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Apple's Software 'Problem' and 'Fixing' It (learningbyshipping.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

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.

8 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. TLDR: MacBook getting better or not? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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)?

    1. Re:TLDR: MacBook getting better or not? by ilsaloving · · Score: 4, Interesting

      IMO the 2016 are the worst in a steadily worsening lineup. They have turned computers into ludicrously expensive, laughably limited, unrepairable appliances. I am still using my macbook from 2010. I was able to upgrade the ram to 16GB. I was able to replace the hard drive with an SSD. I can't change the battery trivially myself, which is annoying, but apart from that the machine still runs reasonably well for virtually all my workloads except for high-end gaming.

      Now? You can't repair *anything* on the machine. Everything is soldered. Not only that, you can't *plug* anything into the machine either unless you buy expensive dongles. So now, for example, everybody needs to maintain a stock of dongles in every meeting room because nobody makes TVs and projectors with USB-C/TB3 connectors.

      The only reasons Apple is doing as well as it is on the computer front is because a) you can't develop iOS apps without one, and b) Microsoft has fucked up Windows so utterly badly that people now have a very strong incentive to jump ship.

      If Microsoft every manages to pull it's head out of its rear and come up with a Windows strategy that isn't stupid, Apple is gonna be in trouble.

    2. Re:TLDR: MacBook getting better or not? by apoc.famine · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The 2016 model was the one which forced me to switch to a Dell Precision running Ububtu. It's got it's share of quirks, but nothing like the clusterfuck of apple's hardware and software.

      A year and change in, and I'm more happy with this than I was with my old 2012 MBP. I've got the ports I need, and I can actually crack it open (once I fuck with the stupid non-standard screws) and do things. It's got an actual nVidia graphics card in it as well, not just some crappy embedded video.

      And cost half the price of a similarly equipped MBP. No, not quite as snazzy, but whatever. Apple's evolution in their MBP line was opposite the direction I needed them to go, both in hardware and software. Where they were once my go-to, they definitely aren't now. While this focus on software quality is addressing one of my major complaints, there's no guarantee that it's more than lip service, and it's too little, too late for me personally anyway.

      I doubt that MS will ever fix its issues either. Smartphones are the next computing evolution, and MS missed the boat hard on that one. With smarphones and game consoles being the primary devices that teens engage the world with, MS is left clinging onto businesses as their primary market. They'll be there for awhile yet, but google is really starting to put the squeeze on them. I don't see MS ever recovering to be as dominant as they used to be.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  2. When I think quality software, I think iTunes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!

  3. Not lost at all... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...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.

    1. Re:Not lost at all... by Jeremi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My opinion is that Apple optimizes the "tripod" with an eye towards high profit levels, not towards customers. Which is fine, it is absolutely their decision to make, whether they want to optimize high-profits or customers.

      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?

      Once we've dispensed with the defensive Slashdot non-reponse ("because Apple customers are ignorant brain-washed sheep, and not enlightened and wise like we are"), and keep in mind that "the customer is always right", we must conclude that Apple has figured out how to keep customers happy/loyal and keep profits high at the same time.

      Which is a pretty good thing to know how to do, and largely explains why Apple is currently swimming in an ocean of cash.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  4. You've hit the nail on the head by Brannon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    > 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]?

    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 /.ers hate Apple and Apple is not aware of their existence.

    It's a story as old as [internet] time.

  5. Re:open up mac os X to more systems if just HP / D by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.