5 ms·

I hadn't thought of it like this before, but the cargo cult metaphor is spot on. It reminds me of when I was studying sculpture and one of the tutors said that

I hadn't thought of it like this before, but the cargo cult metaphor is spot on. It reminds me of when I was studying sculpture and one of the tutors said that there were plenty of people "making things that look like art," but those things weren't true artworks, as if they lacked a soul of some kind. It now feels like Apple are "making things that look like Apple products," but aren't delivering the deep quality which that used to entail.

lostgame 8y ago
>> It now feels like Apple are "making things that look like Apple products," but aren't delivering the deep quality which that used to entail. Oh, wow, you really nailed it right on the head, here. I still use a 'Pixar lamp/sunflower' iMac G4 for writing, design, and I have a massive collection of cartoon seasons that are nicely formatted for it that I watch on the side. To look at the iMac G4, with it's stunningly beautiful design, and the insanely stable OS X 10.5.8, and compare it to the God-awful 2017 Touch Bar MacBook Pro that my work gave me, is to truly see a company, that in 15 years, has managed to go from creating one of the most inspiring (and still functional!) machines in computing history, to something that, in 2019, I can't even put a USB key in without a $50+ dongle, and can barely type on. The 2017 MacBook Pro looks sorta like the 2015 MacBook Pro I have in my home music studio...but, with virtually the same i5 processor, the same 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and 1.5GB of VRAM, the more-expensive 2017 model lacks: • standard USB ports that don't require adapters • a standard HDMI port • standard thunderbolt ports (of which I have purchased many existing dongles for) • MagSafe (has saved my butt more times than I could describe) • An SSD not soldered to the board (yes, the 2013-2015 models are still removable) • standard SD card port (I do video and photo editing. having one of these on the side is priceless) To purchase a 2017/18 MacBook Pro to replace my studio laptop would be a significant downgrade in terms of functionality for my workflow. I mean, significant. These devices look almost identical - yet one of them is virtually useless for my needs by design compared to one from years before. I loathe using my work laptop. I'm using it right now. I complained to my partner about the butterfly keyboard and yesterday I finally made her use it. She uses the 2015 all the time and made about seven mistakes in the first sentence. The lack of haptic feedback on the touch bar is baffling. These are the kinds of things Apple used to have the foresight to address ahead of time. Now we pay more, and get less. How the mighty fall.
- dr_dshiv 8y ago
  <slow clap> I'm guessing you don't have kernal task 2000% CPU problems? Because my 2017 MacBook Pro is 5x the cost of my Chromebook and rarely more functional.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    Something seems wrong with your SMC.
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      Yep. I had his problem, too, and resetting the SMC fixed it immediately.
- skocznymroczny 8y ago
  It's probably a matter of getting used to the new keyboard. You can't expect to switch to another keyboard and instantly type error free. After using a butterfly keyboard for a while, I struggle a lot with the macbook 2015 one. The keys feel super high and I feel like I have to press the keys super hard to register.
  - qlm 8y ago
    Yeah I love the keyboard and now I find others (including mechanical) to feel super mushy and unresponsive. I suspect I'm in a very small minority though.
  - lparry 8y ago
    Im two years in and I hate the keyboard. I actually didn’t hate it to start with because the bigger keys felt nice and I figured my accuracy would return after I got used to it, but it’s been literally years and I still make constant typos on this thing. I recently started using an external old-Mac-style keyboard and suddenly I can type without mistakes again, it’s honestly bizarre. Muscle memory wouldn’t last this long, there’s something about the newer design that just doesn’t work for me
- 8y ago
hopler 8y ago
Every few years everyone forgets that all the apple products more than a few years old all had their own quality problems.
- lostgame 8y ago
  There is a difference between quality problems (which all three of my 2011 and 2015 MacBook Pros have never had) and blatant disregard for the consumer by downgrading the product significantly and increasing the price.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

lostgame 8y ago

>> It now feels like Apple are "making things that look like Apple products," but aren't delivering the deep quality which that used to entail. Oh, wow, you really nailed it right on the head, here. I still use a 'Pixar lamp/sunflower' iMac G4 for writing, design, and I have a massive collection of cartoon seasons that are nicely formatted for it that I watch on the side. To look at the iMac G4, with it's stunningly beautiful design, and the insanely stable OS X 10.5.8, and compare it to the God-awful 2017 Touch Bar MacBook Pro that my work gave me, is to truly see a company, that in 15 years, has managed to go from creating one of the most inspiring (and still functional!) machines in computing history, to something that, in 2019, I can't even put a USB key in without a $50+ dongle, and can barely type on. The 2017 MacBook Pro looks sorta like the 2015 MacBook Pro I have in my home music studio...but, with virtually the same i5 processor, the same 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and 1.5GB of VRAM, the more-expensive 2017 model lacks: • standard USB ports that don't require adapters • a standard HDMI port • standard thunderbolt ports (of which I have purchased many existing dongles for) • MagSafe (has saved my butt more times than I could describe) • An SSD not soldered to the board (yes, the 2013-2015 models are still removable) • standard SD card port (I do video and photo editing. having one of these on the side is priceless) To purchase a 2017/18 MacBook Pro to replace my studio laptop would be a significant downgrade in terms of functionality for my workflow. I mean, significant. These devices look almost identical - yet one of them is virtually useless for my needs by design compared to one from years before. I loathe using my work laptop. I'm using it right now. I complained to my partner about the butterfly keyboard and yesterday I finally made her use it. She uses the 2015 all the time and made about seven mistakes in the first sentence. The lack of haptic feedback on the touch bar is baffling. These are the kinds of things Apple used to have the foresight to address ahead of time. Now we pay more, and get less. How the mighty fall.

dr_dshiv 8y ago
<slow clap> I'm guessing you don't have kernal task 2000% CPU problems? Because my 2017 MacBook Pro is 5x the cost of my Chromebook and rarely more functional.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Something seems wrong with your SMC.
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    Yep. I had his problem, too, and resetting the SMC fixed it immediately.
skocznymroczny 8y ago
It's probably a matter of getting used to the new keyboard. You can't expect to switch to another keyboard and instantly type error free. After using a butterfly keyboard for a while, I struggle a lot with the macbook 2015 one. The keys feel super high and I feel like I have to press the keys super hard to register.
- qlm 8y ago
  Yeah I love the keyboard and now I find others (including mechanical) to feel super mushy and unresponsive. I suspect I'm in a very small minority though.
- lparry 8y ago
  Im two years in and I hate the keyboard. I actually didn’t hate it to start with because the bigger keys felt nice and I figured my accuracy would return after I got used to it, but it’s been literally years and I still make constant typos on this thing. I recently started using an external old-Mac-style keyboard and suddenly I can type without mistakes again, it’s honestly bizarre. Muscle memory wouldn’t last this long, there’s something about the newer design that just doesn’t work for me
8y ago

hopler 8y ago

Every few years everyone forgets that all the apple products more than a few years old all had their own quality problems.

lostgame 8y ago
There is a difference between quality problems (which all three of my 2011 and 2015 MacBook Pros have never had) and blatant disregard for the consumer by downgrading the product significantly and increasing the price.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]