henryb

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henryb
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  • MacBook Pro fails to earn Consumer Reports recommendation for first time

    Rayz2016 said:
    henryb said:

    In addition to battery issues, the latest MacBooks have the WORST keyboards of any laptops available today. There is hardly any key travel - it is like typing on a virtual screen on an iPad. Imagine, if Yamaha Pianos reduced the travel of their piano keys - there would be an outrage. Creative people - including writers using a keyboard - need to feel and touch the keys to connect with their work. Apple's obsession withy thin-ness is making their machines unusable. Don't get me started on their removal of the physical home button on the iPhone. Apple is waging war on tactility - and will lose millions of customers as a result. People love to touch, feel and experience things. It is core to being a human being.

    This has got to be the most hilarious comment of the day so far.

    If you don't the difference between typing on a keyboard and playing a piano then I can't help you.

    And I won't get you started on the removal of the physical home button on the iPhone because the button is still there, it just happens to be touch sensitive. 

    I'm always amazed at people who come here and insist that Apple will lose millions of customers if they don't do this or if they remove that. 

    The problem with people who spew this argument is that they are invariable talking about themselves, and making the mistake of assuming that everyone wants what they want. It's a very narrow point of view in my opinion. 

    Apple is not standing still and neither is its customer base. The youngsters starting to use computers professionally today have grown up with narrow travel keyboards and touch sensitive screens, so that is who Apple is catering for. You think that Apple should carry on making keyboards and screens and fitting ports for the middle-aged? 

    Will Apple lose millions of customers; doubtful. Most of Apple's customers live outside forums and are younger and more adaptable than the whiners who hang around here. They'll lose customers, but they'll gain more.

    And of course, in twenty years time, the new old faces will come here and complain how Apple has dumped Thunderbolt 5 ports and gone completely wireless, and now all their twenty-year-old thunderbolt drives, barely large enough to hold a million mega hi-def movies, are now obsolete.

    Dear Rayz2016,

    I play both the piano and type on a keyboard - I can assure you I appreciate the differences and similarities of these two devices. I also know many writers and journalists who produce thousands of published words a year (not just short blogs and comments on forums). Almost without exception, they complain about the lack of travel on the new Apple keyboards.

    This is not, as you suggest, a generational issue - it is a matter of evolutionary ergonometrics. The human hand and fingers are designed to seek a physical response in the objects they touch - especially their tools. The new Apple keyboards are so flat, and unresponsive that they offer an unsatisfying experience. Indeed, if you study the recent reviews, most reviewers will say something like, 'once you get used to the new keyboard, it is not so bad, and starts to feel almost OK.' Hardly a glowing endorsement. 

    In our house we have lots of Apple laptops, some of which are defunct from spilled juice from the children. But here's the thing, when my 14 year old son has to write a long essay for school - he much prefers to borrow my older 11inch MacBook Air than his mum's brand new MacBook Pro. Because in his own words, 'It doesn't feel like typing on an iPad.'

    This preference for a more physical experience should not be a surprise. Consider what has happened to sales of eBook readers in recent years - sales have flatted out, whereas sales of physical books have actually increased - across ALL demographics. Why? People people like to touch and feel the book in their hands, and flick through the pages. Recent research suggests that kids learn more through using a physical book than a e-reader because it requires more complicated and dexterous hand movements, which activate a wider range of neural learning networks.

    The point is, Apple's obsession with thinn-ness is seriously undermining its products' battery life and keyboard quality. Most consumers would rather have a slightly thicker machine if it gave them more battery life, more ports and a better keyboard.

    There comes a point when a human tool reaches 'peak form factor (PFS)'. So, for example, there is no need to make knives and forks any thinner or lighter because they work best within certain weight, size and structural limits, which are defined by the shape and strength of our human hands.

    Most late generation computers and phones are now close to the PFS - the iPhone 7 certainly is. It is counterproductive for Apple to push beyond these limits simply because they can. It will backfire - and is already starting to.

    I say all this as an Apple fan - not a hater - who is a great admirer of the company. But this obsession with thin-ness has got to stop. Someone has to point out that the Emperor has no clothes.  
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