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tinny the cat

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 5, 2009
45
0
Mac: PC's exist but Apples are better
Iphone: Mobile Phones existed but apple made them better
iPod: Mp3 players existed but Apple made them better and popular
mighty mouse: existed but apple made it better
keyboard: better
Airport: better
Touch screens: almost perfected it

...... etc
 

Zyniker

macrumors 6502
Feb 14, 2008
310
0
This is largely a matter of where you draw the line between "upgraded/improved" and "new"...
 

belvdr

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2005
5,945
1,372
I'm not sure how they made the keyboard better.

At any rate, each one of those points is subjective. I think OS X is what makes Apple a great desktop solution, but for a server, it most likely is not the best choice. For the hardware, I'm not seeing any real benefit of their hardware versus similar hardware from other vendors. I rarely have a hardware problem on either platform. Sometimes, I feel Apple may have lessened the hardware strength in order to provide an appealing product (case in point, the Air hinges).

iPhone? It's okay, but I personally like my Storm2 better.

See where I'm going? It's all about preferences.
 

vincebio

macrumors 6502a
Jun 27, 2005
792
48
Glasgow
Mac: PC's exist but Apples are better
Iphone: Mobile Phones existed but apple made them better
iPod: Mp3 players existed but Apple made them better and popular
mighty mouse: existed but apple made it better
keyboard: better
Airport: better
Touch screens: almost perfected it

...... etc

all your personal opinion....heres mine

iPhone - if they made the actual phone part of the iPhone better, then it would be better....but as a phone its crap.
iPod - Definitely agree
Mighty Mouse : I use it but im not sure its actually as good as i want it to be..im on my 4th one, due to the crap getting stuck on the ball (yes ive turned it upside down etc etc)

Keyboard : The keys on my full size aluminium keyboard are great, but for some reason the ones on my bluetooth aluminium are crap...and its meant to be the same?

Airport : Totally agree.

Touch Screens : They are getting there

Its the little things that Apple invent...like Firewire, Mini Displayport etc...that become standard.
 

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
Cool, this looks like a fun game, let me try a few. :D

Mechanical Pencil: Duh, pencil's already existed (now where's that sharpener)
Email: C'mon, ever heard of the Pony Express, no electricity required
Pain Killers: Old news, alcohol's been around like forever!
Calculator: Hello!, abacus
Firearms: Just barely go farther and faster then my trusty slingshot
John Deere: Good ole Betsy and my plough save me a lot on gas
Shoes: Callouses on the feet work just fine, but I have to admit shoes are a slight upgrade

Give me some time and I'll come up with some more. :p
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,556
950
What difference does it make? Making a successful contribution to the marketplace and achieving success for yourself is not restricted to those who come up with never-before-created inventions. In fact, most success stories in history involve those who didn't invent the mousetrap, but built a better one, or found a better way to market it. There's no special value in creating something new; nor is there a diminished value in simply improving something that already exists.

(Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 NIV) "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
 

MTI

macrumors 65816
Feb 17, 2009
1,108
6
Scottsdale, AZ
Mac: PC's exist but Apples are better

Clearly the subject of much debate; they were however the first to build both the OS and hardware, rather than an ala carte solution. IBM's PC-DOS & IBM PC did follow suit for awhile, before the clones entered the market.

iPod: Mp3 players existed but Apple made them better and popular

The big innovation wasn't the iPod so much as it was iTunes. Again, it was the integration of hardware and software that was revolutionary.

Iphone: Mobile Phones existed but apple made them better

Again, it's really the success of the iPod and iTunes that is carrying the day for the iPhone.

mighty mouse: existed but apple made it better

Xerox was the first to bring it to market and the story is legend how Apple borrowed the concept from PARC. Is anyone going to defend Apple's ergonomic catastrophes, like the puck mouse?

keyboard: better

Debatable. I miss the "clicky keyboards" of the PC past, like the original IBM AT keyboard

Airport: better

Really? Considering their price point, do they offer much more utility than other brands?

Touch screens: almost perfected it

Since the iPod Touch and iPhone are the only products, and nearly the same screen . . . who's the competition? There are certainly screens with higher resolution.
 

MTI

macrumors 65816
Feb 17, 2009
1,108
6
Scottsdale, AZ
The first pre-built personal computer was the Apple ][.


You may want to "rethink" that statement?

_42684669_commodore_pet.jpg
 

SactoGuy18

macrumors 601
Sep 11, 2006
4,733
1,798
Sacramento, CA USA
The original iPod WAS a major innovation because for its time, it had an excellent interface and you could store up to 5 GB of music, which was a gigantic leap forward in terms of mass storage on a portable music player.

That leap forward in storage capacity is why most audio podcasts are encoded in 64 kbps data rate MP3 format.
 

MisterMe

macrumors G4
Jul 17, 2002
10,709
69
USA
Mac: PC's exist but Apples are better

Clearly the subject of much debate; they were however the first to build both the OS and hardware, rather than an ala carte solution. IBM's PC-DOS & IBM PC did follow suit for awhile, before the clones entered the market.
The IBM PC should not be in this conversation. IBM entered the personal computer market in 1981, four years after Apple.

iPod: Mp3 players existed but Apple made them better and popular

The big innovation wasn't the iPod so much as it was iTunes. Again, it was the integration of hardware and software that was revolutionary.
The iPod was revolutionary on its own. It is the only MP3 player to be sold by two of Apple's competitors. Dell sold the iPod for a while. Later, HP sold it under a unique double-labeling agreement. Make no mistake, the iPod was huge long before anyone ever heard of iTunes or the iTunes Music Store.

Iphone: Mobile Phones existed but apple made them better

Again, it's really the success of the iPod and iTunes that is carrying the day for the iPhone.
The thing that makes the iPhone so great is the iPhone. iTunes makes it even better, but millions of iPhone users use their phone everyday without ever thinking about iTunes.

Xerox was the first to bring it to market and the story is legend how Apple borrowed the concept from PARC. Is anyone going to defend Apple's ergonomic catastrophes, like the puck mouse?
It is just legend perpetrated by Apple-bashers that the company "borrowed" the Mac GUI from Xerox PARC. The stories are false on several levels. If you want to learn the truth, then you can easily find it. I would love for you to show this forum's members all of Xerox's mouse-driven products on the market in 1983 when the Apple Lisa (aka Macintosh XL) went on sale. As for the mouse, Apple's revolution in the mouse-based interface was the single-button mouse.

...
Since the iPod Touch and iPhone are the only products, and nearly the same screen . . . who's the competition? There are certainly screens with higher resolution.
I am at a loss to even see the point that you are trying to make here. Name the products that allowed the user to type full-language email on a flat panel screen before Apple released the iPhone.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,556
950
They were both made in 1977.

The first complete personal computer was the Commodore PET, introduced in January 1977. It was soon followed by the popular Apple II. (about 3 months later, when the Apple debuted at the first West Coast Computer Faire in April of that year)
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
The first complete personal computer was the Commodore PET, introduced in January 1977. It was soon followed by the popular Apple II. (about 3 months later, when the Apple debuted at the first West Coast Computer Faire in April of that year)

True, however Commodore (base price ~$700) didn't start delivery until October, a few months after Apple (base price ~$1300) in June.

Meantime, in August, Tandy introduced the TRS-80 ($600), which stomped all over everyone by selling 10,000 units in the first month.

(By comparison, it took until 1979 for Apple to sell 35,000 II's in one year.)

It is just legend perpetrated by Apple-bashers that the company "borrowed" the Mac GUI from Xerox PARC.

It is not legend that Xerox sued Apple over it later on.

I would love for you to show this forum's members all of Xerox's mouse-driven products on the market in 1983 when the Apple Lisa (aka Macintosh XL) went on sale.

Xerox Star. From which Apple got the idea for an icon-driven desktop.
 

jaw04005

macrumors 601
Aug 19, 2003
4,571
561
AR
Xerox Star. From which Apple got the idea for an icon-driven desktop.

Which was released in 1981 and cost some $75,000. However, Jobs and Apple’s engineers had already seen the GUI before that around 1979 or so.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,556
950
It is just legend perpetrated by Apple-bashers that the company "borrowed" the Mac GUI from Xerox PARC.
If you think that's legend, you're not very well-read on history. The GUI was introduced at Xerox PARC in the Alto personal computer in 1973, while the Apple Lisa didn't even begin development until 5 years later. Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates visited Xerox PARC in the early days, and both came away with ideas that greatly influenced their companies. To deny this is to stick your head in the sand and say, "My mind's made up! Don't confuse me with the facts!"
 

MTI

macrumors 65816
Feb 17, 2009
1,108
6
Scottsdale, AZ
The IBM PC should not be in this conversation. IBM entered the personal computer market in 1981, four years after Apple.

As already pointed out, there were personal computers, both in kit and assembled form, before the Apple][

Make no mistake, the iPod was huge long before anyone ever heard of iTunes or the iTunes Music Store.

Actually, you are correct about the Store, which debuted after iPod, but iTunes was part of the original iPod box. I believe if you track sales growth, when Apple released iTunes for Windows in Oct 2003, they did start to make a whole lot of moolah.

The thing that makes the iPhone so great is the iPhone. iTunes makes it even better, but millions of iPhone users use their phone everyday without ever thinking about iTunes.

Please, even the best iPhone fan acknowledges that, as a phone, it's "okay" and certainly no credit to the US carrier AT&T.

It is just legend perpetrated by Apple-bashers that the company "borrowed" the Mac GUI from Xerox PARC. The stories are false on several levels. If you want to learn the truth, then you can easily find it. I would love for you to show this forum's members all of Xerox's mouse-driven products on the market in 1983 when the Apple Lisa (aka Macintosh XL) went on sale. As for the mouse, Apple's revolution in the mouse-based interface was the single-button mouse.

The story of PARC is for all to see. BTW, did you also know that Xerox sold a line of dedicated WP machines, but instead of using the mouse they developed. . . it had a touchpad built onto the keyboard! Talk about advanced.

I am at a loss to even see the point that you are trying to make here. Name the products that allowed the user to type full-language email on a flat panel screen before Apple released the iPhone.

Ever heard of Palm or Handspring? Well, have you?
 
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