wizard69

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  • Apple discontinues full-size HomePod, to focus on HomePod mini

    wizard69wizard69
    This has been a most interesting thread to read and I don't want to leave people with misconceptions about my position.    First off I would welcome Apple into the high end audio equipment industry as they have been the one company most responsible for years of sub par equipment being considered mainstream.   The advent of MP3 players with sub par sound quality really lead to industry taking focus off of hardware that could produce decent sound and instead focused on the MP3 generation that didn't know any better.   It would be great if Apple could undo some of the damage it created in the audio industry and making high fidelity components would have been a good start.

    Unfortunately for us Apple took an approach with Home Pod that was so ignorant of the high fidelity market that I have to wonder if anybody working there has a clue.   For one the market demands inter interoperability!!!!      You can succeed with hardware that doesn't have standard interfaces that work with hardware from other suppliers.   

    The second issue is that the hardware you supply to this market must be usable for decades and repairable.   It isn't uncommon for an amplifier to be recapped several times along with other repairs because they are an investment not a irrational purchase.   Plus (I know this will shock Apple management) repair is good for the environment.   It is not uncommon for quality gear to remain in service for 20-30 years or more.    Personally I have a Marantz receiver, that I purchased when I was 15, that still works even if it needs some work (I'm 60 now).   Frankly Apples hostility towards repair is counter to what is expected from the users.   Honestly are people even going to be able to get a Home Pod repaired next year or in 5, be that DIY or at a qualified shop?

    RF communications, Bluetooth and the like, has its place but the tech is a pretty poor replacement for wired connections.   You need multiple channels of input and frankly some of those should be old fashion analog (yes RCA connections).   Nothing made for the high end world should require that people throw out tons of working equipment, even if that is just a TV.    Wired is just reliable, Bluetooth can be hit or miss even with Apples products, I have not been impressed at all with my IPhone nor other Bluetooth hardware that I've had.   It is great when it works, not so great when you can't get stuff to pair.

    If Apple was smart they would offer up some old fashion speakers and a separate amplifier unit, maybe even a full receiver.    The fact of the matter is that both AM and FM are still popular and  frankly one of the better ways to remain connected to the local community, so yeah lets make it a receiver with AM & FM capability which these days is a trivial cost anyways.   I mean really many
    WiFi chips have FM built right in.   I'm not sure why Apple has such an ignorant view of broadcast, I can listen to the local college station and actually hear about music that I might actually buy from them.   Plus broadcast eliminates bandwidth usage.   In any even lets imagine that Apple offers up a really nice receiver of say 75 watts per channel capable of 7.1(2).   They do a credible job and it can be called hi fidelity, it will not be cheap.   For example something similar to a Marantz SR5015 will set you back (list price) $1200; however you get much much more than Home Pod can offer, you don't have to throw out everything you invested in and it can have Apple tech built in.   Make sure it can be supported and you have an interesting product that actually might appeal to a certain range of buyers.

    I also realize that the hi fi world isn't a massive market like Apple would prefer but maybe they can grow out of their stubbornness and realize that some products don't need to move in the millions to be called a success.   Even Sony was able to navigate this marketing problem over the years with products from Walkman to really good hi fi gear.   All apple needs to do is to avoid the really high end marketing BS that some in this industry has adopted.   Sell an honest product, that will be serviceable for at least 20 years and performs well.    That isn't a lot to ask really.   Oh an by the way yes I know that the speakers would be extra but even here the buyer is already likely to have speakers and if he doesn't will not be adverse to buying a set that will likely last decades.

    In the end it isn't hard for Apple to figure out what people want these days.   The forums are full of opinions, products specs for existing devices are at your finger tips and they could ask me.   Nobody really wants a HomePod it is just a silly product for people easily swayed by Apple reality distortion field.

    canukstormmuthuk_vanalingamanantksundaramAlex1N

  • Hyundai bosses 'agonizing' over whether to build 'Apple Car'

    wizard69wizard69
    Honestly I wouldn't want to partner with Apple on this at all.    There are very few car manufactures that have any experience at all building for others.   That is one point, but I'm not convinced that Apple has its crap together when it comes to mass producing complex products.   When you think about it a Mac or iPhone is not a complex manufacturing endeavor compared to building a car.   Beyond that there is a huge number of safety related issues that Apple has never had to address.

    It is this production of a safe vehicle that likely has Hyundai executive so concerned.    Will Apple be accepting all liability for their design or will they try to saddle Hyundai with producing a safe car.   In any event there is enough idle production lines that Apple should have little problem buying up a production line and doing every thing themselves.
    llamaravnorodom

  • TerraMaster D5-300C RAID Enclosure review: an inexpensive way to get bulk, local data stor...

    wizard69wizard69
    Not really what I’m looking for.    Instead I’m looking for a raid system designed around M.2 SSD’s.  A unit that fully leverages the size, power usage and performance.  

    Power usage is especially important as the drive should work on battery power for those that need it.    A thin enclosure about MBA size would be nice.  It would likely need to be more than a half inch thick to support good cooling of those M.2 modules.  The idea though is to be packable with a laptop.  
    williamlondon

  • Developer devises workaround to run ARM Windows on M1 Mac

    wizard69wizard69
    It really isn't much of a surprise the somebody has gotten QEMU running.   On my MBA I've rebuilt a number of Mac Ports as native ARM apps with no problems.   There are a few show stoppers, for example RUST isn't ready yet and that has a trickle down effect on software using that compiler.   However for the most part I'm rather surprised at just how well some of this stuff is building this early with the ARM based MBA's being available.   As such the machines are looking good for open source even if there is some lag.   The thing that really stands out though is performance of this software/system.   This machine hardly warms up and compiles faster than I'd would have imagined that a fanless device could.   

    As for Apples backlog, I don't think it is going away anytime soon.   These laptops are so good I can see them pulling significant sales from the PC space.   It is actually too bad that Apple didn't debut them at the beginning of the year, with covid they would have been sold out all year.   The machines are that good.
    Fidonet127GG1tobianAlex1Nwatto_cobra

  • Apple Silicon M1 Mac mini review - speed today and a promise of more later

    wizard69wizard69
    GG1 said:
    bobolicious said:
    'One of the big problem areas for the Mac mini is that it is not possible to upgrade the components inside it at all.'

    Indeed a deal breaker for me too. 32GB is my minimum and expected to increase over time. 2011 mini still gets my vote for the most versatile mini ever offered, and still using it to this day. Hmmm 2011. Again.

    I can't understand the mac customer downsides to slotted ram and at least one extra internal storage slot, especially considering Apple's supposed environmental zeitgeist? I understand there might be a slight penalty in ram tuning speed and a few extra dollars for slots vs future expansion and upgrades ? I'd ask if a BTO option for an internal Time Machine backup drive might be compelling for even the most retail users, and in keeping with both performance and a minimalist design aesthetic ?

    Let the flames begin! :)

    ps. I applaud the return to clear anodized (more aesthetically consistent, durable and biodegradable/recyclable) for what that may be worth...
    pps. I'd appreciate too with the extra rear port space a Kensington lock slot - a true case of less being more...?
    I'm still using a 2012 Mini with 32GB RAM and was about to get a 2018 Mini, but I held off after seeing the initial M1 reviews. But I think this new Mx family will make us rethink RAM. Perhaps 16GB in Mx is roughly the same as 32GB DDR4, as someone said above.

    I'm no chip designer, but I wonder if the industry is moving to the same unified memory or at least memory-on-chip for vastly better performance (like High Bandwidth Memory technology), thus making "external" DDR4 or DDR5 the future dinosaur. The downside is HBM is not upgradable, as far as I understand (I've only seen HBM for GPUs; the Mx may be the first to use HBM for both CPU and GPU).

    I hope someone can chime in and add to this or correct me.

    First lets clear up one thing 16 GB of RAM is no equivalent to 32 GB.   If you REALLY need that much RAM then you would wait.   However the new Macs do perform much better with limited memory, so 8 GB looks a acceptable to many people.    However if the application really needs more than 8GB of RAM having 16 GB or more does improve things.    The uses cases where this shows up though are with extremely demanding work loads.   It would pay to look at some of the more in depth reviews on line that really stress the machines with heavy video processing chores, the 16 GB machines show much better performance.
    williamlondonGG1