I miss the old Apple.

[macs4nw]

.....Those were spreadsheet machines, not Facebook machines.
They were machines (with all their flaws) for people with an actual job.
For neon-lit offices, rather than Starbucks. 9-to-5, rather than 5-to-11PM.
Machines to go with a real car rather than a sweatshirt and an emo haircut.
Machines to go with an Omega Speedmaster rather than an Apple Watch.....

It sounds like you just miss the old days, and not Apple specifically. Nothing wrong with that btw.

 

[PITFALLPat]

Does it count that I had a PowerMac G4 with a Zip-drive that didn't have a physical eject button?! Oh, yes, and the hockey-puck mouse

It's hard to root for any organization run by Gil Amelio...

The advent of the iPhone was the watershed moment. (with the iMac, iPod and OS X being important though lesser predecessor events). The Apple user crowd that existed before that moment was much different than today's user base.

True Apple cred =

Being criticized because your floppy ejects without the use of a physical button.
Using PICT files or System 7 Sound formats.
Having bought a new Mac with just one mouse button (extra points for the hockey puck)
Explaining how your 25Mhz 68040 is just as fast as a 66Mhz 486DX2

...and so forth.

 

[Bubble99]

I remember getting off work early to get in line for the first iPhone. Someone offered to pay me $330 for my spot in line. I said no. I wanted that iPhone. It was so happy to have it. Compared to my Motorola Razor it was like trading in a moped for a spaceship.

Fast forward to today, nothing really hits that mark. I feel like Apple is slowly moving away from the era of where the "crazy ones" rethought technology to a company that re-packages technology into a store that sells it next to the Gucci store. I can't remember the last time I felt excitement over an Apple product and still felt the same excitement after purchase. I got an Apple Watch but it doesn't really do that much. I got the iPhone 6, but at the end of the day it's really just a larger version of the predecessor.

The new MacBooks are just a pretty version of a crappy computer (720 camera, really?!), the Music service seems like just a distraction, and the iPads desperately need more functionality in my opinion.

Here's the kicker. Microsoft is a on a roll. If you asked me 5 years ago if I was thinking of buying a computer I'd say "hell no". Have you seen the Surface? It's calling my name. Google also has something going on with the Android. Several years ago any app out there was more often than not on Apple only, but today I am seeing a lot more Android apps and their App Store isn't just filled with a bunch of garbage anymore. By the way, have you seen Google Project Fi? So tempting.

Amiright?!

Normally this is what happens when company gets really big that is part of capitalism.

Look at Ford, GM and Chrysler nothing really amazing coming out every year just really small upgrades.

Look at Microsoft in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's all the range than stagnated than Apple got really big and Microsoft PC's sales and every thing gone way down!! And now Microsoft is getting there act together. But Apple is getting to big and cannot even keep up on yearly updates on their products!!

 

[maflynn]

But Apple is getting to big and cannot even keep up on yearly updates on their products!!

I think one impediment is the fact that Apple is organized as a small start up. So instead of having a completely separate division for macs with its own designers and programmers they have teams that work on the Mac. Now when the iPhone development bogs dow, Apple shuffles the personal, taking Mac people to work on the iPhone.

This worked well for a while, but now both iOS and OS X products are suffering. While there certainly can be downsides to creating seperate divisions to work on Macs and iphones I think the current business model that Apple employees is not working to meet the needs of everyone.

 

[JMacHack]

Look at Ford, GM and Chrysler nothing really amazing coming out every year just really small upgrades.

Oh I beg to differ, look at the advancement of cam-phasing and direct injection technology, and the advent of sequential and variable turbo and supercharger systems, plus the 10-speed transmissions that Ford and GM collaborated on. This also neglects to mention the incredible advancements in entertainment and safety as well. We now have 600 horsepower cars that will get 20 miles to the gallon on gas you can get from any station. Cars can now answer phone calls, read texts to you, and in the case of GM's new directive, offer wi-fi services.

To the average layman the automobile hasn't really advanced in 100 years, to anyone who takes a more cursory look into them, they've advanced hundreds since the 80's, and eons since the 00's.

 

[hawkeye_a]

I totally agree. That was the range of OS on which I was introduced to the Macintosh. My first experience was using it in yearbook publication in high school. We had a PowerMac 6500. WOW - when you fired it up, it had a built-in sub-woofer and the start-up chime was thunderous (it was awesome)!

For me, it was in the early 90s. We had gotten a new PC running DOS, and a friend had picked up a IIsi. I'll never forget seeing the Mac desktop for the first time.... the 'Trash Can'(the look of it, and how it changed when full or empty) won me over right away.... not to mention the whole desktop metaphor.

I can't put my finger on it, but there was just a lot unique culture in those OS'. I want to watch Pirates of Silicon Valley again now

Cheers

 

[hawkeye_a]

It seems to me, that when we discuss 'old' Apple vs 'new' Apple, or Steve Jobs' Apple vs Tim Cook's Apple, we tend to think it is about direction, image, or the products or platforms.

I personally think it's about the difference in "personality/culture" of their products. It's hard to describe and quantify but the 'old' Apple had a very personal/"home"-user focus in terms of industrial design and software look-n-feel. Now a days it seems almost sterile, void of any meaningful culture... utilitarian almost, at most 'hipster/pop-culture'. The products seem like products from just-another-tech-company. IMHO

 

[kazmac]

They are definitely not the same company I spent a small fortune on because I adored their computers and how easy & fun they were to use. I came in a few years before the original g3 iMacs, and through using Apple, I learned Photoshop, HTML and web design. I couldn't wait to get home and fire up my iMacs and create. I loved my iPhones up until the 6, and I absolutely adore the Apple Pencil, miss it terribly. I regret not buying a 2012 Mac Mini as that would have been perfect for my needs now.

I loathe the form over function, overpriced elitism, bone-headed decisions, reliance on streaming & services and the just doesn't work reality now. How can they not have a dedicated team on MacOS?

That said, it breaks my heart to even consider leaving completely. I'd throw Apple quite a bit of money right now, in spite of the December stupidity/vindictiveness, if I knew I could create offline, not worry about bugs and have my movies and writing software available to me at all times.

Yes, I loved the products this company made and I dislike being such a :$(@! about my woes over the past 3+ years. When I have to think about -much less fight- the tech I use to create, I stop creating.

Apple certainly isn't doomed, but they have left this 20 year user in an uncertain space.