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i largely agree with your points. I think the ousting (quitting?) of Ives is a sign that apple as an aesthetic force is ending, and the return to "logical" mac

i largely agree with your points. I think the ousting (quitting?) of Ives is a sign that apple as an aesthetic force is ending, and the return to "logical" macs instead is a sign that they're reverting going too far. Its an acknowledgement that they have to do more than make pretty devices. I see a very similar path to luxury car brands for luxury electronics. A mix of status, comfort and performance. I wouldn't be surprised if the "pro"/"pro-sumer" line of devices diverges even more into the future so that we have $2k iPhones. Similar to how car companies have $200k+ cars, and $75k+ cars that effectively don't compete with each other and let them invest in more expensive efforts, that serve as flagships. Alternatively, go the racing-car route, and invest in high-end engineering efforts that way. This could be similar to your "forking" idea in that they get exposure without subjecting it to mass scale.

motohagiography 5y ago
Smart. This raises an interesting question. Cars do one thing well, and we've turned them into extended rooms of our homes, so a $200k car can make sense. What is the thing personal computers/mobile devices do well for us as users that we can just dial it up and charge 10x for it? I don't know. Mine cryptocurrency? A fancier and more flattering filter bubble? An AI named Cyrano that identifies people and gives us tips for manipulating and blackmailing them? Spitballing here.
- vineyardmike 5y ago
  > that we can just dial it up and charge 10x for it? Maybe you don't get 10x but like cars we can use more expensive materials, more expensive parts (cameras, cpu cores, screen quality). Materials: Apple's base model apple watch is aluminum, while the higher tier is stainless steel. They also lock the neutral colors behind the higher price (which i think is annoying because color is not price dependent to make). Performance: Think about Apple's $5k monitor - the "Pro display XDR" from a few years ago. Today, apple sells the $1k iPad pro with a "XDR display" based on the same tech. They figured out how to build it, then later figured out how to scale down the price and scale up the process.

motohagiography 5y ago

Smart. This raises an interesting question. Cars do one thing well, and we've turned them into extended rooms of our homes, so a $200k car can make sense. What is the thing personal computers/mobile devices do well for us as users that we can just dial it up and charge 10x for it? I don't know. Mine cryptocurrency? A fancier and more flattering filter bubble? An AI named Cyrano that identifies people and gives us tips for manipulating and blackmailing them? Spitballing here.

vineyardmike 5y ago
> that we can just dial it up and charge 10x for it? Maybe you don't get 10x but like cars we can use more expensive materials, more expensive parts (cameras, cpu cores, screen quality). Materials: Apple's base model apple watch is aluminum, while the higher tier is stainless steel. They also lock the neutral colors behind the higher price (which i think is annoying because color is not price dependent to make). Performance: Think about Apple's $5k monitor - the "Pro display XDR" from a few years ago. Today, apple sells the $1k iPad pro with a "XDR display" based on the same tech. They figured out how to build it, then later figured out how to scale down the price and scale up the process.