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For me, I can see all of these problems rooting back to who apple thinks as their target customers. Just a few years back, apple was more of an industrial company catering to professionals, but ever since shifting into the mainstream there's been a huge push to making all of their products more consumer friendly. In all reality, we, people who have somewhat of a depth of computer knowledge, are really in the minority. The reason the ipad is so popular, and will continue to be successful, is because everyone can use it, from grandmas to presidents...which also means simplification. I just hope that they can return to improving their professional line...it does feel like they are lagging behind.

Hit the nail on the head. Given Apple Electronics, Inc.'s recent actions of eliminating XServe and producing Cinema LED LCD's with cables barely long enough to fit a Mac Pro, et al, I don't see a shift towards the Prosumer market any time soon, if at all.

This recent patent application for "Safe Deposit Box" is an example of Apple "dumbing down" names for the average consumer to understand. "Mission Control"? "Magic Mouse"? What's next, "Mighty Mouse 10.8"?? I miss the days of OS X, PowerMac's and a great dedicated display line. No 10.7 beta's for a summer release is baffling.
 
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Hit the nail on the head. Given Apple Electronics, Inc.'s recent actions of eliminating XServe and producing Cinema LED LCD's with cables barely long enough to fit a Mac Pro, et al, I don't see a shift towards the Prosumer market any time soon, if at all.

This recent patent application for "Safe Deposit Box" is an example of Apple "dumbing down" names for the average consumer to understand. "Mission Control"? "Magic Mouse"? What's next, "Mighty Mouse"?? I miss the days of OS X, PowerMac's and a great dedicated display line. No 10.7 beta's for a summer release is baffling.

Agree 100%. I'm really getting the impression that Apple is starting to abandon Pro users. I suspect from Apple's perspective there just isn't as much to be made in the pro market vs. consumer market where they can release new products annually that people will buy, whereas I feel Pro users will buy their tools (Xserve, Mac Pro, etc.) for 3-5 years of use. It's obvious the new Apple display is really only intended for use with mobile systems with its 1m cable and MacBook-specific connectors. Add to that the lack of any serious updates across the board to virtually any of Apple's Pro Apps within the last year, and I think the directing is shifting more and more to consumer electronics. A shame too considering Apple's foothold in the industry they worked so hard to get.
 
This recent patent application for "Safe Deposit Box" is an example of Apple "dumbing down" names for the average consumer to understand. "Mission Control"? "Magic Mouse"? What's next, "Mighty Mouse 10.8"?? I miss the days of OS X, PowerMac's and a great dedicated display line. No 10.7 beta's for a summer release is baffling.

There was an Apple Mighty Mouse, remember? It was the last one before this one.
 
This recent patent application for "Safe Deposit Box" is an example of Apple "dumbing down" names for the average consumer to understand.

What is the crime in calling a feature "Safe Deposit Box" rather than something like "256-bit AES File Encryption"? Why is it bad to use terms that allow the average person (i.e. most people using OS X) to understand what the point of something is?

I agree that the Magic/Mighty mouse names are lame, but in general there is nothing wrong with using familiar terms to describe a feature rather than jargon.
 
Apple has always had witty names for os features....
Spot light
Automator
Spaces
Expose
Boot camp.

Their naming is hardly something to cause worry.

The day apple creates an iOS SDK available for windows that is the day you should worry about the future of a fully blown os/ desktop computer.

I have said this before and I'll continue saying it until there is proof that says otherwise.
Apple and developers go hand and hand. They can not create a handicapped system and expect developers to be able to create applications.
 
I'm as concerned as anyone else about the future of Mac OS X, but I am looking on the bright side. The brightest side currently showing is that Macs are selling better than ever, and I'm SEEING them everywhere, so it's not just numbers on paper.

It feels like over half the laptops I see on campus are Macs. Most of them are newer Macs, like the unibody iBook, and the various Macbook Pros. Students are buying these things in droves.

Also, I work at a public state university, not a private college where students tend to be from wealthy families who can afford such things. So people LOVE Macs, are still buying them, and I doubt Apple will rock the boat too badly.

That's my bright side, hopefully it outshines some of the darkness. Lion shouldn't be as horrible as some predict it might be.
 
it inevitable

technology is becoming more powerful in mobile speaking and is wise to focus on that path. However, I'm curious of how lion will impact the future of osx.

maybe just ios ui on top of osx? or something else...

consumer base - 25% hardcore 75% average

yeah.
 
There was an Apple Mighty Mouse, remember? It was the last one before this one.

Yeah typo, I meant "Mighty Mouse OS X 10.8" :D

As for names, Exposé, Spotlight, those make sense. But "Safe Deposit Box"?? It's just "FileVault" on a cloud, and forgive me, but compared to previous app's, it just seems… wrong.

As for the latest announcement, time will tell. I'm not holding my breath for anything prosumer level. Snow Leopard was tweaked "under the hood", with little "consumer" flash. I have the sense Lion will have more "consumer" flash.
 
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The market goes where the money is. Right now, a lot of it is in mobile OS, so it's only natural that it's there. There was a time when it was mainly desktops...
 
The market goes where the money is. Right now, a lot of it is in mobile OS, so it's only natural that it's there. There was a time when it was mainly desktops...

Currently the market goes were Apple dictates it goes. Apple has been successful in one amazing aspect: creating a need/market where none existed. Before the iPhone the general consumer had RAZR's or Sony Ericsons or Nokia's, the general Apple user owned an iMac or PowerMac and used OS X for work in digital photography, graphic design, etc. Now every Soccer Mom and teenager who never had a need for a smart phone got one as it became "fashionable". Apple promoted the iPhone well before it was released, with a well publicized first commercial during the Oscars. It's a GREAT hype machine. in 2007, people waited in line for days for a phone, and Apple employees applauded them as they left, building consumer confidence and a sense of superiority… in a phone...

What about marketing in area's for prosumers? Greater quantity seems more important, yet don't discount the money prosumers and small businesses invest in Apple products. As well, once that money is invested, it is highly more likely that they will upgrade their systems and software steadily, so it may not be a HUGE market but a profitable one none the less. XServe? Gone. Replaced by a "Server" "Mac Pro". ACD's? Gone, replaced by a stripped down iMac LED LCD panel with cords too short for a desktop. Ground breaking OS X development? Not lately.

Now that Apple has created a demand for iPhones and iPads, and successfully went after a mass market, the professionals that use Mac's for PRODUCING and not CONSUMING are left with little options. Most individuals in my profession have already left for Windows systems. There isn't much faith in Apple hardware/OS X for the prosumer market. So if Apple decided on focusing on the masses, great, but in doing so they're disregarding those who need Apple for work and who supported Apple through tough times
 
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I'm as concerned as anyone else about the future of Mac OS X, but I am looking on the bright side. The brightest side currently showing is that Macs are selling better than ever, and I'm SEEING them everywhere, so it's not just numbers on paper.

It feels like over half the laptops I see on campus are Macs. Most of them are newer Macs, like the unibody iBook, and the various Macbook Pros. Students are buying these things in droves.

Also, I work at a public state university, not a private college where students tend to be from wealthy families who can afford such things. So people LOVE Macs, are still buying them, and I doubt Apple will rock the boat too badly.

That's my bright side, hopefully it outshines some of the darkness. Lion shouldn't be as horrible as some predict it might be.

And what is going on with TV and movies--the aluminum must look really good on the big screen because it seems like that is the only kind of computer I ever see anymore--an Apple laptop or iMac.
 
And what is going on with TV and movies--the aluminum must look really good on the big screen because it seems like that is the only kind of computer I ever see anymore--an Apple laptop or iMac.

Exactly. I haven't seen Mac Pro's much. I think the last time I saw "professional" Mac's was in "Hulk" in 2003, when they showed lampshade iMac's and PowerMac G4's. Now it's portables, everywhere.

Ironic as Jobs has stated the desktop isn't dead…
 
As for names, Exposé, Spotlight, those make sense. But "Safe Deposit Box"?? It's just "FileVault" on a cloud, and forgive me, but compared to previous app's, it just seems… wrong.

A safe deposit box is a secure place outside of your home that you can keep valuable/important things. "Safe Deposit Box" will provide a secure place outside of your computer/home to keep important files. Where is the confusion exactly?
 
A safe deposit box is a secure place outside of your home that you can keep valuable/important things. "Safe Deposit Box" will provide a secure place outside of your computer/home to keep important files. Where is the confusion exactly?

On my end? None. With you? It's the stupidest term I've read for an OS X application. What is this a bank or an OS? How about "Secure Cloud", or "FileVault Cloud"? Oh, because the average Joe would understand "Safe Deposit Box" and it's "cutesy" for all the computer illiterate iDevice masses Apple has drawn in. Point: "Mission Control", "Safe Deposit Box", OS X is being dumbed DOWN. Exposé was at least professional sounding. This crap? Donnez moi un break.
 
On my end? None. With you? It's the stupidest term I've read for an OS X application. What is this a bank or an OS? How about "Secure Cloud", or "FileVault Cloud"? Oh, because the average Joe would understand "Safe Deposit Box" and it's "cutesy" for all the computer illiterate iDevice masses Apple has drawn in. Point: "Mission Control", "Safe Deposit Box", OS X is being dumbed DOWN. Exposé was at least professional sounding. This crap? Donnez moi un break.

I have to disagree with you. People use tools because they have a need. People choose the tools they use for ease/comfort to get the job done.

Apple is always associated with ease of use. Think of the slogan 'it just works'. One of the things about Macs is the program names have often been cute and fun rather than techogeek. Its part of it being easy to use, and there is nothing inherently bad in tools being easy to use, unless you make your living using tools the average person can't or won't.

Microsoft learned this lesson a long time ago (some say from looking at Apple). At the time I sounded a little like you, saying they were 'dumbing it down'. At the end of the day however, it made my life easier. The calls asking 'how do I…?' dropped off.

There will always be computer 'geeks', just like there will always be car customizers, but for the vast majority of people, computers are tools which you want to be able to use productively. Part of that is making the interface intuitive, which includes names for programs people can understand.

This is from someone that likes to customize the UI, which makes my only dislike of the changes to Macs as of late being the locking down of customization options (read code signing on App store apps which breaks them if you change their resources, even if you resign them).
 
On my end? None. With you? It's the stupidest term I've read for an OS X application. What is this a bank or an OS? How about "Secure Cloud", or "FileVault Cloud"? Oh, because the average Joe would understand "Safe Deposit Box" and it's "cutesy" for all the computer illiterate iDevice masses Apple has drawn in. Point: "Mission Control", "Safe Deposit Box", OS X is being dumbed DOWN. Exposé was at least professional sounding. This crap? Donnez moi un break.

Again, "Safe Deposit Box" tells you exactly what the feature does in universally familiar terms, which most people would agree makes it a good name. The fact that you find it insulting to your advanced computer knowledge is irrelevant and petty. I agree that "Mission Control" is questionable, but only because it sounds overly important without really telling you what it is supposed to do, not because it isn't technical sounding enough.

Apple's mission has always been to make computers for the "computer illiterate masses"; it just so happens that we're getting to the point where the technology is advanced and mature enough to really do that. It's what they were doing when they introduced us to the GUI and it's what they are continuing to do with making computers/other devices less intimidating in other ways.
 
I seriously thought I was the only one who noticed this -- but im not. I've only been with OS X for a year now (YAY FOR MY AWESOME IMAC!), pcs all the other years, but I have to say that I love it, and at the same time, I feel as though I miss my Windows (I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD SAY THAT). In a sense, ALL of Apple's attention has been on the iPhone and the iPad leaving what started the company in the dust, neglected.

Their products are very pricey, I can't afford most of them, and they've devoted every bit of attention to their mobile line. We used to hear these awesome rumors for OS X, and it just feels like Apple cared so much more about it back in 2008 rather than now.

I feel as though Apple releases maintenance updates for Snow Leopard every now and then, and are going to destroy it and turn it into some iOS crap. I also feel as though they spend 80% of their time on mobile and 20% of their time on the Mac.

I don't want to have to go back to Windows, but Windows 7 is a good operating system and I feel like Microsoft has been trying to improve and shifted their focus to Windows while Apple has done the opposite with their OS.

Just look around you. iPhone forum on this website: 2300 users viewing................................ Mac OS X forum: 240 users viewing
 
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