The Macintosh Is Dead

[rubaiyat]

Come on guys step back and see the forest.

The Mac if not gone, is just a ghost fading into the scenery.

A lot of the changes Apple made with OSX were not only pointless but counter productive and spiteful.

At the heart of the matter is that they killed the intuitivity and rules for user-centric design. Everytime I hunt for a hidden function in OSX or an iLife app or get snared on yet another inconsistency I curse my screen and scream, "Hey, haven't you guys ever used a Mac before?"

The Dock is a very pretty absurdity no more no less.

Steps like bringing out computers, the original iMacs and G4s, with no means of saving or backing up to extractable media other than on another computer which is better equipped, beggars belief.

This is where Macfans get jeered at by PC users who recognise the same frivilous showy design ethic as "Designer" shops full of flashy letter openers and business card holders. Style over substance, where the Mac once had both.

Currently the Mac is being neglected yet again whilst Steve chases another "revolutionary" product, the iPhone and Apple TV, neither of which are in fact that revolutionary, functional or available.

Revolutionary would be Apple putting the polish back into OSX and its iLife products that once were in MacOS and the software built for it. I'm not holding my breath though, I think Apple has progressively lost interest in the product line that now makes up less than half of its income stream.

To sum it up when Apple turned to OSX it also turned to the "Springfield monorail", the cliched "future" from the past. It is still the unfriendly OS under the "friendly" coat of paint. It didn't help that the NEXT paperhangers didn't have their hearts in the redecoration job.

[Ferdinand]

Originally Posted by rubaiyat

Currently the Mac is being neglected yet again whilst Steve chases another "revolutionary" product, the iPhone and Apple TV, neither of which are in fact that revolutionary, functional or available.

He has a point there you know. The iPhone and Apple TV arent available yet - so actually the only product that _is_ available is the new AirPort. Other than that nothing is out yet.

[fryke]

Then again, you don't _really_ believe the Mac's being neglected for, say, the whole year, right?

[rubaiyat]

We are only just into February, of course the Mac isn't going to get neglected for the whole year, but that is still to me a lot of delays and missed opportunities.

Rumors suggest the MacPro will get a significant chip upgrade soon, which it needs. It wasn't that significant an upgrade to go from the Quad G5 to the Intel Mac Pro and I have heard a lot of people complaining about stability problems on the Intel machines.

My son and I are really hanging out for an iMac 24" upgrade along with Leopard and iLife 07. A bit of spit and polish, bug fixes and straightened GUI would go a long way to improve the attractiveness of Macs all round. Not to mention the rumored iWork spreadsheet and Mail/calendar servers.

[fryke]

Okay, but then we're off-topic now. I agree, though, that they should _finally_ start to update their hardware more often. It's mainly the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro I'm talking about here, although the other stuff could easily get more frequent updates as well. I've said it a lot in the past: When intel releases a small new step for a processor line, Apple should _simply_ add it to the respective lines. Immediately. They could _keep_ the old products at lower prices, but they _should_ always immediately add the newest processors. If that needs an architectural change, they should be ready with new models when the processors arrive. It's their job, in my opinion.

[rubaiyat]

Agreed.

Now that Apple has transitioned to Intel chips, it could move to standardised form factors, like PCs, even if they adopt their own improved versions. That would allow them to sensibly do what you have suggested.

It might let them concentrate better on service access. The on-again-off-again improved accessibility is extremely irritating when you have to service multiple machines like I do. I try to keep all the online manuals and guides I can but Apple screws this up by having bizarre, inconsistent and multiple naming for models. I am hardly ever certain I am dealing with the same model as the written material.

I am no doubt telling Apple how to suck eggs but I'd chart out all the points they can gain a competitive edge:

1. Easy access

2. Standardisation of parts and fixings

3. Interoperability

4. Standardisation of form factors (The Apple TV for example is a different size to nearly all Hi-Fi components and is oddly different to the Mac mini)

5. Consider how peripherals bought at different times fit together in size, style and finish. The vaunted superior Apple style mostly ends up looking like a Chinese laundry basket

6. Use flat tops on everything. Sitting external drives on top of G4/G5/MacPros is awkward at best. The slight curvature in surfaces and the handles get in the way.

7. The Mac desktop and iLife software GUI need to be kept consistent over time. Currently there are too many finishes and implementations. Access to interface elements is in odd places or via concealed keyboard commands which are accidentally triggered, leaving the user chasing the problem and method of correcting it.

Basically consistency, functionality and streamlining are the ways to boost OSX productivity. Higher productivity with good quality training material are strong selling points, achieved for little expenditure.

[ApeintheShell]

The writer's of the articles at Low End Mac have lost it recently. I remember reading the "It's time to let go of the old and embrace the new Mac" a couple months ago. Now the Macintosh is declared dead by another writer. These are mixed signals and cannot be good for the people who are looking for a bargain on a iMac Core Duo or a Macbook. If anything it is promoting buying an older Macintosh that will not be able to handle the same applications and games people buy today. Anything that is Pre-G3 will simply not do it for most customers.

I think the writer is complaining about things that had to change. He also doesn't think about those qualities that define the Mac. The one button mouse, the all in one computer, embrace the standards and create new ones, and it is the only computer where the company makes the operating system with the hardware.

People have always complained about the Mac's one button mouse. Then people thought the iMac was getting old and we needed a Mini-Tower for upgrades. Now people have a theory that Apple is going to switch to Windows and dump the Mac OS. These kind of people make the Macintosh dead. It is actually quite lively.

[Captain Code]

IMO most of his points are wrong. He seems to think that the Mac should just stay exactly the way it was back then. If that happened, no one would be using Macs right now. People are switching to Macs because of the way the OS is now, not how it was.

I don't see why it matters what the internal hardware is. The MBP I'm using right now is almost identical to my dad's Powerbook but much much faster and brighter screen. Other than that and a few minor cosmetic differences it's the same Mac.

There wasn't any reason to stay with SCSI. It was way more expensive and still is. Sure it was faster but for what most people do it's better to have a cheaper slightly slower drive than a screaming fast drive that costs 2 times as much. If you really need SCSI you probably want to be using a Mac Pro anyways for the speed so you will have the option of SCSI drives there.

I think the non-standardized form factors are good for Apple and Macs. When you see a Mac you instantly know it's a Mac. When you see some other computer you most likely don't know what it is unless you see the logo.