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Former Apple TV Engineer Claims New Apple TV Interface Discarded 5 Years Ago [Updatedx2]
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Disappointment ... But not necessarily in the product
After reading the headline and most of the comments I believe I am more disappointed in the way the story was reported and how people have responded than the product itself.
The way the story was written was very sensational and seems as if was meant to grab readership and with the "clarifications" following, it only drives home the point.
With all of the immediate jabs at the current leadership team you are taking jabs at Steve because he picked all of those people to be in those jobs because he felt they would make the best decisions. It's disappointing that so many people would be so negative of the leadership team that pretty much ran Apple while Steve was on his death bed.
As far as the actual Apple TV. Yes there are some "polish" problems that folks have pointed out (reflections, can't move the icons, TV show seasons grouping). However, the actual UI is much more intuitive and visual than the last iteration. It also is moving closer to being a true iOS device. Maybe memories are short, but the original iPhone OS didn't have 3rd party apps (Steve didn't want them - biography) and you couldnt do half the things you can do now. I think they are making that same transition with the Apple TV. I have a Roku box, it's crap and on top of that I have to watch commercials for most of the content. So it sits there and collects dust.
As far as flops are concerned, MobileMe was an epic failure under Steve for a long time. How many folks ran out and sold their stock because of it? Why would you now over something they still consider a hobby? To rant about selling your stock when the company has not fundamentally changed the way it does business shows you are buying and selling stock for the wrong reasons.
I have a lot of things I would change about the Apple TV, but I recognize Apple is about defining a product then evolving it. If you are not in it for the long haul, get off the train now. Sell all your Apple stock and never buy another Apple product again.
After reading the headline and most of the comments I believe I am more disappointed in the way the story was reported and how people have responded than the product itself.
The way the story was written was very sensational and seems as if was meant to grab readership and with the "clarifications" following, it only drives home the point.
With all of the immediate jabs at the current leadership team you are taking jabs at Steve because he picked all of those people to be in those jobs because he felt they would make the best decisions. It's disappointing that so many people would be so negative of the leadership team that pretty much ran Apple while Steve was on his death bed.
As far as the actual Apple TV. Yes there are some "polish" problems that folks have pointed out (reflections, can't move the icons, TV show seasons grouping). However, the actual UI is much more intuitive and visual than the last iteration. It also is moving closer to being a true iOS device. Maybe memories are short, but the original iPhone OS didn't have 3rd party apps (Steve didn't want them - biography) and you couldnt do half the things you can do now. I think they are making that same transition with the Apple TV. I have a Roku box, it's crap and on top of that I have to watch commercials for most of the content. So it sits there and collects dust.
As far as flops are concerned, MobileMe was an epic failure under Steve for a long time. How many folks ran out and sold their stock because of it? Why would you now over something they still consider a hobby? To rant about selling your stock when the company has not fundamentally changed the way it does business shows you are buying and selling stock for the wrong reasons.
I have a lot of things I would change about the Apple TV, but I recognize Apple is about defining a product then evolving it. If you are not in it for the long haul, get off the train now. Sell all your Apple stock and never buy another Apple product again.
Some of you guys are going as nuts as most of the tech press.
Go read what this guy actually said....
Go read what this guy actually said....
This.
The new GUI is.... new.
Is it different than the old one, that was pretty darn nice? Yes. Is it worse, I haven't quite decided yet. But I do like the way it presents what were sub-menu options before (and thus maybe missed) on the screen, while letting the user know, with the fade into black that there is more below to find with a scroll down.
The more I see it the more I like it. Seems like every time Apple has come up with a new or changed interface in the last 8-10 years, there is a core group of people who throw rocks at it, and say it's the sign that Apple is losing it. Yet the company continues to grow, and some would say they're approaching domination. Perhaps it's just a bunch of people who can't stand it when their cheese gets moved...
What I like better is that years after Pioneer stopped making Pioneer Elite Plasmas, that they're still the benchmark for current plasmas and considered the best.
And they sell on eBay for more than the 2012 plasmas.
Funny, using an eraser nub mouse or trackball should make you feel like you're "back in the very early 90s". Unless of course you were a toddler in the early 90s, in which case your comment makes perfect sense. Time to learn multitouch gestures.
erm, no. Trackpads were the 90's. Voice and gesture recognition are the new input.
Well, to be fair, I remember having voice-to-text software for OS 9 on my old TAM. Had to wear a wired headset and all
Referring to Mr. Jobs himself: Its not the consumers job to know what they want.
Engineer is spot on. Apple is in decline.
The design is not up to the top bar Steve Jobs would have set. Someone must have had an early weekend to get this approved quickly.
As a hardcore Apple TV fan I see the new TV as very fast but also Roku like. That the thing feels like a Linux based device is a scathing hit for Apple quality control.
The design is not up to the top bar Steve Jobs would have set. Someone must have had an early weekend to get this approved quickly.
As a hardcore Apple TV fan I see the new TV as very fast but also Roku like. That the thing feels like a Linux based device is a scathing hit for Apple quality control.
wrong. Many terrible interfaces have survived and even thrived over the years despite how bad they were. Windows had many bad interface elements. Lotus Notes had (and still has) one of the worst interfaces ever. Point is, the latest Apple TV interface may be a worse design than before, but it certainly isn't enough to get customers to avoid the product.
So, no, consumers are not going to say "no" to bad design. Apple needs a visionary with a strong sense of aesthetics and the power to implement that vision. That person was Jobs. He can't be replaced. Apple will definitely decline in quality, but it should still maintain its preeminence in consumer electronics for quite some time.
Yes a little perspective. That 'poorly design eye-candy' known as the dock was in use long before it came to the Mac. It's been in NeXTSTEP forever. So for those of us who were using it long before it came to the Mac it's the way it always has been and it still works great. Steve got it right.
That TV is more of a pipe dream, unless they are going to make something like BOSE did and have you seen the price. I find it hard to swallow Apple will go in that directions for a long time, its like Microsoft would integrate their xbox into a TV and sell it as the Win TV. Just don't see that happening.
Where is the incentive to create a Magical TV that changes the business model. Look at cable cards they where suppose to take us away from those useless ugly boxes we still have to use. Maybe one day when we see real all the time on connectivity and cable companies stop having monopoly like they do today.
But I feel that is a long way off a long way.
The only icons I see that don't have a shine to them are the movies up top. This is a good thing, as a pointless sheen would just be so incredibly stupid here.
And folders? For a device that's mostly controlled via a simple 5 button remote? No. That'd be more trouble than it's worth.
Really, you know the one thing that'd make it look considerably better? Throw the standard iOS water droplets background on the thing. The only thing that's ugly about it is the contrast of the black background against the super colorful icons. Throwing in a semi colorful background would soften things up a bit.
Wirelessly posted
That's kind of ridiculous, given that iMacs and MacBooks stick with the same design for several years. With the iPad especially, I'm not sure what needs changing.
With ATV, I agree that the App icons look a but garish, and from a usability POV, it is difficult to see which is currently selected. But other than that the interface is unchanged, and is way better than anything else I've seen on a TV.
That's kind of ridiculous, given that iMacs and MacBooks stick with the same design for several years. With the iPad especially, I'm not sure what needs changing.
With ATV, I agree that the App icons look a but garish, and from a usability POV, it is difficult to see which is currently selected. But other than that the interface is unchanged, and is way better than anything else I've seen on a TV.
It is educational to watch how fast he's tapdancing backwards to extricate himself from his own trap.
I agree, it's precisely the sort of Fisher Price-esque crap that I thought Apple had left in the past.
Wirelessly posted
That's exactly my problem with Apple right now. I don't want or need my Mac looking like an Ipad. I have an Ipad and I'm happy with it. This is my main reason to why I'm still on SL. But, if ML runs smoother on my machine than Lion, I might consider upgrading.
That's exactly my problem with Apple right now. I don't want or need my Mac looking like an Ipad. I have an Ipad and I'm happy with it. This is my main reason to why I'm still on SL. But, if ML runs smoother on my machine than Lion, I might consider upgrading.
The first time I saw the new ATV UI, I thought about the awful Windows 8 Metro UI with it's large ugly tiles. I understand the functionality of using large icons since you're normally sitting farther away from the TV but Apple has a long way to go to make the UI for this 'hobby' device more appealing to the eye.