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I think their biggest innovation is making devices where everything just works. Look no further than any two year old who has been exposed to an iPad to see tha

I think their biggest innovation is making devices where everything just works. Look no further than any two year old who has been exposed to an iPad to see that their interfaces are super-intuitive. Plus, unlike most manufactures, they control all the hardware plus the software, so they can make sure that the entire experience is seamless.

hyperbovine 8y ago
I do agree with this. When I was younger I would happily blow a whole weekend getting my window manager set just so or figuring out how to load load songs onto my Diamond Rio from RedHat. Now I’m middle aged and I’m willing to pay all sorts of $$ to have it just work in a sensible way. And work it does — nothing in android or windows land even comes close. It’s surprising how many comments I see here that are completely oblivious to this and insist on trashing apple for being “not free”. The market has spoken. Almost no one cares.
- rorykoehler 8y ago
  I have both android and ios devices. Android is far superior for file management. Ios is a joke in that regard. Folders weren't broken but somehow ios managed to break them. Now if I want to save a random file on my ipad I have to choose a directory related to some unrelated app!? Why can't I just create a directory like I do on every other device I own?
  - hellisothers 8y ago
    why are you trying to “manage files”? More control comes at the expense of ease of use (generally) it seems like, if you can’t give up one you won’t get the other
    - rorykoehler 8y ago
      Because I need to reference files quickly on the go and can't risk not being able to access them due to poor/no internet connectivity. I also want to be able to save files that ios doesn't provide a way to save (eg download YouTube) and have now found a third party app that lets me do that. Should be a core part of ios. ITunes is shit.
- msla 8y ago
  Interesting: I used to use what you use now, and I gave it up when I realized I was spending too much time re-training, learning the latest UI fads, and not getting any real work done. No consistency, no backwards-compatibility, just the upgrade treadmill. Now that I'm an adult, it isn't worth chasing that anymore, and I'm on Linux now. Window Maker hasn't changed in a very long time.
nikofeyn 8y ago
there is very little seamless about the newest apple products, especially their software interfaces. i still have no idea what is happening with icloud or their files application or their gesture language. it is all very confusing. and just works? i actually don't own a single apple product that didn't have a major hardware failure within the first few years. back when it was mac os x versus windows xp, sure, apple was well ahead of everyone else. that isn't true anymore, but people still claim it.
wlesieutre 8y ago
100% agreed. People are complaining online about how the new Mac Mini is priced, but they're not just selling a computer. It's a whole ecosystem of things of mostly reliable stuff that works well with each other. They can put a price premium for the quality of their software ecosystem, which keeps getting better. Being able to use your phone as a camera to take a photo directly into a document in Pages on your computer is a pretty cool trick. Having your airpods pairing sync between your devices and easily jump to the device you're using is really well done (from what I hear, I don't have them myself). A phone getting more than two years of software updates may not be flashy, but I'm more interested in that than anything else that phone manufacturers are doing.
- Apocryphon 8y ago
  All of that stuff is great, and does not explain why the Mac Mini, an entry-level Apple computer, is somehow proportionally worth $300 more than it used to be.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    The $499 Mac Mini came with 4GB of RAM, a 5400 rpm hard drive and had a 1.4Ghz CPU. A usable Mac Mini was at least $699.
    - wlesieutre 8y ago
      That was 4 years ago, so that was probably as reasonable an amount of memory as 8 GB is today. And the Macbook Airs start at a 1.6 GHz dual core, so Apple isn't above using slower processors in new products. It'll work fine for some people. The SSD is non-negotiable today though, I'll give you that one.
      - 2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
        4Gb is good for a media server and not much else.
rifung 8y ago
This is so true. People keep comparing the specs with competitors but they're missing the point. Apple's strength, be it when they are doing it well or not, has always been UX.
msla 8y ago
> I think their biggest innovation is making devices where everything just works. Unless you're holding it wrong. Or trying to use it in some way contrary to corporate policy. Or trying to fix it. In the last two cases, you realize the rest of that aphorism: It Just Works For Apple.
ogn3rd 8y ago
Man, I wish I had what you have, because it doesn't "just work". Hook us up with some of that.
seba_dos1 8y ago
They control all the hardware plus the software, yet the results are way more unimpressive than what I'd expect from that. I have bought an iPhone to port my game engine to iOS and setting it up was an unpleasant experience full of little annoying (although harmless) little glitches. Even LineageOS felt better that that, I honestly expected it the other way around - as I'm a Maemo user that got both Android and iOS phones only for development purposes, I tried them both at approximately the same time and could directly compare.

hyperbovine 8y ago

I do agree with this. When I was younger I would happily blow a whole weekend getting my window manager set just so or figuring out how to load load songs onto my Diamond Rio from RedHat. Now I’m middle aged and I’m willing to pay all sorts of $$ to have it just work in a sensible way. And work it does — nothing in android or windows land even comes close. It’s surprising how many comments I see here that are completely oblivious to this and insist on trashing apple for being “not free”. The market has spoken. Almost no one cares.

rorykoehler 8y ago
I have both android and ios devices. Android is far superior for file management. Ios is a joke in that regard. Folders weren't broken but somehow ios managed to break them. Now if I want to save a random file on my ipad I have to choose a directory related to some unrelated app!? Why can't I just create a directory like I do on every other device I own?
- hellisothers 8y ago
  why are you trying to “manage files”? More control comes at the expense of ease of use (generally) it seems like, if you can’t give up one you won’t get the other
  - rorykoehler 8y ago
    Because I need to reference files quickly on the go and can't risk not being able to access them due to poor/no internet connectivity. I also want to be able to save files that ios doesn't provide a way to save (eg download YouTube) and have now found a third party app that lets me do that. Should be a core part of ios. ITunes is shit.
msla 8y ago
Interesting: I used to use what you use now, and I gave it up when I realized I was spending too much time re-training, learning the latest UI fads, and not getting any real work done. No consistency, no backwards-compatibility, just the upgrade treadmill. Now that I'm an adult, it isn't worth chasing that anymore, and I'm on Linux now. Window Maker hasn't changed in a very long time.

nikofeyn 8y ago

there is very little seamless about the newest apple products, especially their software interfaces. i still have no idea what is happening with icloud or their files application or their gesture language. it is all very confusing. and just works? i actually don't own a single apple product that didn't have a major hardware failure within the first few years. back when it was mac os x versus windows xp, sure, apple was well ahead of everyone else. that isn't true anymore, but people still claim it.

wlesieutre 8y ago

100% agreed. People are complaining online about how the new Mac Mini is priced, but they're not just selling a computer. It's a whole ecosystem of things of mostly reliable stuff that works well with each other. They can put a price premium for the quality of their software ecosystem, which keeps getting better. Being able to use your phone as a camera to take a photo directly into a document in Pages on your computer is a pretty cool trick. Having your airpods pairing sync between your devices and easily jump to the device you're using is really well done (from what I hear, I don't have them myself). A phone getting more than two years of software updates may not be flashy, but I'm more interested in that than anything else that phone manufacturers are doing.

Apocryphon 8y ago
All of that stuff is great, and does not explain why the Mac Mini, an entry-level Apple computer, is somehow proportionally worth $300 more than it used to be.
- scarface74 8y ago
  The $499 Mac Mini came with 4GB of RAM, a 5400 rpm hard drive and had a 1.4Ghz CPU. A usable Mac Mini was at least $699.
  - wlesieutre 8y ago
    That was 4 years ago, so that was probably as reasonable an amount of memory as 8 GB is today. And the Macbook Airs start at a 1.6 GHz dual core, so Apple isn't above using slower processors in new products. It'll work fine for some people. The SSD is non-negotiable today though, I'll give you that one.
    - 2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
      4Gb is good for a media server and not much else.

rifung 8y ago

This is so true. People keep comparing the specs with competitors but they're missing the point. Apple's strength, be it when they are doing it well or not, has always been UX.

msla 8y ago

> I think their biggest innovation is making devices where everything just works. Unless you're holding it wrong. Or trying to use it in some way contrary to corporate policy. Or trying to fix it. In the last two cases, you realize the rest of that aphorism: It Just Works For Apple.

ogn3rd 8y ago

Man, I wish I had what you have, because it doesn't "just work". Hook us up with some of that.

seba_dos1 8y ago

They control all the hardware plus the software, yet the results are way more unimpressive than what I'd expect from that. I have bought an iPhone to port my game engine to iOS and setting it up was an unpleasant experience full of little annoying (although harmless) little glitches. Even LineageOS felt better that that, I honestly expected it the other way around - as I'm a Maemo user that got both Android and iOS phones only for development purposes, I tried them both at approximately the same time and could directly compare.