[Ken Gracey]

I knew this was coming sooner or later, it appears the current shape of the macbook pro range, is about to morph into a supped up macbook air..

Sadly like most things, apple is losing its design passion, that or they are just getting lazy since, steve jobs died, and can't be bothered thinking up something new ? You be the judge.

This has become pretty evident over the last few years, with no real innovation to speak of.

Examples, look at the state of the boring looking Mac Pros, it hasn't changed in 5 years or more, iMacs, iPads, haven't changed since it release (and probably won't change with the iPad 3) iPhones ? Apart from Siri whats New ?

With apple now becoming as boring as every other piece of technology out there, why are there shares so high ? they are truly no longer innovators..

[Some Random Bloke]

Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed or did the wife slip in some grumpy juice with your cereal. Ken?

In all seriousness - have you checked out the competitors? Some of their stuff has been butt ugly through the years.

Apple would be changing for changes sake. I think they have the best industrial design on the market. 'Minimalist' is hard to innovate.

And it's the software I care about.

I suspect we'll see some change in a year or two though, once Steve's design legacy starts to wain.

[Ken Gracey]

Trouble is Alex, even apple software has gotten kinda dodgy lately as well, look at the headaches with every apple software update lately, it has more bugs than dust mites in a homeless shelter mattress

[bitingmidge]

You did get up on the wrong side of the bed didn't you!

Apple are just another company providing a product for consumption. Despite the hype, the provision of incredible products is NOT their primary objective, that is the means by which they separate you and I from our money.

Taking money from us is their primary objective.

I can't say that any bugs are better or worse than they have ever been. What I can say is that the response is fast and the fixes work.

As to the product, you clearly have inside knowledge that no one else has, Sure the rumour mills are grinding away, but really Ken, a laptop comprises a screen, a processor and a keyboard. Apart from making them smaller, what else is left to do?

Is there another product which comes even close in terms of build quality and aesthetic?

Why is my five year old (design) MacBookPro any less satisfying now than it was five years ago? Surely the test of a successful design, a truly successful design rather than a mere piece of fashion is that it stands alone over time?

When was the last time you updated the outside of your house to reflect the current fad in facadism? Why should your computer be any different?

cheers,

Peter

[Dave Bullard]

Ken, I'm thinking a bit like you. It's as if they've hit certain designs that they don't want to mess with anymore. We're certainly not seeing anything from left-field, the way we used to. I'm hoping that the next iPad & iPhone, especially, have killer design to kind of break the mould.

Cheers
Dave

[Ken Gracey]

We have come to rely on apple, to shake things up with cutting edge designs, I said on a post about 4 years ago now, that eventually Apple will run out of fresh ideas, and they Have... lets be honest the last great thing apple did was the G4 iMac, i still remember standing in amazement who a computer screen could just float in the air, from a silver stick with out toppling over, now that was innovation.


Now all they do is sue anybody who looks sideways at the, why... because that have ran out of ideas, and they have no other defence anymore, or any new ideas to keep the competition at bay,

Lets think back to the 70s, what where the killer products, that never evolved after a certain point, two spring to mind, Polaroid and Kodak... we all know what happened to them.

[bitingmidge]

Ken Gracey, on 12 February 2012 - 09:21 AM, said:

lets be honest the last great thing apple did was the G4 iMac, i still remember standing in amazement who a computer screen could just float in the air, from a silver stick with out toppling over, now that was innovation.

Lets think back to the 70s, what where the killer products, that never evolved after a certain point, two spring to mind, Polaroid and Kodak... we all know what happened to them.

Hmmm, I wonder if Polaroid and Kodak had followed their "last great thing" with something like for instance, an iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, and perhaps a MacBookAir, if they too wouldn't still be here?

Getting to the top of anything is a great achievement, staying there is greater, but there is no civilisation (or company) in history which has managed that thus far.

Don't expect Apple to be there forever, but don't make the mistake of looking for innovation at every turn either.

The two wheeled bicycle was a great innovation, and over almost two centuries it's basically unchanged bar lots of simple technological improvements, and now sells in greater numbers than ever before.

Just perhaps, Apple's products are as enduring as the bicycle!

cheers,

P

[bitingmidge]

As an after thought, (and I can't believe it's been almost half a century since I actually studied design ), but one of my design lecturers used to hold the surfboard industry up as an great example of innovation and use of new technology.

In it's first fifty years (give or take) it came from Hawaiians riding planks to hollow timber, to shaped timber, to all manner of exotic laminates.

His argument would not stand up today, as in the last fifty years, the pace of innovation has slowed almost to a halt. Sure moulds and machines are used now, and the product has been slowly refined. That does not mean that there is no market for surfboards, nor that the new ones which have hardly evolved in shape over half a century, are useless.

If you take a step back, beyond the marketing hype, and look at the product itself, why are you concerned?

Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever made a decision to buy an Apple product based on it's design, but I've certainly been very happy to own them because of that very same quality!

Cheers,

P

[Ken Gracey]

Well microsoft has keep developing new things, like the Zune , ok (scratch that) windows 2000 (scratch that too), O windows phone O I give up, you WIN pete

[Dave Bullard]

Ken Gracey, on 12 February 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

Well microsoft has keep developing new things, like the Zune , ok (scratch that) windows 2000 (scratch that too), O windows phone O I give up, you WIN pete

[Ken Gracey]

Its ok Dave I am just lowering him into a false sense of security before i bounce back with a better example

[JZ]

i've said this before, but with Apples products being mostly screens what more can they do? Apart from getting slimmer and lighter, little can change with design these days. Even Samsung products look like Apple products now, I think the form factor restricts the design these days.

[Ken Gracey]

If that's the case JZ, we will all be using iPads, with quad core processors in them running at 3.34 ghz, that will be running lion, that can make phone calls, run adobe photoshop, and every other powerfully app out there.

Cause basically if apple don't extract the diggit soon, that's what's going to happen within 5 years, and there will be no make pro (not that there really is any more) the iMac will die a natural death, and the MacBook air, is just an iPad with a keyboard.

[bitingmidge]

.............and the problem with that is?

Works for me.

What happened to the concept of buying a tool to do the job that's necessary? For the average user and 1996 iBook would still be more than adequate.

Ken what do you do that you couldn't do on the old iBook?

For me, the only processing task is some of my rather large photo files, which is why the MBPRo is fine. Lighter with a larger fold out screen would be terrific though, because I actually use my laptop on the road a lot.

The iPad if it were cleverer and could connect to a larger screen would be my computer of choice, so when it can run Aperture with a zillion GB of ram, and use a remote monitor, I'll buy one.

Cheers,

P

[Ken Gracey]

What can I say Pete, I am shallow, and have the latest must have gadget

[Some Random Bloke]

Some good points! I agree Ken that Apple have been slipping in the QA stakes lately. Case in point, I just reinstalled Lion coz it was slow - but at least it's running better now.

Agree with BM to a point, although a lot of stuff wouldn't work on an old iBook - movie editing, as you say photo editing, gaming for many. But you're right, for most people the latest isn't necessary.

And I'm watching out for Windows 8. I won't be jumping to the dark side because I'm too invested in Apple (ow they got me), but if companies can get the pricing of tablets right they could be onto something.

[JZ]

bitingmidge, on 12 February 2012 - 07:40 PM, said:

The iPad if it were cleverer and could connect to a larger screen would be my computer of choice, so when it can run Aperture with a zillion GB of ram, and use a remote monitor, I'll buy one.

Cheers,

P

the iPad can connect to your HD TV via the Apple TV using Airplay mirroring or HDMI cable - Aperture is another story...