Is Apple running out of ideas?

[Retina MacBook]

Leopard was the biggest leap in OS X's history. Then Snow Leopard barely had anything new, just refinements. Lion had a UI tweak and Mountain Lion has a bunch of Apps.

Let's face it - Mountain Lion isn't shockingly amazing. No one would camp outside the Apple Store just to grab a USB of ML.

But Mountain Lion is a good upgrade, just not much over Lion.

Is Apple running out of ideas?

 

[MacDawg]

I seriously doubt their well has run dry on ideas

Technology always evolves and goes in cycles
Sometimes in giant leaps
Sometimes incrementally

I am sure they have some things in R&D

 

[Vorlox]

Tiger=Probably the prettiest and fastest Version of OS X

Snow Leopard=Probably the best overall!

Mountain Lion(As of yet)=Good but unfortunately has no real new things except a lack of support for a LOT of software.

Who knows what apple will have thought of by OS XI 11.0 Giraffe...

 

[ixodes]

I believe Apple is staffed with very creative people.

Now that the man that took credit for everything has left, I've heard that Apple employee moral has truly improved. Not that it was particularly bad before, let's just say it was a bit suppressed.

The only concern I have, is based solely on recent product releases and the apparent (if true) lack of a freshly revamped iPhone. I'm not sure just how the narrow, longer display will be received. I'm sure it will sell very well, after all it's the Apple Hype Machine that lures people in.

That said, the question that lingers in my mind is just how much _better_ would a fresh, new, slightly wider and proportional iPhone have done in the market place?

 

[daneoni]

*sigh* You guys and the unrealistic and unreasonable expectations you heap on this company.

I hope you realise that it is still a company run by Humans not Unicorns, Magical Elves or Fairies with Pixie Dust.

You guys sound like addicts waiting for the next 'fix' from your dealer.

 

[iVeBeenDrinkin']

What do you want your os to do? Cook for you? OSX is by far the most superior OS available.

 

[rorschach]

Leopard was the biggest leap in OS X's history. Then Snow Leopard barely had anything new, just refinements. Lion had a UI tweak and Mountain Lion has a bunch of Apps.

Let's face it - Mountain Lion isn't shockingly amazing. No one would camp outside the Apple Store just to grab a USB of ML.

But Mountain Lion is a good upgrade, just not much over Lion.

Is Apple running out of ideas?

I'll repost something I wrote a few months ago about this:

How much more big innovations are going to happen on desktop OSes? The desktop has simply matured to the point where there's just not much more you can do.

It's all about mobile now. Actually, for Apple it's more than that. It's about keeping everything in sync. This is exactly what was meant when Steve talked about the Mac being demoted to "just another device." It won't matter what device you're on, whether it's your Mac, your iPhone, your iPad. All your data will be there.

That's the future.

Quite frankly, there's not much that I'm personally missing from operating systems these days, feature-wise.

Both Windows and OS X have matured to the point where each release is not going to be a massive update with dozens of big new features. And Mountain Lion's price reflects this: it's $19. Apple is switching to the iOS model for OS X updates: yearly, incremental, and cheap.

 

[million7]

How bout this for a new idea/big leap, what if when apple gets to OS 11.x they announce they'll be discontinuing software development for their mac line and will be focusing all their efforts on iOS.

 

[Jonx]

I don't know, perhaps back then there was no iOS and iOS devices so Macs and OSX got all the attention, nowadays it's split between the two. Hopefully OSX's future is bright and wont turn into or abandoned in favour of iOS.

 

[MisterMe]

Leopard was the biggest leap in OS X's history. ...

This is an awfully big assertion for someone to make without hint of the criteria he is basing his assertion on. Leopard was Apple's first UNIX 03-certified operating system. This is a huge deal in a lot of respects. I mean that is a good way. However, Leopard was also the first version of MacOS X that did not support Classic. For someone whose first experience with MacOS X was OS X 10.7.3, that means nothing. For someone who has files dating back to cave paintings, it can be an issue.

To the ordinary user who only cares about the work that his/her computer allows him/her to do, I contend that Leopard is an evolutionary step. Lion, which changed the MacOS X UI, was a bigger step. Show me the errors in my analysis.

 

[mrsir2009]

How bout this for a new idea/big leap, what if when apple gets to OS 11.x they announce they'll be discontinuing software development for their mac line and will be focusing all their efforts on iOS.

How bout this for a new idea/big leap, what if Tim Cook shoots himself in the foot?

 

[Retina MacBook]

This is an awfully big assertion for someone to make without hint of the criteria he is basing his assertion on. Leopard was Apple's first UNIX 03-certified operating system. This is a huge deal in a lot of respects. I mean that is a good way. However, Leopard was also the first version of MacOS X that did not support Classic. For someone whose first experience with MacOS X was OS X 10.7.3, that means nothing. For someone who has files dating back to cave paintings, it can be an issue.

To the ordinary user who only cares about the work that his/her computer allows him/her to do, I contend that Leopard is an evolutionary step. Lion, which changed the MacOS X UI, was a bigger step. Show me the errors in my analysis.

Classic was useless, anyway. Barely anyone had a file that is from the time of the dinosaurs. And it really was time to go. And that's why Apple also abandoned PPC on Snow Leopard, and Rosetta on Lion. Forget them. It's not like you're working with them til today.

The UI is just the buttons and the scroll bar. Not much, compared to tiger vs. leopard. Now, that's huge.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Leopard was the biggest leap in OS X's history. Then Snow Leopard barely had anything new, just refinements. Lion had a UI tweak and Mountain Lion has a bunch of Apps.

Let's face it - Mountain Lion isn't shockingly amazing. No one would camp outside the Apple Store just to grab a USB of ML.

But Mountain Lion is a good upgrade, just not much over Lion.

Is Apple running out of ideas?

What does their patent portfolio say to you?

 

[Photics]

Let's face it - Mountain Lion isn't shockingly amazing. No one would camp outside the Apple Store just to grab a USB of ML.

I generally don't camp outside for any products, but I'm really excited about Mountain Lion. It's cheap and it adds great features.

I think the addition of Game Center is huge, as the Mac is not really known as a gaming platform. I'm looking forward to iMessage, as I'll be able to send free messages to iOS devices and Macs. That's great... because AIM usage seems to have waned.

I'm looking forward to iCloud features, like reminders and notes. I'm also looking forward to testing out the new dictation feature.

Plus, I was cheap. I didn't upgrade my Mac Mini to Lion. I'm basically saving $29.99 (plus tax) by skipping it.

Snow Leopard=Probably the best overall!

Mountain Lion(As of yet)=Good but unfortunately has no real new things except a lack of support for a LOT of software.

I really like Snow Leopard. I don't like the loss of Rosetta. Although, since I really wasn't using it, I'm getting ready to upgrade to Mountain Lion.

 

[million7]

How bout this for a new idea/big leap, what if Tim Cook shoots himself in the foot?

Mindblown!

 

[Krazy Bill]

Is Apple running out of ideas?

As implied in another post... it's all about iOS. OSX has about one more version, then it's all going to be merged.

 

[MacDawg]

As implied in another post... it's all about iOS. OSX has about one more version, then it's all going to be merged.

I don't see them ever being completely merged
Too many hurdles until we have enough advancements to do the type things we see in the movies with virtual screens and holograms

 

[TheGdog]

As implied in another post... it's all about iOS. OSX has about one more version, then it's all going to be merged.

I highly doubt it will be merged. That would be a software nightmare to pull off.
OSX has reached a point where it very mature and the only thing really left is cloud integration. iOS is getting most of the attention because it has only begun in terms of ability and function. Apple has promised yearly updates to OSX. Apple is not getting rid of OSX, but its to a point where it does not need as much attention.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Tiger=Probably the prettiest and fastest Version of OS X

Snow Leopard=Probably the best overall!

Mountain Lion(As of yet)=Good but unfortunately has no real new things except a lack of support for a LOT of software.

Who knows what apple will have thought of by OS XI 11.0 Giraffe...

Tiger is in NO way prettier than Leopard, SL, Lion, ML.

 

[nuckinfutz]

As implied in another post... it's all about iOS. OSX has about one more version, then it's all going to be merged.

No it will not

 

[MisterMe]

Classic was useless, anyway.

How would you know? I'd bet dollars to donuts that you don't have a clue.

Barely anyone had a file that is from the time of the dinosaurs. ...

Do you actually believe that people threw away their old mission-critical files?

But I digress... You still have not supported your contention that Leopard was the biggest leap in MacOS X. It is worth noting that no one has yet supported your contention.

 

[PlaceofDis]

out of ideas? certainly not. i think as time goes on we'll see less 'features' as consumers but developers will be the ones to get the features though APIs and the like which lets them create better, more integrated applications. and i think thats were the real growth has been and will continue with a few tweaks here and there for the everyday consumer.

 

[pdjudd]

As implied in another post... it's all about iOS. OSX has about one more version, then it's all going to be merged.

Cite please. I’ll give you a hint that version numbers aren’t necessarily decimals.

 

[50548]

Leopard was the biggest leap in OS X's history. Then Snow Leopard barely had anything new, just refinements. Lion had a UI tweak and Mountain Lion has a bunch of Apps.

Let's face it - Mountain Lion isn't shockingly amazing. No one would camp outside the Apple Store just to grab a USB of ML.

But Mountain Lion is a good upgrade, just not much over Lion.

Is Apple running out of ideas?

The answer is an easy YES. Ever since SL, Mac OS X is nothing more than a bunch of patches - almost ZERO exciting and/or innovative under-the-hood or visible features.

No new/revamped Finder, no new file system, no mindblowing interface changes, no major codec support measures etc.

And with SJ down, the hopes of Apple refocusing on OS X with a team of TRUE geniuses are virtually nonexistent. In the meantime, ordinary customers may jump up and down about the latest integration of "reminders" into OS X...while longtime users cringe with disappointment.

 

[pmau]

Totally agree.

Since Apple has spent so much time on developing iOS and the infrastructure for the App Stores, they have totally left out fundamental new ideas in the area of base technologies.

Filesystem (clustered with "cloud" support)

Drivers (Mac once was capable of driving external hardware, nowadays noone cares anymore if it's not USB carp)

Graphics Techoloogy (No real advances in OpenGL, Quartz is years old, no real resolution independence)

What I call "mobile identity", don't migrate files, migrate abstract profiles to different devices.

Apple has told us so often that fileszstems are outdated, but the only thing they come up with is blobs in an sqlite database hidden on every volume.

Networked Spotlight, I mean the real thing, Internet enabled.

IPv6 private networks whereever you are.
Back To My Mac was a great idea, but they dropped it because of interface gimmicks.

I could go on for hours. There's no innovation at all regarding the core system.

Only shinnier hardware specs and people telling us we don't need to cahnge anything because next year we buy the latest crap anyways.

I own a MacPro and will keep it until hell freezes over.

Amen, whoever started that topic, yeah absolutly right.
Apple is loosing it.

(I will NEVER buy that Retina MBP.... NEVER... And I have a job and could afford it)