Apple marketed [3D touch] as a shortcut and easier way for people to be able to get to what they wanted to do more simply and intuitively. It also allowed new gestures, such as peak-and-pop, and new features, such as Live Photos, to be introduced.
3D Touch was a widely used and versatile feature that was implemented across the whole operating system. The departure of the feature was not mourned upon, but many people would like to see it back.
3D touch was anything but intuitive. You had zero idea what was force-touchable without being told by the OS or otherwise, it was inconsistently implemented across the UI and most apps didn't support it. Peek and pop seemed pretty pointless, it was no faster to press hard than to tap and then off-screen swipe to go back.
Force touch was handy on the lockscreen for the torch/camera, made it much harder to accidentally activate either. The only other place I ever used it was on the keyboard. It was so handy to press hard and use the keyboard as a trackpad, and even better was that you could force touch again to begin a selection, accurately move the cursor and let go. So much better than the frustrating fudge that are the two little dots you drag around. I did just discover that whilst in trackpad mode you can actually tap the keyboard with another finger to start a selection, which is so much better than the selection handles.
Not going all-in doesn't help either, with half the devices missing it developers don't bother with it at all, much like the Macbook touch bar.
3D Touch was a widely used and versatile feature that was implemented across the whole operating system. The departure of the feature was not mourned upon, but many people would like to see it back.
Was it? I know people with Force touch supporting phones and they have no idea it is a thing, they've never intentionally used it. OTOH It was pretty well implemented on the watch, as you knew everything had a "settings" menu by force touching, though Apple abandoned it presumably because people had no idea it existed. Much like on the phone. I'd like to see it on the Watch more than phone.
This is not a long list, and some of it is a bit daft. Not supporting headphone jack and Intel chips? Why not include: not supporting CD-ROM, 30-pin connector, VGA Port? I miss Front Row the most, and Automator.
Everyone will miss different things that they found useful to them. I only "accept" the loss of the headphone jack because I can use a traditional headphone with a dongle (on the iPhone). I will not use Bluetooth earbuds, both because I don't want Bluetooth passing through my brain and because I refuse to buy any product in which the batteries can't be user replaced. Using a device in which the rechargeable batteries eventually die and can't be replaced is both a scam and bad for the environment. (Yes, I know it's the same in the Mac, but I have no choice there.)
And I actually still use CD-ROM. I run a site that contains much audio and it's useful for some of the contributors to ship CD's rather than dropbox the large files. Also, I have a record collection of over 2000 albums which I do not want to re-buy on Apple Music (or subscribe) and CD is a useful method of transferring them over.
But I completely understand people who have no use for those things. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
The fact remains though that when Apple chose to remove the DVD/CD drive from the Mac, it wasn't because of declining use of that technology at the time (and Apple never supported Blu-ray, which they should have). It was simply because Ive wanted to have a thinner case.
A number of these things weren't "features", but if there's something I miss from the list here like others, it's Aperture. Lightroom at the time of cancellation was nowhere near as good and I've always found its workflow too strict. That works for some people, but I preferred the model Aperture followed, which was to let me work the way I work and not force me into someone else's method. Lightroom has gotten a lot of better since then, and with obvious superior features as Adobe has continued its development, but it still doesn't come close to Aperture in many ways, imho. Photos is not Aperture, nor will it ever be. I never understood why Aperture was cancelled, especially since it fit quite well within Apple's professional apps.
I also loved 3D / Force Touch, but it's not something that was a major loss for me, even though I found it particularly practical. I understand it really wasn't for most people.
Someone mentioned the touch bar - can't believe that wasn't mentioned in the article. It became quite useful to me (even time-saving) in a specific workflow/app.
Although the Silicon MBPs will inevitably beckon, leaving that feature behind will dampen my enthusiasm just a smidge.
This is not a long list, and some of it is a bit daft. Not supporting headphone jack and Intel chips? Why not include: not supporting CD-ROM, 30-pin connector, VGA Port? I miss Front Row the most, and Automator.
Everyone will miss different things that they found useful to them. I only "accept" the loss of the headphone jack because I can use a traditional headphone with a dongle (on the iPhone). I will not use Bluetooth earbuds, both because I don't want Bluetooth passing through my brain and because I refuse to buy any product in which the batteries can't be user replaced. Using a device in which the rechargeable batteries eventually die and can't be replaced is both a scam and bad for the environment. (Yes, I know it's the same in the Mac, but I have no choice there.)
And I actually still use CD-ROM. I run a site that contains much audio and it's useful for some of the contributors to ship CD's rather than dropbox the large files. Also, I have a record collection of over 2000 albums which I do not want to re-buy on Apple Music (or subscribe) and CD is a useful method of transferring them over.
But I completely understand people who have no use for those things. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
The fact remains though that when Apple chose to remove the DVD/CD drive from the Mac, it wasn't because of declining use of that technology at the time (and Apple never supported Blu-ray, which they should have). It was simply because Ive wanted to have a thinner case.
Apple getting into content, subscriptions, rentals, and getting rid of a DVD/CD read write player/record drive, fit right into steering traffic to downloads only.
Comments
Force touch was handy on the lockscreen for the torch/camera, made it much harder to accidentally activate either. The only other place I ever used it was on the keyboard. It was so handy to press hard and use the keyboard as a trackpad, and even better was that you could force touch again to begin a selection, accurately move the cursor and let go. So much better than the frustrating fudge that are the two little dots you drag around. I did just discover that whilst in trackpad mode you can actually tap the keyboard with another finger to start a selection, which is so much better than the selection handles.
Not going all-in doesn't help either, with half the devices missing it developers don't bother with it at all, much like the Macbook touch bar.
Was it? I know people with Force touch supporting phones and they have no idea it is a thing, they've never intentionally used it. OTOH It was pretty well implemented on the watch, as you knew everything had a "settings" menu by force touching, though Apple abandoned it presumably because people had no idea it existed. Much like on the phone. I'd like to see it on the Watch more than phone.
And I actually still use CD-ROM. I run a site that contains much audio and it's useful for some of the contributors to ship CD's rather than dropbox the large files. Also, I have a record collection of over 2000 albums which I do not want to re-buy on Apple Music (or subscribe) and CD is a useful method of transferring them over.
But I completely understand people who have no use for those things. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
The fact remains though that when Apple chose to remove the DVD/CD drive from the Mac, it wasn't because of declining use of that technology at the time (and Apple never supported Blu-ray, which they should have). It was simply because Ive wanted to have a thinner case.
I would think Airport Express et al would have been on the article list too...
I also loved 3D / Force Touch, but it's not something that was a major loss for me, even though I found it particularly practical. I understand it really wasn't for most people.
Just pondering...
Apple getting into content, subscriptions, rentals, and getting rid of a DVD/CD read write player/record drive, fit right into steering traffic to downloads only.