numenorean

So Apple "destroys dreams" even though it only holds 15% of the market. Maybe Telegram should have their "dreams" in the other 85% of the market. Why aren't they crying at other companies who also take 30% for their "walled gardens". 30% may be a bit steep for the in-app payment system, but obviously, users would prefer using Apple's solution than the alternative of giving their payment information to some random app they may, either on purpose or by accident, have subscribed to and their third-party payment system.

Just pondering...

Ok. So basically, Apple has decided to do an illegal search and seizure of our photos, have their system analyze them for what a government sponsored non-profit determines might be criminal (which of course can't ever be hacked or manipulated, as that's never happened to any company or database /s), then a non-police officer human will look at your photos and make a legal determination over them before taking you to the police. This is completely unconstitutional, as laid out in the fourth amendment:

4th Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Where's the warrant that gives anyone the right to look at your personal photos, be it on your phone, on your server storage, or your personal home? This also such a clear violation of the precept of innocent before proven guilty, as everyone is suspected guilty, and therefore, searched. Apple is not law enforcement, nor have they been empowered by law enforcement, nor do they have a legal warrant issued by a judge to search your property.

Apple has really opened the door here for so many violations it's not even funny. And this is the company that would not help unlock the phone of a terrorist, but will now scan every single, innocent person's phone, you know "for the children". That excuse has always covered up so many sins. 

You know, since Apple has decided to look at our photos, and one of their employees may end up looking at your personal photos should their magical system of identification accidentally flag one of your photos, how about we all get a view at the personal photos of Tim Cook and all other Apple employees. It's only fair isn't it?

Just pondering...

Air Power looks more like Table Power. Been charging my controllers like that for years, but very nice to have and looking forward to it. Face ID looks great, so all I have to do is get someone to look at their phone and I've unlocked it. Fantastic! Question: Can it look at me horizontally? I unlock the phone a hundred times a day on my desk, so can I still unlock it with my finger or do I have to pick up the phone or move myself to look at it? Maybe that'll be part of HealthKit. I'm sure we'll get answers to all that soon enough. The phone looks absolutely spectacular and those specs are beyond words amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on that camera. Just pondering...

fotoformat said:

DED wrote, "Despite all this confident insistence on what people really want, we have the results from a democratic vote where people cast ballots in the form of dollars..."

That's quite an eloquent and memorable turn of phrase!

Though true, and agreed for the most part. There's one thing missing in the whole analysis. The only supplier of computers that run MacOS is Apple. If I don't like their current product, I can't run to another supplier and use the MacOS there. Sure, I can use a frankenstein and violate the licence agreement, but that's not really a solution. If you love MacOS and find it better than anything out there, your only pro laptop solution is the one Apple offers.

I'm casting a vote with my dollars, but the choices are Apple silver or Apple space grey.

Other than that, I found this a nice editorial.  

Just pondering...

The problem isn't support per se. Obviously, no one expects Apple to continue to support such an old product. The problem is that locked devices like this are useless once support ends. That's what's wrong here. Let's say for example that my perfectly working old Apple TV is donated to another family member. Once it's reset, they (or even yourself) can't download or access anything if support ended because there's nothing there to download or acquire. Remember that you're not buying a subscription, but a hardware product and in the case of apps, a software product that you expect to run on your device. If you could backup your Apple TV, you wouldn't have to re-download apps from Apple, but unfortunately you can't and they're the only provider of what you paid for.

Apple fixed this problem with the iPad by allowing you to download the last working version of that app for as long as the developers allowed it. That made it possible for me to donate my perfectly working first gen iPad to a family member who enjoys it to this day. It should be possible to do the same with an old Apple TV. It can't be that difficult for Apple to do this or have at least a limited workaround to not have to throw away a perfectly working device.

Just pondering...

foggyhill said:

numenorean said:

Contrary to popular belief, Apple didn't invent the notch. The iPhone X wasn't the first with a notch. Andy Rubin's Essential phone was revealed in May 30, 2017 with a notch for the front camera a couple of months before Apple's notch. It's a smaller notch, more akin to the one shown here in Android P, and not like the Apple knockoffs we've seen recently. Just pondering...

That's a hoot.

The notch had ALREADY been rumored coming from Apple BEFORE the essential phone reveal (you know, there are leaks every single year) and the essential phone was released just 3 week before the X. So, what "invention" did he do exactly.

For 99.99% of people who certainly never heard of the "essential phone" and certainly didn't buy it... the notch is an Apple thing.

That's like saying touchphone are not an Apple thing because a low volume producer had one out a few month before (and they did); nobody remembers and nobody cares,.

1. Apple didn't announce the iPhone X in June, so no, it wasn't 3 weeks, but nearly 4 months.
2. There was a lot of hype surrounding the Essential phone, because it was created by Andy Rubin, former Apple employee and creator of Android, and since smartphones take years to develop, no, it wasn't designed based on rumors of anything, and it was an innovation, if you can call any notch that cuts the screen an "innovation". Other manufacturers were already doing full screen cover phones, but none had done it to the top until Essential (with a small notch for the single camera dot cutting into it), and quickly after, Apple (with the large notch everyone is now imitating).
3. Whether no one bought the Essential phone is irrelevant. If you READ the article here, it's about Android integrating a SMALL notch into its system, very much like the Essential notch and NOT like the Apple notch. Considering Android was created by Andy Rubin, it makes even more sense, whether everyone is now copying Apple's notch or not (which is why the headline is wrong on the article).
4. Whether or not anyone cares is irrelevant, though you obviously do, a lot, considering your answer (and others do as well).

What I find interesting about your response is that you took it as an attack on Apple, when I'm just pointing out a fact relevant to THIS article and its headline. I even specified that the notch in the article, like the Essential notch, has nothing to do with the Android knockoffs that were announced and so obviously copy Apple's. Now, THAT's a hoot.

Just pondering...

A number of these things weren't "features", but if there's something I miss from the list here like others, it's Aperture. Lightroom at the time of cancellation was nowhere near as good and I've always found its workflow too strict. That works for some people, but I preferred the model Aperture followed, which was to let me work the way I work and not force me into someone else's method. Lightroom has gotten a lot of better since then, and with obvious superior features as Adobe has continued its development, but it still doesn't come close to Aperture in many ways, imho. Photos is not Aperture, nor will it ever be. I never understood why Aperture was cancelled, especially since it fit quite well within Apple's professional apps.

I also loved 3D / Force Touch, but it's not something that was a major loss for me, even though I found it particularly practical. I understand it really wasn't for most people.

Just pondering...

Since when did Apple become "The Dongle Company"? No dongle, no play.
That phrase is my description of Apple this year. It started with the 12-inch MacBook, then moved to the iPhone 7...

Funny story. Was at a party with everyone plugging their phones in to play music, and the only person who couldn't? The iPhone 7 user, because of course, no headphone jack. Hahaha. No dongle, no play. That sucks.

... and now the new MacBook Pros follow the same ridiculous design philosophy. It's a pro machine that requires a dongle to interact with absolutely anyone and anything. It replaces a machine that has an SD card slot and an HDMI connector as well as two standard USB3s, a headphone jack, and two DisplayPort/Thunderbolt2 connectors, you know, the connectors ACTUAL professionals need and use every day. When you live in the real world, you see how practical having some of those ports really is, especially MagSafe, which has saved my MacBookPro a million times. Instead, Apple continues to indulge Jony Ive's obsession with removing usefulness for thinness. Eventually, the world may catch up to USB-C connectors, or we'll have a different one altogether, or not, but having it as the ONLY connector only forces us to carry more and more dongles at 20 to 40 bucks each. Apple...the Dongle company. The most ironic part of the whole presentation was Phil Schiller having to include VGA in his presentation, not DVI, but VGA, because in the real world, it continues to be ubiquitous, just like headphone jacks.

The new TouchBar is very cool though, and better than expected. I presume they left a model with keys to placate disabled users and those who prefer them. My biggest worry about the TouchBar was addressed and I love the possibilities of it. The positioning is a bit too far from the hand, requiring more effort than with keys or a keyboard, but it would have been too radical to put it in the logical place which would have been in the center row of the keyboard. I'm sure eventually we'll have those rumored e-ink display, configurable keys and other advanced keyboard formats. The current one seems an interesting step in the right direction. We'll see.

Just pondering...

VSzulc said:

Dumb, dumb, dumb...

Now don't get me wrong, it's it all bad. The new Touch Bar is a great idea (though with a stupid name, too easy to confuse with a touchpad!) Love the implementation and the possibilities it brings.

Also great to get new CPUs in the MacBook Pro who have fallen way behind. The storage speeds seem amazing.

But there is so much they messed up with this new MacBook.

1: The focus is wrong.
It's what... 15% thinner and 20% ligther? WHO CARES?!? It's not a MacBook Air, and we've long gotten past the point of thin enough and light enough.

This is supposed to be a machine for professionals, and I don't know any MBP owner who wouldn't choose longer battery life or something else useful, rather than shave off 2mm of height or 15% weight of a 3 pound laptop.

2: Only 2 ports.
Again, keep in mind that this is supposed to be a machine for professionals. Who on earth approved that the bottom tier model only has 2, that's right: T W O USB ports?!? And these ports are the only one on the machine! Want to hook up your MBP to the Ethernet while it's charging and connected to your phone? Tough, you can't! Not unless you upgrade to a more expensive model.

3: Too few ports.
The bigger models have 4 USB C ports, which is an improvement, but still woefully lacking. What was the point of removing all the old ports from the MBP? Making it a mm or two thinner? As I said: Dumb!

Apple took a machine for professionals, axed all the ports that professional users actually use, and replaced them with only 4. And to make it even worse, they chose a replacement port that 95% of people don't use or have.

So how am I supposed to hook the new MBP up to an Ethernet cable? Or a monitor? Or get sound in and out? 

Apples vision of the future is one where people carry around laptop that's 15% lighter. And an extra pound or two of adapters and USB C cables... Dumb! 

My new Apple Slogan: No dongle, no play. Apple... the Dongle Company.

Their obsession with thinness over usefulness makes this no more than a glorified MacBook Air. The fact that they hawked it as a MacBook Air 13inch replacement speaks loads as to that end. I also found it ironic that they didn't include DVI on their list but included VGA, because in the real world, it's still all VGA, just like it's the headphone jack and USB sticks. Add a couple of hundred bucks in dongles to any price point on these new machines, and that's without counting the fact that you can't upgrade ANYTHING. What you bought is what you keep forever. 16GB Max and 512GB forever if you bought the base config. It's not an iPad, it's a Professional laptop.

As I'm typing this on a Retina MBP, let's see what I'm not getting that I have in my pro machine: two USB3, two DisplayPort/Lightning 2 ports, MagSafe (saved it a million times), an HDMI port, an SD card slot. Instead I get to buy dongles to get all that. I need a dongle to use my current dongles. Even the new iPhone 7 comes with a standard USB cable. As you said, it's dumb.

Just pondering...