I agree - that era of MacBooks was by far the worst era of Apple computers since the early 90's. I needed a computer and went for a XPS for christ's sake.
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Laurene Powell Jobs and Jony Ive Reveal Why Tech Has 'Gone Sideways' in Rare Interview
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I agree - that era of MacBooks was by far the worst era of Apple computers since the early 90's. I needed a computer and went for a XPS for christ's sake.
Wow, reading these comments, how much things changed here for the last 10+ years. I guess if his mentor was still alive and they were running Apple together, all the koolaid kids here would think differently about him.
I’m waiting for Ive to sell you a button that you hook up to all your devices and social media account and when you push it, it puts an AI generated away message and then turns off all your devices and deactivates all your social media accounts. “Ive fixed technology!” Then he will sell you a 500 stationary kit so you can Communicate with the people that matter the most to you by snail mail. No matter what you will pay him a minimum of 499 to do stuff you could do before for cheaper, but now you will feel fancy doing it.
ROFL
It is billion/trillion dollars funds more so than billionaires. It is Venture Capiture folks handing pots of money to OpenAI to spend like a drunken sailor that funding a substantial amount of this. Similarly gobs of folks paying hyperscalers who turn around and dump wads at Nvidia ( about 10 customers is almost all of Nvidia's mega growth. Fear of missing out ... again has folks spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave. )
Probably not. Legal person fired already.
Unlicensed law clerk fired after ChatGPT hallucinations found in filing
Law school grad’s firing is a bad omen for college kids overly reliant on ChatGPT.
arstechnica.com
As Google Maps / Waze / Apple Maps .. dramatics atrophied more than a few people's spatial navigation skills, there is huge potential here for 'A.I." to churn out an even bigger set of low knowledge , low critical thinking skill people.
( similar with pushing calculators lower and lower into the curriculum base levels has done to math reasoning. )
Some will use it as a tool to get more wisdom and knowledge and others will head in the opposite direction (bigger crutch to get over and do even less that they don't find 'fun'. )
I see what you are saying but allow me to provide context. When jobs was alive apple was making products that improved technology and Ive was introducing them. Jobs did his part to keep Ive from going overboard. After jobs died Ive gave us butterfly keyboard with high failure rates, MacBooks that overheated and designed for a museum not for production. But I think Ive committed his most serious crimes in two other areas: 1. He jammed up apples pipeline by having everything run through him and then not being present enough so we had had apple basically falling behind the competition and losing it’s reputation as leading innovator (that still suffers to this day) and perhaps more importantly 2. He approached software like the hardware and kept away features and focused on “simplicity” not of just design but of functionality. This led apple to fall waayyyyy behind. To his credit Craig F has actually done a great job getting things like shortcuts integrated for power users, adding features even if it means dealing with the hits of apple copying android he kept churning and making it better to where now it’s google ripping iPhone features to put in android at least as much as it goes the other way around if not more. (We will leave AI aside much of the changes in Android 15/16 have been things that were in iOS or changing them to match iOS. Lock Screen widgets, always on display etc) Craigs changes to iOS enabled me to switch to iPhone as my main device.
if the primary objective is to make the core of the service do almost anything, then avoiding that same pothole is a crapshoot ( as likely to happen as not). The 'spin' is going to be that they are going to slap a bunch of 'ethical guardrails' around it to stop bad things. Guardrails constructed by people will likely have mistakes. Some folks will find the holes and exploit them ( just like Apple operating systems come with "install me now , active exploits in the wild'.
The more prudent path would be to not be 'hell bent' in trying to make it do everything and anything. A substantial contributor to that pothole is not the system, but the 'input' will ill intent. If you hand out personal nuclear reactors to millions of people, then sooner or later one of the recipients is going to think it is has greater utility as a bomb. ( some tools already have "don't create nuclear weapons for people protections on them. We'll see how well that holds up as it is handed out to millions more folks. )
But there are two products here. What will flow from io is more likely a local personal interaction tool That device probably isn't going to avoid any of that level of problem . With OpenAI it likely has a secondary purpose of generating/perciptating more data to train the system over time. (whether voluntariy given or acquired through various levels of indirection. ). They be looking for folks to develop an anthropomorphic attachment to the service. version 1.0 isn't going to be robot sex doll like thing, but an attention focus that device that is run by the company is better way to manage data flow with limited interference. Constant companion is likely what looking for.
The almost human ( incrementally closer to "AGI" artificial general intelligence ) isn't likely going to run in a box that runs on batteries locally. ( at least as only as that is mainly a "pile it higher and deeper" path to more general intelligence. )
Recent article about how DeepMind head wants to eventually fix email with the application of AI.
Death to Gmail? Google DeepMind CEO Wants AI to Solve This One Annoying Problem
Demis Hassabis' work ranges from finding cures for diseases to making email less bothersome. Which will he achieve first?
www.cnet.com
decent chance someone else will use another AI to 'unfix' that first AI and occasional spam still gets through. You will have a more powerful tool and so will the folks on the 'other' side.
If Jobs were alive, I suspect that as soon as he saw ChatGPT he would've guessed that genAI was going to be an iPhone killer & would've made up his mind that it would be Apple who would come up with the iPhone killer & not anyone else.
Instead, without Jobs, Apple are obviously going to try and protect/milk the iPhone for as long as possible.
This, I suspect, is the difference between Cook and Jobs.
And Ive probably knows that this is the sort of thing that Steve would've done - so he's going to do it.
Finally:
I get that he has some guilt about screen addiction. But helping to make a product even more mainstream that will result in lots of jobs being lost, is probably going to be worse than that!
I think for him, he sees it probably as his last 'I'm going to change the world again' product - and proving that he can do it outside Apple.
Instead, without Jobs, Apple are obviously going to try and protect/milk the iPhone for as long as possible.
This, I suspect, is the difference between Cook and Jobs.
And Ive probably knows that this is the sort of thing that Steve would've done - so he's going to do it.
Finally:
I get that he has some guilt about screen addiction. But helping to make a product even more mainstream that will result in lots of jobs being lost, is probably going to be worse than that!
I think for him, he sees it probably as his last 'I'm going to change the world again' product - and proving that he can do it outside Apple.
I think we can now say Steve Jobs was exceptionally good. Beyond the very best that is already rare.
And then you have people that is exceptionally bad about tech going side ways or AI would need UBI or 5 trillion Fabs.
When you put the two together that is what makes Steve Jobs INSANELY GREAT.
And then you have people that is exceptionally bad about tech going side ways or AI would need UBI or 5 trillion Fabs.
When you put the two together that is what makes Steve Jobs INSANELY GREAT.
Honestly I would have liked to hear something more substantial from these people than just abstract “we are doomed, technology bad!!!”. I want to hear exactly in which way it is bad or good. Some people say that AI revolution is nothing more than another dotcom rush (which will inevitably lead to new dotcom crisis, I guess).
What can be actual breakthru in tech nowadays? Maybe quantum computing to every home, fully automated AI that will make most of the job and make operating system user interfaces nearly useless, as well as decentralization of this technology (thanks to quantum computing, again).
Right now people are literally burning coals to generate cringe Ghibli-styled “memes”. What a waste of energy. Similar to AAA gaming. How about that angle? I doubt I will ever hear something like that from Ive, tho I would have liked to.
Star Wars inspired comlink-like device would have been fun. But I doubt we are already there. What else can be technological breakthru? Maybe make those bunch of algorithms think how can we build a hyperdrive, how can we bring many other sci-fi ideas into reality.
Otherwise it still serves no real purpose for humanity, people are still killing each other in stupid wars, electing dumbsters, literal terrorists and dictators as their presidents, justice does not exist in world realm, people eating trash food because they have less time to cook it at home, as well as more and more young people postponing having kids because of dying economy. Will AI actually be used to accelerate or slow down these processes? That’s a real philosophical question
What can be actual breakthru in tech nowadays? Maybe quantum computing to every home, fully automated AI that will make most of the job and make operating system user interfaces nearly useless, as well as decentralization of this technology (thanks to quantum computing, again).
Right now people are literally burning coals to generate cringe Ghibli-styled “memes”. What a waste of energy. Similar to AAA gaming. How about that angle? I doubt I will ever hear something like that from Ive, tho I would have liked to.
Star Wars inspired comlink-like device would have been fun. But I doubt we are already there. What else can be technological breakthru? Maybe make those bunch of algorithms think how can we build a hyperdrive, how can we bring many other sci-fi ideas into reality.
Otherwise it still serves no real purpose for humanity, people are still killing each other in stupid wars, electing dumbsters, literal terrorists and dictators as their presidents, justice does not exist in world realm, people eating trash food because they have less time to cook it at home, as well as more and more young people postponing having kids because of dying economy. Will AI actually be used to accelerate or slow down these processes? That’s a real philosophical question
Surely to accelerate the process of concentrating wealth to a smaller and more obscenely affluent group of people.
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Yes, I thought I'd read that it will be an unobtrusive, screenless slab that you place near you, on a table, chair, etc., and it'll have microphones and cameras that monitor you and your surroundings, and use that information in some way that the user finds useful, presumably communicating with the user through speakers.
Not having a screen is supposed to reduce the device's distraction level, but if this device is always talking at and with you, that might just create a different but similar level of distraction, especially for people around you who don't want to hear your conversations with your device. Maybe you're expected to wear ear buds whenever you're using this thing, but people around you will still hear your side of the "conversation".
Maybe Ive will suggest that the proper etiquette for using this device is to deploy it only when you're alone, or among people who won't mind the chatter, but that would limit its usefulness, so you know that a lot of people would still bring it out even in restaurants, crowds, elevators, etc., all the same places people currently use their smartphones.
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For some the device will more so be like a "personal assistant"/ gentlemen bulter / head maid . At a party or social gathering the aristocracy doesn't spend their whole time talking to the 'help'. Don't have to pay minimum wage, health benefits, and can ask to work 24/7/365 (no vacation or sick days). [ In 'Downton Abbey' , most the staff dialog is with the other staff in the staff sections; not with the Crawleys . ]
For the context where someone goes to a coffee shop to do work ( but not to talk to the folks there. ), again quite similar as if a personal assistant had been dragged along and sat in a seat at the same table. There would be chatter , as necessary, between the two 'people' sitting at the table. If the users wants then can act like modern teenagers and just 'text message' someone in the same room/table without talking outloud. ( e.g., app on phone . in addition to a bluetooth headset option. )
If the AI backend was smart enough and there was a camera then slab could read sign language and wouldn't necessarily have to speak at all. (although signing back to a deaf person is a challenge with no screen. )
Cellphones and bluetooth headsets have greatly diminished the fear of appearing to be talking to yourself in public. That ship has already sailed. Increasingly see folks walking around with their phone on speakerphone mode ( normalization of speakerphone mode in the car further moves that along. )
IF hire a personal assistant they shouldn't bother you at the same rate the smartphone rattles off notifications. Part of their job is to filter out and prioritize things so that you do not get bothered with not immediately essential stuff.
The protocol here is more so as what would/should a personal assistant say or not. The physical difference here is that can 'own' this person and small enough to put in your pocket as you move around.
I can’t help but think that OpenAI’s biggest investor is Microsoft which has a 49% stake.
If Tim doesn’t get a hold on AI/Siri, especially if Tim has goals of a simpler AR glasses solution, which if properly done will need to leverage VLMs and LLMs, Apple will be in pain.
Meanwhile, one of the guys that helped save Apple (Jony) along with the founders widow (Laurene) will be potentially be the ones bringing the pain to Apple and helping Microsoft while doing it. Unbelievable.
If Tim doesn’t get a hold on AI/Siri, especially if Tim has goals of a simpler AR glasses solution, which if properly done will need to leverage VLMs and LLMs, Apple will be in pain.
Meanwhile, one of the guys that helped save Apple (Jony) along with the founders widow (Laurene) will be potentially be the ones bringing the pain to Apple and helping Microsoft while doing it. Unbelievable.
It never fails to blow my mind how often I see people have full volume speaker phone conversations on public transit
people just don't care
It says a lot how Apple are behind, when Joni and especially Laurene, are investing elsewhere on something that that will 'compete' with Apple.
I find it very interesting - my interest in Siri and Apple’s development in AI is practically zero.
But what Joni and others are cooking can definitely interest me. It might cook Cook a bit 😉
All good observations. I think whatever this device is able to do, it'll be doable on smartphones too but with the added feature of having a screen, so they'll have competition.
It’s going to be something you don’t wear or pocket, but keep all times with you, right? It needs to be smooth and discreet. I get it now. It’s going to be… an insertable thing.
Non-wearable and no screen makes it a drone that floats near you constantly, I guess?
The iPhone’s killer will be another physical device. All software companies will do is make apps for the physical devices out there and, as long as Apple continues to make physical devices the way they do, there will always be some small percentage of all smartphones sold that will be what those affluent people use to access all these services. The software companies have all given up on making hardware, so what kills the iPhone will be something else made by Apple that replicates enough of it’s features to be worth replacing the iPhone for.
I immediately started humming that to the tune of the refrain of Boy George’s “Unfortunate Thing” LOL