In all fairness, today's tech industry is a bit different from when Steve Jobs was in command. Consumers are extremely fickle, brand-whores, & the Stock Market is extremely sensitive to....social media culture. Yes, Jobs was a maverick but that was when many of today's most-coveted devices were in early stages of development or hadn't been fully conceptualized. And that's where Jobs took advantage of the available tech during his time.

Apple is able to ride the rollercoaster of social acceptance & stay in a position of having luxury-like status such that they can command top pricing for whatever they make. But as Apple's record for innovation starts to fade, consumers are starting to wonder "why" they even chose an Apple product initially. However, their products are still desirable (asspirational) to the youngest set of consumers who just simply wants to own an iPhone - just to be in the "cool kids squad".

QuoteI thought Apple lagged behind when it comes to hardware. Unless you are looking at it from an aesthetic viewpoint, PC hardware is much ahead of what Apple has traditionally offered in their Mac lineup.

Not really; they pioneered a lot of stuff that is ubiquitous now, such as USB, FireWire and Thunderbolt, as well as the concept of AIOs, thin form factor laptops (and tablets and phones), backlit keys, magnetic power connectors, high Res displays and graphics, capacitive touchscreens, even the mouse FFS!

I know journalists nowadays tend to hype up Apple as "the most innovative company of the 21st century", normally based on nothing more than the iPhone and Apple's accomplishments in aesthetic design, but when you scratch the surface, the claim does, in fact, hold true.

Apple have unquestionably been the most innovative and influential consumer technology for the last 50 years or so.

Quote from: briceio on March 25, 2019, 06:15:16
So true. That's why I left Apple after almost 15 years with only Apple products. The most borring for me is lack of software innovation. I understand why their hardware are pricy - I mean just try to find something equivalent in the "PC" world... you won't - but no excuse for no software innovation. Their is a LOT of new features they could provide but nothing seems to come anymore.

I thought Apple lagged behind when it comes to hardware. Unless you are looking at it from an aesthetic viewpoint, PC hardware is much ahead of what Apple has traditionally offered in their Mac lineup.

Quoting my colleague few minutes ago:

"Cook's Apple is the basic ignorant white people of tech right now."

So true. That's why I left Apple after almost 15 years with only Apple products. The most borring for me is lack of software innovation. I understand why their hardware are pricy - I mean just try to find something equivalent in the "PC" world... you won't - but no excuse for no software innovation. Their is a LOT of new features they could provide but nothing seems to come anymore.

Airpods are on a league of its own, iPhone X made all phones get a notch. Apple Watch has like a 90% marketshare and iPads have like a 90% marketshare... lol nobody to compete with.

"Asleep at the wheel" is a bit harsh. Tim Cook is doing what shareholders want, sustaining a profitable business built up from about a decade of disruption and growth under Jobs.

Since we almost all own Apple directly or indirectly, have a look at your Mutual Funds and and Pension plans, that's a reasonable tact.

To oversimplify, there are two kinds of CEOs; builders and maintainers.

Apple had a great builder and an equally great maintainer.

It will become more obvious when the next person takes over apple and rams the company into the rocks.

I agree with the boring part. And while I have lots of Apple tech right now, when it all needs replacing in a couple of years I imagine I'll be trying products from different vendors.

While there are a couple of good points, the view on the ipads is very superficial.
What they have done is reasonable or even smart.
They are segmenting the ipad line into 3 categories (budget, 9.7, soon to become 10.2), mid-range (mini and air) and pro.
You are complaining that they didnt go with the pro design
1. First, they need to segment to justify prices.
2. The air made no sense in the pro range (since the 10.5 inches was replaced by the 11), the mini could have been pro, but at the very least it would be 599 (or 699) for the base version with the pro design. And up to over 1000 for more storage and 4G. And now you would be writing insteand on how Apple has gone crazy with prices.
3. In addition to prices, a mini pro would have other issues:
a: the new design is more fragile and less durable
b: no headphone jack, likely
c: usability issues, as the mini needs the side bezels in landscape mode to hold with 1 hand, and palm rejection only works on the home screen, not in apps or browsers  (try putting your tumb on the screen while you browse)
Dd: most mini buyers are old mini owners (especially mini 4). With the old design you can reuse mini 4 accessories such as cases, covers, keyboards (some of the best ones like the brydge, cost over 100) and other lightning accessories (some music accessories are very expensive). You can also have an old pro with pencil and even if you need to buy it's cheaper new and even more if used.
So while you are bored (who cares) many ipad mini buyers are happy and can have a much more powerful device at a reasonable price, while reusing their gear and having at last the possibility of using the pencil with a mini ipad.

Thats so true  :-[