As Amazon refuses to sell Apple TV (or Chromecast) products that compete with the awful Fire TV, I am not certain that an Alexa competitor by Apple would have been sold by Amazon either.
I agree... But some of those that wanted a home type of device like this that would have chose Apple are now in the Amazon Eco system. Lets face it, Apple is the new Microsoft. Big Goliath thats slow to react to anything. They just can't walk and chew gum anymore. They can only update the iPhones yearly, the rest of their lineup is either a nuisance and gets cancelled or just a hobby that gets updates every 3 to 4 years. Meanwhile Tim has been talking about amazing pipelines while other companies are selling actual products. I remember a time when the opposite was true (ahh the good old days)
Depends on how you define "selling". Apple is slower than they once were…
Can you explain why you think Apple is "slower" with millions of sales on an opening weekend, a considerably larger marketplace, and considerably deeper integration of their devices from the processor to the cloud-based services? I just can't see how anyone can look at the company and see them moving at being lazy and sluggish.
Because MacMini and Mac Pro I
On a serious note, those have progressed rather slowly, but those machines have been complaints with people long before their current casing designs. Remember when the complaints were that the Mac Pro, Mac mini (and iMac) all had the same casing design from the PPC architecture carried over to the Intel migration, even though all the notebooks got new names and casings designs. People complained for reasons I'm not quite certain of. I guess because it didn't let them show off that they had an updated Mac. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Then with the super thin iMac, "trash can" Mac Pro, and new Mac mini milled from a single block of aluminum people complained they were over-engineered. While I can absolutely see how the Mac mini casing doesn't need to be milled from a single block of airplane-grade aluminium, I always figured that low-volume exercise was designed for something else in the future. Perhaps that's what the Apple Watch eventually became, but on a considerably smaller scale.
I certainly don't know why Apple does (or doesn't) do what they do (or don't do), and I assume they have missteps like everyone else, it does seem silly when people complain about a product inside of simply saying "it's not for me." For instance, I just sold my AirPods because that EarPod design isn't comfortable for my ears, but the tech is brilliant and most people seem perfectly fine with EarPods so I'd recommend them to any Apple user that doesn't mean how EarPods feel.
Although I'd rather have an Apple-branded competitor, I'm very pleased with the three Echos I've purchased and use them all multiple times each day for various tasks. One somewhat silly difference is that I find Alexa's voice clearer and more pleasant than Siri's.
Enjoy adding your spoken history to Amazon's warchest. Hope they don't share that with the NSA.
As Amazon refuses to sell Apple TV (or Chromecast) products that compete with the awful Fire TV, I am not certain that an Alexa competitor by Apple would have been sold by Amazon either.
I agree... But some of those that wanted a home type of device like this that would have chose Apple are now in the Amazon Eco system. Lets face it, Apple is the new Microsoft. Big Goliath thats slow to react to anything. They just can't walk and chew gum anymore. They can only update the iPhones yearly, the rest of their lineup is either a nuisance and gets cancelled or just a hobby that gets updates every 3 to 4 years. Meanwhile Tim has been talking about amazing pipelines while other companies are selling actual products. I remember a time when the opposite was true (ahh the good old days)
Depends on how you define "selling". Apple is slower than they once were…
Slower? You know they went from the Mac in 1984 to the iPod in 2001. That's a 17 year span between adding a new major HW category. Then 6 years for the iPhone, which was an amazing feat, yet it still took another 3 years for the iPad even though its OS is closer to any other major product category that came before. The Apple Watch came 5 years later, and then that was arguable a year too soon due to its compact size, and now we're almost into 2017 so that's not very long time since the Watch. If only looking at OSes, having to strip macOS down and rebuild it up as iOS for iPhone and then reimage the UI again for iOS for iPad, and then strip down iOS and rebuild it for watchOS are amazing feats. Now we see that the T1 chip in the new MBPs has striped down watchOS and rebuilt it to at least run its TouchID and Apple Pay service, and possibly its Touch Bar and other aspects of their new notebooks. Then you have all the other chip designs they've done with the A-series, W-series for AirPods, and whatever other designs they have in the pipeline
What I don't get is how we can look at a 17 year divide between the Mac and iPod and a 6 year divide between the iPod and iPhone, and the variety of products they have with an unbelievable number of unit sales that are so unmatched that other vendors are selling out of simpler HW with less a 100k units sold over several months. Can you explain why you think Apple is "slower" with millions of sales on an opening weekend, a considerably larger marketplace, and considerably deeper integration of their devices from the processor to the cloud-based services? I just can't see how anyone can look at the company and see them moving at being lazy and sluggish.
Comparing years between major product announcement has nothing to do with slowness. I consider Apple's road to success stared in 1997. If Steve jobs didn't jump in, Apple was a few months away from bankruptcy. The first thing Steve did was announce that they were going to make the best computers. Their are several videos of him saying things such as you are only as good as your worst products and that everything must be updated on a yearly cycle. I wish Tim would take a look at those. From bankruptcy to the worlds largest company was on Steve's tenure and it was because he stuck to his formula and did not tolerate excuses. I don't think there would be as much griping if Tim just followed Steve's formula.
Now they have over a hundred thousand employees, state of the art facilities, global and financial resources but yet they can no longer make a case for monitors or have enough staff to have a router team. Machines that their pros and most loyal customers require for critical work have been ignored for over 3 years. There is major disgruntlement like I've never seen before and all Tim does is talk about amazing pipelines and road maps. I've heard those words numerous times. Where are these amazing products? Then you here that Apple wants to be a service company. Unless you happen to live in select chosen cities, their services are extremely sub par. I gave Maps years of grace period but I live in a major city in Canada and their is still no 3D maps or transit data and major roads never get updated. When you see only a few cities a year get added to the list for these things, you realize that its going to take Apple like 8000 years to do the world. So yes, Apple Maps is great for a select few but to the rest of the world it is well below the competition. Which goes back to you are only as good as your worst products. When people around the world compare it to google maps, they go, wow, google is far superior and then they think that must go for other products as well. So either you show interest in every product you make or get out. Having 3+ year old MacPro's and crappy services just weakens the brand.
With record profits, I completely understand its hard to understand these criticisms. These profits are derived from the momentum Steve created and Tim is riding the wave based on which products make the most money. The cost of ignoring the other products is something that most companies would die to have, Apple's culture and the loyal fan base. When you lose it, you are just like every other tech company. Eventually your key products stumbles or is no longer cool, and you get dumped for something else. This doesn't happen over night. Just like its hard to stop the upward momentum Apple is seeing today, when it starts going the other way its hard to impossible to stop the bleeding unless you have other products to soften the fall. Although, Apple has lost a lot of Pro customers, as others have said, I think they still have one last chance to save that market if they can hit a home run with a new Mac Pro really soon here. But, if the plan is to ignore it for another 3 to 4 years after that, then they might as well announce they are out of the Pro market instead of stringing us a long again.
altivec88 said: I consider Apple's road to success stared in 1997.
I consider Apple's road to success started on 01 April 1976. I can't even begin to imagine how you think they they were unsuccessful before that. Do you really to know what they did for the PC industry? Do you not understand what Jobs, Woz, and all those early employees did to change the world starting with their very first Apple computer?
There is major disgruntlement like I've never seen before and all Tim does is talk about amazing pipelines and road maps. I've heard those words numerous times. Where are these amazing products?
...unless you're wanting to know where these pipeline products Cook only mentioned a week ago are at. In that case, you need to come back down to Earth… assuming you were ever here with that statement.
altivec88 said: I consider Apple's road to success stared in 1997.
I consider Apple's road to success started on 01 April 1976. I can't even begin to imagine how you think they they were unsuccessful before that. Do you really to know what they did for the PC industry? Do you not understand what Jobs, Woz, and all those early employees did to change the world starting with their very first Apple computer?
There is major disgruntlement like I've never seen before and all Tim does is talk about amazing pipelines and road maps. I've heard those words numerous times. Where are these amazing products?
...unless you're wanting to know where these pipeline products Cook only mentioned a week ago are at. In that case, you need to come back down to Earth… assuming you were ever here with that statement.
Way to cherry pick a statement. There is a difference between "doing something for the PC industry" and being a successful company. Even with all of Apple's accolades and "changing of the world", If you don't know how close they were from bankruptcy, I suggest you look it up. No matter how good you are/were, if you rest on your laurels, you will fall. When bean counters run your company like Gil Amelio and now Tim Cook, that completely suck the passion out of the company and solely focus on profits, history is forced to repeat itself.
You point me to Apple's website for this Amazing pipeline but other than the iPhone, I don't see anything that is much different than it was 5 years ago and even the iPhone isn't much different really. I guess yours and Tims version of amazing is much different than mine. At least 5 years ago they had Mac Pro's that were competitive. In fact I would still buy 2010 MacPro's over what they are selling today, Which is a sad reality.
Okay, now that I am back to Earth. Are you referring to Tim's last weeks "Macs are important" and "amazing desktops are on a road map somewhere" speech that he says all the time. Yah his words mean a lot to me when we go 3+ years without updates. He could at least have some decency to not blow smoke up people's ssses. If you really believe that desktops are important to him, I've got some swamp land I would like to sell you.
altivec88 said: I consider Apple's road to success stared in 1997.
I consider Apple's road to success started on 01 April 1976. I can't even begin to imagine how you think they they were unsuccessful before that. Do you really to know what they did for the PC industry? Do you not understand what Jobs, Woz, and all those early employees did to change the world starting with their very first Apple computer?
There is major disgruntlement like I've never seen before and all Tim does is talk about amazing pipelines and road maps. I've heard those words numerous times. Where are these amazing products?
...unless you're wanting to know where these pipeline products Cook only mentioned a week ago are at. In that case, you need to come back down to Earth… assuming you were ever here with that statement.
Way to cherry pick a statement. There is a difference between "doing something for the PC industry" and being a successful company. Even with all of Apple's accolades and "changing of the world", If you don't know how close they were from bankruptcy, I suggest you look it up.
Talk about cherry picking. You've completely discounted everything Apple did since their inception because they were close to going under the mid-90s. Apple has done amazing things in 5 decades of their existence. So what if they had some bad years, that doesn't mean you discount everything they've ever done.
Who said I discounted everything they did. You clearly don't understand the difference between accomplishments and success. They don't go hand in hand. There are and were a lot of companies that accomplished amazing things but were never successful for one reason or another.
Although in earlier years Apple accomplished amazing things, they were struggling in terms of success from a company stand point. If you can't understand this, I can't help you much.
Purchased the Echo when it launched and now had the Google Home for five weeks.
Basically the Echo you use commands where you talk to the Google Home naturally. The Echo will handle some fuzziness but fundamentally they are variations to commands instead of fundamentally understanding what you are saying.
So with the Echo you might do a quick Google search with a lyric to get a song name and then ask the Echo to play. With the Google Home you skip the Google search step.
I am starting to learn a shorter english as the inference is so incredible with the Google Home. So say "hey google play sting gwen bottle on tv". Google figures out that I want to watch a video of Gwen Stefani and Sting singing message in a bottle on my TV. It then turns the TV on, sets the proper input, and the video starts playing.
Our brains inference capabilities allow us to communicate with one another in a compressed manner. Information can be inferred versus being said. This is what Google is doing and for some (many?) things they can do better than a human.
Maybe it is because I have an engineering background but the Google Home from a technology standpoint and what Google is doing just blows me away.
The demo that most blows people away is the Google Photos with the Google Home. A bunch of people over for the holiday and someone asks how was your trip? You just say would you like to see a few pics? You just say "hey google show my photos of kenny in Maui". The TV turns itself on, input set, and photos of my son Kenny playing on the beach in Maui displays". Someone asks did you guys snorkel?
I simply ask Google to show photos of Molokini and then photos of us snorkeling at Molokini and unfortunately pics of where I forced the kids to Kayak to Molokini from the hotel. Wind changed, almost died, fantastic Coast Guard picked us up and took us back to the hotel where we were yelled at because suppose to check in once an hour. Just what happens when wife does not join me and the kids on vacation.
Then my oldest said I remember snorkeling there. Then you just say show Tommy snorkeling at Molokini. My wife had scanned and loaded 1000s of photos into Google Photos and to the shock of my oldest son photos both above and underwater display of him at Molokini.
This is simply off the charts incredible from a technology standpoint. Might be a bias for me but simply wow!
Basically one shutter click and nothing else and three months later you are in your family room without touching a single thing showing the photos. There is no more friction that can be removed.
BTW, works perfectly with the iPhone, iPad, etc. With Google Photos love not running out of space any longer.
I think the real issue is who cares? Amazon makes almost not profit on these sales. Since there is no real eco system not sure if it really matters. I cheeped out and bought a fire tablet for my son who is 5 and it broke within 4 months, Never dropped, never mistreated. Got a refund and Amazon didn't even want the tablet back? Guess they are not really worth anything...
Actually with Amazon the opposite is true. Their profit comes entirely from the ecosystem while the hardware profits are at cost to a small loss. Their hardware is to sell you music, movies and purchase things from Amazon. They have been doing this for at least 4 years and profits have been rising during that time, so it appears to be working. And I am sorry that your Amazon Fire tablet experience was so bad. I know a lot of people who bought them for their kids and for themselves and are very pleased with them. They ARE NOT for productivity tasks, mind you, but are decent for light mobile gaming, watching movies and videos, listening to movies and of course reading Kindle content. Now that Amazon has essentially given up and allows Google apps to be easily side-loaded onto their Kindle devices, they actually are the best deal in terms of build quality, support, reliability and updates in terms of Android tablets. Of course, that isn't saying much, but it is what it is.
Apple makes the best hardware, obviously, but the existence of other tech companies with other business models isn't a bad thing. What Apple does is good for Apple, Amazon's hardware strategy is good for what is primarily an online department store, and Google ... eh. At least they have done a pretty good job of helping Apple kneecap Microsoft, so at least there is that.
As Amazon refuses to sell Apple TV (or Chromecast) products that compete with the awful Fire TV, I am not certain that an Alexa competitor by Apple would have been sold by Amazon either.
I agree... But some of those that wanted a home type of device like this that would have chose Apple are now in the Amazon Eco system. Lets face it, Apple is the new Microsoft. Big Goliath thats slow to react to anything. They just can't walk and chew gum anymore. They can only update the iPhones yearly, the rest of their lineup is either a nuisance and gets cancelled or just a hobby that gets updates every 3 to 4 years. Meanwhile Tim has been talking about amazing pipelines while other companies are selling actual products. I remember a time when the opposite was true (ahh the good old days)
You nailed it.
Ahh no he didn't...he just spewed out BS is all he did.
Why doesn't Apple update Siri to match Alexas standards ? Siri can't even set 2 timers right now...lame
I'd settle for it being as instant feeling as Alexa. I speak to Alexa like I would any other person. No pregnant pause after I say "Alexa," the way I have to with "Hey, Siri."
By the way, you do not have to pause after "Hey Siri", you can just continue with the command, it will work. That being said, good point about Siri being very frustrating and largely worthless. And, I also came to the point of needing two timers (when grilling) and not having that option. Glad to see people starting to hold Apple's feet to the fire. They need it.
Although I'd rather have an Apple-branded competitor, I'm very pleased with the three Echos I've purchased and use them all multiple times each day for various tasks. One somewhat silly difference is that I find Alexa's voice clearer and more pleasant than Siri's.
I've been trying to find out -- what sort of tasks do you do w/ your three Alexa devices?
Once again, absolutely no answer as to: What the hell do people use these for?
Amazon: post sales numbers or you're just full of it.
Amazon: post sales numbers or you're just full of it.
Why? Other companies including Apple choose not to disclose actual sales numbers when announcing product successes. So I guess according to you that if Mr Cook says the Apple Watch set new sales records this holiday and sales are "off the chart" he's full of it unless he's willing to back it up with real numbers? Silly.
Why anybody would keep one of these devices in their homes is shocking. These things are connected to the Internet and listening 24/7/365. Nobody knows what Google or Amazon, or even Apple, if they had such a product, is doing with all that listening data. Besides responding to user questions are they also programmed to listen for conversations about specific topics like politics, religion, brand names, etc? Sounds like the perfect snooping device for gathering data. Could pollsters use the data to see which candidates users are talking about in their private living rooms? If AT&T is sharing data with the NSA/CIA what’s keeping Google or Amazon from allowing them to listen in as a bugging device that also answers questions posed to it. It’s creepy to me. And NO, I don’t trust Google or Amazon, Apple or any corporation to protect my privacy.
They are listening for a key word. If you're worried about skullduggery from these electronics then you need to worry about any device that has a microphone or camera. Even if one feels that, say, Apple would never do such a thing there's no way to be certain that an Apple product hasn't been hacked to enable the cameras or microphones, but I have a feeling you're not worried about a real threat, only the illogical perception that because it's listening for a key phrase before recording a query that it must be recording everything all the time. Do you not see the folly of your rationale?
The authorities want Amazon to turn over Alexa data in a murder case. According to the article these devices are indeed listening all the time but supposedly only respond to ket phrases like “Alexa.” A software patch or hack could fix that easily. There was also a report that Mark Zuckerberg keeps a piece of black tape over his computer’s camera for security reasons. People should be wising up to the surveillance culture that is rapidly developing. Technology can be used for both good and bad.
Why anybody would keep one of these devices in their homes is shocking. These things are connected to the Internet and listening 24/7/365. Nobody knows what Google or Amazon, or even Apple, if they had such a product, is doing with all that listening data. Besides responding to user questions are they also programmed to listen for conversations about specific topics like politics, religion, brand names, etc? Sounds like the perfect snooping device for gathering data. Could pollsters use the data to see which candidates users are talking about in their private living rooms? If AT&T is sharing data with the NSA/CIA what’s keeping Google or Amazon from allowing them to listen in as a bugging device that also answers questions posed to it. It’s creepy to me. And NO, I don’t trust Google or Amazon, Apple or any corporation to protect my privacy.
They are listening for a key word. If you're worried about skullduggery from these electronics then you need to worry about any device that has a microphone or camera. Even if one feels that, say, Apple would never do such a thing there's no way to be certain that an Apple product hasn't been hacked to enable the cameras or microphones, but I have a feeling you're not worried about a real threat, only the illogical perception that because it's listening for a key phrase before recording a query that it must be recording everything all the time. Do you not see the folly of your rationale?
The authorities want Amazon to turn over Alexa data in a murder case. According to the article these devices are indeed listening all the time but supposedly only respond to ket phrases like “Alexa.” A software patch or hack could fix that easily. There was also a report that Mark Zuckerberg keeps a piece of black tape over his computer’s camera for security reasons. People should be wising up to the surveillance culture that is rapidly developing. Technology can be used for both good and bad.
The police are not claiming that Alexa is recording everything it hears. It's a fishing expedition to see if Amazon might have something in background noise or such that might have been recorded during the murder, if they're recording anything at all outside of search commands initiated by the owner using a key phrase. The police are not claiming Amazon actually does record everything.
As for the Zuk it's very wise of him, or any other high-profile person for that matter, to tape over the computer camera. Hackers are always looking for back-door access to powerful or famous people and their electronic devices/data.
Why anybody would keep one of these devices in their homes is shocking. These things are connected to the Internet and listening 24/7/365. Nobody knows what Google or Amazon, or even Apple, if they had such a product, is doing with all that listening data. Besides responding to user questions are they also programmed to listen for conversations about specific topics like politics, religion, brand names, etc? Sounds like the perfect snooping device for gathering data. Could pollsters use the data to see which candidates users are talking about in their private living rooms? If AT&T is sharing data with the NSA/CIA what’s keeping Google or Amazon from allowing them to listen in as a bugging device that also answers questions posed to it. It’s creepy to me. And NO, I don’t trust Google or Amazon, Apple or any corporation to protect my privacy.
They are listening for a key word. If you're worried about skullduggery from these electronics then you need to worry about any device that has a microphone or camera. Even if one feels that, say, Apple would never do such a thing there's no way to be certain that an Apple product hasn't been hacked to enable the cameras or microphones, but I have a feeling you're not worried about a real threat, only the illogical perception that because it's listening for a key phrase before recording a query that it must be recording everything all the time. Do you not see the folly of your rationale?
The authorities want Amazon to turn over Alexa data in a murder case. According to the article these devices are indeed listening all the time but supposedly only respond to ket phrases like “Alexa.” A software patch or hack could fix that easily. There was also a report that Mark Zuckerberg keeps a piece of black tape over his computer’s camera for security reasons. People should be wising up to the surveillance culture that is rapidly developing. Technology can be used for both good and bad.
:facepalm:
How can you not understand how these devices work? Maybe if the victim said Alexa before the attacker incriminated themselves it would work, or maybe if there was a Skill that would allow for a speech recorder option, but I don’t know if one even exists and it’s improbable that someone would start that and then have it record their murder which someone leads to a conviction.
Again, you're still not under this ridiculous assumption that an always listening device means always recording, that if a device doesn't have an always listening keyword consumer feature that it can't be always listening and recording. This is a fucking tech forum, not a conspiracy theorists club for Appalachians with a 5th grade education, so at least try to think logically about technology if you're going to participate.
Why doesn't Apple update Siri to match Alexas standards ? Siri can't even set 2 timers right now...lame
I'd settle for it being as instant feeling as Alexa. I speak to Alexa like I would any other person. No pregnant pause after I say "Alexa," the way I have to with "Hey, Siri."
By the way, you do not have to pause after "Hey Siri", you can just continue with the command, it will work. That being said, good point about Siri being very frustrating and largely worthless. And, I also came to the point of needing two timers (when grilling) and not having that option. Glad to see people starting to hold Apple's feet to the fire. They need it.
This has never worked for me. Even when I double-tap the 'fn' key on my Mac to start dictation it takes about 6 seconds to activate.
Can third party developers extend Siri with new commands the way they can on Alexa? No.
Can HomeKit be used like Alexa to control any third party WiFi device like the Nest? No. Does Apple have a stand alone device that can listen for Siri voice commands? No. Will Tim Cook still be Apple CEO in five years? No.
I think the real issue is who cares? Amazon makes almost not profit on these sales. Since there is no real eco system not sure if it really matters. I cheeped out and bought a fire tablet for my son who is 5 and it broke within 4 months, Never dropped, never mistreated. Got a refund and Amazon didn't even want the tablet back? Guess they are not really worth anything...
Actually with Amazon the opposite is true. Their profit comes entirely from the ecosystem while the hardware profits are at cost to a small loss. Their hardware is to sell you music, movies and purchase things from Amazon. They have been doing this for at least 4 years and profits have been rising during that time, so it appears to be working. And I am sorry that your Amazon Fire tablet experience was so bad. I know a lot of people who bought them for their kids and for themselves and are very pleased with them. They ARE NOT for productivity tasks, mind you, but are decent for light mobile gaming, watching movies and videos, listening to movies and of course reading Kindle content. Now that Amazon has essentially given up and allows Google apps to be easily side-loaded onto their Kindle devices, they actually are the best deal in terms of build quality, support, reliability and updates in terms of Android tablets. Of course, that isn't saying much, but it is what it is.
Apple makes the best hardware, obviously, but the existence of other tech companies with other business models isn't a bad thing. What Apple does is good for Apple, Amazon's hardware strategy is good for what is primarily an online department store, and Google ... eh. At least they have done a pretty good job of helping Apple kneecap Microsoft, so at least there is that.
Don't forget that you probably want to give your kids a Kindle tablet to bang around, not an expensive iPad. I believe in some cases Amazon will even replace them, no question asked.
As Amazon refuses to sell Apple TV (or Chromecast) products that compete with the awful Fire TV, I am not certain that an Alexa competitor by Apple would have been sold by Amazon either.
I agree... But some of those that wanted a home type of device like this that would have chose Apple are now in the Amazon Eco system. Lets face it, Apple is the new Microsoft. Big Goliath thats slow to react to anything. They just can't walk and chew gum anymore. They can only update the iPhones yearly, the rest of their lineup is either a nuisance and gets cancelled or just a hobby that gets updates every 3 to 4 years. Meanwhile Tim has been talking about amazing pipelines while other companies are selling actual products. I remember a time when the opposite was true (ahh the good old days)
I think the period of time during which Apple successfully walked and chewed gum was actually pretty short, if by "walk and chew gum" we mean "maintain multiple product lines".
They started off as the Apple II company.
Then they switched to being the Mac company (seriously alienating die hard Apple II fans in the process).
Then they became the iPod plus Mac company. That eventually worked ok, but there were some major bumps along the road -- the early 00s weren't great for the Mac (hello Cube).
Then they became the iPhone plus Mac company. There were initially some big bumps in the road, such as the delay of Leopard. But they got things under control around the time of Snow Leopard.
Then they became the iPhone plus iPad plus Mac company. From about 2010 to 2014, this was a golden age -- probably the best stretch in the history of the company. It had some bumps -- like Maps -- but it was clearly a golden age.
Today Apple is trying to be the iPhone plus iPad plus Mac plus Services company, potentially with some massive new efforts in the pipeline (autonomous car; AR/VR). They are now hitting some serious bumps in the road. It's definitely a step down from the golden age, but that golden age was an outlier.
I think Apple has serious problems, but at the same time they also have tremendous advantages and assets. They need to address their problems, and it's by no means a slam dunk that they'll do that. But I think it's do-able, and my guess is that they'll do it. It just kind of sucks right now, particularly for those of us who want to buy a new Mac Pro.
Edit -- one point i forgot to make, though -- I don't think Apple should try competing with Echo/Alexa right now. I think their priorities should be:
1. Make the Mac great again (this is low hanging fruit -- so easy to do, and the reward will be a nice surge in Mac sales growth) 2. Get the iPad growing again by addressing all the little things that are obstacles for education and corporate deployments (there needs to be an iCloud pro that addresses the needs of those markets better) 3. Keep the iPhone moving forward. I think it would be better to include AirPods with every new iPhone 7s than it would be to have an OLED-screen iPhone 8. I actually think AirPods are a bigger deal than OLED screens. 4. Update the AppleTV to include an A10X chip, thereby making it a much more credible gaming console
There's a lot of doom here, but tell me -- how is the lack of OLED screen hindering users? Especially since Gruber reports they still aren't as color accurate as iphone's current screen.
Where did I say that a lack of OLED screen is hindering users?
When discussing Apple's serious problems you mentioned AirPods are needed even more than OLED screens are. Why are OLED screens a needed item?
Sorry, that's not what I said. This is what I said:
3. Keep the iPhone moving forward. I think it would be better to include AirPods with every new iPhone 7s than it would be to have an OLED-screen iPhone 8. I actually think AirPods are a bigger deal than OLED screens.
Where in that quote did I say that OLED-screens are "needed"?
The reason I'm making the comparison to OLED is that many people (at least among tech writers and wall street analysts) seem to think OLED is a really big deal. I'm saying that AirPods are a much bigger deal.
I think you need to pay attention to the words in front of you and less attention to your pre-coneived notions and imputations.
Comments
Then with the super thin iMac, "trash can" Mac Pro, and new Mac mini milled from a single block of aluminum people complained they were over-engineered. While I can absolutely see how the Mac mini casing doesn't need to be milled from a single block of airplane-grade aluminium, I always figured that low-volume exercise was designed for something else in the future. Perhaps that's what the Apple Watch eventually became, but on a considerably smaller scale.
I certainly don't know why Apple does (or doesn't) do what they do (or don't do), and I assume they have missteps like everyone else, it does seem silly when people complain about a product inside of simply saying "it's not for me." For instance, I just sold my AirPods because that EarPod design isn't comfortable for my ears, but the tech is brilliant and most people seem perfectly fine with EarPods so I'd recommend them to any Apple user that doesn't mean how EarPods feel.
Now they have over a hundred thousand employees, state of the art facilities, global and financial resources but yet they can no longer make a case for monitors or have enough staff to have a router team. Machines that their pros and most loyal customers require for critical work have been ignored for over 3 years. There is major disgruntlement like I've never seen before and all Tim does is talk about amazing pipelines and road maps. I've heard those words numerous times. Where are these amazing products? Then you here that Apple wants to be a service company. Unless you happen to live in select chosen cities, their services are extremely sub par. I gave Maps years of grace period but I live in a major city in Canada and their is still no 3D maps or transit data and major roads never get updated. When you see only a few cities a year get added to the list for these things, you realize that its going to take Apple like 8000 years to do the world. So yes, Apple Maps is great for a select few but to the rest of the world it is well below the competition. Which goes back to you are only as good as your worst products. When people around the world compare it to google maps, they go, wow, google is far superior and then they think that must go for other products as well. So either you show interest in every product you make or get out. Having 3+ year old MacPro's and crappy services just weakens the brand.
With record profits, I completely understand its hard to understand these criticisms. These profits are derived from the momentum Steve created and Tim is riding the wave based on which products make the most money. The cost of ignoring the other products is something that most companies would die to have, Apple's culture and the loyal fan base. When you lose it, you are just like every other tech company. Eventually your key products stumbles or is no longer cool, and you get dumped for something else. This doesn't happen over night. Just like its hard to stop the upward momentum Apple is seeing today, when it starts going the other way its hard to impossible to stop the bleeding unless you have other products to soften the fall. Although, Apple has lost a lot of Pro customers, as others have said, I think they still have one last chance to save that market if they can hit a home run with a new Mac Pro really soon here. But, if the plan is to ignore it for another 3 to 4 years after that, then they might as well announce they are out of the Pro market instead of stringing us a long again.
It's really to see where they are...
- http://apple.com
...unless you're wanting to know where these pipeline products Cook only mentioned a week ago are at. In that case, you need to come back down to Earth… assuming you were ever here with that statement.You point me to Apple's website for this Amazing pipeline but other than the iPhone, I don't see anything that is much different than it was 5 years ago and even the iPhone isn't much different really. I guess yours and Tims version of amazing is much different than mine. At least 5 years ago they had Mac Pro's that were competitive. In fact I would still buy 2010 MacPro's over what they are selling today, Which is a sad reality.
Okay, now that I am back to Earth. Are you referring to Tim's last weeks "Macs are important" and "amazing desktops are on a road map somewhere" speech that he says all the time. Yah his words mean a lot to me when we go 3+ years without updates. He could at least have some decency to not blow smoke up people's ssses. If you really believe that desktops are important to him, I've got some swamp land I would like to sell you.
Although in earlier years Apple accomplished amazing things, they were struggling in terms of success from a company stand point. If you can't understand this, I can't help you much.
Basically the Echo you use commands where you talk to the Google Home naturally. The Echo will handle some fuzziness but fundamentally they are variations to commands instead of fundamentally understanding what you are saying.
So with the Echo you might do a quick Google search with a lyric to get a song name and then ask the Echo to play. With the Google Home you skip the Google search step.
I am starting to learn a shorter english as the inference is so incredible with the Google Home. So say "hey google play sting gwen bottle on tv". Google figures out that I want to watch a video of Gwen Stefani and Sting singing message in a bottle on my TV. It then turns the TV on, sets the proper input, and the video starts playing.
Our brains inference capabilities allow us to communicate with one another in a compressed manner. Information can be inferred versus being said. This is what Google is doing and for some (many?) things they can do better than a human. Maybe it is because I have an engineering background but the Google Home from a technology standpoint and what Google is doing just blows me away.
The demo that most blows people away is the Google Photos with the Google Home. A bunch of people over for the holiday and someone asks how was your trip? You just say would you like to see a few pics? You just say "hey google show my photos of kenny in Maui". The TV turns itself on, input set, and photos of my son Kenny playing on the beach in Maui displays". Someone asks did you guys snorkel?
I simply ask Google to show photos of Molokini and then photos of us snorkeling at Molokini and unfortunately pics of where I forced the kids to Kayak to Molokini from the hotel. Wind changed, almost died, fantastic Coast Guard picked us up and took us back to the hotel where we were yelled at because suppose to check in once an hour. Just what happens when wife does not join me and the kids on vacation.
Then my oldest said I remember snorkeling there. Then you just say show Tommy snorkeling at Molokini. My wife had scanned and loaded 1000s of photos into Google Photos and to the shock of my oldest son photos both above and underwater display of him at Molokini.
This is simply off the charts incredible from a technology standpoint. Might be a bias for me but simply wow!
Basically one shutter click and nothing else and three months later you are in your family room without touching a single thing showing the photos. There is no more friction that can be removed.
BTW, works perfectly with the iPhone, iPad, etc. With Google Photos love not running out of space any longer.
Apple makes the best hardware, obviously, but the existence of other tech companies with other business models isn't a bad thing. What Apple does is good for Apple, Amazon's hardware strategy is good for what is primarily an online department store, and Google ... eh. At least they have done a pretty good job of helping Apple kneecap Microsoft, so at least there is that.
Amazon: post sales numbers or you're just full of it.
http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/12/can-an-amazon-echo-testify-against-you.html
The authorities want Amazon to turn over Alexa data in a murder case. According to the article these devices are indeed listening all the time but supposedly only respond to ket phrases like “Alexa.” A software patch or hack could fix that easily. There was also a report that Mark Zuckerberg keeps a piece of black tape over his computer’s camera for security reasons. People should be wising up to the surveillance culture that is rapidly developing. Technology can be used for both good and bad.
As for the Zuk it's very wise of him, or any other high-profile person for that matter, to tape over the computer camera. Hackers are always looking for back-door access to powerful or famous people and their electronic devices/data.
How can you not understand how these devices work? Maybe if the victim said Alexa before the attacker incriminated themselves it would work, or maybe if there was a Skill that would allow for a speech recorder option, but I don’t know if one even exists and it’s improbable that someone would start that and then have it record their murder which someone leads to a conviction.
Again, you're still not under this ridiculous assumption that an always listening device means always recording, that if a device doesn't have an always listening keyword consumer feature that it can't be always listening and recording. This is a fucking tech forum, not a conspiracy theorists club for Appalachians with a 5th grade education, so at least try to think logically about technology if you're going to participate.
This has never worked for me. Even when I double-tap the 'fn' key on my Mac to start dictation it takes about 6 seconds to activate.
Where in that quote did I say that OLED-screens are "needed"?
The reason I'm making the comparison to OLED is that many people (at least among tech writers and wall street analysts) seem to think OLED is a really big deal. I'm saying that AirPods are a much bigger deal.
I think you need to pay attention to the words in front of you and less attention to your pre-coneived notions and imputations.