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"5. Straighten out the naming convention. Link model numbers to processor speed. When buying a 3400 laptop computer, what, exactly, are you getting? Unless you
by kjjw 12y ago
"5. Straighten out the naming convention. Link model numbers to processor speed. When buying a 3400 laptop computer, what, exactly, are you getting? Unless you study the brochures, you don't know how it compares with its competition. On the other hand, Wintel talks explicitly about processor speed. It's a Pentium 200-MHz box."
Urgh. And while we're at it, why on earth did Apple never plaster their hardware with "Intel Inside" and "NVIDIA" stickers? How else am I supposed to know that my laptop has an Intel chip and an NVIDIA chip?!?! Surely everyone wants to know this!
- kosei 12y agoI think the important thing is clarity of what you're getting (and how to compare) - not specifically detailing parts. I still don't understand how this isn't industry standard. The process of buying a computer (non-Mac) these days is still as confusing as it's ever been without doing hours of research. For instance, how do I compare two PCs: A: Intel Core i7-4770 3.4 GHz and NVIDIA Geforce GT 620 B: FX-Series Eight-Core FX-8350 4 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX760 Even when you clarify some of the parts, it's frustrating. What Apple does well (and frankly Dell and some other companies within their own ecosystems) is to add a bit more clarity even if it's still a bit opaque (iPhone 5 > iPhone 4, and the fact that all mac parts are relatively similar, just with stair-stepped upgrades).
- jiggy2011 12y agoBack in 1997 CPU clock speeds actually mattered, there was a substantial difference between what could be done with a 100Mhz Pentium and a 166Mhz Pentium (with MMX!). In 2014 it is screen size / resolution or storage that matters.
- potatolicious 12y ago$$$ - Intel and Nvidia paid for the placement. The same reason why Dell, Toshiba, et al bundle a bunch of crapware with your default install: it's paid placement. Of course, that doesn't mean it's a good idea - these companies continue to sacrifice their own brand and image in exchange for not a lot of money. You know your company has no product focus when it's willing to plaster shit all over its own products in exchange for a few bucks in extra margin.
- smackfu 12y agoI think Apple has embraced the philosophy of this suggestion pretty well. They don't use mystery meat model numbers, and just label a product something like "iMac 27-inch: 3.4GHz."
- ebbv 12y agoYou mock but meaningless model numbers are awful and they were banished from Apple a long time ago.
- kjjw 12y agoI'm not mocking the loss of meaningless model numbers. I'm mocking the suggestion to switch one lot of meaningless numbers for another.
- blktiger 12y agoWell, they did straighten out their naming convention but instead of putting relating processor speed and model number they simply changed everything to be classified by device type. Their most consumer friendly options only allow you to customize storage. The less-consumer friendly options have lots of customization options. I think it's great because consumers aren't really confused as to which machine is which. Compare that to other tech companies like Garmin which has like 20 different Nuvi's that all do basically the same thing.
- kjjw 12y agoI think the storage size thing is just as silly as anything else. I often wonder why they bother. My best guess is it allows them to advertise a lower entry level price while pushing people to go for the mid or higher end when they get to making a decision. Ever notice how the low-storage Apple model is always just a little bit too low?