OT: Apple campus to open soon

[Hindmost]

Originally Posted by brockd15

I hear about this thing a lot. I haven't seen it but am close by, I'll have to go check it out.

When riding I sometimes stop on the Blaney/280 overpass to view the awesomeness from a distance.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by fuzzalow

Other than your comment being rude, ad hominem and out of line, it is completely vacuous.

You think you know enough to take a wild, roundhouse punch like that, I think you'd better back it up with something that makes you sound smart instead of puerile.



I disagree. What's sometimes missing here in some responses is the ability to roll with the flow of conversation, through all its tangents, differences of opinion and non sequiturs. This isn't a mathematical equation, it is a conversation.

I'll give you kudos for bringing up an interesting work of architecture intrinsic to a fascinating icon of behemoth capitalism going through various phases of its continual reinvention; as all tech companies must do to varying degrees.

I think it is a mistake to continually expect Apple to define itself as a creator of technology that became a pivot point for an entire world, as the invention of the iPhone did. Can't bet the company on those types of generational upheaval. But Apple does what they do very well and in their own unique outlook and design, and that isn't a bad thing. As such, looking for the next global technology epiphany from Apple is too limiting a corporate ideal to pursue and one that cannot be targeted and strategized for anyway.

Warren Buffet views AAPL as a value investment and not as a growth investment. For now, maybe that's OK.

The problem is, for the better part of two decades, Apple owned the creative class. It was de rigeur for all sorts of designers, audio and video pros, the works. But they've transformed -- beginning under Jobs and continuing under Cook -- to become another consumer electronic conglomerate. They bought Beats for Pete's sake. Computers have taken up a smaller and smaller percentage of their sales, and their growth hasn't been in those devices. As others noted, they've all but stopped developing professional-grade equipment.

Microsoft has happily moved into that gap. While bumpy at launch, the Surface is now the go-to for so many creative types I know. That was heresy even just a few years ago.

So we'll see what it means long-term, but the lack of real development in the computer space is going to catch up with them sooner or later.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

Evidently it takes an expensive building for Apple's concentration on new emojis and watch bands. I never thought I would see the day when Microsoft is more innovative and more customer focused than Apple, but it is here now.

windows 8

[fuzzalow]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

I used to work near the center of what is now the spaceship a long time ago.
It was a myriad of the vanguards of the time - DEC, HP, Tandem. Names that no one under 30 has probably heard of.

HaHa! Here's to us old guys! I designed & coded pricing models, and by extension trading strategies, on Sun Microsystems SPARCstations many years ago. Boxes that had the MIPS & MFLOPS that are now bested by an iPhone!

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

The problem is, for the better part of two decades, Apple owned the creative class. It was de rigeur for all sorts of designers, audio and video pros, the works. But they've transformed -- beginning under Jobs and continuing under Cook -- to become another consumer electronic conglomerate. They bought Beats for Pete's sake. Computers have taken up a smaller and smaller percentage of their sales, and their growth hasn't been in those devices. As others noted, they've all but stopped developing professional-grade equipment.

Microsoft has happily moved into that gap. While bumpy at launch, the Surface is now the go-to for so many creative types I know. That was heresy even just a few years ago.

So we'll see what it means long-term, but the lack of real development in the computer space is going to catch up with them sooner or later.

I hear you. I don't know anything about the creative class demands on computer hardware but I'd surmise that it is still a subset of computer hardware technology demand relative to smartphones. With networking and cloud computing there is a steady diminution on the primacy & demand of desktop compute power so it seems normal to me that that workstation hardware market likewise diminish.

The point being, Apple can't rely on just workstation hardware even if their hardware is/was the current darling of an industry. Sun Microsystems were once big on Wall Street and Silicon Graphics ruled the roost in early CGI. Both gone.

I'd also guess that the applications are fairly mature (Adobe?) so the hardware to run Adobe can be satisfied by any number of platforms. For example I still build my own desktop with Supermicro motherboards running dual Xeon multicore CPUs. If Apple can't offer hardware that offers proprietary advantage over what I can mix n' match myself, why would they emphasize that business? They will service that market but the R & D curve for that market had crested long ago - Intel controls CPU development, Nvidia ATI & others control GPU development. There's not enough upside to creating Apple MacPro motherboards for a market that doesn't want desktop computing outside of a niche market.

Microsoft was seeking relevance and refuge from their exposure to a declining desktop market so it seem reasonable that they try anything else to get a foothold anywhere. Relative to Apple's growth requirements, that niche creative tablet market would not have been a prioritized objective for Apple anyway. Nature, like capitalism, abhors a vacuum so Microsoft stepped in.

If a worldwide smartphone market beckons, Apple would be crazy to not preserve its dominance in a market it largely invented.

[simplemind]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Tim Cook rides a C60 with EPS and Boras as sold by my LBS.

What those of you not from around here don't realize is how few large companies are lucky enough to have an actual campus where most local employees are co-located.

I used to work near the center of what is now the spaceship a long time ago.
It was a myriad of the vanguards of the time - DEC, HP, Tandem. Names that no one under 30 has probably heard of.

Walk across the street from the spaceship and now you are in a neighborhood. a suburban track neighborhood. Nowhere else in the valley is such a dominant company next to a regular neighborhood.

Facebook, Linked-in and Google are on baylands. Oracle, sort of near housing. Cisco spread everywhere. Whats left of Yahoo is in an industrial park.

Yeah, yeah, we have an Apple Campus quite near us (Austin 360) and the exterior lights from that building are on throughout the night. The lighting is so bright (and obnoxious) it drowns out the night sky and stars so I guess they know nothing or care little about the Dark Sky initiative. I was a Tim Cook fan until this happened.

Here are a couple of images from our residential area (bottom from our bedroom):

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by fuzzalow

Big sweeping statements. If you think you know something, please share your insights.

Innovation can be defined a thousand different ways. Customer focus has hundreds of different forms and nuances.

No dog in this fight as being long both AAPL and MSFT so I'm not disputing you because what you said was ambiguous enough that it won't mean much as a view either for or against either company. But I'm interested to know what you think - can't hurt to ask, right?

I don't know anything specific but I do know that my Apple products have become more complex and less intuitive to use than they used to be. Not saying Android would be any better.

I don't think they serve their customers with changing IOS just for the sake of change ever few months.

We got my mother an iPhone a few months ago. She struggles with Touch ID and we taught her to open in the UI by swiping sideways and typing in a user ID number we all know. Shortly afterwards Apple introduced a software update that eliminated the swipe, forcing the user to use Touch ID that is not very reliable and virtually useless to someone without the dexterity and light touch required by Apple's software. It made my iPhone a lot less fun to open up as well.

That's just one example and it happens every time I use my phone. Also, software that continues to slow down a device that isn't very old is annoying. The richest company on the planet ought to be able to tailor these IOS updates for different models. For example, I don't need some of the updates on my older, but perfectly good, iPhone that an iPhone 7 user might need.

I'm weary of my IOS devices becoming paperweights after 18 months or so.

[Tony T]

You don't need to update with every iOS release if you're happy with the current iOS (but problem is that once you do, you can't roll-back)

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by colker

Pretty simple. Macs were tools of the pro: Audio, Photo, Ilustration, Film.. Those industries relied on Macs and mac only. Apple in return was there to fullfill pro needs. Now apple is selling toys instead of pro machinery. The new mac pro just killed the audio guys who need all kinds of ports for their operations. Have you seen how all the ports went away?
The new OS is prone to crashes. Not to mention how everything soldiered so you cannot replace a battery or expand memory and HDs. The effort is to sell something slim, light, pretty and if high end functionality gets in the way.. get rid of it.
I come w/ this diatribe from listening to audio technicians, film editors and i am a pro photographer so ymmv.

did you possibly mean the macbook pro? because here's the current mac pro. I don't follow the rumors of what's coming but this is what they're selling at the moment. the macbook pro barely has any ports; but then, so do most windows notebooks.



yeah, Apple was the standard in audio for many years. and you generally had to purchase a super high end machine and thousands worth of software and interfaces. but eventually machines, interfaces, and audio software all got better and more affordable. Apple couldn't corner that market any more because anyone with a grand could get a windows box, pro tools and a few microphones and make a record. so audio companies catered to that, of course. that's not Apple's fault. and at the same time, they were making a killing on i-devices so dedicated resources there.

their machines did become more accessible to the every day user (though I wouldn't call them toys), price-wise. of course they did; they pulled people in with i-devices and then convinced them to buy a mac. tons of money to be made there. you're right in that they've been accused for years of alienating pros, but that's more in just taking forever between hardware/software updates. they still definitely make high-end machines geared specifically at pro audio/video/illustration. and they're still the standard there, in many regards.

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by saab2000

We got my mother an iPhone a few months ago. She struggles with Touch ID and we taught her to open in the UI by swiping sideways and typing in a user ID number we all know. Shortly afterwards Apple introduced a software update that eliminated the swipe, forcing the user to use Touch ID that is not very reliable and virtually useless to someone without the dexterity and light touch required by Apple's software. It made my iPhone a lot less fun to open up as well.

That's just one example and it happens every time I use my phone. Also, software that continues to slow down a device that isn't very old is annoying. The richest company on the planet ought to be able to tailor these IOS updates for different models. For example, I don't need some of the updates on my older, but perfectly good, iPhone that an iPhone 7 user might need.

I'm weary of my IOS devices becoming paperweights after 18 months or so.

fwiw, I'm on the most recent iOS on an iPhone 6 and it doesn't force you to use the Touch ID. maybe the 7 is different, I don't know. they did change a couple updates back to where you have to press the home button instead of swipe, to clear the lock screen. maybe that's what you mean? or maybe your mother's has a setting enabled that I don't?

I agree that sometimes updates slow down older devices, but I've seen that with Android as well. it can actually be worse there because the number of devices they have to support and validate the update against is greater. Apple does disable some of the functionality of iOS updates, but mainly just when the hardware won't support it or it won't run at a satisfactory level.

but you're right, these things do essentially become paperweights after a couple years. but I don't think that's Apple specific; that's common of any cell phone, and has been forever.

[saab2000]

I agree that Android is worse. She has a 6 Plus. The loss of the swipe is why we haven't upgraded her software.

I don't think she even wants a smart phone but most traditional cell phones these days are disposable garbage.

The iPhone does have some killer applications like Face Time and Face Time Audio. They're fantastic.

[colker]

Originally Posted by chiasticon

did you possibly mean the macbook pro? because here's the current mac pro. I don't follow the rumors of what's coming but this is what they're selling at the moment. the macbook pro barely has any ports; but then, so do most windows notebooks.



yeah, Apple was the standard in audio for many years. and you generally had to purchase a super high end machine and thousands worth of software and interfaces. but eventually machines, interfaces, and audio software all got better and more affordable. Apple couldn't corner that market any more because anyone with a grand could get a windows box, pro tools and a few microphones and make a record. so audio companies catered to that, of course. that's not Apple's fault. and at the same time, they were making a killing on i-devices so dedicated resources there.

their machines did become more accessible to the every day user (though I wouldn't call them toys), price-wise. of course they did; they pulled people in with i-devices and then convinced them to buy a mac. tons of money to be made there. you're right in that they've been accused for years of alienating pros, but that's more in just taking forever between hardware/software updates. they still definitely make high-end machines geared specifically at pro audio/video/illustration. and they're still the standard there, in many regards.

Mac book pro was the benchmark for filmmakers and photographers. I could expand RAM memory and fix HDs, batteries etc.. OS was super stable. Not anymore.

[seanile]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I agree that Android is worse. She has a 6 Plus. The loss of the swipe is why we haven't upgraded her software.

I don't think she even wants a smart phone but most traditional cell phones these days are disposable garbage.

The iPhone does have some killer applications like Face Time and Face Time Audio. They're fantastic.

im pretty sure the swipe isn't lost.
check Settings > Touch ID & Passcode > make sure "iPhone Unlock" is off/not green.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by seanile

im pretty sure the swipe isn't lost.
check Settings > Touch ID & Passcode > make sure "iPhone Unlock" is off/not green.

Swipe is lost AFAIK, but you're right, I could turn off the Touch ID and I may do that with her phone. Thanks for the tip! That is useful.

[Bostic]

Originally Posted by chiasticon

yeah, Apple was the standard in audio for many years. and you generally had to purchase a super high end machine and thousands worth of software and interfaces. but eventually machines, interfaces, and audio software all got better and more affordable. Apple couldn't corner that market any more because anyone with a grand could get a windows box, pro tools and a few microphones and make a record. so audio companies catered to that, of course. that's not Apple's fault. and at the same time, they were making a killing on i-devices so dedicated resources there.

This is very true. My friends that have a bunch of recording gear have all commented how much more affordable it is now as compared to the early 2000's when you simply had to fork out a ton of money if you wanted good results. It was one of the main reasons I never invested in gear to record my drums.

[Bostic]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Swipe is lost AFAIK, but you're right, I could turn off the Touch ID and I may do that with her phone. Thanks for the tip! That is useful.

Before I migrated to an iPhone 7 and touch ID I really hated the removal of swipe. On my previous iPhone 5 it meant now I had to push the home button as that was the only option. Yeah pushing a button isn't a big deal but it is wear and tear on it after a couple of years.