initiator

tyler82 said:

When Steve came back and ran Apple from 1999- 2010 we got the iMac, the G3 tower, the G4 tower, G5 Tower, Mac Pro, the "Pixar lamp" iMac, the switch to Intel processors, iTunes and the iTunes store, TV and movie rentals and purchases, Apple TV, a new Mac OS built from the ground up with a Unix kernel, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, the titanium PowerBook G4, the iBook, the MacBook Pro aluminum redesign, the Apple Cinema Display lineup with up to 30" flat panel, the iSight camera, FaceTime, iOS.

With Tim Cook in charge since 2010- 2016 we have thinner iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, the Apple Watch, and the decline and slow death of the Mac.

Really miss you Steve!

Me too. The main difference is that Steve was a visionary, and Tim Cook isn't. He's fantastic at running a business, but he relies on others--namely Jony Ive--to be the visionaries. That's why we are where we are now.

numenorean said:

Since when did Apple become "The Dongle Company"? No dongle, no play.

Just pondering...

The answer to your question can be summed up in two words: Jony Ive.

Ive was given carte blanche on hardware and (for reasons that escape logic) software design by Tim Cook. Ive is on an insane quest to make the thinnest and lightest products possible, regardless if that design sacrifices function for form. And let's be clear, the latest round of hardware from Apple (e.g. new MacBook, iPhone 7, this new MacBook Pro) absolutely sacrifices function for form. Sure, the Touch Bar is cool. But how else can you possibly explain ditching several well established, frequently used, ports in favor of the still new USB-C port, on a Pro-level machine? Okay, I'll give you that the new Thunderbolt 3 port is powerful and has great potential, but why not ADD it to a standard USB 3, Thunderbolt, or even Lightning port, instead of REMOVING all of these ports completely? To shave off a few mm? Really? I'm all for making things thin and light, but there comes a point to where a product is thin enough (are we going for paper thin?)

Ive has gone too far in thin and minimal in his design, all in the name of beauty. What he fails to take into account is that most people still NEED the ports that are now gone. So, they inevitably have to now purchase and carry a slew of dongles to use the devices they already have. In addition to being inconvenient, these dongles also are ugly and make the beautifully designed Macbook Pro they are attached to ugly too. They're like accessory warts. Does Ive care? No, and clearly Apple doesn't either.

Plus, let's not forget that they just coupled the WORST keyboard in the world to the new PRO Macbook. People seem to be overlooking that. It's the same awful keyboard they saddled the new MacBook with. It's terrible. There's virtually no keyboard travel. It's like typing on an iPad. Apple can talk all day long about wobbly keys. But let me ask this, when has anyway EVER complained about this as a problem with past Apple keyboards? Never. They needed to explain why they created a super thin keyboard to accommodate their super thin computer. I can see the logic on the MacBook. It was essentially designed to replace the MacBook Air. They whole purpose of that design was to be as thin as possible. Okay, I'll buy that. But, the MacBook Pro should have a regular keyboard. It's a PRO machine. Have you ever tried typing at length on the MacBook keyboard? Go to an Apple store and try it for yourself. It's a TERRIBLE experience.

Look, I LOVE Apple. I've been a Mac user since the 90s. I supported Apple when everyone else was saying they were going to disappear. Hell, my license plate is APLGUY. But, Ive's minimalist obsession has got to stop. He's gone too far. First he went to the extreme in responding to the excesses of skeumorphism in iOS and OS X/MacOS by removing all that was functional and beautiful in the OSes, making them too simple and actually harder to use (e.g. hiding standard UI elements in the name of minimalism). Now he's done the same with the hardware by making them so thin that they had to strip out useful functions (e.g. ports). Enough is enough. I give Ive much credit for what he's done, but I think all his fame has gone to his head. He lives in his own reality where thin is in and is the only thing that matters. I hope he retires soon, so his reign of design terror will come to an end.

numenorean said:

hameta said:

Though Off The Topic, Have You Ever Typed " Telex " Key Board ?

That Was Indespensable Pre-Historic Tool for ANYBODY Who Were Engaged in The Business Communicating with People World-Widely Instantaneously on The Wire Before The Real Curtain of http:// & E-Mail Era Opened.

What I Want to Say is I ReaLly Loved and Captivated by The " Touch & Feel " of The Key Board of Telex So Long - Very DEEP, PROFOUND STROKE with Real Hard & Heavy Response and Comfortable Clicking Sound - No Other Key Board of Computers Nowadays Developped in The Direction of " Thinner & Lighter " and Even No Other Typewriters Key Boards Can Match.

Probably Very First Period of Computers Key Boards Such As IBM Terminal that Appeared in The Video Clip of This Live Event and Commodore Ones Might Have Retained The Same Touch, and Even Apple II Maybe.

Of Course Those Key Boards Look Now Fossil Age Products - TOO HEAVY & TOO BULKY !

But I Still Want Any Vendor in The World Have Them Resurrect and Sell !!!!!!

I Have Never Ever Had Such " Orgasm " When I Typed Any Key of Telex Key Board with Any Developped Thin & Silent ( Real Physical Clicking Sound, NOT The Sound Out of Speakers ! ) Key Boards of Late.

The old Apple Extended keyboard had a similar feel because of the mechanical Alps switches. It was considered the best keyboard Apple ever made in terms of feel. A company called Matthias makes a modern version of that keyboard for Mac or PC, and you can find it here: http://matias.ca/tactilepro/
I've never used the modern ones, and they're not exactly cheap, but were supposedly highly regarded.
Enjoy!

I use the Matias Tactile Pro keyboard with my iMac everyday and love it! It's awesome. Has great keyboard travel.

rogifan_new said:

With the retina MacBook and the retina MacBook Pros why in the world would anyone think or expect Apple would bring retina to the MacBook Air? It should be obvious to anyone that the Air is on its way out.

Because in their quest for the thinnest portable Mac possible, Apple created one of THE worst keyboards on any Mac bar none. It's truly horrible to use.

That coupled with the fact that there is only a single port for everything makes this a non-starter for those in the market for Mac portables.