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'Brick' Refers to the MacBook Manufacturing Process

Some thoughts...

...Apple stated that their profits would be down this coming quarter due to a revolutionary product ... stick with us ... yadayadda.

Suppose the plastic Macbook cracking and warping had become such a prominent issue that Apple had to investigate a radical change. They spend more this quarter setting up a US factory for producing aluminum casings; finally tapping into those cash reserves. However, the long-term goal is to reduce returns due to defects.

Think how labor intensive it is to refurbish a Macbook that needs an all new case...versus a failed drive.
 
kabunaru said:
I do not care about looks.
Function over Form is what matters. ;)
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Well have fun living in your concrete bomb shelter, wearing tyvek wrappings instead of clothes and using found garbage for furniture. After all, what does it matter what your house looks like, as long as it keeps the rain off your head?

As you can see, looks are important to our mental health. We like to surround ourselves with pleasantries. The function of beauty is that it makes you feel good. Feeling good is usually welcome to most people.
 
ntrigue said:
...Apple stated that their profits would be down this coming quarter due to a revolutionary product ... stick with us ... yadayadda.

Suppose the plastic Macbook cracking and warping had become such a prominent issue that Apple had to investigate a radical change. They spend more this quarter setting up a US factory for producing aluminum casings; finally tapping into those cash reserves. However, the long-term goal is to reduce returns due to defects.

Think how labor intensive it is to refurbish a Macbook that needs an all new case...versus a failed drive.
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I think they've been working on it hence the long waited updates
 
NT1440 said:
Mayb in time apple will be developing their own chips, but not this go around.
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I don't think that makes sense considering the amount of money for r&d that goes into that highly competitive market. My guess is they'll always outsource that and let other companies battle it out. Apple could never make them for cheaper than Intel w/ the millions of chips they produce every year...and then try & stay competitive w/ them as technology moves forward. Can't see it.
 
bobertoq said:
Exactly! How can we run out of it? It's not like it disappears. I was always told the earth has the same amount of water it had millions of years ago.
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We have lots and lots of water. But the amount is not the amount of water. The problem is the amount of DRINKABLE water.

Try spending some time marooned on a life-raft. You would be surrounded by water, and you would still be dying of dehydration.
 
BRLawyer said:
Actually Apple has been blowing the competition out of the water for YEARS already...the PC is DEAD. Only die-hard Bill Gates fans, hardcore gamers and people that have no idea about Macs buy PC these days.
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And those people make up about 90% of the market. Yep, sure sounds like "dead" to me...

I truly believe that the new processes will put Apple WAY above any other company, as happened with the iPhone and the smartphone industry.
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It should be reminded that Apple is still nowhere near the #1 smartphone-company in the world.

Microsoft is DEAD. Dell is DEAD.
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They seem to be doing pretty well despite being "dead" companies....
 
SheriffParker said:
Well have fun living in your concrete bomb shelter, wearing tyvek wrappings instead of clothes and using found garbage for furniture. After all, what does it matter what your house looks like, as long as it keeps the rain off your head?

As you can see, looks are important to our mental health. We like to surround ourselves with pleasantries. The function of beauty is that it makes you feel good. Feeling good is usually welcome to most people.
Click to expand...



Material items may make you 'happy' short term ...




...function over form any day , thanks :cool:



arkitect said:
A glass of water?
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brilliant.
 
freiheit said:
NOTHING gets made in the USA. Even #2 pencils have "Made in China" on them these days.
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Stuff like pencils and the like are the exact kind of thing that gets manufactured in China. But when you move further up the food-chain, China's share of production goes down.

For example: There are lots of cheap powered speakers that are made in China. But I want quality, and for that I need to turn to speakers that are made in Finland.

When the quality goes up, the price of manufacturing becomes less and less relevant.
 
kabunaru said:
I do not care about looks.
Function over Form is what matters. ;)
Click to expand...

Oh, really?
Now, imagine a city full of these apartment blocks… They are oh so very functional. But how about living in them?
 

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arkitect said:
Oh, really?
Now, imagine a city full of these apartment blocks… They are oh so very functional. But how about living in them?
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I'd hardly call those building functional ,...more dysfunctional ....
Usually little to none existent community spirit , the lifts (escalators) more often don't work and they tend to isolate those which dwell in them ....not really functional.

I get what your trying to say but function over form surely is more important for people ?( obviously only when the lust for material wealth is overcome)
 
marbles said:
I'd hardly call those building functional ,...more dysfunctional ....
Usually little to none existent community spirit , the lifts (escalators) more often don't work and they tend to isolate those which dwell in them ....not really functional.

I get what your trying to say but function over form surely is more important for people ?( obviously only when the lust for material wealth is overcome)
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I was objecting to this blanket statement:
I do not care about looks.
Function over Form is what matters.
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And I agree with you… those are dysfunctional. But designed with a Form follows Function philosophy.
I certainly am NOT holding it up as an example of good design. :eek::eek:
 
arkitect said:
Oh, really?
Now, imagine a city full of these apartment blocks… They are oh so very functional. But how about living in them?
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How does the outside appearance of the apartment make it less comfortable to live in? The apartment-block might look like crap, but the apartments inside it might be very very comfortable indeed.
 
Evangelion said:
How does the outside appearance of the apartment make it less comfortable to live in? The apartment-block might look like crap, but the apartments inside it might be very very comfortable indeed.
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Uh huh… :p Tiny windows always help.

Unfortunately when a design like this creates a wasteland in the urban environment it fails.
 
arkitect said:
I was objecting to this blanket statement:


And I agree with you… those are dysfunctional. But designed with a Form follows Function philosophy.
I certainly am NOT holding it up as an example of good design. :eek::eek:
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I realize your not holding them up as good design & I understand where your coming from.

They where design with a function over form philosophy but it didn't work ...like most bad designs ,
I wish they'd pull them all down and build 'old fashioned' style terraces again ...certainly more community spirit to be gained .

..like most things isn't it , if it ain't broke ...don't fix it
that's pretty much what's been said in other threads where folk are hoping that apple keeps the same (ish) design but up the quality control ....imho :apple: don't need to change much except they're QC policy's and this new manufacturing process could just well do that ....,sorry I'm rambling :eek:
 
arkitect said:
And I agree with you… those are dysfunctional. But designed with a Form follows Function philosophy.
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These houses are definetly NOT desgined with a "form follows function" philosophy. in fact, as a student of architecture i would say this is one of the most often wrong interpreted quotes ever. it definetly never meant "function over form" as many people think but: the form shouldn't be useless ornament but show the function and technic behind it instead of disguising it. however, the form should always be appealling to the eye, as that is a function of architecture (or product design) as well.
here's some background knowledge about the quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_follows_function

in short: 'FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION' was NEVER anti-design as most people seem to believe.
 
There is one thing I would like to see with the new Mac Books.

The price for these Mac Books needs to start under $1,000. I think if Apple can find a way to have the lower end Mac Books start at under $1,000, would be a total success.

With all these mini notebooks coming out and ranging from $400 to $700 it is hard to pay $1100 for the low end Mac Book.
 
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