Anybody misses the old Apple?

[hajime]

I miss the old Apple which focused on making personal computers. The company seems to have spent too much resources on making products like iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTV, etc for the more general public.

The products before 10 years ago were very reliable. Now, although it makes products which some people consider to be pretty, they are not durable. For example, the cases for the MBP and iPhone get scratched and deform easily. The glass display of the iPhone can be broken with a drop. After purchase, the first thing many users do is to buy a protective case and a protective screen for their products. I have developed OCD since the production of MBP unibody design and the iPod Touch. In the past, I did not have to buy a protective case for the old products as they were durable. I also did not have to concern about finger nails causing scratches to the keyboards. I feel that the PowerBook made 20 years ago are more durable than the unibody MBP.

 

[miles01110]

The glass display of the iPhone can be broken with a drop.

Lots of electronics can be broken with a drop. Filed under pointless.

 

[SkyBell]

I do. Right around 2007, Apple became the company I no longer loved. Sounds a bit harsh, I know, but I really only care about Macs. Maybe iPods to an extent, but all this iPhone, iPad, AppleTV stuff - no thanks, that's not what Apple used to be about. Progress is saddening sometimes.

 

[QuarterSwede]

I miss the old Apple which focused on making personal computers. The company seems to have spent too much resources on making products like iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTV, etc for the more general public.

The products before 10 years ago were very reliable. Now, although it makes products which some people consider to be pretty, they are not durable. For example, the cases for the MBP and iPhone get scratched and deform easily. The glass display of the iPhone can be broken with a drop. After purchase, the first thing many users do is to buy a protective case and a protective screen for their products. I have developed OCD since the production of MBP unibody design and the iPod Touch. In the past, I did not have to buy a protective case for the old products as they were durable. I also did not have to concern about finger nails causing scratches to the keyboards. I feel that the PowerBook made 20 years ago are more durable than the unibody MBP.

Tell that to my 12" PowerBook that has a dented SuperDrive and scratched cas. Not to mention battery that never seated properly so it never sat flat on a table and would rock slightly (that was annoying).

I didn't start liking Apple again until '05 because of Tiger (OS 9 was garbage) but I didn't love them until the iOS age. Those unibody MacBooks are incredibly well built and while my iPhone 4 is prone to breaking if dropped (what elec gadget isn't?) it's incredibly solid feeling. Not a creak in ~2 years.

 

[shinobi-81]

It sounds to me like the company is more important to some people than its products are. I doubt that Macs would be better or more advanced if Apple didn't spend any resources on developing iDevices iPods, iPads, iPhones, etc concurrently. I have also heard that it was the release of Intel Macs which turned Apple into some kind of sellout and ruined the Mac community. This comes in addition to the fact that Macs (like most electronics) are more affordable now than 10-15 years ago.

I'm not sure if this is a result of elitist snobbishness or if it's because the 1984-veterans are just bored with the new demographics (kids with iToys) on this website, but the latter seems more likely to be the case. Something like "The Cancer That Is Killing /b/" for those who are familiar with 4chan.

 

[satcomer]

The glass display of the iPhone can be broken with a drop.

Sounds to me you did pony up for AppleCare+ for iPhone when you bought your iPhone. Your mistake butter fingers.

 

[416049]

Nope don't miss them, i like apple more now than i used to as the new ipad is one great piece of hardware and my macbook pro hasn't had any problems yet either unlike my white mb which gave me problems after 1year.

 

[Liquinn]

I switched to Apple earlier in the year and I guess they would of been a better company 4 years or so ago but now it's just iPad and iPhone which of course I prefer my Mac mini and MBP. Hmmmm =[

 

[NautBijker]

i miss the old Apple... before Apple start making the iPhone and the iPad, I really loved Apple. I still do, but a little less than 10 years ago.

 

[ender land]

Wait you can break glass by dropping it?

No way.

 

[ronjon10]

Nope, the pre-intel macs were garbage.

 

[student_trap]

Nope, the pre-intel macs were garbage.

Did you have any? Please share your experiences


I really like the ipad and iphone, so I don't have such an issue with direction. But I do miss the days when the design of macs was somthing that stood out. I miss the colours, and I miss the white products.

 

[G51989]

Nope, the pre-intel macs were garbage.

What? Have you ever actually seen a G4? Or G5 tower? The build quality on those was incredible. In fact, the G5 case was so good, they still use it to this in the Mac Pro, 10 years later.

 

[Ariii]

Honestly, I have no desire for new Apple technology, except for those iPod Classics. I wouldn't want an iDevice if I was offered one, they just don't appeal to me and the OS is so limiting that I can't even see the filesystem. I loved the designs of the PowerPC era and don't mind at all that they're switching to Intel, but after that, their cases weren't as good-looking and after Lion, it doesn't run an OS I like either. Even though people say this is superficial, the thing that makes this bad is that Apple's the only one who's good at making those nice-looking cases.

 

[Darth.Titan]

What? Have you ever actually seen a G4? Or G5 tower? The build quality on those was incredible. In fact, the G5 case was so good, they still use it to this in the Mac Pro, 10 years later.

Have you? The G4 cases were curvy, goofy looking hunks of plastic, with the internals so packed it was difficult to change out parts. Plastic handles broke, the clear plastic scuffed if you breathed on it wrong, and the over-engineered flip-down doors for the optical drives were prone to breaking their springs.

As for the G5s the case was a marked improvement, and they had the added capability of doubling as a space heater.

 

[foidulus]

Ah the delusions of "memory", if anything Apples hardware has gotten MORE durable over the years, not less so. I have never had a problem with any of my 4 iPhones(every gen save for the 4!), nor my iMac or macbook pros, but my powerbook on the other hand.....

Now their software is another story, its gotten more usable but less stable as time has gone on.... Especially if you opt to upgrade your OS(which never really worked well, but even less so in newer versions) instead of installing fresh.

 

[MacDawg]

Meh, half the people complain that Apple isn't innovating and coming up with new wow products
The other half are complaining because they miss the old Apple that only built computers

The only way Apple can win is to just make money
Wait...

 

[G51989]

Have you? The G4 cases were curvy, goofy looking hunks of plastic, with the internals so packed it was difficult to change out parts. Plastic handles broke, the clear plastic scuffed if you breathed on it wrong, and the over-engineered flip-down doors for the optical drives were prone to breaking their springs.

As for the G5s the case was a marked improvement, and they had the added capability of doubling as a space heater.

Yep, I bought one of the last G4 towers, brand new. Still chugging along in my basement as a file server ( one of a couple ), I never had any issues with any of the plastic breaking. And whats wrong with Plastic? Sure its not as pretty as metal, but I have tons of computers with plastic cases ( none of them were expensive of course ), and they last just fine.

The G5s did produce lots of heat. But lucky for me I have AC

I would say Apple Computers have gone downhill in the past couple years, I would say the rMBP is a great example of that. It loses upgradeable ram and an Ethernet port, in the name of useless thinness? No thanks.

Look at the Mac Mini, a slow tiny non upgradeable computer for 600 dollars No Thanks!

Mac Pro: Overpay for a 3 year old workstation that was slow when it was new! Apple Loves you!

Honestly, I think right now the only Apple Desktop worth buying is the iMac. The rest is meh.

I really do miss the Apple Computers ( the company ) that kept everything nicely up to date, and made serious machines. Not underpowered computers that really can't be used for anything intensive.

 

[rick3000]

I was a huge Apple Fanboy before 2009, then my new MBP had to be replaced 5 times. Now I am in the 'It's better than the alternative" camp, and less the Apple is infallible camp.

Apple Computer had more charm than Apple, you certainly won't see Phil Schiller jumping off a platform with a tangerine laptop to demo airport ever again. That said, the return on my Apple stock makes me care less.

 

[MacNut]

There was something special about owning a Mac in the mid 90s, (yes I mean the beige boxes). It was when Apple had a true cult following and being different was what made Apple tick. Sure the update cycle was dirt slow and the OS primitive but those were the good ole days of Apple.

 

[Theclamshell]

I miss the colorful designs. The new ones are nice and all, but I would LOVELOVELOVELOVE to rock a blueberry iBook with modern specs.

 

[G51989]

There was something special about owning a Mac in the mid 90s, (yes I mean the beige boxes). It was when Apple had a true cult following and being different was what made Apple tick. Sure the update cycle was dirt slow and the OS primitive but those were the good ole days of Apple.

Eh, those were the dark days for Apple, after mis management, failed products, lack of updates, and random products ( like the camera ), combined with them being beaten to a pulp by Microsoft and the PC OEMs, Apple was almost dead.

It really wasn't until the G3 iMac that things really started to turn around.

 

[MacNut]

Eh, those were the dark days for Apple, after mis management, failed products, lack of updates, and random products ( like the camera ), combined with them being beaten to a pulp by Microsoft and the PC OEMs, Apple was almost dead.

It really wasn't until the G3 iMac that things really started to turn around.

But the following was it's strongest, the company somehow lasted through that period because there were still people buying the products. It was a close knit community in those days that doesn't exist now.

 

[ixodes]

Nope, the pre-intel macs were garbage.

Sounds like the voice of an unknowing author.

In this case, guesswork, assumptions & the possibility that heresay is involved, promptly renders the post above irrelevant.

I've personally bought more than 15 new PowerBooks over the years. Each being used very heavily, amassing a vast number of run time hours. Not one ever left me stranded. Mission critical for my work, they served me well. Every bit as effective as the many new BTO / CTO MBP's I've owned to date.

It's that very experience, that convinced me to remain a steadfast Apple loyalist to this day.

 

[G51989]

But the following was it's strongest, the company somehow lasted through that period because there were still people buying the products. It was a close knit community in those days that doesn't exist now.

I was still but a teen when that happened, but from what I do remember. Even those fans were starting to dry up. It took Mr jobs killing off most of their confused product lines, launching the iMacG3 and even though the 150 million dollars from Microsoft wasn't a huge amount of money ( well it was ), the Cross Licensing agreement made software developers say " hey, Microsoft can make software for the mac, so maybe its not so irrelevent ". I remeber the Mac Versions of IE and Office being a pretty huge deal.