Interesting Read from 9to5

[Flow39]

Nice opinion piece by Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac. Hit a lot of points I agree with. I still really like Apple, but it's hard to not notice some of these things he points out, especially how greedy Apple is getting.

http://9to5mac.com/2015/10/19/opinion-aapl-greedy-steve-jobs/#comments

 

[Flow39]

A little heads up, this is not me claiming that Apple is doomed; it's simply just an interesting read about the direction Apple is going right now.

 

[BrianBaughn]

A little heads up, this is not me claiming that Apple is doomed; it's simply just an interesting read about the direction Apple is going right now.

It seems to me the things he's complaining about, "insufficient" RAM, storage space on the cheapest models etc., is what Apple has always done. They've also made abrupt hardware changes in the past (no floppy, no dvd) that have generated the same type of response.

That article isn't kooky enough for the Macalope though it's the kind he loves.

 

[jermy4]

My first apple device was the original iPhone so I don't really know all the history behind apple's past problems vs the apple of today but they do seem to push people up the cost ladder on purpose. The other thing that most people seem to overlook is when Steve came back he killed off a lot of products because apple was just selling way too many different products. He wanted them to have a small product portfolio of great products. Since his death the product portfolio has started to bloat, we have 2 different size iPhones, 3 different sized iPads, etc.

 

[phrehdd]

My first apple device was the original iPhone so I don't really know all the history behind apple's past problems vs the apple of today but they do seem to push people up the cost ladder on purpose. The other thing that most people seem to overlook is when Steve came back he killed off a lot of products because apple was just selling way too many different products. He wanted them to have a small product portfolio of great products. Since his death the product portfolio has started to bloat, we have 2 different size iPhones, 3 different sized iPads, etc.

I fully understand your point but alas, the market also has changed considerably given that there is far more competition out there than before from other makers and operating systems. As for the first iPhone, it was "cool" but a dreadful experience for me when it came to opening up web pages. Many other folks I know have said similar.

Apple, is getting greedy and is forcing a market plan upon its "loyal" followers as well as depending on the image they created of devices that are cool, work well etc. Both are wearing quite thin these days as frustration mounts with many of us Mac device users.

I admit I get a kick out of how they do form over function and tell us what we need and don't need to help justify their decisions. EVERY Mac user I know personally has a disc reader. The difference is they had to buy it after their Apple purchase rather than have it incorporated into the product as it was before. Then again, we have seen software changes that do absolutely nothing to improve the experience of certain apps (like iTunes). Rather than incorporating new features or making features work better, they screw around with the interface to the point of diminished returns.

 

[Qbnkelt]

Interesting read. I don't feel that Apple is pushing me up the cost ladder. They just lowered my cost for iCloud storage by a third. I'm happy about that. They've doubled my on board storage. Honestly can't recall what the 64GB was. If the costs are not to my liking I can always go for another device but their quality just doesn't appeal to me in the same way. I'm happy with what I'm getting for what I'm spending.

 

[jermy4]

I fully understand your point but alas, the market also has changed considerably given that there is far more competition out there than before from other makers and operating systems. As for the first iPhone, it was "cool" but a dreadful experience for me when it came to opening up web pages. Many other folks I know have said similar.

Apple, is getting greedy and is forcing a market plan upon its "loyal" followers as well as depending on the image they created of devices that are cool, work well etc. Both are wearing quite thin these days as frustration mounts with many of us Mac device users.

I admit I get a kick out of how they do form over function and tell us what we need and don't need to help justify their decisions. EVERY Mac user I know personally has a disc reader. The difference is they had to buy it after their Apple purchase rather than have it incorporated into the product as it was before. Then again, we have seen software changes that do absolutely nothing to improve the experience of certain apps (like iTunes). Rather than incorporating new features or making features work better, they screw around with the interface to the point of diminished returns.

It's funny you mention the optical drive because since prices stayed pretty similar when they dropped that feature it was essentially a price hike for most folks who purchased an external drive. It's kind of like the 16GB->64GB deal with iPhones and now iPads, it makes it easier for the customers to justify spending an extra $100 for extra storage since you get 4x the storage for that money. I was used to just buying the newest iPhone when my contract was up but last year I really struggled since they had made 2 different sized phones. Ultimately I ended up with a 64GB 6+ which means apple got $950 from me after I bought applecare+.

 

[phrehdd]

Interesting read. I don't feel that Apple is pushing me up the cost ladder. They just lowered my cost for iCloud storage by a third. I'm happy about that. They've doubled my on board storage. Honestly can't recall what the 64GB was. If the costs are not to my liking I can always go for another device but their quality just doesn't appeal to me in the same way. I'm happy with what I'm getting for what I'm spending.

Cost of "service" is not quite the same as cost of devices. Apple has to heavily compete with other cloud services these days and the iPhone, iPad as well as iMac depend largely on "image" /name recognition as well as loyal lemming followers who continue to simply by these products because it is Apple or has the "cool factor." I would be remiss to not mention that the latter products are highly form over function but what function they do, they do very well. Plenty has been said here and elsewhere how several things appear disappointing with some of the Apple products.