AI_lias

I write this without having owned a laptop with the TouchBar. I bought my MacBook Pro specifically without it, because it was less expensive. I would have liked it if Apple ate the cost, to make their computers more competitive, that's one. A benefit is putting software controls on the TouchBar when the screen is displaying something else, such as a video, or something full screen, or live presentation. It can definitely have some good uses, but: Apple should have decoupled TouchBar from both TouchID and from the 15" model. You should have the choice of 15" MacBook Pro without it, or with TouchID only. That would have been courageous and ingenious. The other possible thing: implement it not instead of, but in addition to the other keys it replaced. People do not use it by touch anyway, so might as well put it above all other keys. Or, implement it not for the entire row, leave the escape physical key. In my opinion, AI got it backwards. It's an interesting idea implemented poorly. Yet another thing that was brought up above: they did this partly to avoid a touchscreen claiming people do not want that, yet sell you the iPad pro with the keyboard, which is a worse option than a laptop with touchscreen. Conclusion: Apple should have experimented not on live professional users, and on their bread-and-butter pro machine, the 15", but on a separate model 15" people could choose from, so people can vote with their wallets. If they would have their testing and design process based on real-life usage, these would not be problems. Hopefully their recent waking up to this, and using real pros in designing their products will produce something better. It they're smart, they would keep evolving it, not just leave it like that.

cgWerks said:

AI_lias said:

Wow, reading some of these comments, I had to reply again. I hope we have not come to the point where we compare Macs to Porsches. Porsches are bought by people who don’t look at money, and can buy a new one every 3 years. I pay more for Macs partly justifying it by their lasting longer and being built better. When I feel that buying a Mac means I can show off by buying an expensive item without corresponding increase in quality and reliability, that’s when I’ll be done with Apple. 

Well, first, I didn't say it was an analogy in every way. I was more talking about design intent and purpose. (In general) Toyotas are more utilitarian, reliable. Ferraris are more track/collector. Porsches are well designed but actually usable in real life with stellar results. That's why I compared Apple's design to that. In the past, when I bought a Mac, I was spending more money, but I was getting the best of the best, and not just in some fashion way, but in a productivity maximizing way.

But, second, there are two kinds of Porsche owners. Yes, there are absolutely people who just buy and drive them to show wealth. There are also people who buy them for the driving experience (same with BMWs, etc.). Within those car communities, there are similar discussions going on about how much the companies have lost their roots and are moving more towards (wealthy) consumer-pleasing vs building the best machines.

BTW, I've owned BMWs and a Porsche and tend to fight against this 'showing off' or image/fashion aspect, just as I have as a long-time Mac owner. So, it makes me kind of sick the more I see Apple portraying themselves as a high-cost fashion item. Quality, I'll pay for. Fashion, I avoid like the plague.

Understood. Good points.

macxpress said:

AI_lias said:

Would’ve been nice if they did this without thousands having to sign a petition. 

How do you know the petition is what caused this? Maybe Apple was just building inventories before doing this replacement program? Its not like Apple just has hundreds of thousands of replacement top cases for the various MacBook lineup sitting in warehouses. 

This isn't really anything new. Apple has always done things this way. They're silent forever and then all of a sudden there's a replacement program available. This was EXACTLY how it was under Steve if someone wanted to go down that road. Happened constantly. 

I don’t know for sure, except it comes after the petition, so it’s a pretty good guess. I would have hoped Apple itself would have thought it outrageous to charge $700 for a busted key for a relatively new laptop, and fix those for free quietly until this is sorted out. That’s what I would have done, especially after repeated key fails. 

Would’ve been nice if they did this without thousands having to sign a petition. 

SpamSandwich said:

gatorguy said:

hmlongco said:

Just what we need, yet another "echo chamber" "news" application that only feeds you the information you want to hear.

Agreed about relying solely on "what you want to read" serving to reinforce pre-conceptions, but that's exactly the reason some members here complain about reading anything that might be pro-anyone-else. Fans tend go to fan sites for reassurance that everything is OK and their choices were smart.

Pretty common for folks to dismiss, angrily sometimes, anything that might make them think, or horrors!, reconsider any opinions. Apple News is curated, Google News is curated, heck I think every paper, magazine or bloggers news is curated. Where you find yours depends on why you're looking. Those that are willing to go outside their comfort zone are far outweighed by those that already had their mind made up. 

Curated news seems to be what most folks want. 

And not even "curated news" a lot of the time... people want opinions disguised as news which backs up their own worldview.

As long as opinion articles are labeled as such, clearly, we'll be OK, and also if anything is not an opinion piece, that the source upholds journalistic integrity. There are certain sources which I do not trust, and do not want anywhere near my source of news. There are plenty of others left from where you'll get all the news form, even without a few sources you consider off-limits. About the echo chamber thing, people are entitled to that, to choose which opinions they want to hear to reinforce their own. No problem there, as long as they're not dumb enough to confuse news and facts for opinions (some people [many] are)