rain22

MisterKit said:

I never have understood how people would rather have their iPhone shut down than slow down.

That’s not the point at all.
They took a flaw and deceptively turned it into an opportunity to screw over customers.
 Apple snuck code into updates that throttled their phones  - to directly dupe them into buying new phones. 

chasm said:

Apple is probably not in second place when you look at revenue from streaming -- they're probably in first place. Spotify has more "paid" users, but a huge number of them are subsidized users who aren't actually paying directly -- its part of their cell phone bill. To date, Spotify has been unable to turn a profit with all those users -- suggesting the income-per-user average is low (and that's with Spotify still in court for not paying all royalties!).

Apple's subscriptions are full cost (across the single/family/student tiers), which allows them to, you know, pay artists. In fact, AM pays the highest rate of royalties among the various streamers. Given the growth and profitability of Services at Apple, I feel confident saying that at present there is only one or maybe twos streaming music service making a profit, and I doubt Amazon Music or YouTube Music is in the black yet.

 

2014 called - they want you to move out.

The keyboards are total shit. Stop trying to defend them. 
It's a failed design and Apple is retreating from Ive's blunder. 

As institutions and professionals continue to flee the ecosystem - the numbers are only going to continue to drop. The Mac Pro should have been for all professionals, not a niche enterprise-specific only box. The truth is, there is less and less reason every year to use a Mac - and not more reasons to - like new Apple software. They have all but given up on developing new or better software. The iSuite has been stagnant for a decade with the only real updates coming from making it mobile friendly. Apple has stopped innovation on desktop software. And the hardware is lacklustre after 1 year of ownership with no upgrade availability. In other words, value in Mac ownership has tanked - with the only factors holding up the platform being the patent system stifling competition and Microsoft being so bad. The iPhone is the best thing to happen to Apple - but the worst thing to happen to the Mac.

The new ones are very bad value for the money - and who are these for these days?

- Too expensive/limited as media servers and smarthome hubs.
- More expensive than iMacs when updated and total cost of ownership.
- iPads and Laptops are better option for light computing.
- Schools have fled the ecosystem.
- Medical offices are dropping them for iMacs.
- Students need mobile solutions.
- No expandability

I'm sure there are niche markets out there, people who just need the OS on a small form factor - but I think the time is coming to an end for this product range - unless Apple cuts the prices drastically.