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I concur with that, I have a:

BT HomeHub 1.5
BT HomeHub 2.0A
BT HomeHub 3.0A
BT HomeHub 3.0B
BT HomeHub 4.0A
BT HomeHub 5.0A x2
BT SmartHub aka HomeHub 6.0A

and all of them suck compared to my TP-Link Archer C9.

The BT SmartHub should wipe the floor with my C9 as its wave 2 802.11Ac @ 1700Mb/s compared to 802.11Ac wave 1 @ 1300Mb/s but the C9 has far better software.
The SmartHub DHCP and UPnP was broken meaning my devices would often be assigned duff IP addresses and even if they were connected they wouldn't see each other properly so AirPlay and Sky Q were very hit and miss, but with the C9 the stability is rock solid.

Oh I meant to exclude BT, their broadband service makes me want to move to Mars. Their customer service is even worse. And screw the routers.

But Sky do some really solid ones, only had one drop in the past 3 years and very consistent speeds too.
 
As a corporation, it can be sued for anything - winning is another matter.

Milton Friedman (and more recently Al Franken) will certainly argue that is is so, but there is no fiduciary duty to maximize profits. In fact there are only two fiduciary duties - duty of care and duty of loyalty.

In short, you must make decisions based upon reasonably available information and these decisions cannot result in your enrichment at the expense of the corporation.

Now, the above does mean that corporate officers must act in the interest of the corporation (and by proxy its shareholders). However, acting in the interest of the corporation can take many forms - the maximization of profits is just one of them.
(Emphasis added.)

Would you PLEASE stop confusing the issues with the facts? ;)
 
I am sending music to my HiFi system using the optical Audio output of an Airport Express. Can you point me in the direction of a router that is Airplay compatible and has digital Audio out?

I don't think there's any but Time Machine is widely supported on NAS devices and routers too. But you can still get a much better router if you wish and have the AirPort Express join your new router's network as client and you will have AirPlay. Or there are some nice amplifiers that have AirPlay support.
 
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Wow this is just sad. With all this connectivity and internet-of-all-things coming up, they could've made it the ultimate networking router. Instead they abandon it to focus on an already declining market. I don't think they realize the golden age of the iPhone is over.

People actually liked the simplicity of an all Apple ecosystem. They'll probably lose more customers now I'd imagine.
 
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There's a thing called loss leader. If you don't think that kind of marketing works, you haven't been to a tiny little company called WalMart.

I don't know if you are trying to be condescending with comment about Walmart, but I would like to still have an airport express with up to date hardware in the future, but that won't be a thing anymore. If you weren't trying to be rude, then please if you could, express your thoughts on why we people shouldn't be that upset about a product that people are sad about losing. I would like to see a positive.

I will admit I really dont know how the marketing world works. But, I will say that everything that I liked about this company is starting to slowing fall. I enjoy my macbook Pro, and my new iPhone 7, but will be sad knowing that my airport express will be the last iteration and there won't be any new ones.

I had to look up what loss leader is, and you might need to explain to me the walmart and loss leader statement a bit better for me. What I got out of it was that, apple under tim cook is just about money and revenue, and will drop a product if they don't bring enough. And that sucks, and yes thats just how things are, but still trying to find how this is good for the apple ecosystem. I thought apple was trying to bring everything to wireless.

I mentioned before, tim cook just seems to be about numbers. I understand tim cook isn't Steve Jobs, but still unhappy that I enjoy a product that is now being discontinued.

Yes there are plenty of other router options, but as stated before, I'm disappointed with how its just about money and revenue and less how having another option that Apple provided that was a simpler solution.

Why is this a problem for me or those who want one? Maybe customers just liked and enjoyed their products and would like to see improvements to what they really liked. Is that even a problem? Seems like not since they are taking away these products anyway. (Cinema display, airport routers)

And here someone says, then move to a different brand or platform. But isn't that the issue? We would like Apple to continue making these products because we liked them then the other competition?

too long; didn't read
Apple has stopped making airport routers, and we all know Walmart isn't going to make improvements to them. Sad user is sad
 
I am a hardcore Apple fan and even I am losing faith in Apple. What is happening? AirPort devices don't have to make profit, but it's a reason for me to buy a Mac or iPhone which makes them profit.

It's the same with the Mac Pro. It's totally okay economically if it doesn't do that much profit but is good marketing and those people will also buy MacBooks and iPhones etc.

Why is everyone here seeing that but they are not?
 
I can understand (to an extent) killing the display line, as they didn't really add anything aside from a nice case. But the AirPorts are arguably easier to set up and manage than anything on the market, and they always work well with Apple products. If they see a wireless future and want to control the home, why in the hell would they kill the AirPort? I'm worried that Tim is more concerned with ROI and stock price than looking at strategy and what makes the Apple ecosystem sticky.

Killing the display line made me sad. Killing the AirPort would make me upset.
 
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These engineers being redirected to Ive's xmas tree design division?

No, the Apple Car division. That division has been why Apple has needed to shut down so many product lines. They keep sending the newly freed up engineers in, but no one or nothing ever comes out. Mysterious.
 
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Instead of reading nytimes.com, you will just send your autonomous Apple Car to the newsstand to use Apple Pay to bring you back a physical copy. It will be fantastic.

No, the Apple Car division. That division has been why Apple has needed to shut down so many product lines. They keep sending the newly freed up engineers in, but no one or nothing ever comes out. Mysterious.
 
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Sorry but I have no choice to say it but Microsoft is better than Apple it least they improved since Vista and now making easier to access Xbox Game, Streaming movies and TV Shows, a better App Store on Windows 10 and now can play Xbox One games also on PC.


Mac: Can't remember the last time since Tim Cook took over Apple made anything innovating every time there is one of iPhone convention streaming or for new OS now it is just boring. During Steve Jobs time he made interesting and exciting you just can not wait for the next product and download the new OS or iTunes.



Apple is becoming into Windows Vista.
 
This is why I like Apple Products - tight, smart, well designed and simple, yet powerful ecosystem without requiring 200 page manuals and features only 0.01% of people use.

This could be the beginning of the end of my return to Apple in 2005. It was precisely all this integration & design that brought me back. Not impressed if this is true.
 
So much for the halo effect. Tim wants moar monies... even if that means wringing it out of the desiccated corpse that was once Apple penny by penny.
 
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Aww, I use a 802.11ac AirPort Extreme, and it is by far the best router I've ever had. I love it to death.

My Windows PC's and my Macs are all backing up on a 8TB drive attached to it, and the whole house can print wirelessly with it, and it offers 1GBit/s speeds for all my devices on wifi and wired, which is very handy as I have a 1GBit/s connection out the house, too. It also manages to act as a media server - I put my films and music on it and stream it to every device I own in the house.

I guess it'll be good for another 5 years. No idea what to do then, though.
 
Seems weird it is the only product from Apple I didn't have any problems with when I bought it.




Apple has dissolved its division which develops wireless routers and is now sending engineers who worked on the AirPort lineup into other product teams, including one currently working on Apple TV. The news comes from a report by Bloomberg, who said Apple has been slowly shutting down the division over the past year and made the decision "to try to sharpen the company's focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue."

airport_roundup.jpg

Currently, Apple sells three wireless routers, including the AirPort Express ($99), AirPort Extreme ($199), and AirPort Time Capsule ($299), but none of the devices have seen a refresh since 2013. A temporary stock shortage earlier in the year gave hope that a refresh of the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule was coming during WWDC, but Apple never mentioned the products during its keynote. The trio of wireless routers still remain available for purchase for the time being.
The central reason for abandoning the AirPort line appears to focus mainly on its small revenue gains in comparison to the company's more lucrative products, like the iPhone. Apple includes its routers in the "other products" category of its annual financial results, a section which generated $11.1 billion in fiscal 2016, or about 5 percent of the company's total sales.

Article Link: Apple Ceases Development of 'AirPort' Wireless Routers as Engineers Reassigned to Other Products
 
That's the nail in the coffin for my 15 year loyalty to Apple.

The whole appeal of Apple is the entirely integrated ecosystem (the "it just works" thing evaporated a couple of years ago for me).

They killed the Cinema Display, they ruined iOS, they screwed up the new MacBook Pros, they abandoned Aperture and neglected Logic and to a lesser extent FCPX, they missed an opportunity with Apple TV with the TV part of it (and don't get me started on that remote), the services are way behind their competitors in features and reliability, the Apple Stores are not pleasant to be in (wait times, stock availability), their burgeoning SKUs, the consistency across them and connectivity between them are totally out of hand and now they are abandoning this?

I have said it once and I'll say it again...their corporate hubris without the substance to prop it up will be their downfall.

Steve approached it from the perspective that if you took care of the customer the ensuing sales would take care of the shareholders. Tim is tackling it from the reverse.

I'm done with Apple. Tim, Jony and their fellow execs need to be replaced with hungry, creative, customer oriented appointments asap. Not that I plan on hanging around to see it.


Likely a common sentiment lately.

Wall Street should take notice. Apple seemingly only will once their stock takes a prolonged steep dive. Killing off Macintosh piecemeal will be equivocal, if even now Wall Street's attention, as that was Apple's core business once. Everything iOS is dependent upon iPads which have plateaued and the possible merits of the upcoming iPhone 8. Apple better hope it sells like hotcakes. Because right now they seem fumbling for a viable way forward.

Apparently they were broadcasting "courage" as less warning than to shore up their own resolve to eviscerate the Macintosh.

Problem is the Macintosh line remains a very profitable enterprise with loyal customers which could easily stand separately on its own, if managed properly. Mr. Cook & Co. are all in on iOS, but that is a legacy from Steve Jobs as well. It could fall as swiftly as it rose, especially if mismanaged.

Foresight and innovation is precisely what Apple needs at this juncture, and exactly what seems lacking. The market will be ruthless. Moreover his iOS customers will prove far more fickle in their loyalties; the moment an Apple logo becomes uncool in a coffee shop, game over.

Tim Cook had better hope his vision for all iOS is sound. As a large contingent of once loyal Apple customers will not weep should he fail, that they needed, used and loved since excised.
 
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