Steve Jobs.....Thoughts?

[ardchoille]

Here's a thing. Nothing about the new Macs makes them impossible to work with. There are adapters available at reasonable prices. A contributor to 9to5Mac put everything together that he thought he's need for $50.

If you want an example of how bad things can be, take a look at home theatre video. If you want a receiver that is capable of accepting signals from components and transmitting then to your television, you need HDMI. However, that's not the full story. You need THIS year's HDMI, because last year's won't necessarily be compatible. So you have equipment that looks like it should work that refuses to show a picture. And worse, people who have extremely expensive receivers that work perfectly but just happen to have component video outputs find them to be practically worthless because the industry has sold the public on the idea that HDMI is somehow much better. It isn't. It's useful to the industry because it has built-in copy protection, which is why it keeps being updated. As soon as the algorithm is broken, a new one replaces it.

My audio equipment is ancient. The RCA and XLR connections have been around for years, as have the banana plug speaker connections. The equipment holds its value because no-one is coming along with something that will make it obsolete overnight.

I'm arguing both ends against the middle here. On the one hand, I think it's great that there is finally going to be a standard that will be ubiquitous in computer hardware. On the other, I'm not keen on having to buy adapters to get me through the inevitable changeover period.

Yes, a major change in technology can cause havoc until everyone else gets up to speed. The problem is, that change will never happen until someone forces the issue.

Look at our automobiles, they are still using propulsion technology that pollutes the atmosphere and causes problems.. and there is no viable alternative. However, if governmens were to ban petroleum products tomorrow, I guarantee you the next day someone would come up with a viable alternative. Necessity is the mother of invention.

The only way to get USB-C into standard use is to do exactly what Apple has already done.. force the issue. We're just going to have to deal with the growing pains. The way I see it, Apple has done us a huge favor.

 

[Pinkpoison]

As long as you're seeing it as "rope us in", you're going to remain unhappy. Do you want to stay there? Or are you willing to change your perspective or perhaps focus your resources on changing platforms if you're that unhappy? No offense, but complaining about the situation will do little to solve the problem. I realize you feel that an injustice has been done, but I believe it would be beneficial to do something to move on.

Yes I do want to stay there, No way could I go back to Windows.

I don't look at as complaining, I look at it as making valid points. We are all entitled to air our views and those are mine.
We all have a different take on all this, Change isn't a bad thing but when it forces people into making these changes when they are not ready thats a different matter.

Nevertheless this has been very interesting.

 

[brixtonboy]

I for one don't have a problem, this forum is not a dictatorship. We all have the right to our own opinions.

 

[scifan57]

I for one don't have a problem, this forum is not a dictatorship. We all have the right to our own opinions.

That's correct as long as we respect the rights of other members to have their own opinions as well. Some of which we may not all agree with.

 

[KevinJS]

When forum staff participate in threads, they do it on an equal footing with every other member. There's notin the rule book to indicate the position we must take on any subject. The forum does not have an opinion. The members do and dissenting opinions are of the most value. They give us the opportunity to see issues through a different set of filters.

We all see ourselves as the voice of reason. We write posts which are necessarily a subset of our entire thoughts. Everyone else's posts are written the same way. They require a certain amount of interpretation to determine the complete meaning and intention.

I am fond of pointing out that 20% of the UK price is sales tax. What I (deliberately) fail to mention is that income tax is much lower in the U.K. than in other countries. Only people who are aware of this aspect of British government policy would realize that I'm leaving out data to make (or simplify) a point. So the post doesn't tell the whole story.

Anyway, back to the topic: Having considered the pros and cons of the new MBPs, I'm certain that I'd buy one. Yes, there are issues that I will have to work around, but there's nothing insurmountable. The thought of ever having to use Windows again is enough to make me work at the challenges.

 

[Junior]

Apple's priority and focus is on killer marketing.

Innovation is secondary. Always has been.

 

[scifan57]

Apple's priority and focus is on killer marketing.

Innovation is secondary. Always has been.

Their products have to have enough innovation and value to convince people to pay the prices they ask. People wouldn't repeatedly pay Apple prices if they didn't offer good value for the price.

While superior marketing may convince a person to buy, the products have to answer a need or many more would be returned in the first 15 days.

 

[KevinJS]

@Junior has a point. You won't find many people in the audio world who will give the time of day to Bose. Their products are dreadful. Made cheap to look expensive and to be sold for 3 times what they are worth. They are a masterpiece of marketing.

The Apple fanbase (as opposed to customer base) is in a similar position. Most of us here are not in the position of believing that the king can do no wrong, but such people do exist.

I believe Apple do offer value for money and high quality, but I already pointed out that some users don't take advantage of the value because they switch out equipment at a heavy loss while it still has years of useful life left in it.