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The End of Apple's Professional Presence Is Here
- Thread starter theusualsuspect
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Apple get to much money from Professionals to stop making Macs for them.
Don't kid yourself, Apple is drunk on iProfits. They're about to make a serious mistake.
And what issues do exist at release, are solved faster than Apple does with the MP/OS X bugs that exist on this particular system. Quite disappointing, given there's less work overall to be done by Apple vs. PC vendors and Microsoft (or even Linux, where the developers work for free
Don't fool yourself. There are 10's millions of dollars per year being spent on Linux development and support. That Linux is primarily being built by folks in spare time on weekends is now a myth. Maybe for some some odd ball driver or utility, but the core of the OS (kernel, file systems , schedulers , etc. ) are written by folks getting paid at places like Oracle, IBM, RedHat, Intel, and Google.
Depends on quickness of response. Some problems are generic. So if Microsoft fixes a defect and rolls it out to all of the system vendors then it is "fast". For instance a Dell user might find it one month. Microsoft fixes it in two, but an HP user discovers a bug the Dell user found a month later. The turnaround would look faster to the HP user.
Apple has fewer users witch also means they find stuff slower (Seriously, why don't the folks in the OS betas find more stuff..... login security broken issues ) and
As for SGI , Sun , and the "enterprise vendors". Guess what you pony up 5-20% of the price of the machine per year every year for support and they can pay more people to handle your issues faster. In some sense, you get what you pay for (or don't pay for). Again the larger PC markets volume can pay for more support staff. Sure they have more problems but they have more people too. If they put a higher priority on on user impact issues they can pull folks off of "lower priority" niche issues if need be. Apple runs a chronically understaffed shop (like many tech companies). There is always a queue of stuff to fix.
Sigh no they care about consumer's money not corporations. Their current target is the upper middle class consumer.
I know it's not all free, but corporate Linux development expenditures are much lower than Windows for the moment. Granted, Linux development doesn't include the consumer software that Windows does, as they focus on the enterprise market.
But comparatively speaking, it's my understanding that Windows still gets more paid man-hours than Linux, even when limiting the comparison to enterprise applications, such as virtualization.
I realize what you're getting at.
But I've noticed major bugs in OS X that should have been fixed before the OS released. RAID for example. Now I realize that most of the systems running OS X isn't using RAID, or is used in an enterprise environment, but it's a significant problem for those that do.
Since they do sell an enterprise product however, they have a responsibility to those users. Particularly as they should have found this during their own software validation testing (this issue is that obvious - occurs with both software implementations and their own Apple RAID Pro card). Worst case,, they should get it fixed much faster than they do by continuing the validation testing after the product is released if they're in that much of a hurry to get the product shipped (shouldn't require end-user bug reports to act, as it would have shown up had they tested any RAID implementation).
Unfortunately, it just comes off as too many corners being cut as a means of getting the product shipped ASAP. Even if all they're concentrating on is consumer users, they're reporting a number of bugs on their end that also should have been caught in a thorough validation testing phase.
I can see this as being perceived as a rant, but I guess I'm just accustomed to such support in the enterprise/professional market. Particularly as I realize I'm paying a premium for it (additional testing hours are included in the product's costs, and reflected in the MSRP).
I realize this as well.
But users are fine with this in such situations (professional/enterprise use), so long as the vendor actually delivers when there's a problem.
And in this type of market, it's either included in the product's MSRP (i.e. system vendor warranty), or as you mention, there is an annual support/licensing fee for software. It varies of course, but National Instrument's annual fees for example, include technical support, latest software versions, and component libraries (figured you'd be familiar with their products, particularly LabVIEW
). But as mentioned, users of these sorts of products don't have an issue with this so long as they get value for their money.
To be fair, this is something happening across all Apple products, not just Pro products, and it's extremely worrisome.
iMac screen issues, iPhone 4 antennae issues, tons of iOS 5 bugs, buggy IDE controllers on MacBooks, many many Lion bugs, etc...
It seems to be an issue company wide, sadly. If it was just Pro products, I'd actually feel a bit better about it... But as it stands, I'm considering alternative platforms for the first time in a while. The last times I did that was in the mid-late 90s and when the G4 was floundering. Not a good sign.
If they're diverting resources to work on iProducts, it doesn't seem to be helping them. iOS 5 has been the buggiest GM to date, and the 4S was underwhelming.
I know, and agree it's a really bad track to be on, especially as the perception that there's better QA/QC with OS X (goes back to the "It just works" ad campaign).
Though I focused on the enterprise market as this is the MP section (where stability is critical), it's also important in the consumer market.
Users expect value for the premium prices Apple charges, and they should deliver a better experience than what a budget box would entail (sub $500 segment), regardless if it's an enterprise or consumer product. And that should come in the form of fewer bugs than the competition before attempting to deliver additional content/features.
Unless they get a handle on this, and quickly, users will realize they're not getting sufficient value for their money, and begin looking at other products/platforms. It seems by other posts here in MR, some are already thinking about it if Apple doesn't deliver soon.
And other vendors that are paying attention would love to increase their marketshare, so they'll be willing to step in and fill the void (consumer products, as the enteprise market is already better served by PC vendors).
I'm not sure that the Apple has really slipped in QC. I have exactly two "bugs" with Lion - apps I put in Utilities don't show up in LaunchPad and their new SMB implementation is crap. I have not had a problem that I can recall other than that on my MP, MBP or my wife's MBA.
In the last several Mac's we have owned since the Intel conversion (2 iMac's, 1 MB, 1 MBP, MP, MBA, Mini), I have had exactly 2 issues - one of the iMac's did have a very slightly color temp variation in the display (the "yellowing") and the MacBook would charge any battery. I gave the MB to someone to use and they eventually ended up with a dead key.
My 4S iPhone has been fine as well. Had some battery concerns at first, but after turning of a few location services (GPS running amuck), the battery seems fine compared to my old 3GS. I have not run across any bugs that affect me, at least, in iOS5 on my phone or my iPad 1 that I updated.
Not saying people's problems aren't real, but the perception that everything Apple is turning out is crap is just crazy. I had a much smoother transition with Lion than Snow Leopard as far as software compatibility (had a lot of stuff break with 10.6 requiring updates). I had exactly one major piece of SW I use require a Lion update to fix major breakage (Native Instruments Kontakt sampler would not run in 64 bit mode).
My Dell laptop running Win7 from work still won't reliably sleep or wake after over a year of updates and patches. My friend's daughter's HTC Android phone has needed multiple patches to even work right and still needs to be rebooted almost daily.
I understand we all expect far more from Apple than other tech companies. But by my experiences and those of my friends and co-workers, they are still far better than most of the competition.
In the last several Mac's we have owned since the Intel conversion (2 iMac's, 1 MB, 1 MBP, MP, MBA, Mini), I have had exactly 2 issues - one of the iMac's did have a very slightly color temp variation in the display (the "yellowing") and the MacBook would charge any battery. I gave the MB to someone to use and they eventually ended up with a dead key.
My 4S iPhone has been fine as well. Had some battery concerns at first, but after turning of a few location services (GPS running amuck), the battery seems fine compared to my old 3GS. I have not run across any bugs that affect me, at least, in iOS5 on my phone or my iPad 1 that I updated.
Not saying people's problems aren't real, but the perception that everything Apple is turning out is crap is just crazy. I had a much smoother transition with Lion than Snow Leopard as far as software compatibility (had a lot of stuff break with 10.6 requiring updates). I had exactly one major piece of SW I use require a Lion update to fix major breakage (Native Instruments Kontakt sampler would not run in 64 bit mode).
My Dell laptop running Win7 from work still won't reliably sleep or wake after over a year of updates and patches. My friend's daughter's HTC Android phone has needed multiple patches to even work right and still needs to be rebooted almost daily.
I understand we all expect far more from Apple than other tech companies. But by my experiences and those of my friends and co-workers, they are still far better than most of the competition.
I've had lots of Lion issues and general instability. I could list them, but there are already tons of threads on the topic....
The 4S is still a pretty good phone, but it's still honestly underwhelming after a year and a half, and battery issues on a cell phone are extremely serious and shouldn't have made it past QC at all. It's like saying "Yeah, my car has been fine. I mean, SURE, it has that issue where if it goes over 40 it just shuts off on the freeway, but aside from that, it's a really great car."
Apple is topping the surveys on customer satisfaction/service nearly every year. While some of these issues may cause problems for some, that's not enough to cause people to switch over to another platform in droves. Or else people would do just that.
Most of these problems can be fixed with an iOS/Mac OSX/firmware update.
IF you look at the history in the mobile phome industry and see once stallwarts like Motorola, Nokia, RIM having come and gone and the present focus of Apple on the iPhone then you should quickly realise that public's loyalty is very shortlived and can change totally to the opposite end of the scale in 6 months to a year.
And it is not only software; The heat developped by the Mac mini is for a desktop unacceptable, I've ranted enough about that elsewhere. As soon as something comparable comes on the market as the Mac Mini (and I am keeping a close look at the ASrock Vision 3D) I am gone from Apple.
(Additionaly for a laptop I am prepared to make compromises but not for a desktop - the loss of the DVD/CD , or even not including a BR is not acceptable: it reeks of bullying to go and buy in the Apps / iTunes store and shutting out alternatives. Have you read aboutseveral telco's not wanting to sell the iPhone because the terms from Apple are unacceptable?)
Even though I totally disagree with it...I cant see Apple keeping up with the Pro for much longer. From a sales perspective, they're more incentive to focus on all things iOS. For me, its a total bummer (as I'd LOVE to have a reasonably affordable and upgrade-able Apple Desktop)...and the reason why I still (and will do so well into the future) have a Window's machine.
One of the major selling points of all iOS devices is content consumption.
Nearly all of that content will have been created professionally.
Nearly all professional content will be created using industry standard equipment; Apple computers usually being at the centre of this process.
It doesn't exactly make sense to remove the things that create content for an industry your other devices are designed to display, does it.
..then again, Apple has just started recently making their way into the Enterprise sector, and just as they do, they kill off the Xserve, a move I still don't grasp. Whilst it makes absolutely no sense to me that they would kill off the Mac Pro, Apple have in the past made decisions that most would all questionable, so never say never.
Since 70%-89% of iPhone sales have been from people who previously owned an iPhone. Not saying that could change in the future.
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/2...ng-loyalty-with-planned-retention-rate-of-89/
I think I briefly discussed this. The Mac Mini is not your conventional desktop. It depends on the designed thermal tolerances from the manufacture and not what the public thinks it should be. Some will run hotter then others.
Then don't make compromises. Nobodies stopping you.
There are alternatives even if someone stays on the Mac platform. Add on USB CD/DVD players. Blu-ray does work on the Mac, you can't play Blu-ray movies though.
You can still buy and install third party apps, without the App Store, that has not changed.
For now.
If Apple keeps this up they may not be anymore.
They already got knocked off Consumer Reports recommended list for the 4. Despite, as we now know, them knowing about the issue before release.
Perhaps it may pay you to search what Intel's recommendations are for continious CPU temperature and what memory manufacturers recommendations are for memory temperature and then combine this with reliability / unexplained errors. But hey you know so much all so I leave you to wallow in your non-knowledge.
(after all the last computer project I designed was worth only 120 M USD so what do I know about technology?)
Yes, due to the antenna issue which has been since fixed with then new version. Consumer reports for the new 4S version has been favorable, but they are still in the process of evaluating it.
It does not have seemed to affect sales of the iPhone 4S, as they have actually increased, even with the antenna issue of the past.
Setting your inflated ego aside for a minute, as I said I discussed on this topic just briefly. I realize there are many factors to consider then just temperature alone. Such as incorrectly applying thermal compound to its own processors.
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You keep saying sales, I keep saying build quality....
Yes, the iPhone is still selling well, for now. But the iPhone 3G and 3GS had pristine reputations. Meantime the 4S has battery trouble, which is one of it's primary functions.
Build quality declines won't lead to sales hits in the short term, but eventually they will. Especially in since Apple has built their entire brand on build quality. And numbers may not hold their mindshare for long, the latest Android numbers don't look good.
Sales as meaning people seem to be happy with the product. I seen these problems crop up myself for the last several years, but these problems in of itself, is not enough to persuade people from not buying.
I see the same with other companies. Microsoft, when they release a new version of windows. Pretty much everyone knows or even waits till at least the first service pack is released, to fix problems that crop up. But I never thought of Windows as an inferior product just because of this.
Sales don't at all imply people are happy with a product. A sale happens before the person actually owns the product. I bought and installed Lion. I'm extremely unhappy with it, but I already count as a sale.
By that metric, Windows is a really awesome, stable, well built product.
I go with more then just sales figures. Like how many people who already own Apple products, and continue to buy them. The return rate due to problems ( Like you mentioned ) with total amount sold, also compared to other manufactures product return rates.
For me, I'm looking at a negative trend when I go back and examine their history, which shows recent products have more critical bugs than past products.
Updates have also been slower, such as how long it took to fix the audio bug in the 2009 systems (nearly a year).
Such a direction can change a company's fortunes rather quickly as enough of the user base realizes the issues have a negative impact on their usage, and discover a better alternative. Which the competition will be more than willing to offer if given the chance (and have the sense not to make the same mistakes during their product development).
At the moment, Yes. But if their products continue to decline, this will change.
Another note, is you might want to take a look at how the surveys are done. Particularly in the types of responses allowed by the survey, and time of ownership at the time the survey is performed.
I mention this, as there's a trend lately of manipulating statistical data (omission, toss out data they don't like as outliers when it may not be, ...). To get an idea of what I'm on about here, just take a look at recent drugs pulled by the FDA in the last 10 - 15 years (IIRC, it's more than all of them combined in the FDA's previous history of removals).