btw, but also no moving parts at all).
What is the target market for the Surface Book and Surface Pro? Enterprise or consumer?
- In enterprise, MS will have some of the same issues as Apple - the enterprise budget for purchasing employee devices tends to focus most on the upfront capital cost. High end devices are hard to penetrate. Apple's success here has been primarily with the lower priced iPad, with the iPhone (on par with other devices in price), and some growth in Mac with BYOD and now with some focus on TCO (where the support cost is lower but that isn't related to HW alone), as the IBM announcement highlighted. Are enterprises looking to purchase $1000-$2000 devices from MS, or $500-$1000 devices from HP/Dell/Lenovo?
- In consumer, MS has little track record in selling own computing HW (Xbox is a completely different market). DanVM's statement that MS dominates the consumer segment with Windows as OS overlooks the fact that those consumers didn't purchase Windows, but rather purchased a PC (often for lowest feasible cost) & Windows came with it. Do you believe that MS will greatly grow their % of the high end computing market with the Surface lines?
Creating a good product is only part of the battle to making it successful.
?The confirmation bias is in your claim that all the reviews you've read confirm that the new keyboard sucks. We tend to remember reading what we already agree with, interpret what contradicts our preformed viewpoint in such a way that it agrees, or ignore it entirely.
What I found interesting that some of the reviews I read of people that like the keyboard had to "adapt" to it. If it was good, why you have to "adapt" to it. Have you read about someone saying that have to "adapt" the Apple trackpads?
The first version of the MacBook already surpasses the existing best-seller in several ways that Apple considers important (fanless not only means noiseless, btw, but also no moving parts at all).
I'm clear there is no perfect device, all of them have compromises. But doesn't make sense how Apple decided to stop making a better MBA, when right now it's clear the Macbook is not ready to replace it at all.
What I found interesting that some of the reviews I read of people that like the keyboard had to "adapt" to it. If it was good, why you have to "adapt" to it. Have you read about someone saying that have to "adapt" the Apple trackpads?
OF COURSE! To this day, there are plenty of people who hate trackpads, altogether, and exclusively use a mouse — in fact, just this week, a review of the new Magic Trackpad on MacTechNews.de, written by a dedicated mouse user, comes to the conclusion that a trackpad just isn't worth buying.
There are still people using IBM Model M or Apple Extended Keyboards from the late 80s/early 90s, because in their opinion, everything built since then completely sucks (and I understand where they're coming from. I just disagree.). Everyone else has adapted.
People hated the chicklet keyboards coming from the old aluminum PowerBook keyboards, but they adapted.
Writing that you need to "adapt" to something doesn't mean the newer is bad.
Quote:
I'm clear there is no perfect device, all of them have compromises. But doesn't make sense how Apple decided to stop making a better MBA, when right now it's clear the Macbook is not ready to replace it at all.
They absolutely decided to build a better MacBook than the MacBook Air. You're right that at this very moment, it's not quite there yet, except if those aspects described above matter enough to your usage. For all other use cases, you'll need to wait a generation or two to replace your MacBook Air.
Quote:
OF COURSE! To this day, there are plenty of people who hate trackpads, altogether, and exclusively use a mouse — in fact, just this week, a review of the new Magic Trackpad on MacTechNews.de, written by a dedicated mouse user, comes to the conclusion that a trackpad just isn't worth buying.
There are still people using IBM Model M or Apple Extended Keyboards from the late 80s/early 90s, because in their opinion, everything built since then completely sucks (and I understand where they're coming from. I just disagree.). Everyone else has adapted.
People hated the chicklet keyboards coming from the old aluminum PowerBook keyboards, but they adapted.
Writing that you need to "adapt" to something doesn't mean the newer is bad.
When I posted about the Apple Trackpad, it was considering the person like using trackpads, and compare it to another trackpads.
If I understood your post, what the majority of people say about the quality of Apple trackpads is because they adapt to it and not because they are good or better than others. Am I right? In my case, I can adapt to something when is good or better that what I use, even if it's different. But when it's worst, I just tolerate it. But maybe you are right. Maybe after months of use, I could get use to the Macbook keyboard. But I'm not sure if I adapt to it or tolerate it. An like you said, it's a matter of personal opinion.
They absolutely decided to build a better MacBook than the MacBook Air. You're right that at this very moment, it's not quite there yet, except if those aspects described above matter enough to your usage. For all other use cases, you'll need to wait a generation or two to replace your MacBook Air.
Looks like I'll have to wait...
I won't comment on the Surface Book, since it's too new, but I have seen the Surface Pro and it's a great device. I don't know why you think it's sucks.
See and use is two different things, have been using portable computing devices since 1990 when Apple came out with the thier first laptop, and have only used a portable device ever since. I been on both Mac and PC during that time and I have used tables prior to the whole Ipad changing how it can be done and they all failed. Doing any real work requires real keyboard, and the properly weighted system so they the display does not weigh more then the place were you place your hands. The devices has to work in all places at all times. and the Surface acting like a tablet which acts like a Laptop does both things really bad. I am not saying the Ipad it perfect for all things, it is not. I carry my laptop around and my ipad, there is times I do not want to deal with my laptop to just read an email or look something up on the web or just do some mindly game. I use a PC Laptop for work and my ipad for personal stuff as well as some work stuff. In the past I use to carry around by my Mac Laptop and Work PC, today I got rid of my Mac Laptop and use my Ipad for most all things personal which is casual computing.
Long and short, the surface it no better than what was done years ago in the PC world, it is not really new, it just the same thing, you still need a keyboard and something other than your finger to input on the screen. I speaking from lots of experience not, from a bunch of marking hype that MS is putting out.
I wanted to clarify something. My comparison of iWorks is with Office 2016. Office 2011 was one of the worst application I have ever used. And I'm sure iWorks apps have a market for their simplicity. But compared to Office 2016, it's clear which one is more advanced.
Oh, you're talking about which product is "more advanced"? I was talking about which is the "better product".
Office 2011 was the point where I decided I'd had enough of their "advanced" crap and ditched Office entirely for iWork.
Quote:Apple Watch - I'll not comment until I try it. But based in reviews, not too good. And I don't see it with a higher customer satisfaction over iPhones and iPads. Let's see how it goes when I try it (if it happens, since I'm not to involved with the wearable thing).
What have you been reading? The results are stellar, and pretty much unanimous.
Oh, you're talking about which product is "more advanced"? I was talking about which is the "better product".
Office 2011 was the point where I decided I'd had enough of their "advanced" crap and ditched Office entirely for iWork.
So your criteria of iWorks being better is based in Office 2011.
What have you been reading? The results are stellar, and pretty much unanimous.
Like I posted before, the reviews I read weren't positive at all. Still, I prefer to try it myself before talking about it.
So your criteria of iWorks being better is based in Office 2011.
?No, it was from Word 4 until Office 2004. I never upgraded past that, and never even noticed when it stopped working in 10.7, as Rosetta was removed.
Quote:Like I posted before, the reviews I read weren't positive at all. Still, I prefer to try it myself before talking about it.
Not reviews. Customer satisfaction results. Screw the reviews.