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Apple has been very serious about how they’re a hardware company vs a software company for like 30+ years now. Literally the first thing SPJ did after coming ba

Apple has been very serious about how they’re a hardware company vs a software company for like 30+ years now. Literally the first thing SPJ did after coming back was kill the Mac clones program. They’re obsessed with the feel of the hardware in every way. The software is just a platform.

DRW_ 9y ago
Actually, Steve Jobs emphasised a few times that the reason why Apple was successful is because of the software. https://youtu.be/dEeyaAUCyZs https://youtu.be/dEeyaAUCyZs
- godzillabrennus 9y ago
  Judging from how bad the software is getting I’d wager they forgot this.
  - DRW_ 9y ago
    Yeah, I'd agree unfortunately.
  - jrs95 9y ago
    At least it's not Windows. I'm amazed at how something as basic as Bluetooth has been completely fucked for me since I got a PC. On no other platform have my Bose QC35s, AirPods, or wireless Logitech headset had issues. On Windows 10, they hardly work at all. Ironically the only device that works for longer than a few seconds before losing audio is my AirPods, which I still have to reconnect frequently to get the audio o actually come through.
    - guelo 9y ago
      FWIW, I just got rid of my wireless keyboard and mouse because I was tired of weird random connecting issues with my Macbook.
    - timrichard 9y ago
      At least it's not Android, either. I don't use Windows, but for me the Android OTA upgrade to Oreo on my Nexus 6P has been disastrous for use with the QC35s. I have to reboot the awful thing several times a day to get consistent BT audio, and it will happily chew through the battery several times a day too, unless I leave it on charge for periods. Been with Android since the G1, but I'm seriously thinking about switching to iOS because I'm just so frustrated on a daily basis with this awful release, which seems barely tested. I do wonder at which point I switched from the optimist's "oh yay, an update!" to the pessimist's "oh shit, here comes a boatload of careless regressions".
    - mschuster91 9y ago
      Thats the problem with Windows - it still does not carry a decent Bluetooth stack and depends on the vendor shipping one. And all of them I have seen so far are more or less crap. Linux on the other hand is exclusively Bluez which works fine... but god forbid you want to do something like BLE communications or more complex sound stuff, the docs are horrid. The OS X BT stack is... well I dont have any issues with it per se but it, too, lacks features like a file explorer or an easy way to send files via BT.
      - general_pizza 9y ago
        Hmm, I've got both Bluetooth File Exchange.app and Bluetooth Explorer.app on my mac which are both from Apple and I think what you're looking for. Not sure if they came default or when I downloaded the bluetooth dev kit years ago. I remember using it to transfer mp3s onto a ZTE bar phone back in the day.
      - mwilliaams 9y ago
        > the problem with Windows Windows has a ton of problems.
      - johnchristopher 9y ago
        So basically, bluetooth is still a PITA nowadays :/. If I turn the key in my car, get the electricity running though the circuit, then the phone gets connected to the car. If I turn the key one more time to ignite the engine the car system lose the bt connection and I have to manually force the connection with the phone. I just ignite the car as soon as I sit in now.
- thevardanian 9y ago
  They're successful because of the software only because the hardware is ancillary to their software ecosystem. Their hardware makes their software run much more effectively than most of their competitors, and therefore acts as a major barrier to entry. I don't think there's a single tech company more completely integrated and whole than Apple. That's why they can emphasize on experience rather than just specs as they're selling more than just software, or hardware.
r00fus 9y ago
Apple killed the clones because the clone program wasn't profitable enough to compensate for the fact that MS had already won the OS wars. It was either Apple or the clones, and so the clones got axed.
- lostlogin 9y ago
  Oh the horror. The clone I used was particularly troubled and the often-sensitive order of loading system extensions was farcically unstable.
  - ericd 9y ago
    Eh, our clone (Power Computing) was rock solid.
sah2ed 9y ago
> Literally the first thing SPJ did after coming back was kill the Mac clones program. That's because the clones were cannibalizing Apple's own hardware offerings - the clones were gradually putting Apple out of its own business. This NYT article from 1996 talked about how the Mac clone strategy was playing out for Apple [0]. [0] https://partners.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/1230macs.html https://partners.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/1230macs.htm...

DRW_ 9y ago

Actually, Steve Jobs emphasised a few times that the reason why Apple was successful is because of the software. https://youtu.be/dEeyaAUCyZs https://youtu.be/dEeyaAUCyZs

godzillabrennus 9y ago
Judging from how bad the software is getting I’d wager they forgot this.
- DRW_ 9y ago
  Yeah, I'd agree unfortunately.
- jrs95 9y ago
  At least it's not Windows. I'm amazed at how something as basic as Bluetooth has been completely fucked for me since I got a PC. On no other platform have my Bose QC35s, AirPods, or wireless Logitech headset had issues. On Windows 10, they hardly work at all. Ironically the only device that works for longer than a few seconds before losing audio is my AirPods, which I still have to reconnect frequently to get the audio o actually come through.
  - guelo 9y ago
    FWIW, I just got rid of my wireless keyboard and mouse because I was tired of weird random connecting issues with my Macbook.
  - timrichard 9y ago
    At least it's not Android, either. I don't use Windows, but for me the Android OTA upgrade to Oreo on my Nexus 6P has been disastrous for use with the QC35s. I have to reboot the awful thing several times a day to get consistent BT audio, and it will happily chew through the battery several times a day too, unless I leave it on charge for periods. Been with Android since the G1, but I'm seriously thinking about switching to iOS because I'm just so frustrated on a daily basis with this awful release, which seems barely tested. I do wonder at which point I switched from the optimist's "oh yay, an update!" to the pessimist's "oh shit, here comes a boatload of careless regressions".
  - mschuster91 9y ago
    Thats the problem with Windows - it still does not carry a decent Bluetooth stack and depends on the vendor shipping one. And all of them I have seen so far are more or less crap. Linux on the other hand is exclusively Bluez which works fine... but god forbid you want to do something like BLE communications or more complex sound stuff, the docs are horrid. The OS X BT stack is... well I dont have any issues with it per se but it, too, lacks features like a file explorer or an easy way to send files via BT.
    - general_pizza 9y ago
      Hmm, I've got both Bluetooth File Exchange.app and Bluetooth Explorer.app on my mac which are both from Apple and I think what you're looking for. Not sure if they came default or when I downloaded the bluetooth dev kit years ago. I remember using it to transfer mp3s onto a ZTE bar phone back in the day.
    - mwilliaams 9y ago
      > the problem with Windows Windows has a ton of problems.
    - johnchristopher 9y ago
      So basically, bluetooth is still a PITA nowadays :/. If I turn the key in my car, get the electricity running though the circuit, then the phone gets connected to the car. If I turn the key one more time to ignite the engine the car system lose the bt connection and I have to manually force the connection with the phone. I just ignite the car as soon as I sit in now.
thevardanian 9y ago
They're successful because of the software only because the hardware is ancillary to their software ecosystem. Their hardware makes their software run much more effectively than most of their competitors, and therefore acts as a major barrier to entry. I don't think there's a single tech company more completely integrated and whole than Apple. That's why they can emphasize on experience rather than just specs as they're selling more than just software, or hardware.

r00fus 9y ago

Apple killed the clones because the clone program wasn't profitable enough to compensate for the fact that MS had already won the OS wars. It was either Apple or the clones, and so the clones got axed.

lostlogin 9y ago
Oh the horror. The clone I used was particularly troubled and the often-sensitive order of loading system extensions was farcically unstable.
- ericd 9y ago
  Eh, our clone (Power Computing) was rock solid.

sah2ed 9y ago

> Literally the first thing SPJ did after coming back was kill the Mac clones program. That's because the clones were cannibalizing Apple's own hardware offerings - the clones were gradually putting Apple out of its own business. This NYT article from 1996 talked about how the Mac clone strategy was playing out for Apple [0]. [0] https://partners.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/1230macs.html https://partners.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/1230macs.htm...