It's Just Me, Huh?

[TgeekB]

Mac, Windows, iPhone, Androids, to me, have not been exciting for at least several years now. What has been more exciting for people, whether some people like it or not, are more software based such as AI and its applications. And what makes Apple less exciting than others is because it has the least AI than anybody else. Negative AI even.

AI isn’t doing anything exciting on any platform…..yet. That’s a big yet. It’s a toy right now and we will wait to see if it grows up. Apple users are missing nothing. Anyone can use ChatGPT or other sources if they want. I’m not jumping in the pool until I’m sure there’s water in it.

 

[antiprotest]

AI isn’t doing anything exciting on any platform…..yet. That’s a big yet. It’s a toy right now and we will wait to see if it grows up. Apple users are missing nothing. Anyone can use ChatGPT or other sources if they want. I’m not jumping in the pool until I’m sure there’s water in it.

But I am referring to what excites people in general, not just you. Many people are excited about AI. Many people are using it as more than a toy. One of many examples: it has saved lives with medical diagnoses when doctors could not connect the dots. You can still see it as a toy, but my point is that many people are not seeing it as a toy. But toy or not, I am addressing the topic of the thread -- what excites people. If it seems a purple phone or a tamagotchi app excites people, that's what I would be saying.

 

[TgeekB]

But I am referring to what excites people in general, not just you. Many people are excited about AI. Many people are using it as more than a toy. One of many examples: it has saved lives with medical diagnoses when doctors could not connect the dots. You can still see it as a toy, but my point is that many people are not seeing it as a toy. But toy or not, I am addressing the topic of the thread -- what excites people. If it seems a purple phone or a tamagotchi app excites people, that's what I would be saying.

I work in the medical field, in a hospital. It is not being used in the medical field in any major way. It enhances slightly in certain cases but that is all. This is the false narrative people believe about AI.
It certainly excites people but Apple shouldn’t follow fads. They should, and do, remain focused on what actually works and the rest comes and goes without any significance.

 

[Howard2k]

AI isn’t doing anything exciting on any platform…..yet.

Sorry, but that’s not true. Just because you are not using AI in any big exciting way doesn’t mean that nobody is. There are plenty of people doing lots of cool stuff with AI, they’re just not running all of their tasks past you for approval.

 

[Flowstates]

On device motion.app would be killer

 

[yeahmeknows]

You are definitely not alone. As much as I love my iPhone 16 Pro Max (and the ones before it), I barely use it. I'm a desktop kind of guy - give me a desktop OS.

For me, excitement-wise, Apple peaked with the 2007 MacBook Pros, 2006 iMacs and 30" Cinema Displays, while Mac OS X Snow Leopard was king, and Mac OS X Tiger was the coolest. Everything after that was still somewhat exciting, but declining drastically.

I have learned to kinda accept this feeling of the current un-excitement, since the tech market is overflowing with new tech every year, instead of every few years (like it used to be and as it should be). Leave the past in the past, enjoy the current moment. The future holds crappy stuff anyway, let's enjoy what we have now

Also, don't forget Macs used to be cool once. Now they're just mainstream. Everyone has them - so they're not special anymore.

 

[ian-mac]

Not just you.

Tech isn't exciting any more. And it's getting more and more frustrating as simple things just don't work. I feel that tech was hijacked from people who genuinely wanted to make a difference to the world by those who wanted to weaponise it and use it for pure greed and profit. And with that, the basics became neglected because they are always chasing the next fad and short term profits. These fads end up with things just getting left unfinished.

I still love my Mac and iPhone but what excites me is when things just work and my workflow isn't interrupted by silly bugs. What excites me is learning new skills, and not having computers do everything for me. Yes, I'm getting old.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Not just you.

Tech isn't exciting any more. And it's getting more and more frustrating as simple things just don't work. I feel that tech was hijacked from people who genuinely wanted to make a difference to the world by those who wanted to weaponise it and use it for pure greed and profit. And with that, the basics became neglected because they are always chasing the next fad and short term profits. These fads end up with things just getting left unfinished.

I still love my Mac and iPhone but what excites me is when things just work and my workflow isn't interrupted by silly bugs. What excites me is learning new skills, and not having computers do everything for me. Yes, I'm getting old.

AI has seemingly accelerated this trend ten-fold. Look at the current state of Microsoft Windows. And Apple is getting lambasted for their lackluster Apple Intelligence. Here I am going, that may be a bug to you, but what a feature to me, LOL!

 

[TgeekB]

Sorry, but that’s not true. Just because you are not using AI in any big exciting way doesn’t mean that nobody is. There are plenty of people doing lots of cool stuff with AI, they’re just not running all of their tasks past you for approval.

“Cool” stuff to me is not exciting but I can see how it may be for others.

 

[HouseLannister]

Mac, Windows, iPhone, Androids, to me, have not been exciting for at least several years now.

"In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2:55, when you know that you've had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul."

It's called getting old.

 

[EuroChilli]

Confession time....I didn't know who Jobs was until he died. A few years later I read his book and have watched the movies. Quite the (true) story. Either way, Apple devices are nice, got my first iPhone about 10 years ago, but to this day they are just functional things, at least to me anyway. I dragged my wife into the Apple eco system at the same time, and she also likes her devices, but she is even less 'wow!' about it.

Ok, maybe I was a bit wowed! when I saw some guy watching snowboard movies on a MacBook Air on a train in Austria in 2011. Or maybe I was more wowed by the actual snowboarding. I got my first Apple device that same year, a MBP 2011. I still have it, and the damn thing still works, sort of, as a DVD player.

I might have actually been more wow! when I got my first Nokia cinder block in 1996. These days there's little that surprises me anymore. You can make phone calls with a watch? Whatever....

 

[OldMacs4Me]

In recent years Apple has been concentrating on Bells & Whistles a phenomenon not unique to the products Apple sells. In my mind I would love a streamlined OS version for the new M4 mini. A system kept as simple and bug free as say OS X Panther, but able to run on current Hardware. Make that available for us seniors and maybe for the younger set as well, make Sequoia and it's successors available for those who actually need or use the bells and whistles.

 

[CasualFanboy]

Still trying to normalize a return to visual customizability for the users, so macs can be a better tool for folks.

People often say "but you could never really customize the UI on Macs," which maybe to some extent is true when compared to something like KDE. But it's mostly not true, it's become way more locked down the last 7 years or so.

Also, there was much less of a desire to radically change the appearance when the appearance was already very good.

As the UI has become increasingly bland or just plain ugly, customization options have been taken away or made so cumbersome that it's hardly worth the headache.

 

[wonderings]

There have been no big tech advancements in a long time. Some great improvements but nothing really revolutionary. I think AI will change that though and will be as big as the internet was when it came to house hold homes. It is in its infancy now, but I think it has the potential to revolutionize so many things

 

[SkweeBop]

There were so many creatives making icon sets, and now that it is difficult to differentiate between the various system folders, one needs to create a shadow system or muck around. Disheartening and disruptive to workflow.