3 ms·

It’s amazing how much of a dumpster fire the butterfly keyboard was, but perhaps more bewilderingly how long they persisted with it. That keyboard might well ha

It’s amazing how much of a dumpster fire the butterfly keyboard was, but perhaps more bewilderingly how long they persisted with it. That keyboard might well have done more than any other product design decision in the last decade to push people away from the Mac platform.

artursapek 5y ago
I think it did, and the touch bar was a close second. Thankfully, whoever was in charge of those decisions seems to have lost decision-making power and Apple has walked back both.
- totalZero 5y ago
  > whoever was in charge of those decisions seems to have lost decision-making power I guess we're both speculating here, but even if the same people were in charge, I think they breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that the personal computing segment had spiced up again. From about 2014 to 2019, Mac revenue basically plateaued in line with the entire laptop market. People were crazy about phones but laptops had hit a wall. When you have to sell laptops to people whose yesteryear laptops do everything they need, you start adding random bullshit to the product because you have to capture the market's attention somehow. I think this is how we ended up with the touch bar. It's a step backward, but it's flashy and made the product look fresh(er) despite the form factor being identical to what they were selling in 2013.
- dustyharddrive 5y ago
  the touch bar still ships with every current-gen MBP though; the Air never had one
  - artursapek 5y ago
    It's going away though
buu700 5y ago
If the M1 MBA (or early 2020 Intel MBA) didn't exist, when my 2013 MBP started dying last month I would have dropped Apple for an Ubuntu XPS. I don't understand how a company of that size kept up a blunder of that magnitude for half a decade, but a half-broken keyboard with an entire missing row of keys was just a nonstarter.

3 ms·

It’s amazing how much of a dumpster fire the butterfly keyboard was, but perhaps more bewilderingly how long they persisted with it. That keyboard might well ha

by simondotau 5y ago

artursapek 5y ago
I think it did, and the touch bar was a close second. Thankfully, whoever was in charge of those decisions seems to have lost decision-making power and Apple has walked back both.
- totalZero 5y ago
  > whoever was in charge of those decisions seems to have lost decision-making power I guess we're both speculating here, but even if the same people were in charge, I think they breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that the personal computing segment had spiced up again. From about 2014 to 2019, Mac revenue basically plateaued in line with the entire laptop market. People were crazy about phones but laptops had hit a wall. When you have to sell laptops to people whose yesteryear laptops do everything they need, you start adding random bullshit to the product because you have to capture the market's attention somehow. I think this is how we ended up with the touch bar. It's a step backward, but it's flashy and made the product look fresh(er) despite the form factor being identical to what they were selling in 2013.
- dustyharddrive 5y ago
  the touch bar still ships with every current-gen MBP though; the Air never had one
  - artursapek 5y ago
    It's going away though
buu700 5y ago
If the M1 MBA (or early 2020 Intel MBA) didn't exist, when my 2013 MBP started dying last month I would have dropped Apple for an Ubuntu XPS. I don't understand how a company of that size kept up a blunder of that magnitude for half a decade, but a half-broken keyboard with an entire missing row of keys was just a nonstarter.