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All the negative vibers re: Apple (1 Viewer)

Ted Todorov

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Sam Posten said:
I'm not a fan of Dilger up till now, his style is usually so abrasive, but I think he finally hits his stride on this one dismantling the poor job the press has been doing and their motivations for doing so:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/04/26/apples-iphone-5c-ate-up-android-while-googles-moto-x-flopped-why-everyone-was-wrong?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
TL;DF Does Dilger explain this alleged Android bias in the parts of the article I couldn't bring myself to read?
Nobody in the industry could have possibly expected Google's Motorola group to outsell Apple's iPhone. But why were reporters and pundits so fooled by their own echo chamber of opinion and Android bias that they failed to correctly identify the fates of two products that, to any intelligent, neutral observer, were quite obviously fated to result in additional, continued success for Apple's blockbuster iPhone franchise and additional losses at Google's limping Motorola's unit?
My view is that the press is not pro-Android for the very simple reason that 90% of reporters use iPhones (unless they are still stuck on their Blackberry). Yes, they are often misinformed and technically inept. The exception is web based page view seekers who think that trashing Apple is a great way to get clicks. And M.G. Siegler is not anti-Apple, not at all.

The best I can come up with is that the press are scared of appearing too pro_apple so they repeat a few well worn anti Apple slogans to emphasize their neutrality. "Apple doesn't understand the Cloud" and "The iPhone 5C flopped" are rolled out without much thought. What's Dilger's explanation?
 

Josh Steinberg

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Sam Posten said:
Regarding the soundbite that "Apple just doesn't get the cloud":
http://www.asymco.com/2014/05/09/measuring-not-getting-the-cloud/
I didn't realize people thought Apple didn't use or get the cloud (that's what I get for not paying attention to the latest computer news). I don't use a lot of cloud-based anything, but the one thing that I do get a lot of use out of is Apple's iTunes Match service. For $25 a year, all of the songs on my computer (both the ones I bought on iTunes, which is a small percentage, and all of the ones I ripped from my CD collection) can be accessible to me from anywhere. I don't think I can properly express how awesome that is for me. I've got what's almost a two hour commute each way to and from work, and to be able to pick from my entire collection (more than could fit on any iPod or iPhone) and listen to songs when I feel like it on my iPhone, regardless of if I thought to download it to that device ahead of time, is a wonderful convenience. There's always talk about certain things being "game-changers", but for me, in terms of my music listening, that's the biggest thing to happen since the original iPod came out. Now, if I had a smaller commute or something, maybe it wouldn't be as big a deal, but that's a perfect use of technology and innovation and cloud connectivity to me.
 

Sam Posten

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The champion of Apple doesn't get the cloud movement is Fred Wilson:http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2014/05/06/new-yorks-top-vc-says-apple-doesnt-get-the-cloud-hes-mostly-wrong/
Maybe Wilson can’t see it because he just doesn’t trust Apple. He dumped all his stock 5 years ago after he suspected Steve Jobs wasn’t being straight about his health, as Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt recalled. Apple traded at $91 back then; yesterday it closed over $600. While Wilson has done just fine, he hasn’t stopped doubting Apple. Insisting in 2011 that his advice to focus on Android over iOS was correct, Wilson cited data showing Apple’s share of smartphones in use in the U.S. at “just” 25%. Today, that number has reached 42%, per comScore SCOR +1.52%. Wilson’s belief that smartphones would follow PCs into a Windows vs. Mac dynamic hasn’t played out so far, could he be wrong about Apple in the cloud too?
 

Josh Steinberg

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Sam Posten said:
I love ITM but as someone with over 35000 songs it is horribly broken for me. I would pay to double the max if I could.
Eek, what happened when you went over the limit? Is it a song limit or amount of gigabites used limit? It's been a while since I signed up and read the fine print, but I could be closer to it than I had ever thought.
 

Sam Posten

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Clinton McClure

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I think IBM's chief problem was they were reluctant to evolve. Apple seems to have no problem in evolving and keeping pace with what consumers want. There are also no Mac "clones" flooding the market either.
 

Mark Booth

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$5,000 invested in Apple stock in 1997 (as Steve Jobs returned) would be worth $1,548,049 today! Less than 20 years for a 309% return on your investment!


Just sayin'!


Mark
 

Sam Posten

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Solid list of current issues with everything Apple is doing wrong today.
https://medium.com/adventures-in-consumer-technology/apple-inc-a-pre-mortem-568d1a0b7d72#.ujpmb6ams

I think Apple made a mistake with the Apple Watch, and is paying the price for going off too hard, too fast on that adventure, rather that starting it as a hobby and letting it build.

Apple's leadership has been tied up in the build up of their new HQ, that has caused them to lose focus.

Apple is not pushing the Mac fast enough, and Intel has sandbagged them, unintentionally.

Apple TV's remote is not a strong solution, and the Cable TV industry still holds 75% of the good cards, tho Apps are chipping away. Without single login tho for all your channels, it's still an also ran.

Tim Cook is AWESOME at supply chain. He needs his other guys to pick up on product and evangelism. Hair Force One needs to be that guy.

We've barely seen Schiller and Ives lately. They are rich, are they motivated? Are they in tune with their customers? Certainly they have the mass market customers nailed down, the pros are not happy tho.

Microsoft has made a mountain off their molehill surface. Surface gets way more attention than it merits just cause it's a shiny Apple alternative. Meanwhile Chromebooks are getting more powerful each year, quietly.
 

DaveF

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Apple is the worst computer company we have, except for all the others.

Interesting essay and followon thoughts.

If I had to guess at Apple's challenges, it's they're too big for their management style. They're the iPhone company. Every year there's a great new iPhone and a great new iOS for it.

Everything else is scattershot. The MBP jumped 20% in price for unproven touch bar. The high-end user is abandoned three years and counting. The desktop user is twisting in the wind wondering if it's worth spending $2500 for a two year old computer to meet their $999 needs. The AppleTV is great if you're all-in, otherwise you should save $100 and buy a Roku. And the watch is a cool device, that everyone I knows who has it likes, but isn't anything especially impressive.

And I do fear that Ives and team don't eat their own dog food. (I still don't understand laptops with sharp edges. And the AppleTV remote is the equivalent of a TV over the fireplace: aesthetically pleasing, but terrible idea if you actually watch the damn TV)

But the alternatives are Windows 10 PCs, the Surface which is designed for people who draw, and Android smartphones. These are good. But they don't scratch the itch for someone who likes the Apple approach to computing.
 

McPaul

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Wow this is an old thread.

The trend towards stripping MacBooks down to the point where you need a dongle for everything (which break easily, requiring repurchase) is great for building corporate revenue and makes for less things that could go wrong, is something I find very inconvenient.

I also really appreciate how my android phone just seems to work. My phone is still a nexus 5, as the pixel xl 128 has not yet been made available in Canada except through a carrier.

The laptop issue is a problem, as there's really no other options, as I'm not switching to windows. In a perfect world I'd like an advanced chrome book with a fully functioning, non browser based os.

I'm open to giving apple a chance, and I do buy that their execs have been otherwise engaged, but at the same time I have yet to see anything "revolutionary" from Tim Cook. He is a strong leader for that company but he is no Steve jobs (a VERY high bar imo)

I'll keep with my 2012 retina mbp. However I will likely be upgrading my phone, laptop, broken iPad, and maybe even my apple tv3 this year.

I'm kind of a free agent at the moment...
 

Alf S

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Interesting take on things...

"Did Microsoft just out-cool Apple?"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...4/did-microsoft-just-out-cool-apple/96972944/

636208717749515774-t1larg.mac.pc.2.jpg
 

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