Whilst Apple products are still streets ahead of the competitor "alternatives" I do feel they are losing their polish somewhat and sw is becoming too complex. Apple need to simplify products so they feel magical not technical.
I have to say I increasingly run into people who don't know about even some of the most basic features of their iPhone or Apple Watch. For instance, someone didn't know they could issue voice commands to their watch. Whaaaat????? There was someone who didn't know you could alter the way mail messages were displayed on their iPhone. That's a normal part of any new and powerful tool's use - users taking time to learn about them.
All I know is I see a lot of very patient Geniuses at Apple Stores informing people about basic features that exist on their devices.
I'm an Apple Developer and have been an Apple user for 38 years.
IMO, iOS is a treasure-trove of capabilities -- but it has become much too complicated for the non-tech user to uncover these treasures -- you have to know where things are, and what the designer calls them. It is totally non-intuitive. There has to be a better way -- maybe Siri could be used to [contextually aware] suggest/ask to help the user navigate and setup iOS.
I have to agree. We passed a threshold on the complexity spectrum a few years ago. Effort, training or tutorials are now needed to decipher and unlock the tricks. I suspect there are many Apple users like me who can't be bothered to "read the manual," whatever that consists of these days. There oughtta be like a coherent course of tutorials . . . probably is somewhere, but where?
As much bitching on this forum about apple not innovating. Have any of you guys even tried one of these windows computers. They are still total garbage. Apple is still miles ahead.
Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. Apple is SO FAR AHEAD in the personal computer realm there isn't even real competition. It's reached the point of idiocy to buy a windoze machine or worse yet one of those toy chrome-thingys to do any real work. I speak from the experience of trying to do work in a corporate environment for decades. Finally I said enough and started providing my own devices at work. I started using my Mac at work. I bought a 34" monitor for work (THAT blew some minds - especially the minds of those who didn't know anything like that existed). And every day I enjoy the utility of a trackpad that actually works. I enjoy the utility of multiple spaces - so I essentially have 7 or more different screens / working areas at my disposal. I have the stability of software (except anything made by Microsoft). Apple's computing solutions are not perfect - nothing is. But they are very close to it and simply far, far and away superior to the crap offered by the wintel world.
Fully agreed, except that the distance between the two is closing again. This is not due to the competition getting better. It is due to Apple getting worse.
If you think about it, what has Apple done in 5 years? They created a watch that people do not really need, and they created a 'trash-can' Mac Pro that has not been touched in 3 years and does not sell very well. They haven't created anything new that people did not realize they actually need...like they did with the iPod and iPhone. Siri has been around for five years and not much improvement. They added a few more 'features' like asking about sports or movies, but it makes mistakes quite often when trying to use it. My Philips Hue lights work better with the Philips app than they do trying to set them up with HomeKit.
Yeah apple pay was nothing special.
Right?
nothing special because 90% of retailers don't use it.
what good is a product if you can't use it most of the time?
And don't say that isn't Apple's fault. Its more than just having a smart idea, it needs to work and be practical.
AT this point ApplePay is a gimmick because so few places accept it.
I can knock out 123 world changing innovations every month! NOT. The iPhone/iPad is still relevant today. Powerful desktop computers are becoming less and less except for music, video, gaming and software development. Financial companies rely on Enterprise data centers. I'm not sure what the author is trying to get at. The future of data consumption has been seen in the likes of Star Trek/Star Wars, Ironman, Total Recall, Minority Report and other "techie" movies. Just because we don't see a customer facing AI/AR product doesn't mean Apple isn't working on it. The technology of today is a passage point on the way to new and better technology. I for one, don't want to have something embedded in my hand, head, or ear. I don't want to wear glasses or contacts. My bet is that all of them, Google, Apple, MS, Samsung and many others are working on the next thing. It's just that it doesn't happen on the financial analyst timeframe and he should read some books like Snow Crash and watch Johnny Mnemonic again. The only thing that has stayed the same over the last decade is change. Things will always change.
Every single one of the examples you cite involved being able to reach out and TOUCH the display, whether it was an actual screen or a virtual image hanging in space.
I know it's not a popular feature here, and this post is certain to get a pile of dislikes, but I really wish people would try living with it for a few days before dismissing it as impractical. In concert with (not instead of) a keyboard and pointing device, it's really handy and useful. More importantly it's the kind of thing that appeals to those "90%" users.
I can't see how offering that feature would have any adverse affect on those for whom it holds no appeal, it's an excellent value-add for many workflows and use scenarios, and it appeals to the masses. Apple stubbornly refusing to address things like that help foster the "malaise" narrative.
Okay, you can hit "dislike" now if you haven't already!
I got calendar spam once. And haven't since then. Just because a handful of people got spammed doesn't mean it's a disaster. You're statement is hyperbole at best.
I got four or five just last week. They're a pain in the ass because you can't just delete them like a spam email. I'm also getting an ever-increasing flow of iMessage spam. I don't think it's a "disaster" yet, but it's not a good trend.
I use siri more and more despite my reluctance. [...] people aren't using because it's not their habit to talk to a computer and it feels weird.
Or they're like me and just gave up. I was excited by the prospect of voice control and have tried much harder than the typical user would to make it part of my daily life. The updates don't seem to have done anything to improve core usability, and I've grown weary of trying. Siri could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't care.
Every time I read that there's been a change or improvement I try again, and every time I find it's easier to use a traditional method than deal with trying to figure out a way to phrase my inquiry so Siri can interpret it correctly. It takes longer to ask the same question three different ways than it does to just type it in. That's without even factoring in the number of times I get responses like "I'm having trouble accessing your music library." That one never fails to raise my blood pressure, even though I should be used to it by now.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be an Apple basher (my last credit card statement very clearly indicates my level of commitment to Apple products), I just don't consider Siri in particular to be much of an asset to me as a user. It's a cool academic exercise and maybe someday it will be genuinely useful, but so far I haven't found it to be a compelling reason to celebrate Apple as an innovator.
Not a touch screen, but a touch bar? I'll bet everyone was asking for a touch bar eh?
Everyone was asking for Touch ID, the most secure fingerprint authentication system. It is built upon the Touch Bar. Touch Bar is not there to display colorful emoticons but to carry Touch ID.
No, the Touch ID sensor is not part of the Touch Bar. It's a separate component, sized and situated to visually blend in to the Touch Bar, but it's not part of it. It has no display.
The Touch Bar and Touch ID are independent of each other. Touch ID could be implemented without a Touch Bar.
[...] If I can't walk into an Apple Store and buy a top of the line system that is even remotely close to what competitors are selling for the same price, you know there is a problem.
I get that feeling too. There may be a reason that Apple doesn't update its machines regularly with evolutionary, "same design but up-to-date internals" revisions, but I can't imagine what it could be. It seems like a really basic, fundamental thing to me.
It would be easier to tolerate if at least the price dropped with time, but it doesn't. The price of a storage upgrade on the three-year-old Mac Pro is exactly the same as on the new MacBook Pro, but according to Apple the storage in the laptop is twice as fast as what's in the trashcan. The price of storage in the trashcan may have made sense when it was current, but it's obviously not a good value by comparison now. If Apple was now including the same high-speed storage in the trashcan that they offer in the laptop it would make sense, but they don't. Which leads me to ask: "Why not?" What's stopping them from making such a seemingly simple change? And if they're not going to, why does the older, slower component still cost as much as the newer, faster equivalent?
I had to buy a new mini six or eight weeks ago. It's made of two-year-old stuff, yet the price is the same as it was two years ago. If I walk into my local computer parts store, stuff that was current two years ago is now MUCH less expensive than it was then.
If I can't have an up-to-date machine, I'd at least like the price to reflect the state of the design.
[...] I think it's been a very long time since you've bought or setup a router if you think it takes a huge effort.
In my case it's only been a few months. I tried a high-end Linksys and an Asus. Both had USB ports for external storage, but none of the Macs in the house detected the presence of a drive with either of them. Nor could I find a way to get Back to My Mac to work with either of them.
It may well have been possible to make everything work with the third-party routers, but I decided my time was better spent on things I enjoy so I just bought an AirPort Extreme that did what I wanted without me having to learn a bunch of stuff i don't care about.
[...] Who synchs their idea ice with their computers any longer?
I assume you meant "Who syncs their iPhone with their computer" and the answer is "I do." In fact, Apple tech support has suggested doing exactly that to two of my co-workers who had trouble with over-the-air updates.
There is also a broad swath of users for whom cloud storage is neither a practical nor even desirable approach. If the content originates at the computer, tethering the iPhone to it with a cable is both faster and more reliable than doing it over WiFi.
I fully support offering cloud and WiFi alternatives and am very glad we have that option, I just don't think the fact that they exist is a reason to denigrate those for whom a cable is still the better alternative.
This thread is hilarious. Part of me wants Apple to vanish into a quantum anomaly so we can see hiw much different it would be. Complaining about your iPhone. Ditch it. Think the iPad is under developed? Go get a surface pro. Hate your trash can Mac Pro? Go buy an Hp or Dell desktop and tell me how much you love it. You won't.
You and I both know that using Pro Tools or Media Composer is EXACTLY the same whether the machine underneath is Windows or Mac. One can easily forget which platform is in use. I prefer the Mac over Windows for the stuff outside the app proper, but it's not a big deal.
I say that as an employee of a company that uses HP workstations for all kinds of things, including real-time weather graphics, and that dumped Apple in the Avid suites and put in HPs. They've been just as reliable as our Macs.
Apple has redefined they're power users as Kardashians and fashionistas... from developers and digital creatives... they've modified their view of courage from bold, well designed and executed products in categories you didn't think of into today's courage of removing a port or "jet black"... it maps their power users... from the courage of "we want to change the world through code and design" into the courage to "wear a nail polish color you'd never think to"
Stupidest sentiment I've read all week. I'm a software developer using rMBP and think they're great. My iPhone 7 (in Jet Black) is certainly the finest smartphone I've ever seen. Wireless and Lightning headphones are great. I doubt you even own one.
-1 for using the cliche nonsense word fashionista -- instant flag for get-off-my-lawyer.
I own all of them... and if you think all of that is great then I'd hate to see your code quality. The rMBP is not the leading machine (except for iOS development where you don't have a choice). Yes a great machine, but not the leading for pro users.
iPhone 7 Jet Black the finest smartphone? Get real... it's a great smartphone, but how many others do you use as a daily driver?
If you think Apple headphones are great then PSA: you need to get your hearing checked... poor quality (oh and if your ears don't fit the Apple mold like mine they don't stay in well)... and on my 5th replacement PB2s in 7months.
And if you can't tell that the product lines are moving more toward a luxury/fashion direction (e.g. fashionista and Kardashians), well I can't help you
-1 for blind fanboyism... I truly want Apple to get it's Mojo back and won't be blind to potential failings (though I've sold my AAPL holdings so my personal retirement isn't hinged on pumping up AAPL regardless of reality)... I've been a loyalist since the first West Coast Computer Faire and the last time I saw this mindset that had a taking their base for granted was in the late Sculley->Jobs return -24 hours days... we also saw it with Hillary and the Dems and the result was a fail.
Not a touch screen, but a touch bar? I'll bet everyone was asking for a touch bar eh?
Everyone was asking for Touch ID, the most secure fingerprint authentication system. It is built upon the Touch Bar. Touch Bar is not there to display colorful emoticons but to carry Touch ID.
No, the Touch ID sensor is not part of the Touch Bar. It's a separate component, sized and situated to visually blend in to the Touch Bar, but it's not part of it. It has no display.
The Touch Bar and Touch ID are independent of each other. Touch ID could be implemented without a Touch Bar.
This claim by Oppenheimer is utter and complete bullshit. How could anyone possibly predict what will happen to Apple, or any tech company for that matter, in the next ten years?!? I mean the first iPhone wasn't even out ten years ago! This so called analyst seriously needs a lesson on how the tech sector actually works.
Whilst Apple products are still streets ahead of the competitor "alternatives" I do feel they are losing their polish somewhat and sw is becoming too complex. Apple need to simplify products so they feel magical not technical.
I have to say I increasingly run into people who don't know about even some of the most basic features of their iPhone or Apple Watch. For instance, someone didn't know they could issue voice commands to their watch. Whaaaat????? There was someone who didn't know you could alter the way mail messages were displayed on their iPhone. That's a normal part of any new and powerful tool's use - users taking time to learn about them.
All I know is I see a lot of very patient Geniuses at Apple Stores informing people about basic features that exist on their devices.
I'm an Apple Developer and have been an Apple user for 38 years.
IMO, iOS is a treasure-trove of capabilities -- but it has become much too complicated for the non-tech user to uncover these treasures -- you have to know where things are, and what the designer calls them. It is totally non-intuitive. There has to be a better way -- maybe Siri could be used to [contextually aware] suggest/ask to help the user navigate and setup iOS.
I have to agree. We passed a threshold on the complexity spectrum a few years ago. Effort, training or tutorials are now needed to decipher and unlock the tricks. I suspect there are many Apple users like me who can't be bothered to "read the manual," whatever that consists of these days. There oughtta be like a coherent course of tutorials . . . probably is somewhere, but where?
I agree with this evaluation and like the idea of the OP. Siri should be able to handle a lot of support stuff.
iOS, even after ten versions is a mess in many areas and unintuitive in others.
From 'shaking' to undo an action to 'holding down the refresh button in the web browser' to load the desktop version of a site to figuring out how to open a draft email etc, requires prior knowledge and is completely unintuitive.
I can knock out 123 world changing innovations every month! NOT. The iPhone/iPad is still relevant today. Powerful desktop computers are becoming less and less except for music, video, gaming and software development. Financial companies rely on Enterprise data centers. I'm not sure what the author is trying to get at. The future of data consumption has been seen in the likes of Star Trek/Star Wars, Ironman, Total Recall, Minority Report and other "techie" movies. Just because we don't see a customer facing AI/AR product doesn't mean Apple isn't working on it. The technology of today is a passage point on the way to new and better technology. I for one, don't want to have something embedded in my hand, head, or ear. I don't want to wear glasses or contacts. My bet is that all of them, Google, Apple, MS, Samsung and many others are working on the next thing. It's just that it doesn't happen on the financial analyst timeframe and he should read some books like Snow Crash and watch Johnny Mnemonic again. The only thing that has stayed the same over the last decade is change. Things will always change.
Every single one of the examples you cite involved being able to reach out and TOUCH the display, whether it was an actual screen or a virtual image hanging in space.
I know it's not a popular feature here, and this post is certain to get a pile of dislikes, but I really wish people would try living with it for a few days before dismissing it as impractical. In concert with (not instead of) a keyboard and pointing device, it's really handy and useful. More importantly it's the kind of thing that appeals to those "90%" users.
I can't see how offering that feature would have any adverse affect on those for whom it holds no appeal, it's an excellent value-add for many workflows and use scenarios, and it appeals to the masses. Apple stubbornly refusing to address things like that help foster the "malaise" narrative.
Okay, you can hit "dislike" now if you haven't already!
Well, I agree with you.
As a feature that could be useful in some scenarios, I think it has its place.
We will see how the Surface Studio plays out but, even without having used one, I can see where they want to go with the idea.
One of the great things about Panasonic M4T cameras is that when you go into manual focus mode and adjust the focus ring, the image gets blown up in the EVF so you can see how the focus is.
Just being able to touch any area on screen and have a 'lens' blow up that part of an image without losing the perspective of the image itself and without having to use the mouse or trackpad to get there would quickly become intuitive. Same for flow diagrams etc.
Not a touch screen, but a touch bar? I'll bet everyone was asking for a touch bar eh?
Everyone was asking for Touch ID, the most secure fingerprint authentication system. It is built upon the Touch Bar. Touch Bar is not there to display colorful emoticons but to carry Touch ID.
No, the Touch ID sensor is not part of the Touch Bar. It's a separate component, sized and situated to visually blend in to the Touch Bar, but it's not part of it. It has no display.
The Touch Bar and Touch ID are independent of each other. Touch ID could be implemented without a Touch Bar.
I think Lorin is correct. The two elements are independent of each other and as such, Touch ID could have been implemented without the TouchBar. My reading of the article you linked to is one of 'association' and security more than anything else.
As I'm not in the market for one of these I haven't bothered to read up on the subject bar some cursory reading so I may be wrong.
We have an advert campaign currently running in the UK
Not all disability is visible
I would say the same for most of Apple's inventions . You don’t have to show a shiny new case every year to be inventive
Apple’s game changing inventions and innovations have been
Internally. In this Apple has quietly been leaving the competition behind.
Chips with everything
A chips on iPhone
S chips on Watch
W chips in Earphones
Implantation of Touch ID with secure enclave
True 64 bit mobile processors
By doing it’s own chips they can customise while others can only but stock chips
While they are not always first being able to customise the process gives them the edge and with each tweek harder for the competition to follow.
The fly in the ointment the weak link is INTEL ( word to INTEL remember what happened to IBM RISC overnight ).
Apple have taken heat on the new Mac Pro’s because of Intel’s lack of inventions. By the why word to all the so called Pro’s. Don't think it’s not a pro machine fine. Stop moaning about it and go by a Dell, etc see how that works out for you.
Not a touch screen, but a touch bar? I'll bet everyone was asking for a touch bar eh?
Everyone was asking for Touch ID, the most secure fingerprint authentication system. It is built upon the Touch Bar. Touch Bar is not there to display colorful emoticons but to carry Touch ID.
No, the Touch ID sensor is not part of the Touch Bar. It's a separate component, sized and situated to visually blend in to the Touch Bar, but it's not part of it. It has no display.
The Touch Bar and Touch ID are independent of each other. Touch ID could be implemented without a Touch Bar.
I read that. I'm not sure what point you're making though. Would you mind elaborating a little please? I don't see anything in that article that either confirms or contradicts what I wrote.
Just being able to touch any area on screen and have a 'lens' blow up that part of an image without losing the perspective of the image itself and without having to use the mouse or trackpad to get there would quickly become intuitive. Same for flow diagrams etc.
Until then, you can press Option+Command+8 as a stop gap. The default setting zooms the entire screen, but in the Accessibility section of System Preferences you can change it to a loupe.
Comments
I know it's not a popular feature here, and this post is certain to get a pile of dislikes, but I really wish people would try living with it for a few days before dismissing it as impractical. In concert with (not instead of) a keyboard and pointing device, it's really handy and useful. More importantly it's the kind of thing that appeals to those "90%" users.
I can't see how offering that feature would have any adverse affect on those for whom it holds no appeal, it's an excellent value-add for many workflows and use scenarios, and it appeals to the masses. Apple stubbornly refusing to address things like that help foster the "malaise" narrative.
Okay, you can hit "dislike" now if you haven't already!
I got four or five just last week. They're a pain in the ass because you can't just delete them like a spam email. I'm also getting an ever-increasing flow of iMessage spam. I don't think it's a "disaster" yet, but it's not a good trend.
Or they're like me and just gave up. I was excited by the prospect of voice control and have tried much harder than the typical user would to make it part of my daily life. The updates don't seem to have done anything to improve core usability, and I've grown weary of trying. Siri could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't care.
Every time I read that there's been a change or improvement I try again, and every time I find it's easier to use a traditional method than deal with trying to figure out a way to phrase my inquiry so Siri can interpret it correctly. It takes longer to ask the same question three different ways than it does to just type it in. That's without even factoring in the number of times I get responses like "I'm having trouble accessing your music library." That one never fails to raise my blood pressure, even though I should be used to it by now.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be an Apple basher (my last credit card statement very clearly indicates my level of commitment to Apple products), I just don't consider Siri in particular to be much of an asset to me as a user. It's a cool academic exercise and maybe someday it will be genuinely useful, but so far I haven't found it to be a compelling reason to celebrate Apple as an innovator.
The Touch Bar and Touch ID are independent of each other. Touch ID could be implemented without a Touch Bar.
I get that feeling too. There may be a reason that Apple doesn't update its machines regularly with evolutionary, "same design but up-to-date internals" revisions, but I can't imagine what it could be. It seems like a really basic, fundamental thing to me.
It would be easier to tolerate if at least the price dropped with time, but it doesn't. The price of a storage upgrade on the three-year-old Mac Pro is exactly the same as on the new MacBook Pro, but according to Apple the storage in the laptop is twice as fast as what's in the trashcan. The price of storage in the trashcan may have made sense when it was current, but it's obviously not a good value by comparison now. If Apple was now including the same high-speed storage in the trashcan that they offer in the laptop it would make sense, but they don't. Which leads me to ask: "Why not?" What's stopping them from making such a seemingly simple change? And if they're not going to, why does the older, slower component still cost as much as the newer, faster equivalent?
I had to buy a new mini six or eight weeks ago. It's made of two-year-old stuff, yet the price is the same as it was two years ago. If I walk into my local computer parts store, stuff that was current two years ago is now MUCH less expensive than it was then.
If I can't have an up-to-date machine, I'd at least like the price to reflect the state of the design.
In my case it's only been a few months. I tried a high-end Linksys and an Asus. Both had USB ports for external storage, but none of the Macs in the house detected the presence of a drive with either of them. Nor could I find a way to get Back to My Mac to work with either of them.
It may well have been possible to make everything work with the third-party routers, but I decided my time was better spent on things I enjoy so I just bought an AirPort Extreme that did what I wanted without me having to learn a bunch of stuff i don't care about.
I assume you meant "Who syncs their iPhone with their computer" and the answer is "I do." In fact, Apple tech support has suggested doing exactly that to two of my co-workers who had trouble with over-the-air updates.
There is also a broad swath of users for whom cloud storage is neither a practical nor even desirable approach. If the content originates at the computer, tethering the iPhone to it with a cable is both faster and more reliable than doing it over WiFi.
I fully support offering cloud and WiFi alternatives and am very glad we have that option, I just don't think the fact that they exist is a reason to denigrate those for whom a cable is still the better alternative.
I say that as an employee of a company that uses HP workstations for all kinds of things, including real-time weather graphics, and that dumped Apple in the Avid suites and put in HPs. They've been just as reliable as our Macs.
iPhone 7 Jet Black the finest smartphone? Get real... it's a great smartphone, but how many others do you use as a daily driver?
If you think Apple headphones are great then PSA: you need to get your hearing checked... poor quality (oh and if your ears don't fit the Apple mold like mine they don't stay in well)... and on my 5th replacement PB2s in 7months.
And if you can't tell that the product lines are moving more toward a luxury/fashion direction (e.g. fashionista and Kardashians), well I can't help you
-1 for blind fanboyism... I truly want Apple to get it's Mojo back and won't be blind to potential failings (though I've sold my AAPL holdings so my personal retirement isn't hinged on pumping up AAPL regardless of reality)... I've been a loyalist since the first West Coast Computer Faire and the last time I saw this mindset that had a taking their base for granted was in the late Sculley->Jobs return -24 hours days... we also saw it with Hillary and the Dems and the result was a fail.
iOS, even after ten versions is a mess in many areas and unintuitive in others.
From 'shaking' to undo an action to 'holding down the refresh button in the web browser' to load the desktop version of a site to figuring out how to open a draft email etc, requires prior knowledge and is completely unintuitive.
As a feature that could be useful in some scenarios, I think it has its place.
We will see how the Surface Studio plays out but, even without having used one, I can see where they want to go with the idea.
One of the great things about Panasonic M4T cameras is that when you go into manual focus mode and adjust the focus ring, the image gets blown up in the EVF so you can see how the focus is.
Just being able to touch any area on screen and have a 'lens' blow up that part of an image without losing the perspective of the image itself and without having to use the mouse or trackpad to get there would quickly become intuitive. Same for flow diagrams etc.
As I'm not in the market for one of these I haven't bothered to read up on the subject bar some cursory reading so I may be wrong.
We have an advert campaign currently running in the UK
Not all disability is visible
I would say the same for most of Apple's inventions . You don’t have to show a shiny new case every year to be inventive
Apple’s game changing inventions and innovations have been
Internally. In this Apple has quietly been leaving the competition behind.
Chips with everything
A chips on iPhone
S chips on Watch
W chips in Earphones
Implantation of Touch ID with secure enclave
True 64 bit mobile processors
By doing it’s own chips they can customise while others can only but stock chips
While they are not always first being able to customise the process gives them the edge and with each tweek harder for the competition to follow.
The fly in the ointment the weak link is INTEL ( word to INTEL remember what happened to IBM RISC overnight ).
Apple have taken heat on the new Mac Pro’s because of Intel’s lack of inventions. By the why word to all the so called Pro’s. Don't think it’s not a pro machine fine. Stop moaning about it and go by a Dell, etc see how that works out for you.
Until then, you can press Option+Command+8 as a stop gap. The default setting zooms the entire screen, but in the Accessibility section of System Preferences you can change it to a loupe.