socaltrojandude

wizard69 said:

Apple absolutely needs an intro machine that is under $2000 and doesn't suck.   They need that price to drive volume and to support the platform so that they can have high performance models.   More so they need to go a step further and make sure the mother board is compatible for other platforms like an iMac Pro or an Xmac.   Literally a multi use motherboard that again drives volume to address the issue of cost or more importantly the perception of value.

I totally agree! I feel like my customer demographic is not being catered too with their current product line. I bought Desktop Towers ever since the first blue and white G3 and stopped in 2013 when they shifted to the 'trash can' design that no longer allowed me to plug in my old SATA hard drives.

Why can't they offer something like this again? I'm sure I'm not the only one that used to regularly spend $2,500 to $3,000 on one of these every few years? And no, I'm not interested in an iMac! There has to be some middle ground between a MacMini and the current Desktop Pro. Why don't they come out with something midway and just call it a 'Mac', no 'mini', no 'Pro' just 'Mac'

I've lived in the Bay Area and I am familiar with this area as well as the other huge homeless encampment south of downtown San Jose near Coyote Creek they used to call 'The Jungle'. I moved out of the area two years ago but I believe the neighbors living nearby finally pushed law enforcement to eventually disband 'The Jungle'. I assume most of the 500 people who lived there moved over to this area owned by Apple.

What outsiders don't know or seem to understand is most of these people are not local Bay Area residents. Like most of the homeless throughout California they have migrated to CA due to the comfortable conditions year round and the large supply of wealthy do gooders willing to keep them alive. There is also a healthy supply of cheap crystal meth and other drugs flowing through the area.

Please don't tell me these are just poor unfortunates who have lost their jobs and have no family to help get them on their feet and how horrible it is to struggle finding a way to live in the notoriously unaffordable Bay Area housing markets! This is pure bullshit.

The Bay Area is expensive to live in if you choose to try living in say Atherton or in the City of SF or Tiburon or Orinda/LaFayette or any other pricey rich neighborhood!
But there are plenty of 'shithole' places like Richmond, Vallejo, most of City of Oakland, many areas of San Jose or my former neighborhood, Hayward. You can easily find apartments for under $1,500 and even less if you have roommates. Nobody FORCES these people to stay living where they are. They do so because its familiar to them and they know how to maintain the cycle of 'shakedown people for money/go spend it on cheap drugs' where they are. Hell, I've seen some homeless get on the BART and commute to their freeway off ramp or chosen spot on the sidewalk. They ride the train with the rest of the commuters carrying their cardboard signs!

Yes, most of these folks are grifters, addicts or mentally ill. Don't believe me? Take a stroll around City Hall in downtown SF. I spent two years getting off the BART at Civic Center station and I can assure you it has only gotten worse. Ever want to watch a grown woman hike up her skirt and squat on a sidewalk to take a shit while you sit at the McDonalds counter eating your lunch? Or how bout stepping over the sleeping nude body of a grown man covered in filth and blood on your way to that important meeting! Welcome to SF! Or try enjoying a stroll through Golden Gate Park...not without having someone shake you down for drugs, money, sex, etc. That is the state of SF today and sadly when I left the civic leaders were still trying to decide how to make it easier to allow more homeless to set up tents for camping on public sidewalks.

Apple didn't cause this problem, they inherited it when they bought this property. It hasn't been developed yet so it became the 'new Jungle' I don't know what magic wand Apple thinks they can wave at this problem. Nobody else has been able to solve it. But for 'millions of dollars' you would think it would be easier to just hire a social worker to work one on one with these 500 people (at last count!) and get them into housing/detox/cleaned up. Then find them a job in a more affordable area outside of California!

But Vietnam has not forced us to give up trade secrets, throw millions of dollars at supposedly 'private' companies to compete against independent American companies and publicly state that they see us as their competitor. I also have not heard of the kind of human rights abuses being done to Vietnam citizens as China so blatantly does to their own. Given a choice Id much prefer to support Vietnam where our dollars are not being spent to invest in weapons and a military which can only exist to one day face off against the US, being the only nation currently willing to stand up to them.

fastasleep said:

socaltrojandude said:

As a visionary who has continued trying to 'kick a dent in the universe' I would say he's been a complete failure.

Who are you quoting?

Steve Jobs

#1 Jony Ive should have been reigned in way more but obviously everyone including Cook was too scared to say no to him.

This assumes there was something that they should've said no to. Scared? Haha

Apple Remote

#2 This CSAM issue is a public relations disaster and they should just come out and say sorry,---we overstepped. You can't use 'PRIVACY' as a major selling point to your product and out of the other side of your mouth say, PRIVACY from everyone except us who will scan through and review anything personal you try to use on our product.

It sure does sound like a PR disaster when you completely misrepresent how the feature works!

What am I misinterpreting? They are going to review photos in iCloud to determine if they are kiddie porn. Whether someone is a pedo or not, nobody likes the idea of someone they don't know looking at their personal photos to 'review'

#3 Horrible decisions on anything entertainment related. They should have bought Netflix, but didn't. They should have bought Hulu, but didn't. They should have bought MGM, but didn't. Because Cook says Apple believes its a better value to create our own content. Meanwhile, there is not enough content available to make them a major player and they won't ever be considered one because Cook keeps passing on anything he doesn't see 'fitting the Apple brand'

I still have yet to see a reasonable explanation as to why they should have done this, or that they absolutely must become a "major player" instantly in streaming content. Meanwhile, their original content has been doing extremely well and cleaning up in awards.

If its about maximizing shareholder value then I doubt that's being achieved. A couple shows winning awards means nothing if nobody is watching. Without viewership Apple will eventually shut this down. Meanwhile they have passed on a ton of great shows. I don't get Cooks/Apple's logic in this....we only want prestige family friendly entertainment...yet they are willing to host misogynistic pornographic rock and rap songs.....

#5 Jimmy Iovine/Dr Dre/Beats - A billion dollars wasted....not sure what they got out of that deal in hindsight....shitty headphones with way too much bass?
#6 ITunes and Apple Music - Apple's biggest link to its young customer base seems to survive by luck...why is iTunes lobotomized to cater to the streaming community? What about the billions of us who bought songs for 99 cents? Why is Apple Music so annoying to set up?

Weird you don't make the Beats and Apple Music connection, but that's literally what they bought. One of the most popular headphones brands was just a bonus. As has been clearly documented many times in the past, that headphone business paid for the acquisition and beyond already. I have zero problems with my fairly massive iTunes Library and its integration with Apple Music, which for the most part works just fine for me. Sounds like you have some user error issues to contend with.

My problem is iTunes used to be easier to use to listen to music files I already owned. You can still do it but now the app is geared more toward pushing you to listen to Apple Music or one of their curated music streaming channels. If you aren't a subscriber Apple Music is not an enjoyable experience. I understand they want to make money but when you are a long time customer you remember vividly the things they take away that used to be provided for free

As a 'gay' hero, not really. He was always very closeted and only came out because it no longer mattered anymore. Even today has he EVER been seen with a partner? The only reason we know he is gay is because he says he is. His only real value to the gay community is as an example to show, yes, even gay people can be super successful running a company and make billions of dollars. That's still something but he could certainly have done much more.

So you have to be seen with a partner to be gay now? Pretty weird, you're lowkey insinuating he's lying about it.

Don't be ridiculous, Im not saying that. I'm saying this gay man has no problem committing Apple and its thousands of employees to adopt his stance on gay rights. That's a pretty big political move. I'm sure there more than a few Apple employees who don't agree with this. But Cook thinks its the right thing to do so Apple has to follow. If he can do that much he can certainly be more proud of what being gay has meant in his life. In every interview I've read where he addresses this, he barely talks about it.