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Apple's Software 'Problem' and 'Fixing' It (learningbyshipping.com)
According to media reports, Apple is planning to postpone some new features for iOS and macOS this year to focus on improving reliability, stability and performance of the existing versions. Steven Sinofsky, a former President of the Windows Division, shared his insights into the significance of this development: Several important points are conflated in the broad discussion about Apple and software: Quality, pace of change, features "versus" quality, and innovation. Scanning the landscape, it is important to recognize that in total the work Apple has been doing across hardware, software, services, and even AI/ML, in total -- is breathtaking and unprecedented in scope, scale, and quality. Few companies have done so much for so long with such a high level of consistency. This all goes back to the bet on the NeXT code base and move to Intel for Mac OS plus the iPod, which began the journey to where we are today.
[...] What is lost in all of this recent discussion is the nuance between features, schedule, and quality. It is like having a discussion with a financial advisor over income, risk, and growth. You don't just show up and say you want all three and get a "sure." On the other hand, this is precisely what Apple did so reliably over 20 years. But behind the scenes there is a constant discussion over balancing these three legs of the tripod. You have to have all of them but you "can't" but you have to. This is why they get paid big $.
[...] A massive project like an OS (+h/w +cloud) is like a large investment portfolio and some things will work (in market) and others won't, some things are designed to return right away, some are safe bets, some are long term investments. And some mistakes... Customers don't care about any of that and that's ok. They just look for what they care about. Each evaluates through their own lens. Apple's brilliance is in focusing mostly on two audiences -- Send-users and developers -- tending to de-emphasize the whole "techie" crowd, even IT. When you look at a feature like FaceID and trace it backwards all the way to keychain -- see how much long term thought can go into a feature and how much good work can go unnoticed (or even "fail") for years before surfacing as a big advantage. That's a long term POV AND focus. This approach is rather unique compared to other tech companies that tend to develop new things almost independent of everything else. So new things show up and look bolted on the side of what already exists. (Sure Apple can do that to, but not usually). All the while while things are being built the team is just a dev team and trying to come up with a reliable schedule and fix bug. This is just software development.
[...] What is lost in all of this recent discussion is the nuance between features, schedule, and quality. It is like having a discussion with a financial advisor over income, risk, and growth. You don't just show up and say you want all three and get a "sure." On the other hand, this is precisely what Apple did so reliably over 20 years. But behind the scenes there is a constant discussion over balancing these three legs of the tripod. You have to have all of them but you "can't" but you have to. This is why they get paid big $.
[...] A massive project like an OS (+h/w +cloud) is like a large investment portfolio and some things will work (in market) and others won't, some things are designed to return right away, some are safe bets, some are long term investments. And some mistakes... Customers don't care about any of that and that's ok. They just look for what they care about. Each evaluates through their own lens. Apple's brilliance is in focusing mostly on two audiences -- Send-users and developers -- tending to de-emphasize the whole "techie" crowd, even IT. When you look at a feature like FaceID and trace it backwards all the way to keychain -- see how much long term thought can go into a feature and how much good work can go unnoticed (or even "fail") for years before surfacing as a big advantage. That's a long term POV AND focus. This approach is rather unique compared to other tech companies that tend to develop new things almost independent of everything else. So new things show up and look bolted on the side of what already exists. (Sure Apple can do that to, but not usually). All the while while things are being built the team is just a dev team and trying to come up with a reliable schedule and fix bug. This is just software development.
This summary is way too long and mumble-speak. As long as they keep pumping out 2016-era Macbooks I'll be happy. No new features are needed and I will still never have any reason to buy anything from the iStore or whatever Apple's "app store" is called today.
So...does anyone know what this Sinofsky guy is trying to say (and if it matters)?
I wish everyone had the same quality interface and functionality that this leading provider of music has developed and improved over the last few decades!
Can anyone explain what is a "Send-users"?
This article reads like the unfinished outline of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. If Apple is as lazy in development as this author is in writing then it's no wonder iOS is a buggy mess.
Apple dropped all support for 32-bit ARM CPUs. That's literally the only reason. They switched their OS to be 64-bit only. Granted, it isn't the easiest thing in the world to manage multiple architectures, but this is still a huge blow to everyone (myself included) who is running 32-bit ARM Apple products.
That's peculiar.... I have an original iPad (gen 1) that still works fine.
I can't update the iOS version on it, of course... (forever stuck at version 5.1.1) nor can I install any new apps on it, but all of the apps that are currently on it work fine.
The only problem I am finding with it is that the the connector seems to be wearing out, as I think it is getting flaky with age. A bit of wiggling currently resolves it when the connection isn't solid, but I suspect there's not much more life left in it.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
one still has to throw out an Apple product after three years because it can't be upgraded.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Amtrak's new slogan: Faster Service, Customer Safety...choose one."
I think that current fits Apple.
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
...What is lost in all of this recent discussion is the nuance between features, schedule, and quality....
My impression is that those people who have been commenting on Apple's software problem know the golden triangle quite well. What they don't understand is why Apple cannot seem to (or does not want to) get the balance right from the customer's viewpoint. Apple is, after all, supposed to be an expert in this area.
I guess I don't have any of those apps.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
If you look at the features Apple is postponing, they're apparently re-writes of core systems. Which means that even if they iron out all the bugs in the next iOS, the iOS after that will then get all the bugs for the new systems anyway.
Apple's problem is that they don't ever let things mature and become stable. iOS's UI and APIs keep on changing. This is why they keep on introducing bugs: they keep on changing everything.
It doesn't matter how many bugs you fix if you keep on throwing away code and working UIs and replacing them with the new shiny every other release.
Letting things 'mature is not their business model. Most Apple users like the rapid feature development and don't mind a certain degree of instability. Apple usually does these 'stability releases' when they have pushed the instability level to the point where even their most loyal core customer base is starting to get annoyed. The people that don't like macOS or iOS or certain Linux distributions usually complain the loudest about the rapid feature development and end up being happiest on more stable OS'es where things change at a glacial pace. I like to use Fedora which is somewhat unstable, my collage prefers more stable Centos releases and is conservative in his update policy. His system is more stable and mature but I was able to run the Evolution and connect to the latest Microsoft Exchange servers when our Microsoft gang decided to retire MAPI in favour of Exchange Web Services weeks before those patches finally showed up on the Centos update server. Different people like different things and that does not mean one is more 'right' than the other in their preferences.
This sounds like an attempt to defend Apple. The author apparently feels that Apple is being unjustly accused of crappy software, and wants to tell everybody that it's bloody miraculous that Apple software works at all, what with the enormous difficulty of being competent.
Sorry, Apple, if you were a saint you might get a pass. But your endless arrogance means that you sound whiny and petulant when you ask for sympathy.
Or, they've lost focus and it's showing (my opinion).
http://dilbert.com/2010-12-13
That sure is a lot of words to say that Apple's quality has gone downhill in the last few years.
iOS 11 broke Spotlight. I used to drag down from the top, type the app name, and it was given to me. Now even if I type the exact name I'm not guaranteed that I'll be offered it, or, sometimes, any apps. I have to remember where the heck I put it on the springboard now, and even if I do it still take me a bit of time to go to it.
Find out what went wrong there and you might find a can of worms that begs opening.
"Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
Don't worry, the next release will be... thinner.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
I find that MacOS and iOS are far more stable than Windows or Android BUT I would still rather Apple spend a year, or two, or three on enhancing stability, optimizing code AND improving legacy support.
There's a lot of old software we need to access our old data. The modern hardware has more than enough power to do the necessary emulation. Cross compilers would do wonders too. We need to be able to access our software from the '00's the '90's, the 80's and heck, might as well go all the way back to the '70's.
https://slashdot.org/comments....
I don't miss having an HDMI port in a laptop, because most of the time you do not need an HDMI port.
Just because YOU don't need one doesn't mean nobody else does.
Every single person I know uses their laptop as their primary computing device, which means when they get to their desks they plug their laptop into external monitors, keyboards, etc. Then if they have a meeting they disconnect and take their machine to the meeting. Etc etc. This is so shockingly common I'm amazed you have the audacity to say what you said.
I find that MacOS and iOS are far more stable than Windows or Android
I always find people who make that claim suspect.
As a regular user of all 4 platforms, their stability seems about identical to me... They're all pretty damn stable.
Every single person I know uses their laptop as their primary computing device, which means when they get to their desks they plug their laptop into external monitors
Which if they are any good are not via HDMI. A fixed monitor you use all the time can just leave an adaptor attached, no different than having any other kind of monitor cable - oh wait, there IS a difference because you can plug into a USB-C port on either side, instead of having to use just one...
I realize if you are dirt poor that making do with just HDMI mentors or having to twist cables around to match the inevitably incorrect placement of monitor ports on laptops. But some of us have real work to do instead of browsing Facebook all day, and we have left that nonsense behind.
keyboards, etc.
Which for about the past DECADE have been primarily wireless except for about .00000000001% of the population. Or you are just using the laptop keyboard which is just there.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Dafuq did I just read? English as a second language, or modern college student?
open up mac os X to more systems if just HP / DELL for real workstations where looks do not get in the way or things like an TB loop back cable to a video card is not a big deal. TB is cool but why tie the HDMI to AN TB bus??? that eats up TB bandwidth???
The mac pro failed due to being held back by limited cooling driven by looks. and add real m.2 slots.
Imac pro more BS that should not be in pro workstation like forced raid0 / no easy way to change ram or storage out. And storage locked to the MB. Also the duel pci-e storage is limited by an pci-e x4 link that is also shared with an co-cpu.
NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE that purchases an iMac Pro will be storing their work-files LOCALLY. There simply isn't enough local storage for the types of files REAL Pros work with.
So, that means that EVERYONE who uses an iMac Pro will be using EXTERNAL RAIDs. Add Time Machine backup for Applications and Local Files, and there simply isn't a compelling reason to support RAID inside the iMac, sorry!
> If it's a zero-sum-game (favor profits OR favor customers, pick one), and Apple is making high profits, then why is Apple also ranking first in customer satisfaction [cultofmac.com]?
/.ers hate Apple and Apple is not aware of their existence.
Most Slashdotters just don't understand technology, in their hearts they believe it exists to give insecure nerds some measure of self-esteem--when in fact it exists to improve the quality-of-life for *regular people*. So
It's a story as old as [internet] time.
I agree with this. I work as a "creative" (commercial photography) and I keep nothing but the specific software I need on my machine's. All work files are kept on SSD's while in the field and dumped onto a RAID at the office. The computers themselves are kept clean free of anything that might degrade performance.
Nobody involved in the continuing slow-motion train wreck known as Microsoft Windows has a leg to stand on when it comes to criticism of any other software development organization.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I agree with this. I work as a "creative" (commercial photography) and I keep nothing but the specific software I need on my machine's. All work files are kept on SSD's while in the field and dumped onto a RAID at the office. The computers themselves are kept clean free of anything that might degrade performance.
Thanks.
I just can't believe how NON-forward-thinking so many Slashdotters are. In a lot of ways, It feels like it's 1990 in here.
The people of that mindset believe that The only real computer is a tower with a bunch of internal RAID storage, a bunch of barely-compatible peripheral cards with mostly-working drivers, running a version of Linix that "works pretty well, except for...", that it only took 9 months to get sound working, and don't ask about the scanner...
They simply can't fathom of a world where you can purchase an 18-core all-in-one computer, take it out of the box, and with very little fuss, have a fully set-up system, with attached external storage, automatic backups, and email, web browsing and much more in a few minutes.
These are editorial basics people!
It's one of the things that annoys me the most in computing: Hardware that works properly becauming useless because of lack of software support.
Most hardware will eventually stop being supported by new software eventually but Apple is one of the worst about this. Forced upgrades is the name of the game in Apple world.
Well, I'm your #1 suspect then. Over the past 40+ years I've used Unix, CPM, DOS, Windows in many incarnations, Macs from Finder v1.0 to today, iOS, Android and many other systems. Perhaps you find flaw with the significants of my sample set at a mere few hundred. Perhaps your right. Or not.
I can't claim 40+ years, but I can claim the same list you've given, and more (as I imagine you could too)
I find that people who claim that one of the 4 discussed platforms is universally worse than the other doesn't lack experience, just objectivity.