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Tim Cook To Investors: Apple is Working on Future Products That Will 'Blow You Away' (macrumors.com)
Speaking to investors on Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he has "never been more optimistic" about where the company is today and where it's heading. He said the company is "planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away." A story adds: Cook went on to say that Apple's eventual goal is to be able reduce the price of the 2018 Retina MacBook Air, which currently starts at $1,200. In reference to the Apple Watch and the AirPods, Cook said there's a "long, great roadmap" of "fantastic" products on the horizon. [...] On the topic of services, Cook said Apple is well on its way towards meeting the goal it set in 2016, which was to double its $25 billion revenue by 2020.
He's been saying basically the same thing for years: "We have amazing products in the pipeline".
But all I see is more expensive laptops with unreliable keyboards and a problematic T2 chip.
Hell, when they released the 2018 MacBook Air, they kept the 2017 model, which is really the 2015 model, at the same fucking price it has been for years.
#DeleteFacebook
Apple will make a PC (not laptop) which has hardware which isn't five years old, which the user is able to swap out parts as needed, AND doesn't cost a kidney to buy.
That would be mind blowing.
... people started lining up outside Apple stores with tents and sleeping bags to be sure they're the first to be "blown away"?
Hey... I thought it was Microsoft working with the military that was working on products that will blow us away.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
Tim Cook: "We'll reduce the price of the MacBook Air by a certain percentage"
Investors: "What percentage?"
Tim Cook: "Zero"
Investors: ......
Tim Cook: "What? Zero is a percent!"
AC comments get piped to
iFan
Table-ized A.I.
'Blow You Away' priceing!!!!!!!!!!
Mac pro 2020 DUAL CPU DUAL GPU 4TB SSD BASE only $9999
"Really terrific products coming, believe me! Everyone will love 'em; even the Jetsons will be stunned how futuristic they are. Boy Elroy is still floored from the greatness of the prototypes. Bing bing, bong bong, Wham! bigly shocked. I and I alone can invent the future, and #MakeFutureGreatAgain!"
(sorry, couldn't resist)
Table-ized A.I.
The only reason to make a statement like this, which effectively boils down to "Apple's value is going increase, but you have to take it on pure faith because I just can't give you any concrete reasons why", is if you're desperately trying to uphold investor confidence in light of Apple's image fading as a premium technology leader. No doubt this was attempt was fueled by all the announcements from the rest of the industry about the foldable devices, which look so much "cooler and leading edge" than Apple products.
I have smoke and I'm blind as a bat, please fart so I know where to blow it.
"planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away."
Sure hope we don't see them mustering more "courage", next thing you know they'll be removing the keyboard and telling us to type with our credit cards.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
So far, batteries only catch fire. I guess they have more... interesting chemistry in the works.
The only slightly non-standard .223/5.56 rifle that fires proprietary ammo so disproportionately expensive you'd think it was designed by the same people who designed the main gun on the new LCS vessels.
Technology for the masses not the classes
They've killed off much of the ecosystem of products -- time capsules, excellent routers and repeaters, monitors -- and the entire line computer like is now made of laptop parts, they killed off their support for education, and their pro applications and computers. Could it be that the famous pipeline of products they promised after Jobs's death was smoke and mirrors? For shame!
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
Or perhaps iHVAC? "Our air conditioners really blow!"
He didn't mean that the technology would impress you. He meant it will blow you away, literally!
Announcing the iRobot. This is not for home use. They have repurposed their self-driving car unit to make a military robot with iGuns that will blow away enemies.
Special discounts will be given for companies that want to purchase them for deployment in the following cities:
Mountain View, CA
Ann Arbor, MI
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Boulder, CO
Cambridge, MA
Chicago, IL
Irvine, CA
New York, NY
Pittsburgh, PA
Reston, VA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
Does he have to announce it on twitter like Elon?
They don't have a new amazing thing every year.
But the Apple Watch has turned out to be quite a hit.
The AirPods, possibly even a bigger hit.
The iMac Pro was a great update to the Mac, as was the new Mac mini...
It's really easy to claim someone is not successful, if you simply define away anything they were successful at.
I agree that some of what he is saying is hype... but I also think, some is probably not. They have a lot of money and a lot of long term R&D at work.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
WHen they blew everyone away with MacOS Themes... I mean Dark Mode?
Truth is that Apple was a true pioneer and serious contributor in automating many processes that were analog or manual. Famous Apple software products are true marvels. Now if trend is about to continue and T.Cook is promising some automated blow marvel. What could that be? Auto blow?
As much as they charge, they should just work on a product that will blow me.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
They are lost in a sea of the kind of people who swarm to as successful a business as they have become.
You mad, bro?
No, not with your credit card silly!
You all have phones right?
You can also use an iPad as a bigger keyboard.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
I read the article.
I can't wait for the future.
" Cook said that Apple is "rolling the dice" on some future products that will "blow you away "
Thank goodness they are just rolling the dice, and not betting the farm, because the following are all too ho-hum. Yawn.
" eventual goal is to be able reduce the price of the 2018 Retina MacBook Air "
That would be nice. Hardly revolutionary. The only minds to be blown are those who cannot believe that Apple would make a budget minded model, and I think their heads are safe for now.
" in reference to the Apple Watch and the AirPods, there's a long, great roadmap of fantastic products on the horizon "
They have already risen over the horizon. In the past, Apple moved the industry and society when they founded new concepts, not spinning what's already in the barn.
" while Cook did not go into more detail "
There's your sign.
" rumors have suggested that AirPods coming in the near future will be available in new colors (black) and support and the ability to be wirelessly charged "
Thank goodness, lack of black is the only thing that has kept me from buying into the Apple ecosystem. And don't all you cynics be discounting the wireless charger - less chance of scratching that beautiful new finish. Now, if they gave you a jar of Turtle Wax with the phone, that would indeed be revolutionary.
" more ambitious products are also rumored, including a pair of augmented reality smart glasses and perhaps even a full self-driving vehicle "
AR and VR are certainly hot topics, but that is because everyone else is already making geek goggles (e.g. MS), or already gave it up (Google). Self driving cars - now there's an idea - why didn't anyone think of that before?
" on the topic of services, goal to double its $25 billion revenue by 2020 "
Thank goodness, I was starting to think that this was a fabricated story, fake news, but there it is, the real Apple.
" two new products in the services category, including a new streaming TV service with original shows and a new Apple News service with subscription for a monthly fee "
Perhaps they should ask Amazon, Google, Netflix, Hulu, MS, and the others for some brotherly advice.
" Cook also said that Apple is pushing for regulation against tech companies like Facebook and Google that build data profiles of their users. Apple has long been an advocate for customer privacy "
Okay, good for them. We pay our respects.
Innovation can be hard, and for every million products made, only one comes along that changes everything. Apple and Jobs used to do that. Now, the Cook in the kitchen is just making re-hash. Why is this even news? (Trick question see above, 2 times $25 billion).
But what about for women? Or for heterosexual men?
"rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away."
"Rolling the dice on future products" is not exactly confidence inspiring.
I'd translate that to "We haven't got a clue what we're going to pull out of our ass next, but you'll be blown away by the insanely high price that we'll have the gall to charge for it!"
Tim Cook said that service revenue would double in the future. That hardly sounds like productsthat will blow me away. I'm starting to wonder, is Apple's innovation cycle done, and Apple now has to rely upon service to survive?
You mean a laptop with a keyboard that doesn't suck? I say this as a 10 year MBP user who is getting a Thinkpad next week because it sure feels like they have abandoned the pro market. If I want an OS that is abandoned and turning into iOS and a keyboard that is unusable, I'll be sure to come back :/
Seems like incremental improvements to already decent products.
Nothing wrong with that. But I am not "blown away."
They can, but they won't. Apple thinks changing the user interface, making a phone less convenient, using cheaper hardware in ways their target market won't recognize, and faffing about with bezels is invention. If they patent ANYTHING this year that someone else wants to copy for a reason besides marketing I'll eat my shoe.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
I used to be quite a fan of Apple products, going back to the Powerbook days... and for a while it was a pleasure to set aside Linux and Windows in favor of a OSX-powered Macbook. My frustration with their horrible attempts at simplicity and the decline of reliability in macos pushed me back to Linux and that in turn brought me to Windows 10 with WSL. My Apple TV is gone in favor of a Roku with Plex. My company-supplied iPhone is the only Apple product I still use and when I am up for a refresh I will be switching to something Android so I have choices again about how I manage my data and what I can do with my own device. Oh! Did I mention that I have been trying for over EIGHT MONTHS to get Apple to clear an activation lock on a company-purchased phone where the user mistyped his recovery phone number and now can't access his Apple ID? I've been told everything under the sun about what to do and what the result will be. In the end, the group responsible for actually unlocking the phone so we can reset and reissue it only communicates through form letters via email and there is no way to contact them directly. EIGHT MONTHS I have been going round and round... That device will eventually just get thrown away, I guess. I am SO done. Bye Apple.
iterative improvements on their own (iMac Pro, Mac mini) or other people's (Watch, AirPods) products.
I'll grant the Mac improvements were more iterative.
But AirPods and the Apple Watch were not at all iterative. AirPods had quite a lot of innovation all in one, from the charging case to the custom pairing method that was WAY easier than any other bluetooth device I had ever set up before.
The Apple Watch even moreso - just like with the iPhone, it seems like no-one can remember what a horrible piece of crap smart watches were before the Apple Watch. I know as I had a few Pebbles - I really, really wanted that platform to do well but there way simply no denying how much heads and shoulders better the AppleWatch was by any measure. It was a true leap and the truth of that is evident in how weak competition is against it even now, years later.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The only thing they're going to blow away is their stock price.
... to me.
No viable affordable low end models anymore. MS style hoops to jump through to get xcode. Flaky OS lately. Obscenely priced mobile hardware - although I have to admit that people lap that shit up like it's no tomorrow.
This is why Apple is making such obscene amounts of money. Apple its first and foremost a fashion brand these days. They really don't need to care what experts think.
Hence I'm back to Linux as my main OS. I miss the hard and software integration, but that's the smaller price to pay right now. AFAIAC they need to really get back to 2003 form again if they want me interested again. 13 inch iBook g4 was their high point for me. MB air a close second.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
We want a 17" (or more!) Mac Book Pro, call it Expert Book if you want. ... a Pro should have RAM
With:
o perhaps a touch screen
o build in iOS emulator, to run some apps
o enough ports, and not silly removal of ports so we need dozens of dongles, removing the SD card slot e.g. was just plain stupid, my old 17" even has a PCMCIA it is super useful
o RAM
o true function keys - if you want add a glowing touch bar on top of it, I don't mind
o a fullscreen mode that works again, not the silly one we have at the moment
o perhaps: display the content of one window on a external screen/projector (I have dozens of ideas like this and wonder why no one does that)
o oh, and a SIM card slot would be nice, it simply sucks to pair the Mac with a Phone to have mobile internet (yeah, not a priority, I bought a mobile hot spot long ago).
And as people are complaining about the non useable keyboards at the moment, perhaps you want to go back to the 2014/2013 keyboards?
I'm basically at the point joining the Hackintosh community ...
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
"Blow your wallet away."
There, fixed it for you
Looks like the military has found a new partner after Google dropping out. Not really the 'blowing away' you were looking for, but certainly nice for the shareholders.
...Samsung Galaxy 7 owners ?!?
Forgot to say their Legal dept was figuring out new ways to kill small business and the right to repair the idevice you paid for.
Knowing Tim and how "innovative" and "courageous" he is, it's quite likely that it's gonna blow, all right...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Given their current stock price and that they were the first trillion dollar company, apparently they get it just fine and are content with allegedly not providing technology for the masses.
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
1) replaceable parts? like legos... now you can upgrade your RAM, easily! (but only with Apple RAM with it's special lego shape to make everything easier!)
2) remove all audio from apple computers. courageous new USB dongles!
3) wireless laptop charging stands-- no more charging cables! just buy a stand for everywhere you go!
4) Remember how Apple invented a way to tell time by putting a screen to your smart phone on your wrist?
Now you can do math with a tiny tablet the size of a pack of cards without having to pull out your smart phone... we call it... the iCalc. It does math!
5) Sick of cables and losing wireless mics for talking on your phone? Now wear an apple badge and live like it's Star Trek... It is a nice big white Apple logo so everybody can see you are an Apple user.
6) Apple Electric Car: it has it's on BAR and wifi and drives for you. Just drive everywhere Siri knows about and trust Apple Maps to get you to your destinations. With full Yelp and Facebook integration so everybody can know everywhere you go.
7) Apple ID: We all know you love using your Apple account! Now, everything you do will require your Apple account and we've teemed up with Governments so you no longer need a Photo ID-- it's on your iPhone! You can wirelessly hand your ID to the police without having to give them your phone!
8) Oh, and don't worry about privacy, our new AI will know from your expressions that you are being forced to unlock your phone. You can bypass this feature by painting your face black and blue if you truly need still get in...
9) Non "PRO" models will be rebranded as "CHEAP" and their prices will remain the same.
10) iParent. Since most parents have handed their children over to us already, we've taught Siri to be a parent. Now you will have more time for Facebook because you know your children but knowing they will finally get the parenting you haven't had the time to give them in your busy modern life.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
As long as Tim Cook doesn't promise 'Magical' products I'm ok with it. However I'd like to ask him personally if he thinks having a shit-ton of dongles hanging off your products was Jonny Ive's best design.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Note that Apple has changed their focus from "unit sales" to "activated iphones" to mask the effect of flagging sales. And this happened because they jacked up the price of the flagship phone from $500 to $1500. Most people simply don't have that much disposable income, and even the "lower priced" $700 model is adequate for 3-5 years.
I wish Tim Cook would stop talking and do more:
1) listen to customers. the keyboard on the MacBook Pro is fucking unusable for anyone who needs to type for more than a couple of minutes. It's frustratingly horrible.
2) Mac Pro doesn't need to cost $10,000+. Just add Thunderbolt, USB-C and USB-3.x to the damned thing, along with support for new Xeon processors
3) Mac an inexpensive laptop in the $500 range for education. It doesn't need to be the thinnest - it needs to be indestructible.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Hi Tramiel, how are you doing? :)
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
Apple's niche has never been "masses" and I don't think they'd do well at it. They've almost always targeted the top 15% or so of consumers and have made a nice living off them (except for the mid 1990's). Why change your spots? Some make Porches, some make Chevy's, both exist in the marketplace and serve different customers.
Table-ized A.I.
Correction: "Porsches"
Table-ized A.I.
I am sure someone reminded Cook not to use the word 'Magical'