Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Are we Apple's Worst Enemies?

The Past

The Past

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 17, 2004
291
0
United States
I am all for the demanding and committed user base that we Mac users constitute and how that is wonderful for a company such as Apple that holds itself to similar exacting standards. But, of late, I am wondering if we are pushing Apple to the limits and Apple is falling for it. Think of the number of products that are coming out with tons of bugs or the number of announcements coming out with the product taking forever to follow. When I hear people comment about Virtual PC 7 and some of the problems (or lack of improvements in it over 6), I also think of Apple's Remote Desktop. I have been a regular user of RD and the new version (2) making me wonder if Apple meant it to be a practical joke. Many of the touted features do not work. And then, think about the dual G5. I think mine will arrive in time for my grandson's graduation (that my son is three years from starting grade one is besides the point). Are we to blame for pushing Apple this far by super-charged expectations from the company twice a year?
 
For starters, VPC7 is Microsoft, did you expect it to be good? Timely? Decent? no.

Secondly, look at Apple's successes. iPod (and mini), the new iMac G5s are selling like hot cakes, the new displays freaking rock, and the 30 inch (when it gets to market) is revolutionary. The Airport Express kicks so much ass it's unbelievable. Chip tech is slow for the market now, and Apple is doing what it does best, innovate. They can't fully predict exactly what will be big, so they develop their best ideas. Maybe they are spread thin right now.

I think that you are expecting too much from a company. Don't root for MS though in that case. Their big product all suck and are delayed. About the only thing that Microsoft seems to be getting right is Halo.

Just don't expect that everything Apple make is golden.
 
Waiting sucks, I know. But I have ordered from alot of different tech companies with a somewhat level of innovation like Apple and beleive me Apple is by far the best. If they could deliver all the 2.5s and 30in monitors in a blink then they would. The major thing holding this up is the 6800 card. And think of all the poor saps still waiting in vain for Longhorn. Your son will probably be collecting social security by the time that is released at the way its going. Apple is doing the best it can at the moment but there is nothing they or anyone else can really do. Its called patience and it sucks, sorry. :p
 
Apple software QA has been inconsistent for, like, forever. Claris seemed to be better then the rest, but system software and friends have always been a crapshoot. That's part of the game, figure out what the good versions are and stick to them.
 
stoid said:
About the only thing that Microsoft seems to be getting right is Halo.
Click to expand...

Bungee made Halo.

Microsoft is good at one thing: They make great lemons.
 
Mechcozmo said:
Bungee made Halo.

Microsoft is good at one thing: They make great lemons.
Click to expand...

What's even funnier is that Halo was first going to be released for Mac. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it was Macworld 2001 when they announced it... MS got jealous and bought out Halo.
 
The Point is not Apple Vs. Ms.

Looks like a couple of people have interpreted that I was suggesting MS is doing better than Apple. Of course not! In fact, I continue to charge my clients up to 20% more (usually more than that) if they insist that I can not bring my Mac on to their networks when I am on a project. I just tell them that I have to charge for the loss in productivity.

My concern in the post was however that Apple has made me look rather bad because I went by what was promised and made commitments to clients accordingly. And, Apple just did not deliver. I know, some of you will feel that it was my fault. But, it was never this bad in my experience. I was musing whether people like me are making these unrealistic expectations that a company, no company for that matter, can fulfill. Of course, that Apple does this better than others is besides the point. I hate using MS as a point of comparison, because that is not saying much at all.
 
Nothing wrong with expecting good things and constructive criticism. Whining doesn't help, and we have to understand that they aren't perfect. But there are supply constraints sometimes with critical system parts, often beyond Apple's control (G5s, 6800s, 4gig drives, etc.). This is a board to voice your frustrations and problems as well as you're hopes and compliments. The only thing that really hurts, I think, are getting our hopes up too much for something Apple can't deliver. We hear rumors for things that don't come out, or are more expensive or have less features/specs than we "expected". Then b*tch about it when it doesn't happen. Then the people that defend Apple are called zealots. And the people that complain are called trolls. Then no one gets anywhere.

Edit: Microsoft constantly makes promises they cannot keep. More so than Apple. But we expect more from Apple. M$ on the other hand... well, we expect less from them. Much less. So unfortunetly people let them get away with it more. Since "everbody" uses Windows, we don't really have much of a choice.
 
One problem with sites like this one is that many of the frequently repeated "facts" are a lot like urban legends, that is they are extrapolations of misquotations of vague blurbs.

For example, a legend still in circulation holds forth that Apple developed a replacement for the Newton, then chose not to sell it. This all stems from one incorrect headline from Apple Insider, "Apple developed, but did not ship Apple PDA," which was widely regurgitated throughout other Mac news sites. In truth, Mr. Jobs said no such thing. The actual interview is here, and what Teh Steve actually said was that Apple "looked at it" and decided to "invest in the iPod rather than a PDA".

Speculation about this Apple stuff can be fun, but it's definitely not a good idea to make business decisions based on rumors or news found in these places. Even what should be straightforward reporting gets laced with innuendo, so it's important to apply strong filtering.
 
I think it is positive for our community to push apple on be critical. It's like government with checks and balances, or a better example would be the media and the public keeping the gov't in check. Think of votes as computer sales... the canidate/computer co. need to do and say (or at least appear to) the things that voter/customers demand in order to earn votes/sales.
On another note, I believe that some members of this site have an extremely one-sided POV, which always stunts progress. To be specific, some have the attitude that anything that MS says/does/produces is worthless and inferior to Mac. While I prefer to use Mac, most people on this earth use the Wintel world. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but obviously MS has done something right.
 
stoid said:
For starters, VPC7 is Microsoft, did you expect it to be good? Timely? Decent? no.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I was hoping they would prove that they're better than I always thought they were. They didn't.
 
Blackheart said:
What's even funnier is that Halo was first going to be released for Mac. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it was Macworld 2001 when they announced it... MS got jealous and bought out Halo.
Click to expand...

If true that reminds me of a parable...

A rich man had many sheep, and they were only possessions. His poor neighbor had but one small lamb that was his pet, and his friend. The rich man had company, and rather than using one of his own sheep he stole the poor man's lamb to feed the guests.

Translation:
Microsoft had huge market share, but the consumer was just a means to acquire wealth. They had a small neighbor, Apple. Apple didn't have a huge customer base, but the ones they had were loyal. Apple was going to have a game called Halo that was very good. Microsoft had company, the XBox. Rather than just port one of their many game to the new system, Microsoft decided to take the one game from Apple.


Not a perfect match, but eerily close. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back