Ohh! The PRECIOUS! Give it to uss. We WANTS it: Shiny iThings coming in 2014 Apple CEO Tim Cook has provided the clearest statements yet that in 2014 his company will launch products in tech categories it hasn't yet touched. The iPhone supremo mentioned that time frame in answer to a question from an industry analyst about his earlier statements about new products, asked during a conference call after …
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you."
Yeah you're right, it's not far off Steve Job's declaration of 'thermonuclear war' on Android...
1. They're going to be unjustifiably expensive
2. They're going to be over-hyped
3. They're going to be crap
OK, so the three lessons are expense, hype and crap ... and an almost fanatical obsession with quasi-religious symbolism.
Amongst the lessons are such diverse elements as expense, hype, crap, an almost fanatical obsession with quasi-religious symbolism and bogus claims to "invention". Oh damn!
I'd like to end with; "Nobody expects the Apple Litigation", but actually ... we really, really do. A lot.
We (Apple lovers) pay a lot for our devices ( though not as much as some) and we're not supposed to fiddle with them. However, we have devices made of the best (mostly) and we have customer service second to none. Just because the likes of Samsung copy whatever they can and do it cheaper doesn't mean they're better (have you ever seen the innards of a Samsung fridge/freezer? I have and it's not pretty!). If people choose the cheaper alternatives then good for them. We choose very, very, very unique items (poor fellow just can't say unique). If you're happy with Android ... good.
I don't know if your comment is meant as an ironic take on 'apple fanboy'. Hope so.
The great thing about personal computing devices, Windows or Android is choice and variety in pricing and functionality.
Maybe not enough choice yet (try finding a quad core I7 13" tablet with decent GPU which can run in a low power state when doing ordinary tablet things but run high performance at need or when have extra battery or mains power available).
Apple philosophy is one size fits all. Times in their history this has gone badly, right now its working well as they surf the crest of their wave. Great if one or more of their devices are ideal for you but this doesn't make them the best for everyone.
Blimey that Cook bloke is one smug bastard isn't he tho.
" However, we have devices made of the best (mostly) and we have customer service second to none."
Both of my children, I think. would say that not only is not true, but that Apple design, build, and support all are far less than the prices would warrant and in fact grossly unsatisfactory, and that they have Apple computers only because they want to use specific software for which an alternative-OS version is deficient or does not exist.
[4 Chris 3] "Since the last G3 iMacs were phased out over 10 years ago, that shows some remarkable longevity"
An excellent statement of fact with only two things wrong with it:
First, the events depicted in my post did not happen today, they happened over five years ago. I would also point out that the thing was delivered with a duff motherboard that took almost a year to diagnose properly and get changed out and that the machine itself was less than five years old when it bit the dust. Again.
Second, The PC I owned and which the relative used to do the stuff he couldn't get done on his "better" Mac while I was desperately trying to source parts for the most expensive brick in the universe is *still* running with the original monitor, interior gubbins and keyboard. I swapped out the mouse for a wireless one yonks ago, but the old one still works. It is about 12 years old. The PC lost a hard drive, true, but the one it lost was an additional drive added by me. The original is still spinning with no problems.
So no. Not remarkable longevity at all when you come to think about it, unless you are talking about inverse longevity.
As far as cost to lifetime benefits, the brother-in-law's G3 is right up there with Sergeant York.
"...have you ever seen the innards of a Samsung fridge/freezer?"
Finally!!! I'm glad to see someone finally balls'd up and compared the construction of a mobile phone to a freezer! Only Apple fans are this unique and innovative.
I think my car engine might be dirty, can you confirm this if I send you pictures of my ass?
When the LED display on our Samsung fridge freezer stopped working, the only way they could fix it was to replace the entire door. They sent an engineer with a new door three times before they found one without some other damage. To their credit, it was the engineers that spotted the damage, and they did send £25 for the inconvenience.
This isn't related in any way to the intermittent bluetooth dropouts that afflict my Galaxy S3, for which there appears to be no cure.
Please explain why the Galaxy S4 copies the iPhone? It looks completely different, screen size is different, OS looks different, etc.
This "Samsung copies Apple" excuse is getting old. Maybe old Samsungs such as the SII did hold a striking resemblance to Apple products, but for the last two years or more, Samsung phones/tablets have been very different from both a looks and functionality point of view.
Like the insides of any other fridge, only;
The off carton of milk is soy milk
The green, hairy stuff in the middle of the 2nd shelf is tofu
Any beer in there is boutique
and the jar of pickled onions is imported from halfway around the world.
iZombies do have to pretend theyre more upmarket than the rest of the world, dontcha know?
>13 inch maxi-pad... Surely that's a very limited market.
It is, and so you'll £1200 for the privilege:
http://uk.shop.wacom.eu/products/cintiq
...but you do get a market-leading digitiser for your money.
I think Apple could be serving their traditional core of users (graphic designers and digital artists) by teaming up with Wacom, but then there is always a Modbook Pro, starting at $2900 - again with a Wacom digitiser.
IMHO, they are playing with the opposition.
Get them to rush out with sub-standard and incomplete 'stuff'.
Then Apple can come along like a knight on a white horse and save the day.
Look what has happened with the Watches that have been released recently.
If any companies fall for this then I feel sorry for them.
Before anyone gets angry at Apple, product misdirection is common place in many industries.
(This is my aim at humour)...
Can you imagine if Apple went into 'Ann Summers' type category?
You could have an aluminium pleasure device called and 'iDo' (pronounced Eye-Doh!)
With that it has a blue tooth connection and you then have an app to show you... Well... Maybe body temperature? :D
You could also set an internal motor to pulse as your phone rings (you don't want to miss that important call do you...!
(My Humour fails me... I will leave the room now..)
Hey guys look at me! Where are you going? Wait a sec, I'm gonna do something...You'd better keep looking... because it's going to be awesome...any minute now...
What's the point of stating you're working on something? That much is obvious, people would be alarmed if you weren't.
But all this talking while saying nothing is pointless, trying to keep shareholders happy?
Various size tablet computers or phone, various size TVs, a digital watch with a screen likely too small to be useful - none of these are going to 'wow' me or many others, I suspect. They are just variations on a theme.
People get wowed by stuff they didn't think they needed - or even thought possible. Devices that could tell you where in the world you were to metre accuracy, photos that didn't need to be sent to the Chemist for developing, telephones you can carry about in your pocket... outside, computers that brought you a wealth of cute cat videos and porn.
I'm waiting for the 'next big thing'. I only wish I knew what it was.
Put an A7 + M7 in Apple TV, give it bluetooth, HDMI 1.4 and a modest amount of storage so it can take over the living room. A7 + M7 so it can cope with 4K TV when it becomes mainstream (I've seen several sets for sale already).
Keep it at £99 so it makes sense over a MacMini at £499. You can sell the Apple Keyboard as an extra or a combined keyboard / touchpad and make money on that.
My 2012 "Smart" TV is powerful (dual core) but the interface is still shocking. There is money to be made in this space.
Not sure what that TV would be like, but I have a sneaky feeling there'd be all sorts of limitations about where you can source your media. Apple will _really_ struggle to convince me that their TV would not lock my media purchases onto their platform.
I do have a fair bit of Apple kit. The phone and tablet are locked down, true but apps are, mostly, cheap. And it always played MP3s (looking at you, Sony).
The laptop is actually pretty happy about accepting all sorts of open source stuff, via Ports. So, overall, the program ecosystem is open enough for me (yes, you can disagree, just stating _my_ preferences).
Media-wise, not so good:
No BluRay when it came out - St. Jobs has decreed iTunes HD is the way. iTunes doesn't do mp3. Who knows what format a movie is in if I buy it from Apple?
Bottom line:
Most of my media is ol fahioned DVD, CD and BluRay, but if I bought media from iTunes I'd be locked in.
Buying movies and music does not come cheap. And, unlike my intentions for computer programs, I certainly hope my movies will play 20 years from now. Who knows if Apple will still be around by then? Probably, but no guarantee I'll want to use their gear by then.
I'm sorry but the same phone you've produced for the last 5 years with a "wait for it......" a coloured case is not a new and exciting product.
Can't wait for 2014, what will we get... a blue ipad? a different size screen? These are not new and exciting products. Apple stopped innovating when Steve Jobs became ill. Tim Cook is just a bean counter.
They'll just milk the existing products till death, walk away with a stack of cash and Apple will be another footnote in the history of computing.
Won't happen?? Almost did before, it was only Jobs return to helm at Apple that saved them.
Apple have been doing monitors for years, if they stick an Apple TV and a tuner inside, Bob's your uncle. Whatever UI they come up with, it couldn't be any worse than any so-called smart TV.
I wouldn't be touching one with a barge pole, it'd be a whole load of lock-in plus I wouldn't like to have to put an Apple ID in a damn domestic appliance.
Has a different port for the fuel - you should buy apple fuel via your iStation. You CAN use standard petrol, however you'll need to buy an adapter.
Need to sync with the iStation , which will take 10 mins longer than needed before being able to set off again.
Won't make right turns, as it's safer to turn left at a junction, and besides, you can just make 3 left turns right?
Have to use apple roads, our customers hate all the road fragmentation, M1, A1, B1, it's just too messy.
Servicing is unnecessary as our equipment never fails (if it does fail, parts are non serviceable, please buy a new iCar).
MOT is unnecessary as who wants a 3+ year old iShiney?!
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