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> "Apple should keep pushing the limits of PC performance because it’s a company that loves personal computers." I love reading Siracusa, and want to agree wit

by veidr 14y ago

> "Apple should keep pushing the limits of PC performance because it’s a company that loves personal computers." I love reading Siracusa, and want to agree with him here, but this sentence stops me. Apple clearly doesn't 'love' personal computers anymore. How much clearer could the signs be? They took their engineers off Mac OS X and put them on iPhone OS. Their PC OS lagged and stagnated. The 'new' Mac Pro isn't the only insult to power users; OS X 10.8 itself is, too. It is the worst update in (Mac) OS X history, not only with serious show-stopping bugs, but also with new 'features' that are ground-breaking in how dumbed-down they are[1]. Their new love is closed, power-user-hostile, quasi-disposable consumer devices. Steve Jobs himself broke up with the personal computer in his last years, and the company followed suit. [1]: LaunchPad, newly-crippled Expose, disabling extra monitors in fullscreen mode, double clicking hidden files doesn't open them, moron open-save dialogs, by-default iCloud file storage that prevents one app from being able to open another app's docs (even to attach as mail attachment), etc etc et

bsimpson 14y ago
If it cost 5¢ to dismiss an App Store Update notification, I'd be in more debt than the US government. Notification Center is the single most annoying (and unstoppable) OS feature I can remember.
- Samuel_Michon 14y ago
  By scrolling up in the Notification Center panel, you can suspend notifications for the day. You can also permanently disable Notification Center, if you desire: http://lifehacker.com/5942898/permanently-disable-notification-center-in-os-x-mountain-lion http://lifehacker.com/5942898/permanently-disable-notificati...
- veidr 14y ago
  Yeah, meant to mention that too, but it definitely isn't an exhaustive list.
webwielder 14y ago
Your list of minor interface tweaks made in 10.8 isn't giving me an overwhelming sense of hostility toward personal computers.
- veidr 14y ago
  I don't think Apple is actively hostile to the 'power user' subset; they just no longer give a shit. At any rate, they certainly don't send us flowers anymore.
  - fpgeek 14y ago
    Power users are inherently high-maintenance. The difference between not giving a shit and active hostility is, to a first approximation, in name only.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  What's the last major OSX feature that wasn't bad? For a company known for its successes, you look at Launchpad, inverse scrolling, notification center... does anyone like those features? I've never read a single positive comment about any of them. The most positive thing I've read is that they are easy enough to ignore.
  - webwielder 14y ago
    I like inverse scrolling. Old scrolling feels weird to me now. And anyway, why is a minor, optional tweak to scrolling direction anything more than a minor, optional tweak to scrolling direction? It seems like every move Apple makes, no matter how trivial, takes on apocalyptic significance to people. Notification Center is a list of notifications you can turn off if you don't like notifications. What's the big deal? Launchpad is a little icon you can click to see your apps. What's the big deal?
    - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
      The big deal is that the nicest thing you can say about the biggest features of recent OSX versions is "at least you can turn them off".
jcsiracusa 14y ago
The sentence in question is not an assertion about Apple's feelings towards PCs. It's recommended pairing of action and motivation. "Joe should marry Sue because he loves her, not because she's rich." Whether or not Joe loves Sue is another matter.
- tolmasky 14y ago
  The point remains that if they however don't love personal computers, then both reasons stand. In other words, perhaps Joe should marry Sue because he loves her, but its moot because he doesn't (he instead loves her much younger sister). EDIT: In other words, you're both right.
65a 14y ago
To be pedantic, 7.2 or 8.0 were pretty damn bad. 7.3.5-7.5.5 were the best. I think there were some dogs around system 5, but I'd have to get my 128k out of the dump to be sure.
- kalleboo 14y ago
  It wasn't really until 7.6.1 they worked out all the teething issues with PowerPC Macs (mainly, the whole machine halting with "error type 11" requiring a reboot)
- oofabz 14y ago
  There was no System 7.2 or 7.3.5. They went from 7.1.2 to 7.5. You may be thinking of 7.1.2 (the first PowerPC release) or 7.5.3 (the last full version posted as a free download).

by veidr 14y ago

bsimpson 14y ago

If it cost 5¢ to dismiss an App Store Update notification, I'd be in more debt than the US government. Notification Center is the single most annoying (and unstoppable) OS feature I can remember.

Samuel_Michon 14y ago
By scrolling up in the Notification Center panel, you can suspend notifications for the day. You can also permanently disable Notification Center, if you desire: http://lifehacker.com/5942898/permanently-disable-notification-center-in-os-x-mountain-lion http://lifehacker.com/5942898/permanently-disable-notificati...
veidr 14y ago
Yeah, meant to mention that too, but it definitely isn't an exhaustive list.

webwielder 14y ago

Your list of minor interface tweaks made in 10.8 isn't giving me an overwhelming sense of hostility toward personal computers.

veidr 14y ago
I don't think Apple is actively hostile to the 'power user' subset; they just no longer give a shit. At any rate, they certainly don't send us flowers anymore.
- fpgeek 14y ago
  Power users are inherently high-maintenance. The difference between not giving a shit and active hostility is, to a first approximation, in name only.
MatthewPhillips 14y ago
What's the last major OSX feature that wasn't bad? For a company known for its successes, you look at Launchpad, inverse scrolling, notification center... does anyone like those features? I've never read a single positive comment about any of them. The most positive thing I've read is that they are easy enough to ignore.
- webwielder 14y ago
  I like inverse scrolling. Old scrolling feels weird to me now. And anyway, why is a minor, optional tweak to scrolling direction anything more than a minor, optional tweak to scrolling direction? It seems like every move Apple makes, no matter how trivial, takes on apocalyptic significance to people. Notification Center is a list of notifications you can turn off if you don't like notifications. What's the big deal? Launchpad is a little icon you can click to see your apps. What's the big deal?
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    The big deal is that the nicest thing you can say about the biggest features of recent OSX versions is "at least you can turn them off".

jcsiracusa 14y ago

The sentence in question is not an assertion about Apple's feelings towards PCs. It's recommended pairing of action and motivation. "Joe should marry Sue because he loves her, not because she's rich." Whether or not Joe loves Sue is another matter.

tolmasky 14y ago
The point remains that if they however don't love personal computers, then both reasons stand. In other words, perhaps Joe should marry Sue because he loves her, but its moot because he doesn't (he instead loves her much younger sister). EDIT: In other words, you're both right.

65a 14y ago

To be pedantic, 7.2 or 8.0 were pretty damn bad. 7.3.5-7.5.5 were the best. I think there were some dogs around system 5, but I'd have to get my 128k out of the dump to be sure.

kalleboo 14y ago
It wasn't really until 7.6.1 they worked out all the teething issues with PowerPC Macs (mainly, the whole machine halting with "error type 11" requiring a reboot)
oofabz 14y ago
There was no System 7.2 or 7.3.5. They went from 7.1.2 to 7.5. You may be thinking of 7.1.2 (the first PowerPC release) or 7.5.3 (the last full version posted as a free download).