So today I was watching the unveiling of the 2008 unibody MBP for fun since it was in my recommended videos on YouTube, and after watching through the first half hour or so, a thought struck me. I noticed that Apple was removing a lot of ports such as FireWire and they didn't add a BluRay drive even when everyone wanted it. I decided to come to MR Forums and look through the archives to find the 2008 MBP media event coverage to see what people's reactions were. After taking a read, here's what I found:
People are complaining about the same things now as they were back then. Notice how all of the people are complaining about the removal of ports? Wow, same thing is happening now! Take a look at how many people are complaining about Apple's pricing and how Apple is going to "price themselves out of the market." I've read loads of the same types of comments now about the 2016 MBP. Tons of people were complaining about Apple's decision to include less than desktop class GPUs and how Apple was focusing more on battery life then on performance. Guess what, the same comments are around again now that the 2016 MBP is out. Even back then, people were complaining about how bad Apple was getting and how they had abandoned the Pro market entirely since the Mac Pro wasn't as good as comparable Windows machines and they removed ports and raised prices of the MBP/MBA. There were people who had gone out and purchased a Windows machine because "the Mac is falling behind and is not a good value." Again, I'm seeing the same types of posts all the time around here now, as well. Oh, and of course there were lots of the "Sell your shares now, Apple's doomed" types of posts which are consistently around as well. You get the idea
It's funny how this seems to happen every time Apple refreshes any of their computers. So many people hate on them and point out every flaw in them without actually using them first. I won't lie, I was initially disappointed in the new MBP based on the price and the lack of some ports, but guess what? Apple has done this in the past and, based on history, they seem to know what they are doing. After letting the initial annoyance wear off, I actually quite like the new MBP, and if I were in the market, it would be at the top of my list. I do believe that the pricing of the new MBP is a little too high, but if history repeats itself, the next generation MBP will drop in price, just like what happened with the original $1300 MBA which dropped in price after a generation or two down to a normal, more affordable price. I'm not here suggesting that new the new MBP is flawless and perfect in every way, because it isn't, but I'm simply making the point that Apple knows what they are doing. Sure, port removal and price increases are irritating to a number of consumers, but Apple is no stranger to this. They've done it many times throughout the last 20 years, and they are still not afraid to do it. People will complain, people will be bitter for awhile, but in the end, I'd bet that Apple knows what they are doing.
* https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-october-2008-notebook-media-event-coverage.580326/ *
People are complaining about the same things now as they were back then. Notice how all of the people are complaining about the removal of ports? Wow, same thing is happening now! Take a look at how many people are complaining about Apple's pricing and how Apple is going to "price themselves out of the market." I've read loads of the same types of comments now about the 2016 MBP. Tons of people were complaining about Apple's decision to include less than desktop class GPUs and how Apple was focusing more on battery life then on performance. Guess what, the same comments are around again now that the 2016 MBP is out. Even back then, people were complaining about how bad Apple was getting and how they had abandoned the Pro market entirely since the Mac Pro wasn't as good as comparable Windows machines and they removed ports and raised prices of the MBP/MBA. There were people who had gone out and purchased a Windows machine because "the Mac is falling behind and is not a good value." Again, I'm seeing the same types of posts all the time around here now, as well. Oh, and of course there were lots of the "Sell your shares now, Apple's doomed" types of posts which are consistently around as well. You get the idea
It's funny how this seems to happen every time Apple refreshes any of their computers. So many people hate on them and point out every flaw in them without actually using them first. I won't lie, I was initially disappointed in the new MBP based on the price and the lack of some ports, but guess what? Apple has done this in the past and, based on history, they seem to know what they are doing. After letting the initial annoyance wear off, I actually quite like the new MBP, and if I were in the market, it would be at the top of my list. I do believe that the pricing of the new MBP is a little too high, but if history repeats itself, the next generation MBP will drop in price, just like what happened with the original $1300 MBA which dropped in price after a generation or two down to a normal, more affordable price. I'm not here suggesting that new the new MBP is flawless and perfect in every way, because it isn't, but I'm simply making the point that Apple knows what they are doing. Sure, port removal and price increases are irritating to a number of consumers, but Apple is no stranger to this. They've done it many times throughout the last 20 years, and they are still not afraid to do it. People will complain, people will be bitter for awhile, but in the end, I'd bet that Apple knows what they are doing.
* https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-october-2008-notebook-media-event-coverage.580326/ *
