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"You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards...
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Saturday, June 16, 2012, 5:40 PM ET"You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology," Steve Jobs once said. Tristan Louis is worried Apple (AAPL) is straying a bit from Jobs' philosophy, even as its engineering work remains top-notch. Apple's decision to release a MacBook Pro with a retina display before updating all its apps to support it is cited as an example, as is its decision to use a power adapter for its next-gen AirPort Express that's different from MacBook adapters. (yesterday) (also)
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I've stuck with Apple over MS for years, if given a choice, for a few simple reasons and the Steve Jobs statement above is certainly "key".
The reasons have been: elegant, intuitive GUI, relatively non-buggy software/OSs at 1.0, very few forced updates/upgrades and little if any collusion with people like Adobe and MS, who constantly force unwanted updates and upgrades that become incompatible with hardware that I own. I work a lot and I do not have the time/money to be replacing hard-drives and workstations all the time. Most of the stuff MS forced on me I didn't even want. They filled up my PC hard drive with patched together, bloated XP Professional system code.
The game changed when Apple recently announced that I would have to upgrade to Mountain Lion OS 10.8 and iOS5 to keep my mac.com email account. Like they don't have the cash to support us long-time users who don't need the latest OS or iPhone technology that requires all new hardware right now?
I revolted, started looking for Android and Google smart phones. I dug in my heels. I don't like bullies! I posted/tweeted everywhere what they're up to.
Then came the Apple e-mail. Okay, I can keep my mac.com account, but I have to download everything I have from my iCloud before June 30, 2012, since my hardware (tower, power book, iPhone) is no longer compatible with their newest technology -- the technology I don't want or need right now anyway.
So I'm NOW open to alternatives to Apple hardware, smart phones, software and Clouds. That's how they shoot themselves in the foot.
For instance, the change from PowerPC to Intel chip made possible on the new machines things that had not previously been possible, so I had to make a choice to stay with my old versions and fewer features, or make a switch. O.K. When InDesign 4 came along, I needed Snow Leopard to run it, but I could still open my InDesign 3 files on my laptop—but it was one-way conversion only; once the file was in ID 4, there was no going back.
Those sorts of upgrades, if infrequent, I can handle. I have recently noticed that one of my investment sites is “plain vanilla” on my Tiger/Camino desktop, more features on Mom’s iPad—but it works on both, I can see my portfolios, etc., just a simpler home page. It sounds as though Apple did not look into that sort of backward compatibility with this, although it may be that the technology is just too different—I do not know enough about how it all works.
Well these type of decisions w/r to legacy OS and devices is part of the trade off,
It's a brave new world and all OEM, as DM surmised will and do have the same issues to contend with. It has yet to be proven that there is a more reliable OEM out there with a better upgrade model, or an OEM who supports legacy products better.
Being a technical illustrator for lab manuals presently, rather than wild and groovy Flash science animations and Dreamweaver web pages, I love and prefer my PowerMac G5 with OS 10.4.11 and OS 9. And yes! I run them simultaneously with some really old Deneba Canvas software because it cuts my drawing time in half over Illustrator CS4, 5, 6 or whatever buggy overkill Illustrator has to offer me. Sometimes I crank up Illustrator CS4 or Photoshop CS2, simultaneously, if I have to. Sorry, but to keep upgrading, it's gotta be better/easier to use than what I'm presently using.
The Mac box with old software is a tool and easier to use, with less issues, so the faster I can work and for the best price for my client who has looked into India. I beat the outsourcing supplier in a 'draw-off' so for now, I'm still drawing for the client daily.
I really do not need anything more at the present and revolt with forced upgrades because it's not just the new box, but my favorite software won't work either. Goodwill has plenty more of these G5 boxes should this one conk out. Maybe I'll get a spare. :)
Then with aggressive FB and Adobe disallowing old OS's for Flash Player, I just go up on YouTube to watch the Flash video that FB and a bunch of websites won't display on my old box -- YouTube displays it just fine OR I move over to my Power Book with Snow Leopard.
I sit surrounded by a group of daisy-chained older Macs and one PC with XP Professional, which MS is dropping so I may get a new PC with Win 8 and I need a new smart phone. What I have is all I need so why toss money at stuff that I don't need yet? Unless Adobe or someone creates a really good WYSIWYG (like QuickDraw) drawing program with elegant but simple, intuitive interface like Canvas 3.0.6, I'm not buying anything this year except maybe a new smart phone. If it ain't broke...
The only reason I need a PC Win box is for an fave avocation that has an abundance of software in Win, but only one app on Mac.
If Apple wants me to upgrade my 3G iPhone (like you have) and get an iPad and maybe a new Mac box, then they need to start doing the Apple developer thing again. New/better Mac software is needed to drive their hardware market at least in the graphics fields.
Then maybe ACDSee will get some help developing a new Canvas 14 Mac version. That's mostly what's holding me back, besides we don't get paid enough in the graphics world to upgrade software and hardware every year or two. If we charge more, our clients will outsource our work overseas. So we're in a quandry!
No signs of slowing down from this investor's viewpoint.
If people are looking for a tech company that imploded, they could check out Research in Motion.
I will assume that I am "dude" and let you know that I stand by my comment.
I could care less about Nokia and never called anyone "nuts" for feeling one way or the other about it.
I have never based my investments on how a company ranks.
I am not a seller of Apple. I hold it long in my portfolio and have for years. I have taken profits along the way and bought shares when I felt the time was right.
My point is simple: Apple isn't going anywhere.
Sell, buy, short, what do I care about you or "we" are doing?
Thanks for the lesson on how business works. Now if you would just share investing lesson, that would be really special.
I wasn't sure what shampooing advice had to do with Apple, and this is why I chose not to address said advice.
I am still confused about the Nokia comments. Not sure how this company ties to holding and believing in Apple.
"Why is youth wasted on the young?" - man on porch in It's a Wonderful Life
Back to the NBA and a few cold drinks.
Where is Jon Corzine?
You write,
"Why is youth wasted on the young?" - man on porch in It's a Wonderful Life
My dad had a friend who thought the world was organized backwards, one should get one’s nest egg upon maturity, as that is when money was most needed—education, house, kids, etc.—and dwindle to less and less as needs decreased in retirement. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, no doubt, but worth a thought or two. . . .
It's DRIVEL...not dribble. Dribble is what you do with a basketball or when you leak liquids such as saliva from your mouth.
Drivel is nonsense.
Please make it stop!!!
We at starting to use iPads at my business for inventory control. I haven't found any "toys" that can do that. Could another computer work just as well for our needs? Well let's see. We have someone walking around a parking lot punching in plate numbers and hanger tag ID numbers which are checked against our database of paid customers. If we find a violation, we take a picture of the car for our records and email the plate number to our towing company to remove the car. So we need a portable computer that can be used standing up and carried around for hours at a time. It needs to have a camera and wi-fi. So, no, a laptop will not do. Neither will anything sold by Hasbro or Fischer Price.
Does it have to be an iPad? Maybe not. But how is that relevant? If you say my Ford pickup is a toy and I explain I use it for hauling stuff at work, the idea that I could get by with a Chevy or Toyota is beside the point. You're just reaching to find negative things to say about Apple. Even if I accept your argument that tablets will come down in price and will become more versatile this does nothing to support your claim that Apple products are toys.
Sounds like they are good for the "big brother" thing. Sounds like a phone app might have have worked just as well though.
I found angry birds to be about the same on both toys, oops, pads.
So it is actually a function that supports private businesses, and checking plate numbers against our database in real time in order not to tow the guy who is a partner at the law firm who leases 70 spaces from us is a vital business function for us. We could tow first and ask questions later, but I am the guy who has to take that call, so that is not a good thing...
An android tablet may have worked, but I already had an iPad for personal use which allowed me to test the project without any cost except for my development time. I'm sure in a few years there will be a cheaper and easier way to do the same thing.
I agree some folks will need and use more durable tablets. But army jeeps never would have been developed if Ford hadn't popularized the individual automobile. Cars existed before he made them "cool". In the same way I think Apple performed an important function in making tablets (which had existed for years) achieve acceptance. Now that the notion of a tablet is more widely accepted, there will certainly be some built for durability and some built for affordability and to perform only the most basic tasks (like touch screen "you are here" maps in the mall -- at least until even 70 year olds have smart phones). There is a lot of room in this space. But it was a very stagnant space until Apple brought the funk. They get bashed for their style, but without it no one would be talking about the upcoming Windows 8 tablets.
P.S.: Does anyone mind if I send a link to this page with my E-mail to customer service/investor relations? I think they could use the input.
And as far as the "toy" comment goes, I'll quote Steve Jobs: "If you don't like what we make, don't buy it...it's that simple!" The MARKET has spoken, and people are voting with their wallets. If Apple made crap, or made useless, overpriced products, their sales would reflect that. Look at RIM or Nokia. When they made products people wanted to buy, they prospered.
Apple has moved beyond the "techie" phase of products, and into the "consumer" phase. Apple makes products that have a combination of features that people seem to like. That doesn't mean that other products aren't similarly featured, and perhaps cheaper. By all means, go buy those if you want.
At my office, we just bought several Windows 7 HP laptops for $450 each. Are they as good as a Retina MacBook Pro? No. Do they get the job we need done? Yes. Would I buy one at home? No. I am WILLING and ABLE to pay more for the build quality, etc. Not all would want to do that. So what? That's called choice.
N
Unlike ether of my iphones (3G and 4).
Just today, a friend called me from an area on his iphone that I get great coverage in and was complaining about my signal. I informed him I had no problem hearing him after I thought he was pocket dialing me due to his not responding to me. He finally got through on the third try from a place we could talk (I was getting a little peeved at that point) and then I remembered he was on a iphone 4.
You can't really compare $450 HP laptops with $2000+ macbook.
That really is Apples and oranges.
Give me a 17" MBP with a non glare touch screen and the software to interface, super duper bootcamp or VM drivers and I will buy it and sell my MacPro.
How about a 28-30" LED touchscreen I can plug into ether with TB?
I want a BIG ipad!
Prettiest design synergistic computer we have seen 25 percent thinner and lighter RD state of the art Jobs would have introduced it right away has four times the number of pixels and resolution crushing all others.Simply thinnest lightest best display of any pro computer that has existed for a great price for a pro from $2K.It has two USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt ports and one HDMI port, allowing for seamless viewing on many television and external HD displays. Speakers/Camera/Mikes have all been upgraded. 6GB of RAM.Quad-core 2.7GHz Core i7 processor. 768 GB of solid-state drive (SSD) storage.Battery life seven hours. Sir Jony Ive has outdone himself here simply the best.At 50% less priced well under and lighter than the new ultrabooks,the Air upgrades look great too to us especially the new more powerful Intel chips and they knocked $100 off on the entry price under $1k. We think new Mac sales will soar and will stay stay long (http://bit.ly/pFSoX2) short their "WinTel" competitors.
http://vrge.co/LlLz4w
There's a proper review for you. Maybe you can type the specs correctly next time.
2.6GHz Core i7 8GB 512GB flash $2,799
2.7GHz Core i7 16GB 768GB flash $3,749
I don't think they will sell too many of the very top of the line MacBook Pros. It's quite the premium to pay, compared to almost any other laptop.
Apple revenues are more heavily dependent upon iPhone and iPad revenues. It makes no sense to load up on shares of AAPL based upon the latest MacBook Pros.
Now we get into the more democratic and politically charged approach where nobody has that unbridled power and genius and it will probably not be as wonderful as before albeit likely better than other choices. Nothing like compromise amongst average people to create average products.
End of story, time to move on.
All this nit-picking ignores these basic facts. Buying Apple around this price is free money for the next few years. Yes, it may bob up and down, but remember Google, Amazon and even Verizon are much lesser companies (though great ones) but have much greater PE's. Why would that be? Don't know,but it makes no sense. I could easily see Apple at over 1000 within 18 months. And don't worry about Samsung. They are the only real competitor left (no I dont count MSFT) and they can grab the low end sphere. Given a choice between a Samsung for $400 and an Apple for $500 most people will chose the Apple unless they are hard up for funds. And I have heard first hand that Apple is the ultimate status symbols for Chinese yuppies. Look out above. Greece and Spain be damned. They cannot even slow it down. Apple, best bargain in the entire stock market and ironically also the best known success story. Why? if Apple split to $57 a share would the mentality change? iPhone 5 alone should generate a half trillion dollars. Name any company anywhere that can come close to that.
This is just wrong. First of all the "new" Airport Express is a considerable engineering change from the prior plug in an outlet model. Don't confuse the with extreme router. Allegedly the new Express is a mini Extreme! That's quite an update! Further, it has the same power cord as the Extreme, which has nothing to do and never has been similar to the adapter for the MBP!? Not to mention that the cited article does not allude to the AE as an example of a problem rather something from WWDS that was left out of the news.
So I submit this as evidence that a few of the posters are totally correct it appears that authors are searching for any reason to find fault with Apple under Cook. It appears there is concerted effort to nail nails in the coffin of Apple post Jobs at any cost! Hmm?
I upgraded the next version and it was a little better but not great.
Had to double sticky tape 8 feet up on the wall to get the living room (25 feet and 2 walls away).
My Asus one goes to the kitchen and it is on my desk (Ahh, the EMF's).
Its getting almost time to consider shorting.
Said toy company is migrating to said toy lap tops because it reduces IT cost 66% per toy.
This helps out toy company to go out and buy new technology through M&A.
Call em what you want. This toy company isn't the exception. Mac sales are outpacing PC sales in terms of growth. But they only serve our wants and not our needs (A+ in analytical skills)
What is a toy?
Now that Win 8 box and ACDSee Canvas 14 at $600. may be my only alternative. Or I head out to Goodwill and buy them out of G5 towers/22" monitors and keep going for the next decade.
I still use XP at work on the last computer I bought while XP was still an OEM option. I did not want to keep upgrading through Vista and Win 7. I feel your pain. But hardware and software makers don't let the idea that the old solution works just fine keep them from selling new solutions for more money. And eventually they stop supporting the old system. Support for XP is going away. When I finally have to retire this old box I will have to buy an Apple machine because I am done with Windows. The only thing worse than running on one company's hamster wheel is running on two of them!
I have found that owning AAPL stock is a great way to take the sting out of the upgrade expenses :)
Would not use for daily surfing or here on alpha unless on a deserted island with no other options.
I remember when the stock was $16! Can you imagine backing up the truck then?
I might have a 23" DVI up for grabs if I can figure out a way to use the TB LED 28" for more real estate. I kind of doubt it though...
Got a nice Quadra 700 in the basement ;-).
Even so, I've bought maybe 100 Macs in the past 2 decades. But will I continue to do so? The stock is flying, but we'll see how they keep their customer base -- like me for instance.
Let me know if you want to sell the 22" DVI. It's the shipping and potential damage from it that's an issue
The 747 sound is because it's having a hot flash. ;) Take off the metal door and keep the ambient temp normal like 78-80 degs max. with a fan in the room and it runs silent.
The Horrors!
Short the stock! STAT!
http://zd.net/LC0Jhm
Apple is going to win big. MS needs to think hardware, software, mobile, cloud and seamless integration.
I'm not saying this will be wonderful or horrible. I simply think it is the logical extension of mobile.
Part of the enslavement is to have enough persons to "herd" into the believing they got the best deal going for one or more reasons and keep them ignorant of other reality's. It is already here.
I don't think the 2% is very enthusiastic at the prospect of "sharing " their privileges with the 98% unless it is on their terms since they already run the world and have for sometime now.
I think as technologies get even more advanced, they well have built in "parent safeguards" to try and prevent us from learning too much. They probably already do...
However, if you met some of my neighbors, you might figure that without a system, they would ether be dead or stealing your food, water, possessions and pissing on your dead body.
Nature and tech are day and night. No matter how far out technology gets, it will never hold a candle to the divine in its content.
Sure keeps me occupied though... ;-)
I am of the opinion that technology arose very naturally from natural conditions. What are we if not products of our surroundings? There is increasing evidence of other animals using primitive tools
http://bit.ly/LKas6R
And technology is simply the constant refinement of tools, made possible by the intellectual and cultural leverage the use of those tools affords us. Technology is perfectly natural. It can be as "divine" as anything else in nature.