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sudoftwOct 25, 2010
Steve can make his failures into a great success.. u no need to worry.. ;P
nickedynickOct 25, 2010
I don't remember anyone saying that these ideas will fail. What I have seen lots of is people simply stating that Apple didn't come up with them first. Thankfully, the article agrees.
agmlauncherOct 25, 2010
I do not think FaceTime is the new way to chat. I like the multi-tasking freedom that the phone or texting offers. I can see FaceTime being useful for family members that are away for extended periods of time, but that's not common enough to make FaceTime suddenly revolutionary. Video conferencing phones have existed for a long time. If there was demand for it, it would have caught on by now.
People just do not need to see each other face-to-face for a 2 minute phone conversation.
seroevoOct 25, 2010
Agreed. There's a reason video calling has never caught on, and that's because we really don't want it.
Anyone who disagrees will realize this the first time someone wakes them up with a Facetime call, or when they're just out of the shower, or still sitting around in sweat pants eating potato chips and beer on a Saturday afternoon.
The first time my girlfriend and I went to try it out, initially both excited to test out our new iPhones, I got a text back saying "Oh wait, I look like crap. We'll try it out later."
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
You shut up! We want it because Steve Jobs SAYS we want it!
jhw539Oct 26, 2010
"Video conferencing phones have existed for a long time. If there was demand for it, it would have caught on by now."
It's a chicken and egg thing - who wants a video phone if no one else has one? All of a sudden, literally millions of people will have compatible, consumer grade (ie, dead simply, no IT admin required) video conferencing. That's big. Know why so many people use a mouse nowadays?
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
What a completely asine comparison. the mouse was SEVERAL orders of magnitude better than the alternative. Video chat it not.
markbroadhurstOct 25, 2010
5-2 fair enough but does anyone think "instant on" is a bad thing ?
scott2Oct 25, 2010
Mostly things I'd like to see succeed - The app store would be dependent on Apple loosening the reigns a bit (or not forcing it on everyone). Also don't care about FaceTime (personally).
sox101Oct 25, 2010
"...may have seemed a little hard to swallow when they came."
That's what she said.
rickybennettOct 25, 2010
i use my DVD drives all the time don't know what they are talking about
blechlerOct 25, 2010
I haven't opened my DVD drives in months.
wilhoitmOct 26, 2010
What is a DVD?
sikedsykoOct 25, 2010
2 and 3 are the only ones that I think anyone would think is bad. And all the rest have already been pioneered by netbooks.
jambleOct 25, 2010
I don't think I've ever heard anyone saying flash drives will fail. They seem a sensible option to me.
qwed88Oct 25, 2010
FaceTime the new way to chat?!... most of the time I don't want to look at the people I'm chatting with, and vice versa.
FaceTime is nothing new, I'm getting really tired of Apple fan boys claiming crApple invented everything.
mcqueenpkerOct 25, 2010
Agreed. I prefer the text method because I'd rather not even talk to anyone on the phone. I usually have things to do or places to be, no time for senseless chatting (let alone video chatting) when someone can wrap up what they need in 160 characters.
tomremixedOct 25, 2010
why $1000 though? these are all useful things and I don't see a lot of complaining about them but I would never drop $1000 on a apple branded netbook...
chrisvazquez1Oct 25, 2010
I wouldn't exactly call it a netbook. Last generation processor? Yes. Better than Intel's Atom chip? Definitely. Dedicated graphics and hardware OS optimization in Snow Leopard makes this an expensive, luxury laptop. How many netbooks have an LED screen?
mortaneousOct 25, 2010
...the $300 Acer netbook I bought a few months ago has an LED backlit screen. 10.1"
jasonjansenOct 25, 2010
Integrated graphics, no?
sotoninOct 25, 2010
Yeah... it's integrated graphics. and pretty s**tty one at that.
Expensive laptop sure, luxury? only in the sense that nobody with a brain would drop that much on a netbook. So yeah only the rich will be buying it making it a luxury item nobody needs but buy if they have too much money
jeffdabeatOct 25, 2010
Hell...remember when people said the iPad would fail because no one wanted to buy Tablets when you could just get a newbook...so much for that...
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
WEll..the MacBook air is competing against both netbooks, and the iPad. So efven the pathetic fanboy market is taken already.
The Macbook Air failed once. There is no reason to beleive it won't fail again.
jdmulloyOct 25, 2010
Not so sure about #4. An SSD makes lots of sense for the MBA but that doesn't mean Apple is abandoning them all together. While I know most people don't use optical media for applications or data transfer anymore some of us do still like to use them for music and movies. The real reason Apple wants optical media dead is that it's a competitor to iTunes. CDs are DRM free and the DRM on DVDs is so trivial to break that it might as well be considered DRM free. If you don't have an optical drive you have to get your music and movies from iTunes or something similar. Thankfully Apple is not the only company to get computers from.
chrisvazquez1Oct 25, 2010
Why do people still believe that Apple uses DRM on their music? Newsflash. They removed DRM from their music THREE years ago. Apple doesn't need to phase away the CD because it's not really competition. I wouldn't exactly call it competition when the majority of music sales go through your store. About the DVD. I'd rather just buy the DVD and get a copy off of piratebay. Downloading is much faster than ripping. BTW the standard Macbook, Macbook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac all have optical drives. Get your head out of your ass. FUD.
jdmulloyOct 25, 2010
Is ALL the music DRM free? Don't they still make you pay extra for the DRM free versions of songs? Also I'm pretty sure the movies and TV shows still have DRM on them. It is true that Apple hasn't really abandoned optical drives either, just like they haven't abandoned rotating hard disks. It's just that they neither makes sense in the MBA.
This article makes it seem like the MBA is indicative of Apple's entire strategy, it's not. The MBA is nothing more than an overpriced and oversized netbook. Even at a less unreasonable $1000 starting price I don't understand why anyone would buy it. For the same price you could get the base Macbook with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo instead of the MBAs paltry 1.4GHz CPU. According to Apple the MacBook has a 10 hour battery while the battery on the MBA only lasts 5 hours. It seems the only advantages to owning a MBA instead of a regular MacBook is the weight and feeling extra special when people see you using it at Starbucks.
chrisvazquez1Oct 26, 2010
All music is DRM free and they NEVER made us pay extra for DRM free music. I think you mean when Apple upgraded to higher bit rates without DRM at the same time and offered $.49 upgrades for each song and $100 for the whole library. Yes the movies and tv shows still have DRM but not by Apple's choice. That's the producers choice. If it were up to Apple they wouldn't use DRM. I think they use DRM on apps though to appease developers.
The thing about the Macbook Air is that it isn't a netbook. It's an outdated expensive laptop I'll give you that but Apple's OSX is optimized to run on the hardware so you won't feel the lag you'd feel with a Core Duo 2.0 PC. It's more of a luxury. The same with cars. You can buy a Nissan Maxima or an Infiniti G37 for $15,000 more. It's the same engine but it just feels nicer. For factor has a lot to do with it. Just because you find it a waste of money doesn't mean it is. Some people like nice things.
jdmulloyOct 26, 2010
I like nice things but I also don't like being ripped off. I have a Dell Latitude E6400 and it's great. I'm running OpenSuse Linux on it but I have a small XP partition for the rare occasion I need it. The "optimized for the hardware" bit is BS, OS X runs fine on any recent Intel CPU. My Core 2 Duo doesn't have any lag and it's also not limited to 1.4GHz. I didn't even know Intel made them that slow. Apple probably limited it because they had no room in the MBA for a proper cooling system.
The MBA is unsuitable as a primary PC which means you'll also need to buy a real PC. By PC I mean Personal Computer, Macs are PCs, today they even have the EXACT SAME HARDWARE. Spending $200 on a netbook isn't too unreasonable, but $1000 for a slightly larger netbook is a ripoff, even if it runs Apples backwards OS. Every time I attempt to use a Mac it's a frustrating experience because it's so backwards. Before you accuse me of just not being used to it, I use multiple Operating Systems including Windows, Linux and occasionally Solaris. I understand why Apple's slogan is "Think Different", it's because if you think normally you can't understand how to use their products.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
Wow...Chris is LITERALLY beggint o suck Steve Jobs sock with how bad he is making himself look as long as he THINKS he is defending Apple..
Guess what, Chris****s****r...Steve Jobs DOES NOT MIND DRM in iTunes. He is not being bullied by the big evil studios. Steve Jobs does not care if you live or die, other than if you died you could not longer buy overpriced crap from him. If you were dying of thirst on the street, Steve would step over your rotting carcass to pick up a shiny nickel
clippclopOct 25, 2010
5) Won't happen for desktops. These drives simply don't have the lock down ability that CDs have. Apple can do what they please, but removing optical drives isn't a trend that any large scale manufacturer is going to follow any time in the near future. Not in favour of flash storage anyway.
4) Uhh, was this unexpected? Nothing to see here.
3) No, I am afraid it's not the new way to chat unless you're among a large crowd of apple fanboys. Text message and facebook chat will continue to dominate this for a while. Facetime like programs will never loosen this grip. It may have an impact on regular phone calls.
2) For handheld devices, these stores are fine. I hear rumor that such a store will exist for Windows 8 as well. It's transaction ideal, but for the desktop.
The sad part is that almost every single app you buy has a real application that handles it 100x better. Even knowing that, this app store is going to generate huge profits.
1) Uhh what? a glorified sleep mode is not a "decision by apple that naysayers think will fail".
This article is stupid.
burtcokainOct 25, 2010
Who is this Stevie P, anyway?
epsilonbassOct 25, 2010
So since there wasn't a single thing about how or why "naysayers think will fail" this should really be called "5 new apple things."
sexyboboOct 25, 2010
"5 things new to apple."
To clear up any confusion people might have thinking apple was the first to do any of these things.
gh02tOct 25, 2010
I can't see much reason to want these to fail, apart from the app store model. Criticisms that it creates a closed platform are legitimate. The rest of these are awesome.
chrisvazquez1Oct 25, 2010
NOT A CLOSED PLATFORM. God for the last time I'd like to state that the App Store on OSX will NOT be closed. It'll just be a store that consolidates apps and helps developers make money.
krahzeeOct 25, 2010
5) Optical Drives will never completely go away. As long as people have a TON of media on that platform and as long as that media is cheaper than flash for giving files to one another, people will use it. For example, I often give customers big files on CDRs. Staples has a 50pk for $10 right now. No way I'm getting flash drives THAT cheap.
4) Of course we a moving to flash storage, or a hybrid of flash storage for daily and spinning for long term (as long as it is still cheaper) That's not Apple exclusive though.
3) Facetime is the new way to chat on a Mac. IF you don't own an Apple product you chat like everyone else: Over skype.
2) The app store is great for Mac users. For the rest of us we have Sourceforge for those free apps the writer seems to have trouble finding. We also have Steam for games, etc....
1) Instant On. Again, most are moving in this direction. Apple is not unique except that they may have gotten there faster...
theman1119Oct 25, 2010
Agree with just about everything, I remember back in high school (2000) I ripped on apple for not having floppy drives on there computers. I was very wrong, so I can see the day when digital distribution and flash drives will replace optical drives.
Facetime? Hell no, I use Skype, which is wonderful, but never the video feature. Who wants to be seen while talking, it a distraction at best. Sure, if you want to see the new baby or talk to your girlfriend it might be nice, but I use it mostly for business and don't want to be seen.
quail20Oct 25, 2010
I love the DVD/CD drive. At about fifty cents for a DVD it's a great way to pass content to others. At the end of a family vacation I compile everyone's digital photos & movies onto one DVD and share them with everyone. (3 families, 12 people, and about 8 cameras.) There are cloud alternatives and all but there's something nice about having a physical object as a gift. The lack of an optical drive is what keeps me away from netbooks.
seroevoOct 25, 2010
I disagree about optical drives being outdated or obsolete. They're still the easiest, cheapest way to back up and transfer media.
Hard drives fail and flash media is far too expensive, with a 64 Gb USB drive costing around $100+. Meanwhile I can get a stack of 100 DVDs for around $30-40 (I'm sure some are cheaper).
I have a Powerbook from 2005 with only a 100 Gb hard drive and it was barely enough at the time. Now it's a disability, and these MacBook Air models have even less than that now, at almost 2011.
I've tried using external drives for backups twice, and they just aren't reliable. Maybe if you have it for one computer that you use for browsing and the odd Photoshop, but if you have valuable projects or are connecting the drive with multiple computers, DVD Rs are the best way to go.
corexianOct 25, 2010
I miss the bury button, this article is lame. Haven't heard much "naysaying" about any of these. In addition, it doesn't speak to the risks of these technologies.
For example, we know the SSDs are going to have a huge impact on computers, but they aren't the end-all-be-all. There are still issues with longevity compared to magnetic drives. The smart companies will use both, but each where they are strongest.
thedudex213Oct 25, 2010
Steve Jobs has always hated spinning hard drives, even when he was with NeXT he tried to implement something similar to this, but now that solid state is cheaper, it will probably pick up as trend, honestly, the PC market beat Apple to setting this trend a few years back. I just hope that solid state is sturdy enough.
badgerbusOct 25, 2010
5: Funny, my netbook doesn't have an optical drive and it wasn't made by Apple...
4: Isn't pretty much everyone going in this direction?
3: It's an Apple device chat client...hardly a big decision.
2: Apple wasn't the first to launch an online store where you could buy software, and they certainly aren't the only game in town right now.
1: Sleep mode on a laptop? Really? That's the #1 decision by Apple that naysayers think will fail?
None of these things are all that outrageous, no one thinks it will fail, in fact pretty much everyone has been doing these things for quite a while.
sotoninOct 25, 2010
This entire article should be renamed "Stuff about the macbook air that i think is awesome! /drool fanboy"
schneidz101Oct 26, 2010
the last 4 pc's I bought don't have dvd-drives. are there really naysyers trying tto pevent apple from doing the same.
Closed AccountOct 26, 2010
#5 is not Apple's decision. Nor is #4
Seeing that makes me realize I need not read on.
the2dquartetOct 27, 2010
As much as an App Store on the desktop is a good thing, Apple didn't invent that either.
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=ubuntu+software+centre
(Even if the iPhone App Store probably did inspire this)
alienkidOct 28, 2010
I want one of those flash drives.