a lot of assumptions on your part. I don't think its lack of demand, because folks can just go look at all the other windows based options that allow for a greater hardware selection that is upgradable. I don't think people want to throw down for a Mac pro when all they probably want to do is be able to add a couple more devices, swap out drives possibly, RAM, HD, Firewire ports etc. to assume the general public is too stupid because apple doesn't deliver is a bad idea. Just because apple doesn't offer it, doesn't mean people don't want it.
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Next-Generation iMac With SD Slot, Quad-Core, Possible Xeon? New Mouse and Remote in Pipeline?
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a lot of assumptions on your part. I don't think its lack of demand, because folks can just go look at all the other windows based options that allow for a greater hardware selection that is upgradable. I don't think people want to throw down for a Mac pro when all they probably want to do is be able to add a couple more devices, swap out drives possibly, RAM, HD, Firewire ports etc. to assume the general public is too stupid because apple doesn't deliver is a bad idea. Just because apple doesn't offer it, doesn't mean people don't want it.
It's pretty funny reading this thread seeing people all excited about a quad core processor in the iMac.
It's pretty pathetic that Apple can actually get away with selling a $1500 "desktop" computer with only a Core 2 Duo and GeForce 9400M GPU in 2009.
I mean, quad core started appearing in high end desktop PCs costing LESS than that iMac does now a couple of years ago. Over the last year and a half, you can walk into Best Buy or Fry's and buy just about any low-end PC and it'll have a triple or quad core CPU.
Even AMD sells a quad core CPU for $99 now!
Apple's pricing is pathetic.
It's pretty pathetic that Apple can actually get away with selling a $1500 "desktop" computer with only a Core 2 Duo and GeForce 9400M GPU in 2009.
I mean, quad core started appearing in high end desktop PCs costing LESS than that iMac does now a couple of years ago. Over the last year and a half, you can walk into Best Buy or Fry's and buy just about any low-end PC and it'll have a triple or quad core CPU.
Even AMD sells a quad core CPU for $99 now!
Apple's pricing is pathetic.
I guess you're paying for the exceptional user experience with the operating system and quality. But you're right, the prices are a little steep.
Mouse
Dear Apple,
Please... design a mouse....... that is actually usable. How is it possible for you to design so many great products... but you can't make a mouse? OMG will you PLEEZ for the first time in your history make a MOUSE that functions somewhat NORMALLY - stop trying to REINVENT IT! Just make a Mouse with TWO DAMN BUTTONS OMG HOW HARD IS IT?
Thanks...
Dear Apple,
Please... design a mouse....... that is actually usable. How is it possible for you to design so many great products... but you can't make a mouse? OMG will you PLEEZ for the first time in your history make a MOUSE that functions somewhat NORMALLY - stop trying to REINVENT IT! Just make a Mouse with TWO DAMN BUTTONS OMG HOW HARD IS IT?
Thanks...
your failure is that you don't realize that apple's mouse is far superior because they have thought of what you want instead of what you need. When users complain about the mouse, apple will interpret that as they need to remove the number pad on their wired keyboard and charge extra to do so!
Look.... it is possible to make a mouse with "buttons".... look see ! It can be done.....
This mouse - is better then any mouse Apple has ever made.... it has THREE BUTTONS!
This mouse - is better then any mouse Apple has ever made.... it has THREE BUTTONS!
Edit. Sorry about typos. The iPhone can't keep up with me sometimes. Lol.
Giving matte means pro users, especially with quad and graphics, these pros would buy them just like they used too.
And this means no more $4000 Mac Pro sales. Just another way to rip off the enthusiast semi pro user, which happens to be a larger market then the pro user base by 100 fold.
Look at avid. They knew pro tools TDM was not selling nearly 1/10th of what happens in the prosumer market so they purchased M-Audio and now do quite well.
Apple needs to realize the future of TV, Film Producers, Composers, graphic designers, are strting out in home project studios (lack of express card is a bad bad bad decision for the MBP as audio makers have express cards that run full fledged reverb, compression, delay, SSL plu-in's freeing the CPU to utilize more virtual instrument. Google UAD express audio cards to see what I'm talking about. This express slot with esata ports needs to be on all notebooks and iMacs. Not some silly SD card fir photo's.
I'm amazed sometimes at Apple but then again, even though they don't get that the prosumer far outsells the PRO user ( and that's excluding gamers which is huge, even larger), so they release devices in a way that if you want to do any Pro work at all, you have to buy a server based workstation. There was a time when apple wasn't so greedy and you would think with all the success, they would release powerful, yet affordable products. They have abandoned the Semi-Pro user. It's a shame.
Peace.
Giving matte means pro users, especially with quad and graphics, these pros would buy them just like they used too.
And this means no more $4000 Mac Pro sales. Just another way to rip off the enthusiast semi pro user, which happens to be a larger market then the pro user base by 100 fold.
Look at avid. They knew pro tools TDM was not selling nearly 1/10th of what happens in the prosumer market so they purchased M-Audio and now do quite well.
Apple needs to realize the future of TV, Film Producers, Composers, graphic designers, are strting out in home project studios (lack of express card is a bad bad bad decision for the MBP as audio makers have express cards that run full fledged reverb, compression, delay, SSL plu-in's freeing the CPU to utilize more virtual instrument. Google UAD express audio cards to see what I'm talking about. This express slot with esata ports needs to be on all notebooks and iMacs. Not some silly SD card fir photo's.
I'm amazed sometimes at Apple but then again, even though they don't get that the prosumer far outsells the PRO user ( and that's excluding gamers which is huge, even larger), so they release devices in a way that if you want to do any Pro work at all, you have to buy a server based workstation. There was a time when apple wasn't so greedy and you would think with all the success, they would release powerful, yet affordable products. They have abandoned the Semi-Pro user. It's a shame.
Peace.
Well, I've been a Mac user for almost 3 years now.
I've used Mac OS from 10.4.8 up to 10.6.1 now.
I've had two plastic MacBooks replaced due to poor build quality and even worse warranty repair service that left both systems in even worse shape than they were sent out in, and one had a properly functioning display replaced with a defective display.
I've yet to experience the "quality" and "exceptional user experience" that people speak of when it comes to Macs. The build quality has been down right terrible, and OS X is far too limited. On my PC I can be using the system with the built-in display, sleep it, and wake it on my external display. My unibody MacBook running Snow Leopard? Nope. If I want to switch displays I have to shut the system down. If I try to connect my external display while its sleeping, or even sleep the system while already using the external display, when it wakes all of the Finder icons disappear! I did a fresh install of Snow Leopard too. Thats just one of many problems. Another issue is why can't I disable the built-in display in software? Why do I have to start the system with the lid closed or close it to sleep the system and wake it up with the external attached? In Windows I can plug the external monitor in and it just works. If its the first time connecting that monitor, I get prompted with the option of extending or cloning the desktop or just running external only. From that point on it remembers my settings. Or I can change my settings with very little effort in display properties. Yet in the three major revisions of OS X I've used, there is no option for that. Stupid. Windows has done this since Windows 98. I can write a full book here if I'd like. So yeah, I don't get the "exceptional user experience".
Hardware has been and always will be a crapshoot. Some folks can go years without issues, others not so much, but it doesn't mean that small percentage doesn't take it very serious. I would say that apple is using all the cheap 3rd world labor that every one else is.
then why in the world do you buy mac? you don't like the pricing, you think its build is substandard, and you don't like OSX as much as Vista (I seriously laughed my butt off at that).
that makes absolutely no sense.
Where are the iMac and MacBook mockups?
Hyper fake images? Leaked images from the factories?
What is going on with this rumor?
Hyper fake images? Leaked images from the factories?
What is going on with this rumor?
You might be right. I think there will always be a market for desktops, just not as big as it used to be. We'll see.
I'd just like to point out that Steve Jobs didn't call Blu-ray a bag of hurt, he said licensing Blu-ray was a bag of hurt. Here is what he actually said, which people tend to quote cut:
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
And yet they continued to see strong growth for years and years and even in the current economic environment, where PC manufacturers can't seem to sell anything but cheap netbooks, Apple is seeing far smaller sales declines and while they are reducing prices, they are not having to reduce them by many hundreds of dollars to generate demand.
Has anyone ever considered that maybe Apple just doesn't want to be the biggest computer manufacturer in the world in terms of units shipped? It doesn't seem to have done wonders for IBM or HP or Dell over the long term. Apple seems to make more money than any of them and enjoys a higher stock price because of it.
Maybe Apple could double or triple their sales if they "offered what the market really wanted" (which is actually just a euphemism for "what I really want"). but they seem to be doing pretty darn well just catering to a "very small, very snobbish, very rich, very stupid, and very gullible" clientele (if you listen to the pundits).
I want a quad-core 17" MacBook Pro something fierce. I don't want to maintain a separate mobile and desktop unit so I want a "desktop replacement" Mac with serious (but not ridiculous) power. And I'd like it to cost $1999, but I'd pay $2999 for it.
But I went into the Mac world with eyes wide open. I knew I'd pay more for hardware and that hardware would not be the latest and greatest when it launched, much less twelve months later. I weighed the benefits I felt moving to Apple would give me versus the costs, and I decided it was worth it.
Evidently, enough people feel the same to keep Apple nice and profitable, even if there are not enough to make them the largest manufacturer.
Look.... it is possible to make a mouse with "buttons".... look see ! It can be done.....
This mouse - is better then any mouse Apple has ever made.... it has THREE BUTTONS!
Weird - I'm using a mouse right now made by Apple just this year that has 4 buttons.
If one hardware maker can consistently make machines that have a 10% failure rate in the first year, and another makes machines that consistently have a 15% failure rate, the magazines and users praises the 10% maker as having superior build quality. The truth is that both failure rates are quite pathetic, it is indicative of our love of cheaply made chinese products, and the end user won't notice or care about the 10% failure rate when they inevitably draw on those odds across numerous consumer electronic devices and get a few of the duds. It is even more frustrating when the dud draw comes on something as expensive as a Mac. So yes, it is possible to have "superior build quality" and a pathetic user experience at the same time, as sad as that is. Usually where Apple gets points back is on their splendid customer service - the only thing a company can do to combat the pathetic state of the hardware mfg.
On the OS X and display issues, you've hit on some of the weak points of the platform. Yes, they do exist. There are many strong points too, hence this rumored superior end user experience you've heard about. It just so happens that your uses are not matching up with those. For me, and millions of others, Mac's bright spots overlap very strongly with our primary uses. My advice to you: sell your Mac on ebay or Craigslist (for probably 50-75% of it's original cost, which tells you something about others findings the strengths of these machines hitting their sweet spots), and move back to a Windows-based PC. Seems like it's strengths match up with your needs better than Macs.
There are going to be bad Apples in every bunch, but I'd be careful about projecting anecdotal experiences onto the market at large.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10019711-37.html
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2...tisfaction-up-despite-struggling-industry.ars
http://digg.com/apple/Apple_leads_2009_customer_satisfaction_survey
http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/08/16/apple.no..1.on.csi/
http://theappleblog.com/2009/05/06/apple-customer-satisfaction-its-the-experience/
http://blackfriarsinc.com/blog/2007/04/behind-scenes-why-apples-customerbase
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/08/mac_customer_sa.html
http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-posts-highest-score-ever-on-customer-satisfaction-index/2553
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/22467/
http://bindapple.com/apple-satisfaction-2009-report/
http://www.macnn.com/news/25971
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/08/14/iphone-3gs-trumps-palm-pre-in-satisfaction-survey/
http://www.ipodobserver.com/ipo/article/iPhone_Satisfaction_Off_The_Charts/
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/08/14/iphone-3gs-99-pure-satisfaction/
http://www.mactivist.com/2009/06/iphone-macs-ipod-sweep-2008-customer-satisfaction-rankings-in-japan
http://www.9to5mac.com/jobs-satisfation-rate-high
http://www.jdpower.com/Business/ratings/smartphone-ratings
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2248040/apple-keeps-top-billing
http://www.eweek.com/prestitial.php...ustomer-Satisfaction-Study-Finds-453807/&ref=
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2352796,00.asp
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2006/08/5002.ars
http://www.osnews.com/story/15553
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1689554/posts
https://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-224872.html
I'd just like to point out that Steve Jobs didn't call Blu-ray a bag of hurt, he said licensing Blu-ray was a bag of hurt. Here is what he actually said, which people tend to quote cut:
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
Kind of an important distinction.
and one could say that your the biggest violator of this advice on these boards with your assumptions that the general public doesn't want GV, BD, Copy and paste, xMac's, 3rd party iTunes sync, netbook, tablet, etc.
Yet apple remains on the board of directors for Blu Ray and pretty much every other hardware manufacture has adopted BD. The argument holds no weight and BD has become the de facto HD standard currently. Any thing less for a premium product is an insult.
Yes, Apple functions at the Premium end and rules it. It's common knowledge that they're not interested in the low and and lock out a good chunk of the mid-end.
Apple makes profit. In a recession. The rest try to scrape by on volume.
Apple is getting away with it because people continue to buy them at that price. It *just might be* that people don't crave or need the uber speed as much as you think they do.
I think Apple's pricing is genius: they aren't selling machines based on the list of specs, but on emotion and desire. That will always be a high-price, higher-margin sales model. Taking that margin and never innovating would be pathetic, but doing what Apple does, taking that margin and using it to innovate and take larger and larger risks is refreshing.
Nope. I'm just going by the numbers. Apple's Mac line is extremely profitable, and continues to be so today. You're trying to point out or search for a deficiency where there is actually no evidence for one. Apple is making money on computers easily (in a recession), where others struggle to do so.
Sales and numbers tell the tale. It's all in the numbers. Let the public vote with their wallets and not buy Apple. Right now the exact opposite is happening. I'm just doing the easiest thing here, and that's parroting the market trends and numbers. Facts.
We're both making assumptions. I base mine on something tangible and readily available. What are you basing yours on?