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Apple Isn't the Next Microsoft (and That's a Good Thing)
Nerval's Lobster writes "In a new Gizmodo column, Andreas Goeldi calls it the 'frosted glass' effect: when a prominent tech company's latest upgrade to its flagship operating system features frosted-glass highlights as its primary innovation, you know that company is facing a period of severe stagnation. That's what happened to Microsoft around the time of Windows Vista, Goeldi wrote, and Apple's going down the same road with iOS 7. In light of what he views as Apple's sclerosis, it wasn't difficult for him to abandon his iPhone in favor of a Google Android ecosystem. But is Apple really becoming the next Microsoft? In short: no. Apple seems to recognize everything that seemed to elude Microsoft's corporate thinking six years ago: namely, that even the most successful companies need to keep breaking into new categories, and keep innovating, if they want to stay ahead of hungry rivals. Rumors have persisted for quite some time that Apple is prepping big pushes into wearable electronics and televisions, both of which could prove lucrative strategies if executed correctly. Goeldi faults iOS 7 for its frosted-glass effects, which he compares to those of Vista; but similar graphical elements aside, it's unlikely that iOS 7 will run into the same complaints over hardware requirements, compatibility, security, and so much more that greeted Vista upon its release. In fact, iOS 7 isn't even finished."
I take it this is all a suck-up smoke and mirrors after that iphone theft debacle?
It was easy for Apple to innovate a few years ago because they had no momentum in the space. They were agile and free to create. It's much harder to do that when you have a huge codebase that's a decade old, with hundreds of millions of users who have expectations of your product.
Nonetheless, I can't help but think if Jobs was still around, there would be more exciting stuff in the pipeline.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
Of course Apple isn't the next Microsoft
Microsoft used shady business practices to destroy competitors and thereby screw the customer.
Apple cuts out the middle-man, and just screws the customer directly.
... Apple is the Next Apple without Steve Jobs, again.
MS has lost billions of $$$ on bing, x-box and other experiments funded by Windows and Office license sales which are now slowing and decreasing. microsoft has been innovating for years but not profitably. they had commercial tablets before apple, mobile devices and cloud services long before cloud became a buzz word.
apple on the other hand has a rule that every product must be profitable. even the apple tv turns a small profit.
Microsoft are becoming the next Apple. Terrible sales on expensive devices and services.
To the fuuutu-ah!
Nice knowing you Microsoft.
I prefer a frosty mug
Try MATE or Xfce
People once told me 68K ram was all we needed,
The cause is beret-wearing UX asshats. They never knew that the GUI was invented as a functional tool because it was discovered that command lines are a fucking mystery to most people.
Because they don't know what a GUI is actually for, and because they grew up with ones that did the job competently even if they weren't works of art, they focus on making it pretty or kewl or whatever and forget to make it usable.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Try KDE? Or LXDE? Or E17? Or OpenBox? Or xmonad? Or the command line? Or any of the myriad other UI options you have available to you in any Linux distribution?
There was a time back in 1999 in the good old days of slashdot and IT where I had a debate with someone over how evil MS and Bill Gates were.
Back then MS was unstoppable! If investors found out MS was going to compete agaisnt you then your stock would be shorted as no one could stop the all powerful Microsoft!
I mentioned if Steve Jobs won the world would be heaven. No more expensive crap. Free standards galore. No more DRM with .WMV and IE 5.5 dictating the future of computing. Apple was cheered as the good guys trying to stop the DRM madness of RealPlayer and Windows Media Player. Remember?Fastforward today and I think Steve Jobs is fucking a more greedy monster than Bill Gates ever was. True their products are better quality and more UI and consumer data is put into products before being released, but man they charge and lock you in.
What Changed?
Itunes gave Apple a financial incentive for DRM and lock in. Apple monopolized the mp3 market and almost the phone before Android did a quick rescue. Their Macs are falling behind as more effort is on consumer gadgets these days.
Would I want a Google only world? Fuck no equally
Chrome's webkit is not W3C compliant compared to IE and Firefox with its extensions and some sites that only work with Chrome when you turn on HTML 5. If they owned 93% of the market ala IE 6 from 2003, you can bet javascript would go bye bye for whateverthefuck script that they invented, sites would not render properly if you used advanced features, and Google would ignore W3C and put Google Store as the master of the e-commerce universe!
I would not want just Android phones either streaming ads from Google servers 100% of the time, nor would shop owners want to pay 300% more for ad revenue as they would ahve a monopoly on this.
Business and greed is evil. We are all greedy and evil ourselves with a shade of gray. It is our human nature sadly. Competition frees us, though I do have to say I am disappointed in all web browsers recently and kind of miss Firefox when is owned just 15% of the market but maybe that is because IE sucked so bad then it seemed like heaven?
http://saveie6.com/
Apple is the next Microsoft. It's successfully fooled the tech media into watching the pretty colors and repeating buzz words. Microsoft enslaved a bunch of Mexicans for their products, Apple enslaved some Chinese. Microsoft figures UI design is the only thing people care about anymore, so that's the only thing that changes between OS releases -- ditto for Apple. Vendor lock-in? Check. Inability to come up with an original idea after chasing their key talent away with bureaucracy and pointless office infighting? Check. Desperate attempts to expand into new sectors because people got tired of their lack of improvement in key areas? Check.
Soon Apple will buy a tech company and then you'll see the truth: there hasn't been a distinction all along. The only difference between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs is that one of them is dead.
Apple is lacking jobs
People once told me 68K ram was all we needed,
It's not that Microsoft didn't break into new categories, it's just that they were bad at it or the categories they chose sucked.
See Also: Microsoft Tablet PCs AKA "Pen-based computing" circa 2001.
They've had a bit more luck with their Xbox division, although one could argue that video game consoles wasn't exactly a new field when they joined it. They still managed to steal Sega's spot in the market and push their way to number two for a few years... and number one in the North America and European markets for some of that time as I recall.
Of course, we all know that they already messed up the launch of their next console. It's pathetic when you can make a defective company like Sony look good.
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
iOS has become too mainstream. The masses like it. This can't be tolerated! So, how can this be rectified?
Make it look more like windows phone metro crud. Then, only the fanboys will like it.
And after 2 years, he still hasn't. We keep hearing hype, but where's the proof? Apple should be in front of the next revolution (dismembering STBs and their fees) but no, that looks to be Roku because Apple's longstanding effort (Apple TV) is and continues to be half-hearted. This guy seems to be by the numbers type of guy, an accountant, and no Jobs. Jobs was an asshole, but he was an asshole that got things done. We already seen Apple without a ruthless asshole in the past and it's not pretty.
So don't tell me what Apple knows better, what is it doing better? Microsoft has the entrenchment of apps to rely on, Apple not so much.
He hasn't. It has been 2 years now and the only thing he has done was get rid of graphics to aplease the anti-skuemorphism crowd with a METRO clone of flat, colorless, no shininess, tile like icons for IOS 7 with cheap plastic phones knockoffs of their original.
http://saveie6.com/
Essentially Apple won't be the next MS because of rumored innovations in "new" categories that Google is already releasing products for? Lets wait and see how that works out for them.
Furthermore, arguing that they aren't stagnating because their next iteration of iOS won't "run into the same complaints over hardware requirements, compatibility, security" is missing the point. iOS7 being more well accepted than Vista != innovation. New features with more breadth and depth than UI overhauls = innovation.
> "Apple is prepping big pushes into wearable electronics and televisions, both of
> which could prove lucrative strategies if executed correctly."
AKA a Microsoft-like "Mee Toooo!", but of Google.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
It's because you complained about Gnome 3 without apparently having tried any of the bazillion other choices.
Cable card does work for some others it's an big mess to get the cable to make it work and it's people who know what they are doing run into the people at the cable co who have little to no clue at times on cable card that need to do there part to make it work. The cable card mess is very un apple.
As well the new Xbox idea use there box likely with IR blasters and you still have deal with cable CO UI.
Apple seems to recognize everything that seemed to elude Microsoft's corporate thinking six years ago: namely, that even the most successful companies need to keep breaking into new categories, and keep innovating
:P
So how is MS not doing this? Surface, win8, win RT, XBone..sure they "failed" (I doubt if this will be the case for the xbone though) but one can't say they didn't try to "break into new categories" or "innovate". The big difference is that apple has countless fanbois so they're less likely to go down so early
Well that was a silly question...I thought we all already knew Google's the one on track to be the next Microsoft. Just as Microsoft was the next IBM before it.
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
When someone puts a phrase like that into their article without substantiating it or addressing it other than to simply state it then they're just trolling. A pencil is easy to use, but it doesn't mean it's better than iOS or Android. The whole 'so easy a three-year-old' can do it thing has passed. I'm not three. I can handle something that takes some thought, that I may not know all the ins and outs of perfectly on my first day, because the only way to do that is to simplify stuff to the point of not being usable. As a longtime Android user (if that's a thing) I can say that I'm immensely frustrated by having to help people with their iPhones. The lack of options in almost all applications, especially the OS ones, amazes me. No wonder they can't figure it out. There's no two pages of options like you get in Android where you can easily set things up. That would be 'hard to use' because you'd have to read something!
Apple became the next Microsoft the moment my mom bought an iPhone.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
Actually, the Apple TV turns a huge profit.
On 5/28/13 there were 13 million Apple TVs sold, at about $100 each. That's $1.3 billion of revenue. I'm being conservative and assuming those numbers don't include the Apple TV 1.
Given an ultra-low margin of 25%, that means Apple conservatively has made $325 million off of the ATV. And Apple's margins have historically been more than 25%.
My years old iphone4 is getting iOS7. More new features and continued support on old hardware. This thing has been so good to me I can't justify upgrading. I simply have no reason to buy a new phone yet, but when I do it will be an iphone.
I've been an iphone user since the original and it's been the same cycle every time. Buy device. New software comes out, adding functionality. Eventually new tech produces a new device worth the upgrade. All of my stuff migrates over without a hitch.
All of the itunes music I had for my ipod worked with my original iphone. Software upgrades brought the app store. Then later exchange connectivity. All of that migrated seamlessly to my 3g. Same experience with the 4. If I feel like getting the 5s when it launches I won't even have to plug it in to the computer, because during the 4's release a software upgrade enabled cloud backup. All I have to do is log in to my new phone and let it cloud restore.
Android, however, is starting to get there. I picked up the new nexus 7. (Amazing device by the way. Literally the best andriod tab on the market as far as I'm conserned). Logged in with google services and those migrated over seamlessly. Most of of my google play apps came over too, but some bugged out.
My previous device was a galaxy tab 2 7.0. While good, I had to root it and install a hacked up rom to strip out most of the Samsung garbage. (Note to samsung, fuck off with your crapware. We want google's apps and app store, not your abortions)
And because you call iOS7 crippleware even before it's out.
-- Cheers!
Microsoft has better technology. They're more innovative and creative.
Apple is better at taking tech other people made, and then turning it into a product that people actually want to buy and can use and enjoy using.
There's a place for both.
Apple isn't just trying to lock you in to their proprietary formats, they control a large percentage of how the US communicates and are all too willing to work at the edge of censorship without question *
"Apple has patented a piece of technology which would allow government and police to block transmission of information, including video and photographs, from any public gathering"
[*] - http://rt.com/news/apple-patent-transmission-block-408/
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Gizmodo reposted (they even say it at the bottom [I know, /., who rtfa anyway?])
Give the guy his clicks: http://blog.agoeldi.com/
You post a ling with "in short, no" as the text to the link, but the link does not show that the answer IS "no".
Please do not do this.
Answer or do not, don't try and fail.
If you think that the main innovation in Windows Vista was the frosted glass, or any other UI feature, you are retarded.
While I think Windows Vista was far from perfect (so far that I didn't buy it), Windows XP was 5 years old and showing it. It was not designed for 64 bit architecture, and could not address more than 4GB of memory. Yes I know there was 64-bit windows XP, but that opens up a whole new can of worms. All windows OSes up through windows XP had horrible security models that lead to rampant infections by viruses.
Windows XP was based on 1990's NT technology. Windows vista was a near complete rewrite of the OS to bring windows into the 21st century. It had lots of problems, but I'd sure as hell use it over XP if given a choice.
I am not a M$ fanboy either. I use both windows and linux both at work and at home. I'd probably own a mac too if I had more disposable income.
As much as Jobs was an utter asshole, he was an asshole with a vision and a mission. He had very specific ideas about technology and they were mostly aligned with non-technologically oriented people (aka: most humans). Apple has banked its success on non-technical people - if you are the computer equivalent of not being able to find your ass with both hands, Apple is for you. It's why Apple was king of graphics - those people aren't IT geeks. Apple locked everything down so it looked like paper and pencil, or dodge masks, or picas or points. Jobs understood that the feel, look, and minimal learning curve of a device was THE most critical factor to selling them. He hated buttons because they complicate the interface.
Apple has not only lost it's way, it has done so as their primary markets that made them the juggernaut they are are saturating (tablets and phones). They hold such a dominant position that it can only really erode in a normal marketplace. MS has the advantage of decades of software development by third parties protecting it's operating system. Apple has the disadvantange that everyone *expects* to trade in their device every 2 years, and the software investment users have is minimal thanks to the lowest-price-wins marketplace they've created (and profited off handsomely, I might add).
Apple IS at a crossroads. They really need to find another Jobs or they will, though it seems amazing, probably fritter away their $100B warchest on redesigning icons. They're going to need another "holy shit that's awesome" moment here soon, imho.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
... they're worse. If MS had just pulled half the shit that Apple has in the last ten years, Bill & Steve personally would have been rosted on a small flame by the government.
Webkit
BSD Unix
Grand Central Dispatch
Darwin
Clang/LLVM
And many more.
You can SEE what Microsoft is researching.
You can USE what Apple is researching.
How much of Microsoft's research makes it to the real world? Where is WinFS? Microsoft research is a golden tower into which Microsoft locks smart people so other companies cannot use them, and produces almost nothing of tangible benefit to the world.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple has patented a piece of technology which would allow government and police to block transmission of information
Note that there are two reasons to procure a patent. The first is to make a product based on that patent. Apple has not done that...
The second is to prevent anyone ELSE from making a product based on that patent.
Given Apple's actions to date, it's equally likely they wish to prevent said technology from coming to market.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"Apple seems to recognize everything that seemed to elude Microsoft's corporate thinking six years ago: namely, that even the most successful companies need to keep breaking into new categories, and keep innovating, if they want to stay ahead of hungry rivals."
Microsoft was not unaware of that at all. They tried very hard for a long time, after all Windows Phone was worked on for many years before iPhone.
Microsoft's problem was that they weren't good at it. Vista was another example. The common problem is internal corporate politics, and the key to that problem is at the top.
And after 2 years, he still hasn't.
Apple has not released an unsuccessful product yet, and Cook oversaw much of the last few. The last quarter saw a large growth in iPhone sales despite no new models at all, totally eating the lunch of every Android based competitor.
Coming up is the release of iOS7 which has drained away design talent from working on other platforms, and a fantastic reboot of the Mac Pro which looks like a really great system that lots of people will buy.
Cook has done far better than I ever thought anyone could after Jobs, Apple is not slowing down at all.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
another paid advertisement from Apple
Yeah, if you're going to review a restaurant, your opinion will have no value unless you try out every other restaurant on Earth before writing your review.
Wait...
Yes I know this is not popular but seems lately Google is pulling some of MS's old tricks...
http://blog.elliottkember.com/chromes-insane-password-security-strategy
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/06/android_oneclick_authentication_open_to_hacking
It has been 2 years now and the only thing he has done was get rid of graphics to aplease the anti-skuemorphism crowd with a METRO clone of flat, colorless, no shininess, tile like icons for IOS 7
iOS 7 isn't flat. It's just got rid of 3D effects hardcoded into bitmaps. (Shadows and highlights). It's 3D is truer now, making greater and more logical use of layered OpenGL textures.
cheap plastic phones knockoffs of their original.
Presumably you are just as convinced that the sweater in that photo is made by Nike.
I remember when Jobs died, or maybe it was right before, Apple basically said he had left them with 3 to 5 years of new products in the pipeline.
I think that was just the opinion of bloggers. Might be right or wrong, but I don't think it's anything Apple said.
The common expectation of new product categories from Apple every year or two is ridiculous and doesn't reflect the historical record. Significantly different devices within categories, sure. And we've had those - the iPad Mini and the new Mac Pro.
What's really bad about all these iOS7 articles is how off they are about what has changing.
If the person writing claims iOS7 is "flat", they have totally missed the point.
iOS7 has gone DEEP, not flat. It's many layers where before there was just a flat tree. It's added a literal new dimension to UI and UIX design.
When you actually have it in hand you may understand better, but just know until then anyone who says iOS7 is "flat" has no idea what the heck they are talking about.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple wants all my money and Google wants all my personal information.
I rather give my money away... Don't be evil my a**.
While Microsoft had a good run when they made products people wanted, overtime they seem to have become comfortable thinking of their products as something that users had to use whether they wanted to or not - and that is where they ran into problems. Lots of other companies do the same thing (cable tv/Facebook...)
"Frosted Glass" is a silly thing to use as a focus - just a superficial implementation detail that has nothing to do with the differences between why any of these companies do what they do. Hopefully Microsoft decides to change focus and start making all of their products things that users really want again.
Apple and Google (and many other companies) seek to create products that users really want (so much that they can "sell" at a premium in outright cost or user data/privacy).
It's easy to think every company intends to "lock in" a customer, but that's not always the case. The Apple and Google and Facebook ecosystems might on the surface appear to have an evil intent (if you have a paranoid view that the world is evil and scary), but functionally they all satisfy a want that their users have - and filling that desire is just good business.
In theory, if there are many companies competing to fill the needs and desires of the customers it becomes far more profitable for all of them to have a common means of exchanging data across platforms. The walled gardens are still going to exist, but by the content owners and not the companies between them and the customers. The only reason you see "lock in" stuff in any company like Google/Apple/Microsoft has to do with the content owners and the only viable mechanism right now to get that content to the users that want it.
Anyone who thinks that iOS 7 is nothing more than a graphical change is an idiot who isn't keeping up with the technical changes going on. This is a classic case of ignoring the facts when they don't fit the narrative you want to use as an argument. What a moron.
....and so is the author. His main comparison is total bullshit that glosses over a number of important details when making the XP/Vista comparison. He's an idiot, and this article is trash.
After seeing Gizmodo, I could not stomach reading further.
Do you see any of Apple's current products that wedged so deep into every business process out there that they will almost surely still be profiting $1BN / year a decade from now, as Microsoft has ALREADY done?
Yes, it's called the iPad. It has seen a huge uptake in enterprise use, in part because there are so many, but also because of third party support for things like rugged cases. Also there is a lot of good management support now and a lot of powerful frameworks to build enterprise apps on top of.
Enterprises have adopted them in droves, and as a result they will be there for some time to come...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple's stock is significantly up in the last month; this is the case because every other thing you said is an utter fabrication. The Mac Pro alone proves you have no idea what you are talking about.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Ok, there's no way this could have been written by anyone who didn't have a terminal case of reality distortion field withdrawal symptom:
Apple seems to recognize everything that seemed to elude Microsoft's corporate thinking six years ago: namely, that even the most successful companies need to keep breaking into new categories, and keep innovating, if they want to stay ahead of hungry rivals.
There may be reasons why Apple isn't going to be "the next Microsoft" (whatever that is), but this is most assuredly not one of them. Apple is one of the most narrowly-focussed companies for its size around. It sells, what, a handful of different lines of devices that vary mostly based on screen resolution?
Microsoft has realised that diversifying is necessary, whereas Apple still apparently has not. Sure, Microsoft's has generally sucked at it, but they've been involved in gaming (Xbox, Kinect, game studios), personal devices (Zune, smart phones), peripherals (Keyboards, mice, etc), server software (IIS, MSSQL, etc), and a bunch of other areas, outside their big three of Windows, Office and Exchange.
Whereas Apple is innovatively breaking into new categories because there are rumours they might be making a smart watch (i.e. another iOS device with a different form factor)? Please.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Why, the last truly 'new' Apple product was 15 years ago. They have nothing to worry about.
Let's see, Anonymous Coward, complaining about a system that hasn't came out yet, dissing OSX as an utter piece of crap, and then returning to the same bad experience that you said Gnome 3 provided you, as if there were no options in Linux. So either you are a troll or just plain stupid.
Hell the main issue with a Macbook Pro is that they are overpriced, but if you have it ou have to be crazy to put it away unless you want to play games or something with an Alienware like machine.
Basing a company analysis on frosted glass? Just..... wow. Haven't had much to do with gizmodo in the past, but it looks hilariously ignorant based on this article.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
Most companies, especially in the US, are run by a group of highly skilled individuals with matching egos who have worked their way to the top and will defend their little islands at any cost. The problem with this is that invariably, every decision is made by consensus. If anyone stands up and makes a decision without consulting everyone else in the power group, he or she will eventually be shot down. Apple was an exception on the rule. Even so, Steve Jobs was removed for just this reason but managed his return and attained absolute power. He held on to this power only because he had the opportunity to return on his own conditions and was lucky enough that his ideas and decisions came at exactly the right time. Because Apple cultivated his aura and presence, Jobs was able to lift the company to near mythical status. With Jobs gone, Apple has become a normal company where egos run the show and therefore decision and ideas are made by consensus again. Competitors have caught up and even surpassed Apple and without someone with the same power as Jobs, the playing field is a lot more level than in the early iPhone days. Microsoft has an identical problem but will be able to catch up quicker because their products aren't as hyped up.
And because you call iOS7 crippleware even before it's out.
Given the fact that IOS's 1 through 6 were crippleware, I think that it's a safe bet that IOS 7 will be the same. I highly doubt Apple will reverse their policy of limiting what the user can do.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
That was supposed to be Longhorn, which was supposed to have real improvements over it's predecessors. Vista, however, was just a gob of shite until a number of bug fixes and a service pack made it usable. If reverting to the prior version means an upgrade in both performance and usability, you've done something wrong. Windows 8 is a usability fail but at least it's fast.
iOS 7 isn't flat. It's just got rid of 3D effects hardcoded into bitmaps. (Shadows and highlights). It's 3D is truer now, making greater and more logical use of layered OpenGL textures.
The thing I don't like about it is the pointless gimmicky stuff that they've added that slows it down, like in iOS pre-7 you pressed the button and it came on, same deal when you locked it. Now you press it and there's this delay and it fades in, it's pointless and just slower (like the window fade-in on Windows 7, which at least you can turn off). It also does a fallback animation of the icons when you hit the home button, reminiscent of the Windows 8 metro screen, again another unnecessary slowdown animation.
Aside from that i'm actually liking it now, the first beta was pretty awful (way worse than other versions' first betas) but they've made a lot of changes since then which seem to work well.
The whole article is just a big load of crap written by an Apple fanboy.. What innovation? show me some real innovation by apple which wasn't ripped from others.. And the biggest BULL is about hardware requirements, Apple only supports their own limited range devices, so that's something completely different compared to the very VERY WIDE range of configurations Windows Vista had to keep in mind.. So when you are gonna compare iOS7 (which also won't run on all apple devices, and also will have some problems with a few devices, just like ANY iOSx has had before) to an OS on hardware requirements your whole article goes down the toilet... To me, Vista wasn't such a big disaster, Windows 8 is much more of a disaster as with Windows Vista you at least had the possibility to completely configure the look of it (with 3D/transparent options AND you could make it look as ugly as the lame windows 8 desktop) without having to resort to some thirdparty tools..
Neither was Vista.
I can't wait to see what iOS 7 is like, at first I hated the new design and I don't use the beta version but seeing tons of screencaps online is making me get used to it already ahead of its release. Not so sure about the wearable hardware Apple is developing, but I guess it'll find its market too.
And yet, despite it's supposed "being down" it's still the primary corporate desktop system after a decade of absolutely horrible management. That's the kind of market you really want to be in on. MSFT has no presence in the emerging personal device market, which may very well take over computers in the home arena.
As for iPads in the corporate environment - it's not MSFT that should be scared, but Franklin Covey's print calendar business. Tablets are not creation devices, they're consumption and personal organization. The iPad, as it is currently positioned, will never leap into creation in any meaningful way. It would take either a major philosophical change in how iOS works, or a port of OSX to it. An ultrabook convertible, however, might replace a desktop just as laptops have replaced desktops. So you're looking at the Air market for Apple which is quickly being crowded by the new ultrabooks - may of which offer better integration into corporate networks and buying models (i.e. HP, Dell, Lenovo contracts).
Things could shift, but for Apple - which was riding high on innovative devices - seems to be flagging here. Unfortunately, their best bet at a break-out product may be even harder to pull off than their iTunes licensing (which was pretty tough, and impressive) - a la carte cable programming across the board directly with providers via iTunes and an AppleTV brand. My second-best option - inclusion as an option in automobile/OEM head units, with a 50-60M/yr unit market and a nice, juicy $1000 retail pricepoint for low power hardware.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Microsoft has deprecated its most popular products to force users into less familiar, less stable products.
The solution is simple. Release software updates to popular legacy software: NT, Windows 98, and the other top three titles. The folks running installs have run to older hardware to keep legacy applications going. MS should immediately make a deal with HP and Dell to offer older MS titles on newer machines with software to account for new BIOS and older physical connections. The solution to MS growth is simple. Backwards compatibility to the MASSIVE installed base.
JJ
Um, iOS7 is just a cheap ripoff of the "Metro" design that Microsoft invented. Also, Microsoft is attaching on all fronts while Apple is pretty much just a phone company.
I read no less than 10 lucid, "5" comments on this thread . . .
What happened to you /., you used to be cool!
I didn't say it worked well. But the features it had made it more secure and able to utilize more memory. When vista came out it had lots of problems, so a lot of people went back to XP.
1. I don't think it's fair to compare the state of windows XP in 2007 with the state of windows vista in 2007 as far as bugs go.
2. Windows XP wasn't an upgrade in performance if you had a fast computer with a lot of memory. If you had an old enough computer upgrading from windows 98 to windows XP was a downgrade in performance too.
3. I don't know if the benefit of not being constantly infected by viruses due to a bad security model can be overstated.
Apparently anything that happens under the hood doesn't count.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Apple stopped innovating a few years ago now they just take what they want and sue the creator of the idea. Don't believe it? Just look at the past few years of law suits. Now take a look at how far android has gone. Even Microsoft is trying to be innovating again. Apple has gotten stale. The question is way hasn't people realized this yet? Maybe it the amount of money they sunk into itunes and now they are stuck and so they have to defend apple.
Of course Apple isn't *going to be* the next Microsoft, precisely as this fanboi site claims. Wheere they have it wrong, is the timing. Apple already *is* the new M$... And hey, i'm a Mac user for 15 years.. not much longer though..
Daring fireball is that you? How nice of you to show up here on /.
http://daringfireball.net/2013/06/ios_7_signature