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That Awkward Moment When 'Apple Mocked Good Hardware and Poor People' (dailydot.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a DailyDot article: Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, took the stage in Cupertino, California, earlier this week to explain some of the new features and specs on the new iPad Pro. Between showing off a new display and camera, Schiller also took some digs at Windows and PC users, specifically calling out those users who are on computers more than five years old. Schiller said that 600 million people are using PCs that are over five years old. 'This is really sad,' he said.
C. Custer, reporter for Tech in Asia also didn't like Schiller's remarks. He writes: If Apple's really targeting those 600 million old PC users, it seems to have done a pretty poor job. It's been more than five years since I saw the need to upgrade my primary computer, and nothing about the iPad Pro presentation made me rethink my position at all. But of course, Apple isn't really targeting those people. That was mostly just a cheap shot, a jibe at all of us poor fools who haven't yet seen the light. That's why the audience laughed knowingly, and even applauded. "Using the same machine for five years? How barbaric! Thank god we live in civilized society, where everyone throws their gadgets out and buys new ones every two years."
C. Custer, reporter for Tech in Asia also didn't like Schiller's remarks. He writes: If Apple's really targeting those 600 million old PC users, it seems to have done a pretty poor job. It's been more than five years since I saw the need to upgrade my primary computer, and nothing about the iPad Pro presentation made me rethink my position at all. But of course, Apple isn't really targeting those people. That was mostly just a cheap shot, a jibe at all of us poor fools who haven't yet seen the light. That's why the audience laughed knowingly, and even applauded. "Using the same machine for five years? How barbaric! Thank god we live in civilized society, where everyone throws their gadgets out and buys new ones every two years."
The Apple Marketing really are targeting the shallow and vacuous assholes who want to feel smug about the latest shiny?
My last PC was over 6 years old before it keeled over, and I hope this one lasts about the same.
Know what I still don't have? My first gen iPad that Apple updated until they made it useless. Know what I do have? A 3.5 year old Android tablet.
Huge amounts of people are running older machines ... and, once again, people in marketing are shallow idiots.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
It was a dumb comment for sure, but turning this into a matter of class warfare or social justice is orders of magnitude dumber.
>> 600 million people are using PCs that are over five years old. 'This is really sad,' he said.
No it really isn't. Most people just use PCs to write emails and surf the net. Heck even 5 year old hardware is overpowered just for that.
I set up a 15 year old PC with gentoo as a basic internet machine for my parent's kitchen, and aside from the general web bloat over the last 3 or so years, they are happy with it, and I am happy with it. The value for money in a traditional PC was and remains superb.
Meanwhile my ~4 year old laptop is grinding to a halt for daily general use. I've been forced to turn off javascript to even get websites to load nowadays. It's the same with tablets. I have never seen computers become so obsolete quite so quickly. These devices practically have the lifecycle and resale value of cellphones at this point. Color me suspicious.
The hardware industry has hit the jackpot in the modern consumer tablets and increasingly laptop space. People are replacing their device almost as often as they replace their cars, and it is a shame to see the waste that is going on. Meanwhile the devices are really no more usable than they were 10 years ago, and I'd argue less with the new "touch centered" OSes. There's no incentive for any company to create a valuable, usable, worthwhile product when everything is becoming, in effect, disposable.
I don't think people are buying "Personal Computers" any more. I think they're buying disposable, restricted function digital devices, for content consumption and (social media) connectivity. In this environment, it probably makes sense for Apple to goad consumers into constant upgrades.
my desktop is pushing 8 years now, a phenom 2 rig with 16 gig of ram and a 1 gig amd video card.
it does what i need it to do, Yeah I have newer devices, but to say that a PC thats older than 5 years is no good..... it seems quite smug. Its not the early 90s where you really did need to upgrade every 2 years
~Ganjadude
I have a 2009 17" Mac book pro.
I tossed in an SSD, removed the optical for hdd caddy and upgraded to max ram.
From there I installed Linux mint and it's been a great laptop.
The screen is better than most new laptops and the hardware is actually pretty nice still.
I personally don't like new Apple products since they purposely make it difficult to do diy upgrades and are also environmentally unfriendly by gluing everything together.
That said, I may buy an iPad. My daughter had hers with her last visit, and it takes REALLY sharp photos.
If you're only after really sharp photos, you'd be better off with a recent model compact camera. They're a lot cheaper, and will take much better photos.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I have nothing against the poor or struggling out there, and I like to think that often I'm a charitable person, and give, etc.
But man, do you seriously base your purchases on how it might be perceived by others in your family or friends...or even strangers???
I mean, do you and those people actually look at what kind of computer as a sort of status symbol?
And buying things..."socially responsible"?? Wow..that's a foreign concept to me....if I see something I want or need, I buy it. I've never heard of anyone giving more thought to a purchase than that. What does "socially responsible" purchasing mean and look like???
I mean the world is the world. There always have been and always will be...haves and have nots. That's just they way life is.
You're years on earth are limited and you don't need to waste time on crap that doesn't matter. Get and do what makes you happy, and while at it..try to make others happy.
But at the same time, realize you can't save the world, and life it too short to waste trying to....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
What does "socially responsible" purchasing mean and look like???
If you have to ask...