robbyx

SpamSandwich said:

anantksundaram said:

trashman69 said:

Not liking this direction.

I am getting increasingly pessimistic about Apple's Services strategy. 

Who replaces Cook? Discuss...

No one, until he decides to resign.  There's a vocal group of people online who hate Cook.  Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, they claim Apple has lost it's way under Cook, that it's no longer innovative, that he's just coasting on Jobs' legacy, all of which is utter nonsense.  In reality these people don't like Cook because he's openly gay and not afraid to stand up for what he believes.  They try to slap some SJW badge of shame on him, again and again, claiming that he's ruining Apple when, in fact, the opposite is true.  Apple, under Cook, has performed the best it has ever performed (financially and technologically) in its history.  And Apple has always been a SJW company.  This didn't just happen under Cook.  It's in their DNA.  They gave gay couples partner benefits back in 90s.

The reality is, the Cook hate is pretty much just homophobia and everyone sees it.  Look at that ridiculous "ideological diversity" shareholder measure that was pummeled into the ground.  Apple's board of directors, shareholders, and customers overwhelmingly support Cook and don't care that he's gay or that Apple has a clear left-leaning agenda.

So, who replaces him?  No one.  There's absolutely no incentive for the board to replace him.  If things take a drastic turn for the worse, financially, if new products and services flop, Cook will get replaced.  So far that hasn't happened.  Although plenty doubted it, Beats was a good buy.  Apple Music has been a success.  During Cook's tenure, Apple's custom silicon has and continues to outperform everyone else's offerings.  The Watch has been a success.  I personally believe that Apple's push into the medical arena will, in the long term, be Cook's most successful move.  Apple has never been more profitable than it has been under Cook.  Business is business and the board of directors would be derelict in their duties if they tried to replace him at this point.

It's too early to tell who might replace him when the day comes.  I don't think he's going anywhere for at least another decade.

StrangeDays said:

The SPLC is a "hate group"? Oh lord, how triggered these snowflakes are when people challenge their beliefs on an old book written by bronze-aged goat herders. Good grief!

Preach!

SpamSandwich said:

Being pro-environment, pro-immigration (not “illegal immigration”), capitalist, and a strong believer in privacy doesn’t automatically make one a politically Left progressive, but somehow I think Tim doesn’t understand that. The difference is a conservative believes individuals and businesses can do those things better which are not constitutionally assigned to government (national defense, etc.).

Yeah, and when has that ever worked?  Take the environment.  Our history is long on industry ignoring the environment.  We have the environmental rules we have today precisely because those "individuals and businesses" didn't police themselves.  In a sense, all of our environmental laws are in reaction to bad acts committed by industry.  Same goes for labor laws. None of these laws were handed down by the founding fathers.  They became necessary along the way because too many people were negligent (again and again and again).  It's pretty hard to argue that individuals and businesses will do the right thing when history provides an endless string of examples to the contrary.

Personally I'm glad to see Apple standing up for the important issues of our day, political or otherwise.  What's ironic is that the right leaning criticism of Apple's "politics" completely ignores the fact that they are doing exactly what those critics want them to do: make things better without the government forcing them to do so.  Apple chose to be fair and extend benefits to same-sex couples long before the government got involved.  Apple goes above and beyond when it comes to the environment, not because government forces them, but because they choose to.  Where are all the other businesses following their lead?

maestro64 said:

gatorguy said:

franklinjackcon said:

maestro64 said:

Anyone who lives in the northeast would you want a car drive you around which was trained on California roads? I'll give you a hint, would you get in any car with a person who never seen snow and let them drive you during the storm we just had.

The van Idea make sense since it give more room for batteries and allows the sensor to have higher vantage point. 

When I tough my kids to drive one things I taught them was not to always watch the car in front of them but the cars 10 in front as well as the cars behind. I have avoided more accidents because I saw brake lights way ahead and began slowing long before the car in front of me even tapped their brakes, this also allowed the cars behind me to begin slowing so we all did not have to panic stop. This is call offensive driving which most drivers do not do and think about the people programing theses system, what view of driving do they follow.

I believe it's called defensive driving but I could be wrong. 

With regards to where the cars are being trained  - they start out somewhere nice and dry and flat and straight then launch there, as we've seen with Waymo. Once they are confident that they are ready to test in more difficult conditions, they'll do that. There's no chance they will just launch in the NE having trained only in Cali or Arizona.

Waymo is not the only one, but they've been testing in far from ideal conditions for a couple of years now.
https://www.wired.com/story/waymo-self-driving-michigan-testing/
https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/08/waymo-snow-navigation/

You know Michigan is mostly flat, driving in bad weather on mostly flat and straight roads it pretty easy, bring those cars to PA or even NJ and see how well they do. NJ with their various cup handle turns and the various roundabout (sorry traffic circles) which do not conform to any standard. These roads become a nightmare in bad weather.

Try living in the mountains!  We just got through a week long storm cycle that dumped 10+ feet.  The road disappears completely for days. My neighborhood streets are all single lane with 5 foot snow berms.  It will be a while before a self driving vehicle can handle such conditions. 

mwhite said:

StrangeDays said:

racerhomie3 said:

davgreg said:

The VW ID Buzz will be in full production and for sale before Apple gets out of the garage. Already approved for production in Germany and the US plant in Chattanooga.

https://media.vw.com/models/id-buzz

Just like with the Apple TV and streaming service, Apple has let others get out ahead.

Apple doesn’t need to be first. They need to perfect it as much as possible.

Yeah I blocked that guy long as he doesn’t get Apple whatsoever. A race to first? Please. 

How do you block I know how to on 9to5 but not here?

Thanks

Or you could learn to deal with people whose opinions differ from your own. It’s not like that person posted anything inflammatory or derogatory.