Is Apple neglecting Macs?

[APlotdevice]

Lets see, little ARM CPU...so there goes performance....

Productivity, pretty much anything you can do on an iPad can be done better on a Net book or Laptop, or desktop if you dont need to be portable.

You bash the performance of ARM processors then you bring up netbooks? Netbooks typically run ATOM processors. These may in some areas have some slight advantages over an ARM processor, but in real world use they are at a serious disadvantage. Why? Because most modern x86 applications are designed with much more powerful processors in mind. In contrast apps designed for ARM devices are optimized for these processors.

Also netbooks screens are far too small to practically run multiple applications side by side.

 

[G51989]

You bash the performance of ARM processors then you bring up netbooks? Netbooks typically run ATOM processors. These may in some areas have some slight advantages over an ARM processor, but in real world use they are at a serious disadvantage. Why? Because most modern x86 applications are designed with much more powerful processors in mind. In contrast apps designed for ARM devices are optimized for these processors.

Also netbooks screens are far too small to practically run multiple applications side by side.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4977864&CatId=2814

Thats why you get a good netbook, not a ****** one.

And yes, the screens are to small, but so are most tablet screens.

Or if you dont mind going up to a 12-13 inch screen, you can get some crazy powerful laptops. For The cost of an iPad 3, I can get myself a laptop that will be far more powerful than an iPad, and have a real OS onboard. And outputs.

I would never limit myself with a tablet personally, a couple of the Windows Tablets and the Surface Pro maybe, I'll probably buy one, then kick myself in the face for not buying a mid range laptop instead.

 

[Michael Goff]

Have fun with your 3 hrs of battery life.

I, on the other hand, will be defying reality (apparently) and I'll continue to do real work with a tablet. Doctors will continue to do real work with a tablet. A lot of writers will keep doing real work with a tablet.

Just because you can't do work at a decent pace on a tablet doesn't mean it can't be done. I can't run a mile in 7 minutes. I won't rush out and say it can't be done, though.

 

[JoeG4]

It seems like a tablet would be fantastic for people doing social jobs (doctors, for example! Salesmen and people that do face-to-face interaction as well) - since not having the screen up in the face blocking the way is nice.

On the other hand, most doctor offices I go to these days have a really low end desktop mounted on the wall (or on a table) such that they can enter in all necessary info without it being too much of a hindrance - I'd guess that those machines cost less than the iPads do, will have fewer accidents, and last longer.

I dunno? The thing for me is that a macbook air, albeit twice is expensive is totally worth the extra $$ to me, and I don't have any justification for a tablet at all. I totally agree though that for some people it's probably friggin awesome.

 

[skaertus]

Have fun with your 3 hrs of battery life.

I, on the other hand, will be defying reality (apparently) and I'll continue to do real work with a tablet. Doctors will continue to do real work with a tablet. A lot of writers will keep doing real work with a tablet.

Just because you can't do work at a decent pace on a tablet doesn't mean it can't be done. I can't run a mile in 7 minutes. I won't rush out and say it can't be done, though.

The functionality is totally different. Lots of things can be done with the iPad, of course. But the iPad offers a limited experience: you can run only one app at a time, and you can only choose among the apps which Apple allows to be run on the iPad. Very limiting. You can do much more with a real computer.

 

[G51989]

Have fun with your 3 hrs of battery life.

My personal netbook has 3GB of Ram, Quad Core Processor, and a half decent GPU, I'll admit. It runs hot, but I have the 12 Cell battery option, try more like 5-6 hours. And thats under load. Not sure what it'll do when its not under load, but much more capable than an iPad.

I, on the other hand, will be defying reality (apparently) and I'll continue to do real work with a tablet. Doctors will continue to do real work with a tablet. A lot of writers will keep doing real work with a tablet.

You can, and writers can, but I can write faster, multi task better, even if I only have 1 program up a t a time, I can use the tool bar to switch between them, very quickly, on a bigger screen. And I'm not limited to what Apple tells me I can run on my machine. I run whatever the **** I want.

Just because you can't do work at a decent pace on a tablet doesn't mean it can't be done. I can't run a mile in 7 minutes. I won't rush out and say it can't be done, though.

In a workplace or business situation, faster the better. The faster I can get things done, it gives me time to accomplish more things faster. Time is money

 

[roadbloc]

A lot of writers will keep doing real work with a tablet.

I'm a writer. And found the iPad pretty much useless for my endeavors. In fact, unless you're having to write whilst walking, I don't see how a tablet without bluetooth keyboard (or Microsoft's keyboard cover thing) can help someone who writes for a living do some 'real work'. I certainly cannot comfortably type on a tablet screen.

 

[brianthandan]

It really seems like The apple company is here to make as much money as they can, and nothing else. The apple company doesn't spread benefits, don't buy costly organizations, don't create costly technology. It just rests on a large heap of cash.

 

[Michael Goff]

I'm a writer. And found the iPad pretty much useless for my endeavors. In fact, unless you're having to write whilst walking, I don't see how a tablet without bluetooth keyboard (or Microsoft's keyboard cover thing) can help someone who writes for a living do some 'real work'. I certainly cannot comfortably type on a tablet screen.

Neither can I, which is why I got a keyboard.

One, though, I typed out a 1k word document with the touch screen. I like using the keyboard more, though.

But everyone else seems to essentially be saying "I can't do work well on here, so it must be impossible" which is really ignorant.

 

[G51989]

It really seems like The apple company is here to make as much money as they can, and nothing else. The apple company doesn't spread benefits, don't buy costly organizations, don't create costly technology. It just rests on a large heap of cash.

Yes, Apple is business. That is their goal. To make money.

 

[mrsir2009]

I'm a writer. And found the iPad pretty much useless for my endeavors. In fact, unless you're having to write whilst walking, I don't see how a tablet without bluetooth keyboard (or Microsoft's keyboard cover thing) can help someone who writes for a living do some 'real work'. I certainly cannot comfortably type on a tablet screen.

+1. My Mum's a writer and she prefers a desktop way over anything else...

 

[skaertus]

+1. My Mum's a writer and she prefers a desktop way over anything else...

A friend of mine said some wise words a few days ago, when seeing me handling my iPad: "this little thing cannot replace a 'small computer', and a 'small computer' cannot replace a 'big computer'".

And that's it. A tablet is not the evolution of the laptop. They are just two different devices. It's a mistake to think that the tablet is the future. A laptop is so much better at a lot of things.

 

[JoeG4]

Am I the only one that thinks carrying around a bluetooth keyboard with an ipad is way more inconvenient than just carrying a macbook air around?

 

[marsmissions]

Outdated hardware and no expandability? And severe reliability issues with the current iMacs?

Oh please.

Go somewhere else.

 

[G51989]

Oh please.

Go somewhere else.

Nah thats ok, I own one of those horrible iMacs. Worst Mac I've ever owned, and I've owned almost a dozen.

 

[skaertus]

Nah thats ok, I own one of those horrible iMacs. Worst Mac I've ever owned, and I've owned almost a dozen.

Really? Why so bad?

 

[throAU]

Have fun with your 3 hrs of battery life.

My HP elitebook 2560 gets 10+ hours of battery life with the 9 cell battery. it also has a keyboard built in, USB ports, e-sata, and runs all x86 software.

 

[G51989]

Really? Why so bad?

Lots of overheating issues, stabilty issues. Runs very very hot, its loud under load, and Ive had hard drive issues, this is actually my 2nd one after apple replaced the first one totally.

Hard drives seem to be the biggest issue with these machines. And I don't blame seagate, most of my drives are seagates, and only the iMac has problems. Problems to the extent that apple is extending the warrenty on all machines, Heat kills.

Its really the first bad Mac I've ever owned.

 

[Michael Goff]

My HP elitebook 2560 gets 10+ hours of battery life with the 9 cell battery. it also has a keyboard built in, USB ports, e-sata, and runs all x86 software.

Isn't the Elitebook an ultra-light and not a netbook?

 

[Krazy Bill]

Is Apple neglecting Macs?

Yes. You've pointed out the obvious reasons. And from a stockholders point of view, Apple is absolutely, positively correct in doing just that. I'm a realist.

That said, I'm on the verge of dumping the OSX platform for good. Regrettably to be sure, but I need both consumerism AND something that works in the Enterprise market. Apple has made it clear which segment butters their bread so I basically give up.

My Snow Leopard machine has about another 8 months life in it. Just enough time to see iOSX 10.9 come out with more useless crap "baked in" for the social media crowd to ogle over. And god only knows what new restrictions developers will be held to this time.

I'll be looking at the plethora of Win8 tablets/ultra-books next summer. I doubt they'll have the build quality I'm accustomed to but one thing Apple has taught me is their products look so good and are built so well you learn how to take care of them.

OSX was a nice ride and I'll miss the trackpad.

 

[karsten]

Yes. You've pointed out the obvious reasons. And from a stockholders point of view, Apple is absolutely, positively correct in doing just that. I'm a realist.

That said, I'm on the verge of dumping the OSX platform for good. Regrettably to be sure, but I need both consumerism AND something that works in the Enterprise market. Apple has made it clear which segment butters their bread so I basically give up.

My Snow Leopard machine has about another 8 months life in it. Just enough time to see iOSX 10.9 come out with more useless crap "baked in" for the social media crowd to ogle over. And god only knows what new restrictions developers will be held to this time.

I'll be looking at the plethora of Win8 tablets/ultra-books next summer. I doubt they'll have the build quality I'm accustomed to but one thing Apple has taught me is their products look so good and are built so well you learn how to take care of them.

OSX was a nice ride and I'll miss the trackpad.

or you can have the best of both worlds; get a macbook pro and put windows on it. that way you get your build quality.

 

[skaertus]

Yes. You've pointed out the obvious reasons. And from a stockholders point of view, Apple is absolutely, positively correct in doing just that. I'm a realist.

That said, I'm on the verge of dumping the OSX platform for good. Regrettably to be sure, but I need both consumerism AND something that works in the Enterprise market. Apple has made it clear which segment butters their bread so I basically give up.

My Snow Leopard machine has about another 8 months life in it. Just enough time to see iOSX 10.9 come out with more useless crap "baked in" for the social media crowd to ogle over. And god only knows what new restrictions developers will be held to this time.

I'll be looking at the plethora of Win8 tablets/ultra-books next summer. I doubt they'll have the build quality I'm accustomed to but one thing Apple has taught me is their products look so good and are built so well you learn how to take care of them.

OSX was a nice ride and I'll miss the trackpad.

I totally agree with you.

 

[phoenixsan]

Well, IMHO, Apple is a business and a technology company. So Apple is doing the better for their businesses.....putting money where the money is flowing. Neglecting? Can be or maybe they have another priorities.

 

[skaertus]

or you can have the best of both worlds; get a macbook pro and put windows on it. that way you get your build quality.

Best of both worlds? Pfff...

OS X is becoming a joke. Look at the features added in OS X Mountain Lion. Messages? Game Center? I found the new features of OS X Lion lacking, but I have absolutely no words to describe the disgrace that is Mountain Lion.

Windows 8 may be a very awkward piece of software, but at least you can see that Microsoft packed it with features (other than the horrible new interface) and put some effort on it. Apple is not even putting an effort in the OS X.

The build quality of the Macs is still very good. The MacBook Pro with a retina display is great, but it is the only Mac worth a look right now. The other MacBook Pros are a joke and I dare to say that even the MacBook Airs have become better machines than these supposed high end computers, after all those years without a real update. All the other Macs other than the rMBP are obsolete constructions which have been already superseded by PC counterparts. And other manufacturers will soon catch up with the retina Macs too.

Sorry, I'm in a bad day. I'm not usually so hard on things...

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Well, IMHO, Apple is a business and a technology company. So Apple is doing the better for their businesses.....putting money where the money is flowing. Neglecting? Can be or maybe they have another priorities.

Yes, they do have other priorities. And they prioritize some things and neglect others. That's business. Apple has the right to do that. And I have the right to choose a Windows laptop as my next computer and leave the Mac to die in the rain alone.

 

[APlotdevice]

OS X is becoming a joke. Look at the features added in OS X Mountain Lion. Messages? Game Center? I found the new features of OS X Lion lacking, but I have absolutely no words to describe the disgrace that is Mountain Lion.

Windows 8 may be a very awkward piece of software, but at least you can see that Microsoft packed it with features (other than the horrible new interface) and put some effort on it. Apple is not even putting an effort in the OS X.

You are comparing an OS that came out one year after its predecessor with one that is coming out three years after its. It only makes sense that the latter is going to have more features.