s.metcalf

They needn't get rid of the trashcan design; just put some consumer-grade hardware in there (a core-series CPU and single decent graphics card), upgrade it to TB3/DDR4, add some extra SSD and RAM slots, and offer it as a mid-range headless Mac; maybe even a gaming-oriented Mac.  Something that could get the most out of the i9 as well because the MacBook Pro certainly can't!  Then, introduce a larger, modular, upgradeable Mac Pro with server/pro-level hardware for professionals who need workstation-class and scaleable hardware and performance.  Is it really that hard?  I doubt many pros requested the trashcan design for a professional system; it's hard to see how Apple came to that conclusion other than for planned obsolescence.

This anniversary (of sorts) also got me thinking about the Jobs and post-Jobs eras of Apple.  I think the psychology at Apple post-Jobs is, and it may seem silly at first, lacking in confidence, at least in the Mac line, but in a stubborn kind of way.  Why do I think this?  Well products like the trashcan Mac Pro and the 2016-era MacBook Pro scream over-compensation to me.  Kind of like the cliche of a middle-aged man buying a convertible because of a mid-life crisis.  To me it's more confident to say "you know what, our product doesn't have to be the smallest, thinnest, lightest, most radical or futuristic-looking computer possible, especially if that means significant compromises for the user" which these computers undoubtedly had.  Form should always follow function, not the other way around.  You can make anything beautiful, even if function necessitates a larger design, but Apple seems to equate beauty only with being small and slim at the expense of function; and now they're addicted to thinness.  If they were a person you'd say they have anorexia nervosa.

Also, if anyone is going through MLC, I think a restored classic car is way cooler than an expensive new one.  Maybe there are parallels with the Mac Pro, just a thought.

I don't know if the phone industry is the problem as such more than just generally.  Think of all the small electrical devices that come with their own proprietary adapters with cord attached.  When the device fails, you're left with the charger collecting dust in some drawer.  Why can't my electric razor charge by USB?