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What a silly article. How someone could look at Apple's chip developments (A, T, S, W, etc. series of processors) and think they aren't innovative is mind-bogg

What a silly article. How someone could look at Apple's chip developments (A, T, S, W, etc. series of processors) and think they aren't innovative is mind-boggling. Apple developing key silicon in their devices is a major security benefit for their users and I consider that an innovative model. The Apple ecosystem itself is innovative and I don't think there's a single company that does it better. They still lead in interfaces (biometrics...FaceID) and multi-touch gestures. I don't use Siri, but I'm glad they are developing that technology in a way that doesn't flat-out violate the privacy of their users. I just hope all the criticism comparing Siri versus Google Assistant and Cortana don't push them to change that posture. It feels like Apple hate is becoming a meme. You can certainly criticize the company... their product line is becoming confusing, but to say they "used" to be an innovator is ignorant.

lewisinc 8y ago
> It feels like Apple hate is becoming a meme. Hasn't it always been, though? This probably comes off as conspiracy-theoretic, but I feel like there's a real financial incentive to keep their stock prices as in-flux as possible to allow for proper buy-in/cash-out gains.
- oddevan 8y ago
  After seeing Jim Cramer mention on camera the idea of putting out a false Apple rumor (example given in 2006 was "The iPhone is being delayed"), I'm less inclined to write off conspiracies in this regard. Don't know that it's a full-blown Conspiracy™, but the financial incentives are there for the right people.
- abalone 8y ago
  The financial incentive is much more pedestrian: hot take clickbait for struggling news organizations.
- wtallis 8y ago
  I can certainly believe that there are plenty of people that try to manipulate the stock price, but most Apple haters aren't playing the stock market. By far the most common cause of Apple hate I see is what appears to be consumers who are essentially disgruntled that none of Apple's products are targeted at their own use case: eg. gamers who always decried the Mac Pro because they wanted a cheap traditional desktop, not a workstation; or people who wish Apple was competing in the $500 laptop market, or the 8+lbs mobile workstation or gaming laptop market. A large portion of complaints about Apple hardware being overpriced can be traced back to misunderstandings about what Apple's actually selling and how it differs from the Dell that somebody tries to compare it to. (Of course, there are plenty of things that Apple does over-charge for.) Next most common are probably the people who despise the "walled garden". They're quite vocal in these parts of the web, but I doubt they outnumber the previous category of Apple detractors.
  - cm2187 8y ago
    Or people who don't like having to deal with dongles.
drb91 8y ago
Putting conditions on the use of the hardware is distinctly harmful to consumers in a way that otherwise good design cannot ameliorate.
- natch 8y ago
  Conditions like "must log in to a Google account to use this" and "must agree that Google can harvest your private data for financial gain so we can pay off those executives" yes that is harmful.
  - drb91 8y ago
    No argument here :)
  - lern_too_spel 8y ago
    I've yet to see a product that requires that. Let's compare Apple's devices against devices that actually exist instead of terrible devices that exist only in fantasy.
    - natch 8y ago
      Relevant: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17944311 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17944311
      - lern_too_spel 8y ago
        You can run as Guest on a Chromebook. No Google account required.
        natch 8y ago
        Oh, Guest mode, that makes everything OK then. lol
        lern_too_spel 8y ago
toasterlovin 8y ago
And TouchId. And FaceID. And Apple Watch. And Airpods. And Apple Pencil. And TrueTone. And Swift. And the new file system. Anybody who thinks Apple isn’t innovating is an ignorant jackass.
- partiallypro 8y ago
  None of those are innovations, merely entering a market space that already existed. Sure, they've done that in the past with the phone...but they crafted it so well it put everyone to shame. Outside of the Apple Watch the others in your list haven't really pushed boundaries. Even the Apple Watch has a lot of gimmicks that no one uses and things like the Fitbit can easily mimicked at a much lower cost.
- sleepybrett 8y ago
  All of these things are true but none of those have even come close to the way they moved the needle with the phone/pad. Of course let's count the number of years it took them to get there from the newton. You can't just shit out a new groundbreaking ecosystem/product every year like clockwork. If you try 99% of those will be huge misses.
  - threeseed 8y ago
    Apple Watch is dominating the wearables space. And the level of sophistication and complexity in the Series 4 version is really impressive e.g. ECG, Heart Rate Monitor, Siri, Apple Pay.
  - notmyaccount 8y ago
    Exactly they cannot keep inventing the wheel.
- bhandziuk 8y ago
  > Apple Pencil huh...not a joke
  - toasterlovin 8y ago
Tade0 8y ago
biometrics...FaceID The face is not a particularly good biometric modality - its main use is identification without user cooperation. Iris recognition wins in pretty much every category.

lewisinc 8y ago

> It feels like Apple hate is becoming a meme. Hasn't it always been, though? This probably comes off as conspiracy-theoretic, but I feel like there's a real financial incentive to keep their stock prices as in-flux as possible to allow for proper buy-in/cash-out gains.

oddevan 8y ago
After seeing Jim Cramer mention on camera the idea of putting out a false Apple rumor (example given in 2006 was "The iPhone is being delayed"), I'm less inclined to write off conspiracies in this regard. Don't know that it's a full-blown Conspiracy™, but the financial incentives are there for the right people.
abalone 8y ago
The financial incentive is much more pedestrian: hot take clickbait for struggling news organizations.
wtallis 8y ago
I can certainly believe that there are plenty of people that try to manipulate the stock price, but most Apple haters aren't playing the stock market. By far the most common cause of Apple hate I see is what appears to be consumers who are essentially disgruntled that none of Apple's products are targeted at their own use case: eg. gamers who always decried the Mac Pro because they wanted a cheap traditional desktop, not a workstation; or people who wish Apple was competing in the $500 laptop market, or the 8+lbs mobile workstation or gaming laptop market. A large portion of complaints about Apple hardware being overpriced can be traced back to misunderstandings about what Apple's actually selling and how it differs from the Dell that somebody tries to compare it to. (Of course, there are plenty of things that Apple does over-charge for.) Next most common are probably the people who despise the "walled garden". They're quite vocal in these parts of the web, but I doubt they outnumber the previous category of Apple detractors.
- cm2187 8y ago
  Or people who don't like having to deal with dongles.

drb91 8y ago

Putting conditions on the use of the hardware is distinctly harmful to consumers in a way that otherwise good design cannot ameliorate.

natch 8y ago
Conditions like "must log in to a Google account to use this" and "must agree that Google can harvest your private data for financial gain so we can pay off those executives" yes that is harmful.
- drb91 8y ago
  No argument here :)
- lern_too_spel 8y ago
  I've yet to see a product that requires that. Let's compare Apple's devices against devices that actually exist instead of terrible devices that exist only in fantasy.
  - natch 8y ago
    Relevant: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17944311 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17944311
    - lern_too_spel 8y ago
      You can run as Guest on a Chromebook. No Google account required.
      - natch 8y ago
        Oh, Guest mode, that makes everything OK then. lol
        lern_too_spel 8y ago

toasterlovin 8y ago

And TouchId. And FaceID. And Apple Watch. And Airpods. And Apple Pencil. And TrueTone. And Swift. And the new file system. Anybody who thinks Apple isn’t innovating is an ignorant jackass.

partiallypro 8y ago
None of those are innovations, merely entering a market space that already existed. Sure, they've done that in the past with the phone...but they crafted it so well it put everyone to shame. Outside of the Apple Watch the others in your list haven't really pushed boundaries. Even the Apple Watch has a lot of gimmicks that no one uses and things like the Fitbit can easily mimicked at a much lower cost.
sleepybrett 8y ago
All of these things are true but none of those have even come close to the way they moved the needle with the phone/pad. Of course let's count the number of years it took them to get there from the newton. You can't just shit out a new groundbreaking ecosystem/product every year like clockwork. If you try 99% of those will be huge misses.
- threeseed 8y ago
  Apple Watch is dominating the wearables space. And the level of sophistication and complexity in the Series 4 version is really impressive e.g. ECG, Heart Rate Monitor, Siri, Apple Pay.
- notmyaccount 8y ago
  Exactly they cannot keep inventing the wheel.
bhandziuk 8y ago
> Apple Pencil huh...not a joke
- toasterlovin 8y ago

Tade0 8y ago

biometrics...FaceID The face is not a particularly good biometric modality - its main use is identification without user cooperation. Iris recognition wins in pretty much every category.