sagan_student

rogifan_new said:

Why Apple is focusing on users not units? Because units aren’t growing like they used to. I will say though seeing Apple become a company focused on extracting more money out of existing users is kind of depressing. Not nearly as exciting as the great product reveal on stage.

I think it’s that Apple recognize that this is a finite planet and you can not grow forever. I do agree that they are in the business of extracting money out of its users, they are a company after all. However, I disagree with your perspective on it. In order to innovate and create new and better technologies you need to invest money. The majority of people on this planet do not have the funds to participate in this type of endeavor, so a company focusing on these individuals will add nothing more to the company outside of their occasional purchase of a phone that has barely any profit margins. You need to sell to people who have money and can afford to contribute to keep you, the company, pushing the boundaries of technology. Now you can extract ‘money’ out of those that have none, but that requires them becoming the product and being subjected to advertising and surveillance. 

I believe the reason why Apple has upped the cost of entry to their best devices is because more and more people can no longer afford to fund the research to keep a company pushing the boundaries. But this is where the Xr comes into play... Apple is now in a position to deliver an incredibly future forward device to more people off of the backs of those who want or can afford the best. The Xr will be the phone that people can truly start holding onto for 5+ years and have it still working incredibly well. Now how on earth do you extract money out of those people who can buy the second best phone on the market at a price point that is 400 - 700 dollars less than the premium? Through services. Apple is making their cutting edge technology available to more people than ever before, for a price point that allows them to keep pushing forward. Sure it isn’t their flagship phone, but it doesn’t have to be. I really think Apple knocked it out of the park with the Xr, especially when people are becoming less and less interested in having to own the best. Rather they are looking for something they can buy and not have to worry about for a long time. This is something that Andriod is not going to be able to copy for a very long time. 

What I would like to know is where are the video comparisons showing 2 (ideally 20) proficient users in both a laptop and an iPad completing similar tasks needed for their profession? Cause I am cautiously optimistic that for any particular profession, whereever anyone puts their needle, they are surprised to see the needle actually points a little closer to iPad. Full Disclosure: Regardless of the actual outcome, I find it time well spent contemplating and reading peoples opinions about it. I also have not searched to see if these videos actually exist. The only information I have is that I personally have not read an article or comment that has contained a link on it. 

GeorgeBMac said:

EXCELLENT analysis!   Thank You!

Essentially:  iPad could be a laptop replacement, but Apple has reversed their course (or stalled it?) and so far, chooses not to go there.   It's not a technical limitation but an administrative one.   I find that sad.

My personal experience last night with my 6th grade grandson doing his homework on his 3 year old HP:
Grandson:   "This laptop sucks!   It's not working!"   (It was running slowly)

Me:  "Use your new iPad that I just bought you."

Grandson:  "No way, i love it, but it sucks for homework"

Do I buy him an MBA or MBP?   Huh?  I just spent $700 on an iPad.  Now I'm supposed to spend $1,500-$2,000 on a tiny 13" MacBook to replace his 15" laptop?   I don't think so.

Likewise:  CNBC summarized it this way:
"I tested the new iPad Pro and it still can't replace my laptop like Apple says it can.
Despite what Apple has said time and time again, I can't actually do work on the iPad Pro, which means it didn't replace my work laptop at all.
I need to be able to write and chat in my corporate Slack chat app, draft up a story in the web browser, pop open the email app and edit photos, often all at once, or quickly switch between them without thinking. I can do all of this and switch between each app in seconds on a Mac or a Windows 10 computer mostly thanks to a mouse. But the lack of a mouse and a true multitasking environment makes all of this much more cumbersome on an iPad."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/15/apple-ipad-pro-review.html

I think Apple is painting themselves into a corner -- restricting MacBooks to THIS narrow niche (light, thin and expensive) and iPads to THAT narrow niche (content only).

I find that frustrating:  I want to give Apple my money.  But I need them to produce a product that meets my needs or the needs of my grandson.   If the absence of that product were due to a technical limitation I would understand.   But, because it is either an administrative limitation or an inept design team (maybe both?), I find that disturbing and worrisome.

While I appreciate your grandsons concerns, my experience has shown me different t. I am a high school science teacher and 3 years ago I decided to get the 12.9 pro with keyboard and pencil to be my primary (and only) computing device. (I do have a 2008 iMac that is really just an oversized backup sitting in a room rarely visited.) I chose to go that route as my iPad 2 was getting long in the tooth and so was my iMac. I opted for the iPad Pro instead of getting an iPad Air and a MacBook. The first year was a painful transition, I was constantly running into issues where doing something pretty simple, like copy and paste between programs (which I do a TON of), was ridiculously tedious. At times I would revert back and use a windows computer at work when I had a lot of things to move around. But as I problem solved these issues, I began to change my workflow. Then when iOS 11 came out, that changed everything for me, multitasking, drag and drop, folders app, multiple selections, etc. I can now count on one hand the instances in which I’ve HAD to use a PC at work to get something done in the past 8+ months. I honestly can’t provide an example what those instances were, I just know that I decided I would just jump over and do whatever it was on the PC.

I also started my masters in education 3 years ago and have done all my work and research using my iPad Pro. I am currently writing my thesis and doing all the “teacher” things I need using this device. I will never look back. I for one appreciate Apple’s stance at not merging the two. It’s a different interaction with producing and consuming information than on a desktop/laptop. Is everyone able to use an iPad as their primary device? Absolutely not; but most people could. It does however, require effort in rethinking how you handle your workflow.

On a separate note regarding your grandson saying that it sucks for homework, I’m thinking it’s more of the aggravation of having to make a change and the problem solving of how to do it differently, then it not being a device that is capable of meeting his needs as a middle school student. As for the CNBC comment, I’d argue that the reviewer was trying to fit the iPad into their workflow rather than figuring out the workflow that fits with the device (that’s if they truly wanted to make the switch). The best part of all of this for me is that now that I have made the transition, I know that iOS and iPad are only going to continue to improve and that will make me even more efficient. 

Hope you find a solution that works for you,

It’s helpful for those that are interested in making changes in their behaviour as it provides them information that wasn’t readily assessable. But for those that don’t think they have a problem, it’ll make no change. Just thinking of how many people are deterred from smoking by looking at the pictures of the health risks found covering half of the packaging (at least it’s that way in Canada). That is an in your face stat, but it didn’t take long for my few friends that do smoke to ignore it. And in the odd case it becomes a topic of conversation; ‘has anyone seen the picture of the guy with...’. 

I definitely think this is a good thing, as there should be a way for people to get that info, but I don’t think it’s gonna change many people’s habits. 

franklinjackcon said:

I'm not sure I agree with the assumptions that this article is based on. Could Apple have developed something like Voice Match to differentiate between less personal accounts, e.g. News or Apple Music without opening up access to contacts or calling? If the issue was privacy not technology then why wouldn't they at least start with those? This looks very much like retrofitting a privacy excuse that was never the main reason for HomePod's limitations.

I already think they do have this, When lying in bed with our phones on the nightstand, I can say ‘Hey Siri’ and only my phone lights up; when my better half says it, only her phone activates. I think this is just something that is not advertised until they are completely confident in it. Kind of like the approach to water resistance. Sure they didn’t advertise it until the 7 came out, but before then people would tell stories of accidentally dropping their 6 or 6s’ into the toilet and it being okay.