Apple estranging 40+ customers

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
The App Store's fontsize is too small for people with reading glasses to read comfortably, and it's not adjustable either!



People over 40 will consider using the App Store a PITA.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    That's about as general as a statement can get. It's a factor of the screen you're viewing and the resolution thereof.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    The App Store's fontsize is too small for people with reading glasses to read comfortably, and it's not adjustable either!



    People over 40 will consider using the App Store a PITA.



    Speak for yourself. I am a good deal north of 40 and should have gotten a new eyeglass prescription years ago. However, I have absolutely no problem with the size of text on the App Store.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post


    Speak for yourself. I am a good deal north of 40 and should have gotten a new eyeglass prescription years ago. However, I have absolutely no problem with the size of text on the App Store.



    Ditto on N of 40 and no problems with the font size.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    I read the thread title as meaning that Apple had estranged some small group of customers, 42 or 43 of them. I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I read the thread title as meaning that Apple had estranged some small group of customers, 42 or 43 of them. I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation.



    He could be talking about the number of people who still want the xMac.
  • Reply 6 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    That's about as general as a statement can get. It's a factor of the screen you're viewing and the resolution thereof.



    Excuse me?

    If you hit Command-plus a couple times, or Command-minus – like right now! – you'll see that the screenfont sizes increase or decrease without pixelation! That is resolution independent, sir! It works in just about every browser, with every decently built website. It even works in Java and Flash.



    Even the screenfont sizes in iTunes – Apple's big moneymaker browser – can be tweaked a tad, however awkwardly.



    Not so the App Store's screenfonts afaik. Apple's supposedly next big moneymaker browser!



    PLUS: the App Store's security seems already to have been breached. On its second day of operation!

    Sofar I'm decidedly underwhelmed by the App Store.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Excuse me?

    If you hit Command-plus a couple times, or Command-minus ? like right now! ? you'll see that the screenfont sizes increase or decrease without pixelation! That is resolution independent, sir! It works in just about every browser, with every decently built website. It even works in Java and Flash.



    Even the screenfont sizes in iTunes ? Apple's big moneymaker browser ? can be tweaked a tad, however awkwardly.



    Not so the App Store's screenfonts afaik. Apple's supposedly next big moneymaker browser!



    I'm sure Apple will do just fine as the font size is standard novel size or larger based on most screen dot pitch resolution, that's based on looking at it from 13", 15", 17", 20", 22", 27" & 30", all of those were Apple LCDs from 2000 to current . Let your ego go and get an appropriate new set of reading glasses.



    Quote:

    PLUS: the App Store's security seems already to have been breached. On its second day of operation!

    Sofar I'm decidedly underwhelmed by the App Store.



    Breached when a developer doesn't follow the guidelines. Not breached when they do. it's software anyway, it's circumventable by definition. The App store is about making it so easy for the masses to be legal they don't want to bother with the extra steps in pirating.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    He could be talking about the number of people who still want the xMac.







    Also nice wordage addabox...fine granularity of alienation. Mm.



    I still hope Resolution Independence is on track for 10.7. With DPI ever increasing, Res. Ind. is key for me, and I already have strong glasses. \
  • Reply 9 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hiro View Post


    I'm sure Apple will do just fine



    I'm sure it will, Hiro.

    So I'm not really concerned with Apple's welfare here, but rather with the users'.



    Quote:

    as the font size is standard novel size or larger based on most screen dot pitch resolution, that's based on looking at it from 13", 15", 17", 20", 22", 27" & 30", all of those were Apple LCDs from 2000 to current . Let your ego go and get an appropriate new set of reading glasses.



    That sounds remarkably like Steve Job's response, in earnest, when the iPhone 4's reception troubles surfaced: "They shouldn't be holding it that way"...
  • Reply 10 of 16
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    I'm sure it will, Hiro.

    So I'm not really concerned with Apple's welfare here, but rather with the users'.







    That sounds remarkably like Steve Job's response, in earnest, when the iPhone 4's reception troubles surfaced: "They shouldn't be holding it that way"...





    You start with sweeping proclamations that Apple in now doing things that will loose it customers, but the text isn't any smaller than they use in any other app, you even note iTunes as having the same "problem". Hasn't the amount of time iTunes and the iPhone App Store has been around kind of put in perspective how much of a new "people over 40" problem there really is?



    Dude, if your eyes aren't good enough to read standard text, you need better glasses. Or try changing the monitor resolution. Or open up Universal Access. Trying to call Apple out on your own biological hardware problem is just ignoring your own issue, especially when they already provided multiple standard ways to compensate, just not the one particular way you want.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hiro View Post


    You start with sweeping proclamations that Apple in now doing things that will loose it customers, but the text isn't any smaller than they use in any other app, you even note iTunes as having the same "problem". Hasn't the amount of time iTunes and the iPhone App Store has been around kind of put in perspective how much of a new "people over 40" problem there really is?



    Dude, if your eyes aren't good enough to read standard text, you need better glasses. Or try changing the monitor resolution. Or open up Universal Access. Trying to call Apple out on your own biological hardware problem is just ignoring your own issue, especially when they already provided multiple standard ways to compensate, just not the one particular way you want.



    Yep, you're a hardcore disciple.

    Apple's technology is supreme and people, users, 'biologically challenged' or not, should adapt to it, rather than the other way around. Because Apple's technology is divinely perfect of course.

    People are a nuisance. "They shouldn't be holding it that way", after all.



    The funny, and at the same time sad thing is: you'll grow older too

    Let's see how happy you'll be with Apple's consideration with the 'biologically challenged' when you're one of them.



    Besides: not taking care of the over 40s is the stupidest thing Apple can do, because that's where their growth markets lie in the next decade. That's where the big money is. Not with the young. The young are numerically, and economically, almost insignificant compared to the over 40s.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    I don't like the iTunes Store much at all. The online browser store is much faster and you can open things in tabs as well as zoom the content up - just change the 'us' in the URL to the right country:



    http://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/ios/id36?mt=8



    No icons in the lists but usually, the icons don't give much info about the apps.



    It would be nice to see the rating next to the name though.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Yep, you're a hardcore disciple.

    Apple's technology is supreme and people, users, 'biologically challenged' or not, should adapt to it, rather than the other way around. Because Apple's technology is divinely perfect of course.

    People are a nuisance. "They shouldn't be holding it that way", after all.



    The funny, and at the same time sad thing is: you'll grow older too



    Let's see how happy you'll be with Apple's consideration with the 'biologically challenged' when you're one of them.



    The funny thing is you aren't reading. I AM one of them. I earlier stated (4th post this thread mr reading challenged) I am also far enough over 40 that my lenses have transformed to their semi-crystallized state too.



    Basic human physiology, same for everyone give or take a couple years. Once we are there, our lenses are screwed for fine detail inside ~1 meter distance. Simple reading glasses handle the majority of the fix, if they don't the eyes have other focusing issues beyond simple lens crystallization.



    My livelihood used to be inextricable toed to my eyesight, I was an Aviator, but an injury unrelated to eyesight put the kibosh on continuing that line of work. The Navy takes a lot of care in making sure Aviators know exactly how our eyes will and won't work over the years, lest we create flaming piles of spectacular video. In as macho a culture as carrier aviation is you would think showing weakness like reading glasses would be something everyone would avoid, but with education and a desire to keep flying and staying alive people just used them because they had been told for 15-20 years that it is OK. The culture even made it easy to get prescription reading glasses for those that needed them, not just drug store generic magnifiers.



    Too bad for you that basic physiology isn't hard core Apple disciple-ism. Maybe it's time to drop the faux indignation and roll with basic reality. So if you can't read, get the right glasses, or address the correct vision issue. I've put in the hours, training and near death experiences to not have to cede any part of the moral high ground to someone who doesn't display adequate knowledge of the situation.



    My lenses are as over-40 screwed as anyone else could ever be, yet I can read the iTunes and App store fonts quite comfortably, others in the thread have said so too. I guess we are lucky enough to have had 20/20 or better vision previous to hardened lenses, but that just leaves you with needing appropriate lenses to correct to baseline to start with, or use any one of the other available absolute size of screen feature adjustments that are available (and I listed a couple of them above too, which apparently you didn't like or pay attention to).



    Quote:

    Besides: not taking care of the over 40s is the stupidest thing Apple can do, because that's where their growth markets lie in the next decade. That's where the big money is. Not with the young. The young are numerically, and economically, almost insignificant compared to the over 40s.



    Stop acting like a cranky old bastage. Your implied facts about willingness to spend disposable income is wrong too. 18-38 is the motherlode market for tech. Don't hate them, you were there too. Are you going to try to twist that into your perceived Apple over 40 conspiracy theory now? Maybe you should help redefine the marketing boundaries and let them follow us up the ladder as we were the ones who created the 18-38 mega-market in the first place.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    I can understand and appreciate the OP's concerns of the font size in the App Store. I am 28 yrs old and I find myself doing a double-take on pricing of an app by glancing closer at my monitor, and I don't require reading glasses. There is some wasted space in the app store that can be better utilized, including a bigger font size.

    Don't get me wrong, I've been a fanboy for over 20 yrs, but there's no reason to respond to the OP in this manner while providing some constructive criticism. However, I do not agree with his assertion that the young are "insignificant", with its current market saturation, Apple's survival will mostly depend on brand loyalty.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    North of 40 here. Not feeling at all estranged. Jobs probably isn't feeling terribly estranged either, and I'm pretty sure that he's got some degree of presbyopia at his age too.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sessamoid View Post


    I'm pretty sure that he's got some degree of presbyopia at his age too.



    No. Watch his keynotes. He's got astigmatic myopia. Not presbyopia. See how he needs to lift his glasses, go closer, and squint to see fine details on the screen. I think I even remember him speaking about it in an interview, years ago.

    And he is, what, 56? Fits the bill.



    Anyway, his eyes are the least of his worries now.
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