Saying Goodbye To Apple - The Magic Is Gone

Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited October 2015
The time has come. It was a great ride with Steve Jobs, but now with others on the horizon, like Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang and Tesla/SpaceX's Elon Musk, there are new role models and instigators out there.

I plan to sell my iPhone 5 and iPad 3 this weekend. iPad 3 fetches a reasonable price even on trade-in sites, and it was an interesting several months. iPhone 5, well, I pay a bit on contract for that but it's spread monthly so not too bad.

The why. Android smartphones these past few months made a breakthrough with Android 4.1 ... Yes, not as slick, smooth and super-solid like the iPhone 4S/5. But, the screen size, flexibility, and most importantly, ~reward~ for not treating you like a retard is... pleasant. As for tablets, well, Nexus 7 is good enough, anything that I'd want a 10" for I'd use a 13" thin laptop. Otherwise, if you're wondering, as phones approach 5" you might find a lot of tasks do ~not~ require a tablet.

I'm of course being generous to iOS in regards to Android because there are increasing advantages to Android that negate a lot of its issues, if you know what you're doing and choose the right hardware.

Gone. Personally, I've seen the amazing strides Apple made and how they've challenged the world and humanity over the past decades. However, with Steve Jobs gone, we see lack of focus, lack of direction, political infighting, unpolished products, production issues, and reduction in overall vision. All the "sass", without that real, balanced, genuine magic.

Dishonesty. I think Tim Cook is dishonest. Not so much for a CEO per se, but by Apple standards. There is a certain duplicity in his various undertakings. Steve always talked about values and why they didn't want to simply let Gizmodo et al. off the hook. Sure, Apple under Steve was not perfect, but the means were at least palatable for the ends. When Apple operates in a similar fashion under Cook, but without the ends really shining, then all means appear increasingly repulsive.

It is with great regret that I pen this, but unless something significant changes in the next one or two years, this is it for at least a few years. Android will provide a good smartphone experience, and a good tablet experience.

As for laptops, I still plan to use my Mac laptop but looking to go "back" to PC when I find a nice, decent one with Nvidia 680 graphics. PC laptops are still hideous and plasticky, for the most part. And Windows is nonsensical still.

Maybe I'll do Linux on a PC laptop. We'll see. That's a drastic move and may take a few months for me to get my head around.

Thank you for all the good times here on AppleInsider. I might hang around, but I would only be brandished a "troll" so who knows how that will play out.

Farewell.

sr2012
aka
nvidia2008
aka
sunilraman

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    Apple doesn't need to have any magic or be special. The hell with that garbage and the hell with your "woe is me" post. All they need to do is take advantage of putting the best technology into their products and making it all work in one nice little package. There was no magic to begin with, it was all a reality distortion field.

    No one can top Steve Jobs but to say that Cook is awful is flat out garbage. Cook is to Steve Young as Steve Jobs is to Joe Montana. As long as Phil Schiller and Jony Ive stick around, things should be okay.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,016member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sr2012 View Post



    The time has come. It was a great ride with Steve Jobs, but now with others on the horizon, like Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang and Tesla/SpaceX's Elon Musk, there are new role models and instigators out there.



    I plan to sell my iPhone 5 and iPad 3 this weekend. iPad 3 fetches a reasonable price even on trade-in sites, and it was an interesting several months. iPhone 5, well, I pay a bit on contract for that but it's spread monthly so not too bad.



    The why. Android smartphones these past few months made a breakthrough with Android 4.1 ... Yes, not as slick, smooth and super-solid like the iPhone 4S/5. But, the screen size, flexibility, and most importantly, ~reward~ for not treating you like a retard is... pleasant. As for tablets, well, Nexus 7 is good enough, anything that I'd want a 10" for I'd use a 13" thin laptop. Otherwise, if you're wondering, as phones approach 5" you might find a lot of tasks do ~not~ require a tablet.



    I'm of course being generous to iOS in regards to Android because there are increasing advantages to Android that negate a lot of its issues, if you know what you're doing and choose the right hardware.



    Gone. Personally, I've seen the amazing strides Apple made and how they've challenged the world and humanity over the past decades. However, with Steve Jobs gone, we see lack of focus, lack of direction, political infighting, unpolished products, production issues, and reduction in overall vision. All the "sass", without that real, balanced, genuine magic.



    Dishonesty. I think Tim Cook is dishonest. Not so much for a CEO per se, but by Apple standards. There is a certain duplicity in his various undertakings. Steve always talked about values and why they didn't want to simply let Gizmodo et al. off the hook. Sure, Apple under Steve was not perfect, but the means were at least palatable for the ends. When Apple operates in a similar fashion under Cook, but without the ends really shining, then all means appear increasingly repulsive.



    It is with great regret that I pen this, but unless something significant changes in the next one or two years, this is it for at least a few years. Android will provide a good smartphone experience, and a good tablet experience.



    As for laptops, I still plan to use my Mac laptop but looking to go "back" to PC when I find a nice, decent one with Nvidia 680 graphics. PC laptops are still hideous and plasticky, for the most part. And Windows is nonsensical still.



    Maybe I'll do Linux on a PC laptop. We'll see. That's a drastic move and may take a few months for me to get my head around.



    Thank you for all the good times here on AppleInsider. I might hang around, but I would only be brandished a "troll" so who knows how that will play out.



    Farewell.



    sr2012

    aka

    nvidia2008

    aka

    sunilraman


     


     


    Tim Cook is dishonest, but for all this time you've had three different screen names without telling anyone?  


     


    image

  • Reply 3 of 10


    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post

    Tim Cook is dishonest, but for all this time you've had three different screen names without telling anyone?  


     


    image



     


    I've always hated our policy that allows name changing (but not simultaneous accounts)…

  • Reply 4 of 10
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Wow if your leaving Apple because of ethical reasons then your going to have a hard time finding a company that does. If your going the Android route then may I suggest the Nexus 4 for mobile and Nexus 10 for the tablet. The Nexus series is by far the best you can get in that world. You will always have the newest software updates and their void of all that bloat that the major players seem to like forcing down our throats. I'm talking to you Samsung with your Touchwiz. As far as Windows laptops are concerned there are plenty of them that can match the build quality of a Apple Macbook, with a removable battery even. Check out the Lenovo X1 Carbon, my goodness is that a fantastic machine, you can even add a battery slice at the bottom. The Asus Zenbooks are all made out of Aluminium and are very sturdy machines. I would try out a Windows 8 tablet regardless of what these people say, I have a Lenovo Thinkpad II and I firmly stand on the fact that it is one of the best tablets I have ever owned. It boots in 7 seconds, battery is a little over 10 hours and it's a very enjoyable gadget to own.

    Anyway good luck with whatever you do, you were a joy to have around, bye.
  • Reply 5 of 10

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sr2012 View Post



    The time has come. It was a great ride with Steve Jobs, but now with others on the horizon, like Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang and Tesla/SpaceX's Elon Musk, there are new role models and instigators out there.



    I plan to sell my iPhone 5 and iPad 3 this weekend. iPad 3 fetches a reasonable price even on trade-in sites, and it was an interesting several months. iPhone 5, well, I pay a bit on contract for that but it's spread monthly so not too bad.



    The why. Android smartphones these past few months made a breakthrough with Android 4.1 ... Yes, not as slick, smooth and super-solid like the iPhone 4S/5. But, the screen size, flexibility, and most importantly, ~reward~ for not treating you like a retard is... pleasant. As for tablets, well, Nexus 7 is good enough, anything that I'd want a 10" for I'd use a 13" thin laptop. Otherwise, if you're wondering, as phones approach 5" you might find a lot of tasks do ~not~ require a tablet.



    I'm of course being generous to iOS in regards to Android because there are increasing advantages to Android that negate a lot of its issues, if you know what you're doing and choose the right hardware.



    Gone. Personally, I've seen the amazing strides Apple made and how they've challenged the world and humanity over the past decades. However, with Steve Jobs gone, we see lack of focus, lack of direction, political infighting, unpolished products, production issues, and reduction in overall vision. All the "sass", without that real, balanced, genuine magic.



    Dishonesty. I think Tim Cook is dishonest. Not so much for a CEO per se, but by Apple standards. There is a certain duplicity in his various undertakings. Steve always talked about values and why they didn't want to simply let Gizmodo et al. off the hook. Sure, Apple under Steve was not perfect, but the means were at least palatable for the ends. When Apple operates in a similar fashion under Cook, but without the ends really shining, then all means appear increasingly repulsive.



    It is with great regret that I pen this, but unless something significant changes in the next one or two years, this is it for at least a few years. Android will provide a good smartphone experience, and a good tablet experience.



    As for laptops, I still plan to use my Mac laptop but looking to go "back" to PC when I find a nice, decent one with Nvidia 680 graphics. PC laptops are still hideous and plasticky, for the most part. And Windows is nonsensical still.



    Maybe I'll do Linux on a PC laptop. We'll see. That's a drastic move and may take a few months for me to get my head around.



    Thank you for all the good times here on AppleInsider. I might hang around, but I would only be brandished a "troll" so who knows how that will play out.



    Farewell.



    sr2012

    aka

    nvidia2008

    aka

    sunilraman


     


    wow. You're one of those. Goodbyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !

  • Reply 6 of 10


    Smartphones running Android have made great strides with 4.1?  Really?

  • Reply 7 of 10

    Well, I think this is a very insightful post in the OP. And as I've spent a few minutes considering it, I think that what Apple needs to do is...

     

     

    Hey look! A shiny new dime! My lucky day!

  • Reply 8 of 10
    ingsocingsoc Posts: 212member

    The OP accuses Tim Cook of the very things he praises Steve Jobs for.  To me, that's a bit of a warning sign of cognitive dissonance already.

     

    Beyond that, I think it's a bit insulting to say that "the magic is gone".  

    Steve Jobs would be the first person to couch everything he said in terms of the idea that he is surrounded by a brilliant team.  There are senior managers at Apple who have, for years, driven the creation of amazing products.  These people are still there.  Their teams are still there.

     

    Tim Cook may not be as outwardly imaginative - or the kind of showman - that Steve Jobs is.  But I think that misses the point to some extent.

     

    Tim Cook's job is really to be an enabler, and to facilitate the creative energy of his organisation.  His job is to remove roadblocks to success.  There are numerous things he did as COO that were audacious by any standard.

     

    There is strong evidence of Tim Cook not only protecting the "Apple DNA", but being a champion of it - again, a key task of any CEO.  By the way, does the OP forget that Tim Cook apologised for Apple Maps and suggested competitor products?  He never said "you're just holding it wrong".  I'm sorry, but Tim Cook gets major kudos in my book for being earnest, especially as the leader of a company with Apple's size and prestige.

  • Reply 9 of 10
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,016member

    This is an older thread, but I still find the OP's post odd.  It's like he's pining for his childhood perceptions or something.  We're dealing with someone here who obviously was completely taken in by Steve's reality distortion field.  While he's criticizing Apple, what he's really doing is projecting.  He's older and wiser, and doesn't have the same emotional connection to the products and Apple's mystique he once did.  That's not Apple's fault or Tim Cook's fault...it's called life.  I used to post here constantly.  I would watch live streams of Macworld Keynotes and excitedly write about and debate new products, rumors, etc.  Not anymore.  Things just change.  

  • Reply 10 of 10

    I think so apple doesn't need to show any magic to their relevant clients who are doing blind trust on apple.. 

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