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What I take away from this is that they've devoted so little resource to Mac internally that people in the know are asking inconvenient questions, hence the nee

by yakult 10y ago

What I take away from this is that they've devoted so little resource to Mac internally that people in the know are asking inconvenient questions, hence the need for this article. You don't hear him assuring people about the iphone.

Clubber 10y ago
I think they spend a whole lot of energy on the iWatch and it didn't pan out the way they hoped.
- toyg 10y ago
  That and the iPad Pro were real duds. Good concepts, underwhelming execution ("let's just slap iOS on a big-ass screen, it will do").
  - jacobolus 10y ago
    The larger size iPad Pro is an amazing drawing tablet, I’m really glad to have one. I’d recommend one to anyone trying to take notes with a pen, make sketches, design anything (from furniture to web apps), work as an illustrator, etc. I find the pen and display to beat anything else available right now, unless you need a very large display. There’s definitely room for software to catch up for other types of uses, but that’s more a matter of third party developers stepping up. (And the general poor market / software ecosystem on the iPad, with relatively weak sales of pro apps in general.) Don’t expect it to be a laptop replacement. (I know some people who have had success with this, but for me the uses of iPad and laptop are almost entirely non-overlapping.) It’s also great for watching video, and I have friends who have enjoyed playing games on one.
    - toyg 10y ago
      > that’s more a matter of third party developers stepping up. I think the hardcore sandboxing iOS forces doesn't really work well with "Pro" workflows. Say you want to edit a Word document and insert a picture - unless both your word processor app AND image-editing app are somehow integrated with dropbox / icloud, you can't do it; if you don't want to store your multi-gb image on "the cloud", you can't work with it; etc etc. Are these use-cases for laptops only? Yeah, maybe; but that's the sort of thing the iPad Pro was supposed to do. I was (and still am) a big supporter of laptop-replacing tablets, but Apple didn't really manage to pull it off with this device. MS seems to have nailed it better, and I'll probably get a Surface-like as soon as prices come down a bit.
      - singularity2001 10y ago
        > sandboxing iOS force doesn't really work That is an understatement: while sandbox restrictions can be bad for users, they can be a nightmare for developers who enter the feared 'app rejection cycles'.
      - digi_owl 10y ago
        Not too sure. Been using a Windows tablet recently, and there is a sharp line between the Win32 programs and the metro apps. Thus you can say that a Windows tablet is a Windows desktop computer with Windows Mobile embedded. As for the sandbox thing, i agree highly. Sadly the valley seems convinced that heavy sandboxing is the only way forward, no matter how much it infantilize the user. Likely because the biggest proponents expect that they will always know the magic knock to get the sandbox to go away...
        toyg 10y ago
        > there is a sharp line between the Win32 programs and the metro apps. Yeah, didn't mean that the experience is flawless, just that it's overall better (IMHO) than what you get on the iPad Pro.
    - quanticle 10y ago
      The problem with the iPad Pro is that from a professional's perspective, it's a much inferior Wacom Companion or Surface Pro. The pen and display might be very good, but what's the use of having a really good pen and display if you can't run Photoshop, Illustrator or Manga Studio?
    - lmm 10y ago
      Have you used a Surface Book? I bought mine as a development laptop with the touchscreen/pen as a bonus, but was pleasantly surprised at how nice they've been (I'm only an amateur/hobby drawer though)
  - madeofpalk 10y ago
    > the iPad Pro were real duds Huh really? First I've heard of it. iPad sales volume continue to drop yet price remains stable.
    - toyg 10y ago
      Same can be said of many, many Apple products; it doesn't mean they're selling well.
  - ClassyJacket 10y ago
    Huh? The Apple Watch is a fantastic execution. The Taptic engine is one of the coolest and most useful pieces of technology I've seen in years.
    - quantumwannabe 10y ago
      I found Android Wear to be superior to it. Some gripes I've had: read notifications aren't synced with the phone, it is impossible to mark an email as read without opening it, no third-party watch faces, the appointment shown on the watch face won't change to the next one until the current one is over (horrible with back to back appointments, Android shows the next one 10 minutes into the current one), the iMessage app often contains conversations I deleted weeks ago, apps are slow to launch and sometimes don't launch at all. Also no always on screen with slightly worse battery life (than Android). The Apple Watch is a much better fitness tracker than my old Android Wear watch, which had a very inaccurate heart rate sensor.
      - NEDM64 10y ago
        So you didn't even used it...
      - ClassyJacket 10y ago
        Are you sure you've actually used an Apple Watch? Notifications are synced. You can see your next appointment by scrolling the crown. Battery life is better, not worse. The app launching thing is annoying though, but I rarely use third party apps on either.
    - toyg 10y ago
      > The Apple Watch is a fantastic execution Compared to Android alternatives already on the market, it's nothing special. The other i-devices were distinctive, this one is an also-ran.
      - NEDM64 10y ago
        That's why all Android smartwatches failed commercially, right? The Apple Watch is so much superior.

by yakult 10y ago

Clubber 10y ago

I think they spend a whole lot of energy on the iWatch and it didn't pan out the way they hoped.

toyg 10y ago
That and the iPad Pro were real duds. Good concepts, underwhelming execution ("let's just slap iOS on a big-ass screen, it will do").
- jacobolus 10y ago
  The larger size iPad Pro is an amazing drawing tablet, I’m really glad to have one. I’d recommend one to anyone trying to take notes with a pen, make sketches, design anything (from furniture to web apps), work as an illustrator, etc. I find the pen and display to beat anything else available right now, unless you need a very large display. There’s definitely room for software to catch up for other types of uses, but that’s more a matter of third party developers stepping up. (And the general poor market / software ecosystem on the iPad, with relatively weak sales of pro apps in general.) Don’t expect it to be a laptop replacement. (I know some people who have had success with this, but for me the uses of iPad and laptop are almost entirely non-overlapping.) It’s also great for watching video, and I have friends who have enjoyed playing games on one.
  - toyg 10y ago
    > that’s more a matter of third party developers stepping up. I think the hardcore sandboxing iOS forces doesn't really work well with "Pro" workflows. Say you want to edit a Word document and insert a picture - unless both your word processor app AND image-editing app are somehow integrated with dropbox / icloud, you can't do it; if you don't want to store your multi-gb image on "the cloud", you can't work with it; etc etc. Are these use-cases for laptops only? Yeah, maybe; but that's the sort of thing the iPad Pro was supposed to do. I was (and still am) a big supporter of laptop-replacing tablets, but Apple didn't really manage to pull it off with this device. MS seems to have nailed it better, and I'll probably get a Surface-like as soon as prices come down a bit.
    - singularity2001 10y ago
      > sandboxing iOS force doesn't really work That is an understatement: while sandbox restrictions can be bad for users, they can be a nightmare for developers who enter the feared 'app rejection cycles'.
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      Not too sure. Been using a Windows tablet recently, and there is a sharp line between the Win32 programs and the metro apps. Thus you can say that a Windows tablet is a Windows desktop computer with Windows Mobile embedded. As for the sandbox thing, i agree highly. Sadly the valley seems convinced that heavy sandboxing is the only way forward, no matter how much it infantilize the user. Likely because the biggest proponents expect that they will always know the magic knock to get the sandbox to go away...
      - toyg 10y ago
        > there is a sharp line between the Win32 programs and the metro apps. Yeah, didn't mean that the experience is flawless, just that it's overall better (IMHO) than what you get on the iPad Pro.
  - quanticle 10y ago
    The problem with the iPad Pro is that from a professional's perspective, it's a much inferior Wacom Companion or Surface Pro. The pen and display might be very good, but what's the use of having a really good pen and display if you can't run Photoshop, Illustrator or Manga Studio?
  - lmm 10y ago
    Have you used a Surface Book? I bought mine as a development laptop with the touchscreen/pen as a bonus, but was pleasantly surprised at how nice they've been (I'm only an amateur/hobby drawer though)
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  > the iPad Pro were real duds Huh really? First I've heard of it. iPad sales volume continue to drop yet price remains stable.
  - toyg 10y ago
    Same can be said of many, many Apple products; it doesn't mean they're selling well.
- ClassyJacket 10y ago
  Huh? The Apple Watch is a fantastic execution. The Taptic engine is one of the coolest and most useful pieces of technology I've seen in years.
  - quantumwannabe 10y ago
    I found Android Wear to be superior to it. Some gripes I've had: read notifications aren't synced with the phone, it is impossible to mark an email as read without opening it, no third-party watch faces, the appointment shown on the watch face won't change to the next one until the current one is over (horrible with back to back appointments, Android shows the next one 10 minutes into the current one), the iMessage app often contains conversations I deleted weeks ago, apps are slow to launch and sometimes don't launch at all. Also no always on screen with slightly worse battery life (than Android). The Apple Watch is a much better fitness tracker than my old Android Wear watch, which had a very inaccurate heart rate sensor.
    - NEDM64 10y ago
      So you didn't even used it...
    - ClassyJacket 10y ago
      Are you sure you've actually used an Apple Watch? Notifications are synced. You can see your next appointment by scrolling the crown. Battery life is better, not worse. The app launching thing is annoying though, but I rarely use third party apps on either.
  - toyg 10y ago
    > The Apple Watch is a fantastic execution Compared to Android alternatives already on the market, it's nothing special. The other i-devices were distinctive, this one is an also-ran.
    - NEDM64 10y ago
      That's why all Android smartwatches failed commercially, right? The Apple Watch is so much superior.