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>ABC Corp tried feature XYZ before Apple and it didn't work so this feature is dumb While Apple is certainly far from infallible and has made blunders before (
by xoa 10y ago
>ABC Corp tried feature XYZ before Apple and it didn't work so this feature is dumb
While Apple is certainly far from infallible and has made blunders before (sometimes from neglect, once in a while from a fundamental blunder in their understanding of proper target market functionality), what you've written seems to come up like clockwork with nearly every change they make. "Oh, but someone else did the idea before!" I really don't understand why so many tech people in particularly seem to have difficulty grasping that ideas are usually of only marginal value, the real key value any given effort brings to the table is the implementation. There is a world of difference between a mediocre implementation of a decent idea and a stellar one, even if they're 100% the exact same concept. In fact sometimes a great implementation of a mediocre concept can even beat out a crappy one of an amazing concept. Even good intentions and hard work are not enough in software or hardware development.
From a fundamentals perspective I'm honestly pretty surprised by the visceral instant rejection, without having seen anything about the actual implementation, by crowds at HN, Ars, etc. I don't really see how this is fundamentally much different from what I've already got in macOS with my MS Natural Ergo 4000 keyboard and the universal generic USB driver "ControllerMate", which allows me to arbitrarily alter key mappings (including full scripts) for any active application. I don't generally change the main layout of course, but I do have dozens of profiles changing the upper function and special keys to suit the program I'm in, which I find particularly valuable for jumping from GUI apps to Vim and other CLI programs with a different history of thinking about UI behind them.
Apple trying to just making this more available for the average user in a more flashy way may or may not be helpful for a pro, but I also don't see how it would be particularly harmful. What's with all stuff about "no more escape" and the like, what difference does it make if you tap the corner to get escape? As long as inputs are there that show up on the USB HCI what's the issue? On the other hand having a good Touch ID implementation (presumably with the HSM included) available built-in could range from great to fantastic depending on how much custom use we're able to make of it.
Apple's current non-AIO desktops (Mac Mini, Mac Pro) are utter junk and that's really depressing, but they've put more effort into their notebooks while maybe this MBP will disappoint too but I don't think the massive doom mongering in this or the other thread seems justified just yet.
- twblalock 10y ago> From a fundamentals perspective I'm honestly pretty surprised by the visceral instant rejection, without having seen anything about the actual implementation, by crowds at HN, Ars, etc. Every time anything changes, there is a rather predicable response of this kind. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when laptop manufacturers stopped making models with 4:3 screens, when smartphone manufacturers abandoned physical keyboards, when Apple abandoned any type of drive or connector port ever... It's always enjoyable to come back to such threads and read the dire predictions of the naysayers after a few years, i.e. the one where the naysayers predicted that Apple would be doomed because the iPhone 5 was too small, and the one where the naysayers predicted that Apple would be doomed because the iPhone 6 was too big.
- rsync 10y ago"Apple's current non-AIO desktops (Mac Mini, Mac Pro) are utter junk and that's really depressing, but they've put more effort into their notebooks while maybe this MBP will disappoint too but I don't think the massive doom mongering in this or the other thread seems justified just yet." It seems justified to me. In fact, as I look at a picture of a macbook "pro" with no physical escape key, I can't help but think of George Lucas and the re-released, re-edited star wars movies. Mac pro basically disappeared with nothing to take its place. Mac mini as a very nice all in one device is neutered by lack of an optical drive. The super thin macbook 12" (whatever it is) can't have power and a usb device at the same time without some weirdo splitter dongle thing. Oh, and the headphone jack thing. Get these people away from the product development room. Give them something else to do. Tell them to take a vacation or something - please!
- coldtea 10y ago>Mac mini as a very nice all in one device is neutered by lack of an optical drive. In 2016? Seriously? If anything, I'd like more frequent updates, who the fuck uses an optical drive anymore?
- rsync 10y ago"In 2016? Seriously? If anything, I'd like more frequent updates, who the fuck uses an optical drive anymore?" Parents. If you have kids, you have DVDs. I don't know why. They just appear. There is no avoiding them - even in 2016.