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
Good post... I especially agree with "Make the Mac great again". Mac Pro and Mini are an embarrassment.
Well I have no idea what Apple's future plans are, but they need to start getting some new products to compete with the likes of amazon and google. Is is too risky for any company to rely on 1 or 2 products. I have hope in Apple, but sometimes I just feel that uncertainty for the future of Apple. I hope their vision is clear and we will be surprise in 2017 with all the answers we need as Apple supporters and Apple consumers. Apple needs to get the spotlight back and continue revolutionizing the world.
I think it's quite ironic how people will PAY amazon for these continuous listening devices that let amazon increase their already large data file on you.
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?
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...
A lot of people care. Amazon's Echo is interesting and fun, something that seems lost in the Apple world which has become very staid and boring. I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the way Apple lost its soul. It's just a big one product boring company obsessed with the thinness of that product.
My Amazon tablet has been every bit as rugged as my iPad although I do partially agree with you regarding the lack of an eco system.
Amazon has been making neat products, really interesting original video content and has developed a far more interesting media store than iTunes. Apple needs a complete change in direction in order to avoid becoming irrelevant.
Were the iPhone to become uncool the company would be in serious trouble.
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 but they don't consider missing out on a few million sales as anything to worry about either. Meanwhile, "smaller", more nimble companies are throwing stuff against the wall. I don't consider Echo to be a success. I have one and rarely use it. Others mostly feel the same way. Siri seems way behind until you measure how well other AI work. They're all fairly worthless right now so Apple is only last in a race to weak AI right now.
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.
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."
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.
Alexa is like Siri's smarter sister. she can understand me when I say things in different ways , from a different than I am in, and when I mumble a word or two.
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)
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 but they don't consider missing out on a few million sales as anything to worry about either. Meanwhile, "smaller", more nimble companies are throwing stuff against the wall. I don't consider Echo to be a success. I have one and rarely use it. Others mostly feel the same way. Siri seems way behind until you measure how well other AI work. They're all fairly worthless right now so Apple is only last in a race to weak AI right now.
So true. The Apple ecosystem is priceless, active one device and all the devices in the system works albeit at times not flawlessly. With just an Apple ⌚️ I can create reminders and watch list in the entire system. For some it is ok to have a device listening all the time but it is just not for me. I am
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
Generally agree.
1. The definitely need to get all macs update within this year with latest processors and implementations of TouchBar and TouchId. Right now TouchBar seems 50% nice feature 50% gimmick. It needs to be on all Mac computers including the MacPro and Mini.it needs to be ubiquitous in all mac based software.
2. iPad needs some software love. If you aren't an artist what reason is there to get the pro. Maybe it's time for mouse support.
3. We will see how their 1st quarter results are to see if the need to do something like this.
4. Apple TV needs 4K support along with a true TV service - otherwise Cue should be canned. top of the line CPU would be great.
Apple watch has gotten a lot of attention in the last two years. It should wait till Sep 2018 for its next update.
Better to not due an Apple Hub unless Siri has been drastically overhauled. Otherwise it will be a big embarrasement
Poor Apple. If only they made as much profit as Amazon. If only they had as much success in computers, smart phones, tablets, smart watches, wearables, head phones, app stores and music as Amazon. If only Apple would put some thought into environmental issues?
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.
Comments
My Amazon tablet has been every bit as rugged as my iPad although I do partially agree with you regarding the lack of an eco system.
Amazon has been making neat products, really interesting original video content and has developed a far more interesting media store than iTunes. Apple needs a complete change in direction in order to avoid becoming irrelevant.
Were the iPhone to become uncool the company would be in serious trouble.
missing out on a few million sales as anything to worry about either. Meanwhile, "smaller", more nimble companies are throwing stuff against the wall. I don't consider Echo to be a success. I have one and rarely use it. Others mostly feel the same way. Siri seems way behind until you measure how well other AI work. They're all fairly worthless right now so Apple
is only last in a race to weak AI right now.
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.
the fact these echoes are selling shows Siri needs to step up. Why the hell would anyone need 2 Siris?
You nailed it.
The Apple ecosystem is priceless, active one device and all the devices in the system works albeit at times not flawlessly.
With just an Apple ⌚️ I can create reminders and watch list in the entire system.
For some it is ok to have a device listening all the time but it is just not for me.
I am
Generally agree.
1. The definitely need to get all macs update within this year with latest processors and implementations of TouchBar and TouchId. Right now TouchBar seems 50% nice feature 50% gimmick. It needs to be on all Mac computers including the MacPro and Mini.it needs to be ubiquitous in all mac based software.
2. iPad needs some software love. If you aren't an artist what reason is there to get the pro. Maybe it's time for mouse support.
3. We will see how their 1st quarter results are to see if the need to do something like this.
4. Apple TV needs 4K support along with a true TV service - otherwise Cue should be canned. top of the line CPU would be great.
Apple watch has gotten a lot of attention in the last two years. It should wait till Sep 2018 for its next update.
Better to not due an Apple Hub unless Siri has been drastically overhauled. Otherwise it will be a big embarrasement
Edit: Never Mind.
Because MacMini and Mac Pro i