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Apple's Input Design Lab Reveals Secrets Behind Development of New iMacs
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I agree with Schiller on the idiocy of creating a touchscreen for an iMac, but I find his comments on using the smallest possible size screen mind-boggingly absurd.
One should simply use whatever is best for the job at hand, be it reading, working, playing or something else. And the less one can use an electronic gadget, the better.
Perhaps, one day, we will be able to read, work and play without needing any physical device at all. It will all take place in the mind. No need to stare at a screen reflecting garish lights all the time.
One should simply use whatever is best for the job at hand, be it reading, working, playing or something else. And the less one can use an electronic gadget, the better.
Perhaps, one day, we will be able to read, work and play without needing any physical device at all. It will all take place in the mind. No need to stare at a screen reflecting garish lights all the time.
Using the iPad to be capable like a notebook.
Using the Macbook to be capable like a desktop.
Using the iMac to be capable of doing things it has ever done before and be more powerful.
Oo yeah, I'm liking that concept. This correlate to what Tim said when iOS and OS X should never merge.
Been an Apple fan since the 1980s - have the old stock to prove it. But, too many problems with Apple's wireless input devices - tossed them all, over time, in favor of "old style" hardwired or even cheap Logitech wireless. They "simply work" better - and cheaper. This ipad "ios only" thing has to change or it's going to be left in the dustbin too. We have all the toys and tools - small and big iphones, Macbooks, Mac Pros, Ipads, Imacs, etc. For the money the ipad air2s we just bought will probably be our last ipads; it's simply annoying to pick up something that should do a job, but turns out it doesn't, won't, or can't. Why not? They cost enough.... And, no, not buying the "unique experience" because it's not a GOOD experience - the weakest link in our "getting anything done" toolbox.
Hmm...in the mail app I have the ability to "add attachment" and it takes me to iCloud Drive. Apple is definely making it easier to access files in iOS. Does that eventually become a "file system"?
The declining iPad sales in contrast to rising Mac sales should speak volumes about how people feel about the relevance of the iPad vs the Mac.
Look we get it. Steve Jobs used a bunk analogy of Cars vs Trucks and the whole "Post PC" BS but when I look in my neighborhood and see people with families ..they drive trucks because they need to get work done.
Look we get it. Steve Jobs used a bunk analogy of Cars vs Trucks and the whole "Post PC" BS but when I look in my neighborhood and see people with families ..they drive trucks because they need to get work done.
Apple has always had the worst mice. The Magic Mouse is awful to hold and the control surface is really difficult to control. The last one I had before that was the one with that god-awful "pea" scrollwheel that would get gummed up constantly, and before that, I think it was a clear one which wasn't too terrible but also didn't have right-click. And before that... the puck. Oh god, the puck.
FYI, add attachment was only just released as a feature in iOS 9, before you had to share one set of documents/photos at a time via email. It was painful and it should never have taken this long to get that feature. Too many times my family contacted me after drafting an email and asked how to add a photo and the answer was to copy and paste the email into a note, share the photo and then copy and paste from notes.
Don't even get me started on iCloud and photos since Apple screwed my mom big time and I had to pick up the pieces of a broken library that spans nearly a decade and has tens of thousands of photos.
Nothing like wired things when wireless is not strictly necessary. Bring Thunderbolt 3? USB 3.1 type C (reversible) generation 2? Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad with built-in USB 3.1 hub? SDXC reader UHS-II maximum speed (300 MB/s read/write).
Hey you won't get me to defend Apple's cloud services. And for as much as people constantly say "Steve wouldn't have" let's remember it was Steve (and one would assume Scott Forstall) that gave us the broken system the new leadership is trying to fix.
Oh and don't forget the super high capacity 24 GB SSD on the new iMacs!
Exactly my thought. They spend ages figuring out how the mouse sounds on the table, but none of them noticed it is painful to hold and use?
Exactly, glad you understand. Now release a Macintosh, please. It should have a top-end desktop CPU (no Xeon, largely pointless these days even for most power users), use a standard PC GPU like the cMP, have some internal room for a couple of HDs and SSDs, not have a built-in screen, and cost around $1500 or so. Since you don't need to make it thin and light (although it would be smaller than the cMP), you can make a kick-ass Mac.
--Eric
It's still a file system - just one that Apple dictates where and how you can access your files.
Apple is slowly addressing issues but honestly the limitations are still too strict. Who wants to jump through hoops to try to make the simplest things just work?
"When asked about the possibility of introducing an iOS-like multitouch display into the iMac line, the team behind the desktop computers remained adamant against such a move. Schiller reiterated that any input on a desktop that sits above keyboard level feels "uncomfortable" and that the iMac was built from the ground up with a cursor input in mind."
Thank god
Thank god
Apple is still selling over twice as many iPads as Macs, though I guess you could correct for pricing.
If i look in my neighborhood most people do not use their vehicle for "work" in and of itself, they use it for simple transportation, e.g. the "web browsing and email" of the computer world. Not many people need a vehicle for work other than to reach the place where it occurs, which was Steve's point. Hell, if the iPad were suddenly irrelevant, you'd think it would've dropped to insignificant sales instead of dwarfing the entire PC sales of some companies.
Just a wild guess: chocolate?
As for Schiller's indirect input or touch would be inconvenient:
Just take off the stand, lay the screen down at an adjustable angle, put the keyboard where the chin is.
Then let us use a mouse/trackpad for input OR touch.
Now I 'd buy a desktop again.
I understand what you are saying, the iPad is NOT a laptop. But there are actually a lot of people who can do fine with it. I'm one of them. I need my desktop and the iPad. I'll get an iPad Pro when it comes out as I want to keep a digital sketch book and maybe do some illustration on it. But for email, writing and what I do the iPad has replaced the laptop. My wife is an engineer and no, she is not using an iPad to develop on. But I think it's got more uses than we might think.
I'll completely grant you that, and to each their own.
The quote from the article though implied that the iPad should replace laptops/desktops, and that simply doesn't make sense. It's not that it couldn't, it's that the iPad is way too severely limited and mono-tracked to replace a laptop/desktop OS for a great number of uses.
Heck, I can't even really enjoy browsing the web on the iPad because it's about 10x faster on the laptop/desktop, and I can swap endlessly between various applications and web pages. Can't even just have YouTube play in the background or off the to the side on the iPad, or reference a web page while writing something.
Interesting how they are finicky about how the mouse sounds, but not the fact of how stupid it will look upside down with a lightning cable sticking out of it, rendering it useless while charging, or the fact it's an ergonomic nightmare 
That's an interesting point for sure. I think he was talking more in the future state, given his use of the word "should" and not "is." I also think it doesn't make sense for the Apple people who do serious work to use an iPad exclusively when they have three+ levels of machines above that. It's like... well I could do my job on an iPad just fine... but there's a free fully loaded iMac in the warehouse behind me, so I'm going to use that. It does a better job at the same job.
Around 2001 I had this 'slade' thingy from HP, the TC1000. It was a pen based tabled with detachable, 360° rotatable keyboard. Much like the new MS Surface Book, only without touch and a little less performant. Going from meeting to meeting, the 'tablet' part was great for tracking email, reviewing documents, making notes, doing presentations etc. Adding or rotating the keyboard turned it into a full featured laptop. Great for working on emails, documents, presentations etc.
Now I'm using a MacBook Air and iPad. Both are great and together they cover my needs but I would replace both in a heartbeat if Apple would come up with single device that follows the 'slade' concept.
Maybe something as 'simple' as an iPad Pro 'keyboard' that includes MacBook hardware without screen and batteries. Just keyboard, touchpad and mainboard. And a bit of software that makes it seamless to transition between Mac to iOS apps.
Like this https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204681 but than within a single piece of hardware..
Now I'm using a MacBook Air and iPad. Both are great and together they cover my needs but I would replace both in a heartbeat if Apple would come up with single device that follows the 'slade' concept.
Maybe something as 'simple' as an iPad Pro 'keyboard' that includes MacBook hardware without screen and batteries. Just keyboard, touchpad and mainboard. And a bit of software that makes it seamless to transition between Mac to iOS apps.
Like this https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204681 but than within a single piece of hardware..