bsimpsen

GG1 said:

blastdoor said:

Rayz2016 said:

The next article will take a closer look at how Apple was able to sneak past larger more entrenched silicon experts at Intel, Qualcomm, and Samsung while the media doubted its progress and bet that rivals would easily catch up.

Yup, I'm a lot more interested in how Apple did it, rather than how Samsung couldn't. But I guess it's a question of context.

Money+time+management focus = success. 

IMO PA Semi is the single most important prescient acquisition Apple have ever made. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Apple

I would love to see the Keynote slides presented to Apple's board of directors about acquiring PA Semi.

I agree, with Intrinsity right behind... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsity

PA Semi brought CPU architecture knowledge to Apple in 2008, and Intrinsity brought optimization expertise (depriving Samsung of same) in 2010. That's a pretty powerful one-two punch.

javacowboy said:

bsimpsen said:

arlor said:

Short key travel and lack of wrist elevation both reduce comfort and the latter is a well-studied cause of repetitive stress problems.

...

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro as well as an iMac Pro and find both keyboards comfortable to use. They do not offer the tactile feedback of old Apple mechanical keyboards, but they also don't aggravate my RSI. I recently spent an afternoon at an old Apple Extended Keyboard, which I'd always thought was the best I've ever used. Within minutes, though my fingers were delighted by the feel, the rest of my arm began to revolt. I can't go back again.

Everybody's situation is different and I do not recommend my particular ergonomics to anyone, yet I find Apple's march towards thinness to work well for me.

I understand how wrist placement and movement is key to good ergonomics.

I don't understand what this has to do with the depth of key travel on a keyboard.

What's the difference between the 2012 and 2017 MacBook Pros in terms of wrist placement?  I just don't see it.

On any fixed surface, the thinner the keyboard, the smaller the wrist extension. While my keyboard tray (with adjustable palm/wrist rest) makes keyboard thickness a non-issue, that's not the case for laptops. Even now, if I'm going to use my MacBook Pro for extended periods, I'll place a shim in front of it to lift my forearms. My ideal laptop keyboard would have a thickness of zero... or less.

It's not a matter of seeing it, it's a matter of feeling it. I was similarly skeptical of the Magic Mouse... until I used it. Don't extrapolate my experience to yours.

ETA: On other news, Apple once again holds the top spot in consumer satisfaction for its Macs. Surely keyboards are a part of this assessment.

arlor said:

Short key travel and lack of wrist elevation both reduce comfort and the latter is a well-studied cause of repetitive stress problems.

I don't know what studies you've seen, but my personal experience with carpal and radial tunnel irritation led me to look pretty deeply into the ergonomics of my own workstation. The occupational therapist who visited my office was, for lack of a better term, incompetent. Virtually everything she suggested was contrary to my own engineering intuition. I continued my experimentation with monitor/keyboard placement/geometry and finally settled on a configuration that has allowed me to continue working, symptom free, for an additional 20 years.

One of the therapist's suggestions was to elevate the back of the keyboard to achieve greater wrist extension. That was exactly the opposite of what I'd been doing to alleviate my symptoms. My continued experimentation after her short visit ultimately resulted my my placing the keyboard on a tray just above my legs when seated, with the keyboard slanted down to match the angle of my forearms. Subsequent research has shown that wrist extension is a cause of carpal tunnel stress.

Here's a study... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649727/

Here's the graph of carpal tunnel pressure vs. wrist angle. Notice that minimum pressure unsurprisingly occurs at zero extension, the natural position of the wrist.


My greatest difficulties during the peak of my RSI problems were with mice. I tried trackballs, vertical mice, joysticks... everything. When Apple introduced the Magic Mouse, I was skeptical. With no tactile feedback, I was certain it would exacerbate my mouse hand RSI. Imagine my surprise when, within days of using it, I was able to stop taking ibuprofen. I am now a Magic Mouse fan of the first order.

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro as well as an iMac Pro and find both keyboards comfortable to use. They do not offer the tactile feedback of old Apple mechanical keyboards, but they also don't aggravate my RSI. I recently spent an afternoon at an old Apple Extended Keyboard, which I'd always thought was the best I've ever used. Within minutes, though my fingers were delighted by the feel, the rest of my arm began to revolt. I can't go back again.

Everybody's situation is different and I do not recommend my particular ergonomics to anyone, yet I find Apple's march towards thinness to work well for me.

ajl said:

Why Apple doesn't use sapphire glass? I know it is expensive, but really one has to have a 1000+ US$ iPhone with cracked screen after a simple drop and being charged for 329 US$ if one is not covered with Apple Care+?

Sapphire wouldn't perform any better in a drop test. It's harder, so less prone to scratching, but no more resilient.

22july2013 said:

I was always under the impression that any CPU sent DC power (which I presume is defined as a 1 bit, or "power on") only to circuits that were actually intended to do anything. But I guess that's not true. Kinda stupid of chip designers to have power running through circuits when its not necessary. I guess they should have hired me decades ago, cause it's un-possible for me to be stupid.

Clock gating is a non-trivial endeavor. The logic required to enable/disable a signal will necessarily insert a delay in that signal. You also need to know when a piece of logic will be needed before you need it, so you aren't waiting for it to turn on.

It may be un-possible for you to be stupid, but it's certainly possible for you, me, and many others, to be ignorant.