Yup, flexibility comes at a cost... You have to install an app! Alternate music players just requires using the app once for controls to take over (copied by i OS)
Most other replacements? You just have to click "use always" when the prompt appears.
Oh man, such a high investment! Unless there's something that I'm not aware of using it as my primary phone.
I can stick inFuse or VLC Player or any number of alternate Music Players on my iOS Devices.
None of the positive things have something to do with a walled garden. At best the malware thing has to do with an app store. Walled garden only helps if somehow having e.g. root access makes you unable to resist installing random crap from the internet, but then I would say a better impulse control would on your side would be a worthy thing to strive for instead. Security and updates you can mostly get from select vendors on Android as well, though admittedly it is a big issue because most smartphone companies are a sad joke when it comes to software competence, and the little they have they decide to spend on useless crap.
"Random crap from the internet"?!? Boy, THAT's rich!!!
HOW many reports of Malware have their been regarding APPROVED Apps from the Google Play Store?!?
Genuinely sorry if there are (likely are) dups in the above list. But you get the picture.
And if you say "Well, but Google REMOVED these Apps, proving the system works!" It begs the question, how many people downloaded and had their information stolen, etc. BEFORE an App was removed?!?
You can't be seriously choosing Apple because they prevent you from copying a file without iTunes. You can't be seriously choosing Apple because they only allow you to connect to approved headphones through a gimped Bluetooth stack. You can't be seriously choosing Apple because it can't sync with your PC seamlessly unless it's a Mac.
Come on, I've heard plenty reasons to choose Apple, some good, some not so good, but yours makes top 5 worst easily.
You're so full of shit it's coming out of your ears.
Who needs iTunes to copy a file?
What are "approved headphones"?
What do you mean "Sync with your PC"? Sync WHAT?
On my not-so-new iPhone (iPhone 6+) and ancient iPad (iPad 2), I gave the Mail App my login credentials for my work Office 365 Mail Account.
Not only did my Mail Sync, with all my custom Folder-Structure, but so did my Calendars (and if I used them), I am sure my Outlook Contacts would have Synced too. Both my iPhone and iPad remind me of Meetings scheduled in Outlook, without me EVER lifting a figure to make it all happen.
Just one example; but it neatly blows a hole in your bullshit allegations.
Except the only reason they're "copying" it isn't because of the iPhone, it's because to do a nearly bezel-less display, it's one of the best solutions. I still think how Samsung handled it with the S8 and Note 8 made more sense, but I suppose if you want all the display you can squeeze into a device, it works. But I really don't think customers wanting an iPhone X copycat makes that big of a impact.
The notch in android phones, or at least the big name ones doing it, isn't (just) a matter of ripping off the design to look like the essential or the iPhone X. The bezel-less trend is real. The notch allows for a higher screen ratio. Further, for what it's worth, the only downside to the notch is when a game or movie isn't designed for it correctly. The only problem I have had is when watching a movie, with their higher ratios. Anything recorded for 4:3 or 16:9 is just fine.
That's hilarious!
When the iPhone X Debuted, these pages were CHOCK-FULL of people deriding the "Notch". Hell, Samsung even parodied it in one of their TV ads!
Now that Android's doing it, it's the greatest thing since Penicillin!!!
The thing I like about Android is that there is no one single Android phone. It's a platform in a marketplace where a dozen companies try to sell their ideas.
...And ALL of which are falling all over themselves to copy Apple, LOL!!!
that is not what this is about. It's about the Android camp constantly bashing Apple for everything and THEN copy it. Even when they don't need it because they don't even have the sensors or whatever. So I'm going to say it like it is: Android manufacturers knows that iPhone is the more sought after phone. They know it makes so much more money than their thing. So they want it to look as an iPhone as a selling argument. "Look buy our great Android phone. It even looks like an iPhone".
In a world where Apple thinks it can sue over rounded corners and "slide to unlock", then yes. They absolutely copied the design. In the real world, it's also a yes.
If you think that Apple copied the Prada in 3 months, then what do you think Samsung did?
I find the touchbar is shit. If's different for every app
That is the point. The touchbar is customized for each app. It would make a terrible keyboard since there is no tactile feedback, but it works well for customization. An app can add not only custom keys, but slidebars, and pressure sensitive feedback.
I find the touchbar is shit. If's different for every app so it's impossible to get used to, and it takes multiple presses now to get the same thing done, such as volume up and down. I'm a power user but no I'm not into dicking around with such crap that I can't use efficiently any way because there is no tactile feel to these buttons that are moving all around. F1 was always in the same place. The volume down was always in the same place. How the fuck is this better? Maybe I could somehow go through 20 screens and getting a volume up and volume down button but it's not worth the time investment.
An external OLED screen you use as a configurable keyboard basically describes the TouchBar.
Maybe Apple means to make a larger version of it for desktops - one of my biggest gripes is that I actually LIKE the TouchBar and the features it offers across different apps, but I can't get used to them because I often use an external keyboard with my laptop in clamshell mode, and so I never really get used to use the TouchBar as there is no external keyboard that has one.
I have actually had this idea about 3 years ago or more.
I actually thought that's where Apple was going when they made the Trackpad on the 2016 MBP practically the size of an iPad mini.
You sound just like the HiTech Complier people, who argued that C Compilers and microcontrollers in general had gotten to the point where even in time and performance-sensitive portions of real-time embedded code, there was absolutely no need for Assembly Language coding.
Then you missed the point, in fact I wasn't arguing anything at all. But if anything my advocacy is for lower level APIs being available rather than that functionality being hidden in the driver.
My point is, Just like tightly-hand-coded Assembly Language is likely to beat even the best Compiled code, as far as raw performance goes, it is also true that you will NEVER increase performance by adding interposing "translation" API layers to time-sensitive code.
Then you misunderstand the point of MoltenVK completely, it isn't about improving performance over Metal, it is about enabling portability in a more performant way than OpenGL. Vulkan on top of Metal has lower overhead than OpenGL (and Apple didn't manage to support OpenGL very well even before Metal anyway) because many of the concepts do map between them (lots of discussions on this around webgpu as this needs to be an abstraction for all the low level APIs).
Well, in that case, I agree completely.
BTW, your arguments are entirely too rational. Are you new here?;-)
FakeTimCook must have skipped all those recalls and defective Japanese capacitor problems or else he'd be laughing at that statement.
The defective capacitors affected a WIDE range of tech products, including MANY brands and models and types of computer equipment, as well as consumer and even pro audio and video gear, industrial control and measurement products, et cetera, ET CETERA.
I can't argue against a non-factoid like "all those recalls"'; so we'll just call that what it is: Hater bullshit.
If they're changing the way that devices (etc.) authenticate to the iTunes Store, then they would have to patch the gen 1 AppleTV to accommodate that. There is a non-zero cost of developing that patch for that device. Same for Windows XP, etc.
Exactly. That was my understanding from what I read. The protocol is changing, and Apple knows there are very few Apple TV gen 1 units still out there, and it just isn't worth it anymore.
Time marches on, especially in the tech world.11 years is enough. It isn't a "durable good", like a washer or a refrigerator.
Hah! When my expensive[1] Siemens fridge-freezer started breaking, the cost for the parts was ridiculous, and better to just buy a new one.
And when I talked to appliance techs, they say, yeah, lifespan for these appliances is 7 years, so your Siemens cracking up at 9 is pretty good going.
When I was a kid, a fridge was considered one of the most reliable appliances.
Apple isn't being particularly bad here -- they are a poor example of the problem, which is that manufacturers and customers are stuck in this cycle of making stuff which is not designed to last. My fridge was actually impressive in this design discipline, as it wasn't just the compressor which was going, the plastics were all starting to crack at the same time, with German timing and efficiency.
[1] Expensive to me.
A VERY poor example of the "not made to last" problem. Apple stuff is generally considered to be among the longest-lasting in the industry.
One refrigerator anecdote here. I bought my Kenmore refrigerator, USED, 22 years ago. Other than a small fan in the freezer going bad (which I replaced myself), it continues to function flawlessly. Yeah, the bottom plastic tray is cracked; but That is only a minor annoyance.
What's with people being completely unable to distinguish between things breaking and things being shut off remotely?
What's with people being completely unable to distinguish between things being remotely shut off, and things that just can't purchase/rent NEW stuff from an online store due to a protocol change?
These devices are in no way failed, they are having their operational status revoked. By Apple. For their own advantage.
I'm not confusing it with anything. You brought up the example of beater tech gear still working. But still working implies that it needs no support. It's when the support is needed that it matters. That's how I got from there to here.
So there.
BTW, Stop making examples up. I regularly source Toshiba parts older than 3 years - and usually no problems with parts older than 10 years. You would also have the options of going gray-market, or finding a second hard part.
It really wasn't made up. I don't know if I just lucked up one the ONE obsoleted part; but I couldn't find it anywhere. I must admit I didn't try eBay, Craigslist, or my local TV repair shop; but as far as the MANUFACTURER went, that part was no longer available.
Want to try that here? How do you think Apple would react to a request to release the required encryption keys to allow 3rd party support of this device to continue?
What encryption keys? The issue is that the iTunes-Store-end of the system is going to change, and Apple isn't going to accommodate the OS of the first gen Apple TV anymore, nor are they going to update the most recent version of iTunes that can run on XP or Vista to use this new Protocol.
That does NOT mean that:
1. The Apple TV will suddenly be bricked.
2. That you won't be able to load Kodi On your first gen Apple TV and continue to use it that way.
3. That you won't be able to use iTunes to access LOCAL content, including content already purchased from iTunes.
4. That you won't be able to use your Apple TV to do anything that you could before with it, EXCEPT for purchasing/renting NEW content from the iTunes Store, nor (I assume) receive Apple Music content.
And that's it! If you are currently using a first gen Apple TV to access content on a local computer, file server, NAS, etc., YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT, FFS!!!
No, there is a damn good reason Apple is fighting tooth and nail to block right-to-repair, Loves the DMCA, etc. Once they have people on the hook, they expect them to keep paying, or suffer the consequences. It is device based Catholicism.
And no, your examples of software cost do NOT apply. The only reason they need to do additional work is because they wish to add new features to OTHER, NEWER products - there is no direct costing being created by the existing devices - so it is in no way similar to the cost of keeping a physical inventory of parts.
You're just stupid.
Just because YOU declare something a "non-cost", doesn't make it so. There is a REAL, accountable cost associated with continuing to support older devices and OSes, whether you think so or not.
Everything isn't one big conspiracy to force you into upgrading. And you know why? Because every time a customer upgrades, there is at least a chance they will go somewhere else.
And you want to know what customers are the MOST likely to "vote with their feet"? The ones who believe that they have been FORCED to reconsider their last purchase, due to even a FEELING of being "orphaned".
No one's disagreeing with you there. But this hardware is being sold like an "appliance" and it isn't failing as an appliance - it's being effectively remotely disabled.
There are DVD players still going strong after 20 years of use. VCRs still kicking after 30. AM/FM Radios still going after 50+ years. There is still no question that the obsolescence was built into the Apple TV by virtue of how it is designed and what it's required to rely on. And in the end, you're still effectively renting the hardware - but it's being treated for most legal purposes like a purchase.
And the thing is, if you went to fix any of those "beater" tech devices, you would likely be out of luck if you needed something like a display for that DVD Player or tuning stack for that AM/FM radio.
The issue is "support", and how long is long enough. A friend of mine's Toshiba TV decided to have a special-purpose HDMI input IC die. Rest of the TV was fine; but no HDMI. The TV was only about 3 years old. No dice. All service parts, service info, etc. was deemed OBSOLETE. I had to get him an HDMI to Component Video converter so that his $600 TV wasn't dumpster fodder to him...
But this is just software, you say. True; but in both cases, the issue is cost. For Toshiba (who CLEARLY ended support WAAAAY too early for their TV), they didn't want the cost of warehousing, inventory-ing, etc. a bunch of stuff that wasn't useable in their current production models, and in Apple's case, they made the decision to keep designing for, and TESTING for, a model of hardware that probably only represented a few percent of total units still in existence, and Operating Systems that were in the same boat, was simply not worth it for the iTunes Team, and the TVOS team.
And, just like my still-functioning G5 PowerMac, which is perfectly fine, but which can only run up to OS X 10.5, and a special-PPC version of iTunes 10.3, making it useless for accessing my Apple Music subscription, it doesn't mean that it has lost the ability to do all the things it does have the capability of doing.
Time marches on, especially in the tech world.11 years is enough. It isn't a "durable good", like a washer or a refrigerator.
Remember, Apple isn't bricking these devices. They will continue to do all the things they used to, sans the iTunes Store.
While the CONCEPT of "One API to Rule Them All" is always tempting, weren't DirectX, Metal, etc. created SPECIFICALLY to REDUCE the number of "Layers" between well, the Software and the "Metal"?
DirectX12 (the Direct3D bit), Metal and Vulkan were designed to expose more of the driver details to the developer so we could get away from these monolithic drivers that contained application-specific code in them. It also offered a clean break from many of the legacy baggage carried through from older versions of APIs. The problem is that Metal and Direct3D are closed source and proprietary so in order to do cross platform applications you generally need a rendering backend layer that sits between your API-agnostic engine/application and the graphics API that the driver exposes.
With Vulkan drivers (and therefore API) available on Windows, Linux and Android that makes application portability much simpler and more efficient. The implementation of Vulkan (MoltenVK) sits atop the Metal driver and the concepts don't map exactly so Vulkan on Apple isn't going to perform as well or be as flexible as Vulkan on other platforms.
You sound just like the HiTech Complier people, who argued that C Compilers and microcontrollers in general had gotten to the point where even in time and performance-sensitive portions of real-time embedded code, there was absolutely no need for Assembly Language coding.
Anyone who has been an embedded dev. for more than a few years knows how laughable that is, given thei right circumstances.
My point is, Just like tightly-hand-coded Assembly Language is likely to beat even the best Compiled code, as far as raw performance goes, it is also true that you will NEVER increase performance by adding interposing "translation" API layers to time-sensitive code.
It is always the case when the Metal Meets the Code...
Slashdot Mirror
Didn't they claim better than 1:1,000,000 at launch? I see they've revised that now...
Care to document where it has been "Revised"?
If you want your phone to be a phone, Apple has never made a phone you would buy.
IOW, Apple doesn't make "feature phones"?
Is that your great revelation?!?
Wow, let me write that down!!!
Yup, flexibility comes at a cost... You have to install an app! Alternate music players just requires using the app once for controls to take over (copied by i OS)
Most other replacements? You just have to click "use always" when the prompt appears.
Oh man, such a high investment! Unless there's something that I'm not aware of using it as my primary phone.
I can stick inFuse or VLC Player or any number of alternate Music Players on my iOS Devices.
So, what's your point?
Oh, that's right; you don't HAVE one!
None of the positive things have something to do with a walled garden. At best the malware thing has to do with an app store.
Walled garden only helps if somehow having e.g. root access makes you unable to resist installing random crap from the internet, but then I would say a better impulse control would on your side would be a worthy thing to strive for instead.
Security and updates you can mostly get from select vendors on Android as well, though admittedly it is a big issue because most smartphone companies are a sad joke when it comes to software competence, and the little they have they decide to spend on useless crap.
"Random crap from the internet"?!? Boy, THAT's rich!!!
HOW many reports of Malware have their been regarding APPROVED Apps from the Google Play Store?!?
https://9to5google.com/2018/01...
https://www.cnet.com/news/goog...
http://www.zdnet.com/article/p...
http://fortune.com/2017/09/14/...
https://www.digitaltrends.com/...
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/...
https://www.wired.com/story/go...
Genuinely sorry if there are (likely are) dups in the above list. But you get the picture.
And if you say "Well, but Google REMOVED these Apps, proving the system works!" It begs the question, how many people downloaded and had their information stolen, etc. BEFORE an App was removed?!?
You can't be seriously choosing Apple because they prevent you from copying a file without iTunes.
You can't be seriously choosing Apple because they only allow you to connect to approved headphones through a gimped Bluetooth stack.
You can't be seriously choosing Apple because it can't sync with your PC seamlessly unless it's a Mac.
Come on, I've heard plenty reasons to choose Apple, some good, some not so good, but yours makes top 5 worst easily.
You're so full of shit it's coming out of your ears.
Who needs iTunes to copy a file?
What are "approved headphones"?
What do you mean "Sync with your PC"? Sync WHAT?
On my not-so-new iPhone (iPhone 6+) and ancient iPad (iPad 2), I gave the Mail App my login credentials for my work Office 365 Mail Account.
Not only did my Mail Sync, with all my custom Folder-Structure, but so did my Calendars (and if I used them), I am sure my Outlook Contacts would have Synced too. Both my iPhone and iPad remind me of Meetings scheduled in Outlook, without me EVER lifting a figure to make it all happen.
Just one example; but it neatly blows a hole in your bullshit allegations.
You just mentioned reason to stay clear of Apple, their software integrates less well with software of other companies.
It's called a "walled garden".
No.
It's called an "ecosystem".
People are more keen on the look than they are on Face ID anyway. If it's *features* you're after, there is little reason for an iPhone.
There's little reason for Anonymous Cowards, either.
Except the only reason they're "copying" it isn't because of the iPhone, it's because to do a nearly bezel-less display, it's one of the best solutions. I still think how Samsung handled it with the S8 and Note 8 made more sense, but I suppose if you want all the display you can squeeze into a device, it works. But I really don't think customers wanting an iPhone X copycat makes that big of a impact.
That's just a happy coincidence, right?
The notch in android phones, or at least the big name ones doing it, isn't (just) a matter of ripping off the design to look like the essential or the iPhone X. The bezel-less trend is real. The notch allows for a higher screen ratio. Further, for what it's worth, the only downside to the notch is when a game or movie isn't designed for it correctly. The only problem I have had is when watching a movie, with their higher ratios. Anything recorded for 4:3 or 16:9 is just fine.
That's hilarious!
When the iPhone X Debuted, these pages were CHOCK-FULL of people deriding the "Notch". Hell, Samsung even parodied it in one of their TV ads!
Now that Android's doing it, it's the greatest thing since Penicillin!!!
The thing I like about Android is that there is no one single Android phone. It's a platform in a marketplace where a dozen companies try to sell their ideas.
...And ALL of which are falling all over themselves to copy Apple, LOL!!!
What has Android copied from iOS?
R U Sirius?!?
http://appleinsider.com/articl...
http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/1...
that is not what this is about. It's about the Android camp constantly bashing Apple for everything and THEN copy it. Even when they don't need it because they don't even have the sensors or whatever. So I'm going to say it like it is: Android manufacturers knows that iPhone is the more sought after phone. They know it makes so much more money than their thing. So they want it to look as an iPhone as a selling argument. "Look buy our great Android phone. It even looks like an iPhone".
Precisely.
In a world where Apple thinks it can sue over rounded corners and "slide to unlock", then yes. They absolutely copied the design. In the real world, it's also a yes.
If you think that Apple copied the Prada in 3 months, then what do you think Samsung did?
https://gizmodo.com/261172/set...
vs.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/1...
You really don't want to get me started on the flaws in macos application menus.
You're right; we don't.
I find the touchbar is shit. If's different for every app
That is the point. The touchbar is customized for each app. It would make a terrible keyboard since there is no tactile feedback, but it works well for customization. An app can add not only custom keys, but slidebars, and pressure sensitive feedback.
I'm a power user
Exactly!
Real power users use external keyboards.
I find the touchbar is shit. If's different for every app so it's impossible to get used to, and it takes multiple presses now to get the same thing done, such as volume up and down. I'm a power user but no I'm not into dicking around with such crap that I can't use efficiently any way because there is no tactile feel to these buttons that are moving all around. F1 was always in the same place. The volume down was always in the same place. How the fuck is this better? Maybe I could somehow go through 20 screens and getting a volume up and volume down button but it's not worth the time investment.
Honestly, do you do ANYTHING else but BITCH?
An external OLED screen you use as a configurable keyboard basically describes the TouchBar.
Maybe Apple means to make a larger version of it for desktops - one of my biggest gripes is that I actually LIKE the TouchBar and the features it offers across different apps, but I can't get used to them because I often use an external keyboard with my laptop in clamshell mode, and so I never really get used to use the TouchBar as there is no external keyboard that has one.
I have actually had this idea about 3 years ago or more.
I actually thought that's where Apple was going when they made the Trackpad on the 2016 MBP practically the size of an iPad mini.
Or, like this:
https://www.artlebedev.com/opt...
You sound just like the HiTech Complier people, who argued that C Compilers and microcontrollers in general had gotten to the point where even in time and performance-sensitive portions of real-time embedded code, there was absolutely no need for Assembly Language coding.
Then you missed the point, in fact I wasn't arguing anything at all. But if anything my advocacy is for lower level APIs being available rather than that functionality being hidden in the driver.
My point is, Just like tightly-hand-coded Assembly Language is likely to beat even the best Compiled code, as far as raw performance goes, it is also true that you will NEVER increase performance by adding interposing "translation" API layers to time-sensitive code.
Then you misunderstand the point of MoltenVK completely, it isn't about improving performance over Metal, it is about enabling portability in a more performant way than OpenGL. Vulkan on top of Metal has lower overhead than OpenGL (and Apple didn't manage to support OpenGL very well even before Metal anyway) because many of the concepts do map between them (lots of discussions on this around webgpu as this needs to be an abstraction for all the low level APIs).
Well, in that case, I agree completely.
BTW, your arguments are entirely too rational. Are you new here? ;-)
Museums.
FakeTimCook must have skipped all those recalls and defective Japanese capacitor problems or else he'd be laughing at that statement.
The defective capacitors affected a WIDE range of tech products, including MANY brands and models and types of computer equipment, as well as consumer and even pro audio and video gear, industrial control and measurement products, et cetera, ET CETERA.
I can't argue against a non-factoid like "all those recalls"'; so we'll just call that what it is: Hater bullshit.
If they're changing the way that devices (etc.) authenticate to the iTunes Store, then they would have to patch the gen 1 AppleTV to accommodate that. There is a non-zero cost of developing that patch for that device. Same for Windows XP, etc.
Exactly. That was my understanding from what I read. The protocol is changing, and Apple knows there are very few Apple TV gen 1 units still out there, and it just isn't worth it anymore.
Time marches on, especially in the tech world.11 years is enough. It isn't a "durable good", like a washer or a refrigerator.
Hah! When my expensive[1] Siemens fridge-freezer started breaking, the cost for the parts was ridiculous, and better to just buy a new one.
And when I talked to appliance techs, they say, yeah, lifespan for these appliances is 7 years, so your Siemens cracking up at 9 is pretty good going.
When I was a kid, a fridge was considered one of the most reliable appliances.
Apple isn't being particularly bad here -- they are a poor example of the problem, which is that manufacturers and customers are stuck in this cycle of making stuff which is not designed to last. My fridge was actually impressive in this design discipline, as it wasn't just the compressor which was going, the plastics were all starting to crack at the same time, with German timing and efficiency.
[1] Expensive to me.
A VERY poor example of the "not made to last" problem. Apple stuff is generally considered to be among the longest-lasting in the industry.
One refrigerator anecdote here. I bought my Kenmore refrigerator, USED, 22 years ago. Other than a small fan in the freezer going bad (which I replaced myself), it continues to function flawlessly. Yeah, the bottom plastic tray is cracked; but That is only a minor annoyance.
What's with people being completely unable to distinguish between things breaking and things being shut off remotely?
What's with people being completely unable to distinguish between things being remotely shut off, and things that just can't purchase/rent NEW stuff from an online store due to a protocol change?
Dont try and confuse this with repair.
These devices are in no way failed, they are having their operational status revoked. By Apple. For their own advantage.
I'm not confusing it with anything. You brought up the example of beater tech gear still working. But still working implies that it needs no support. It's when the support is needed that it matters. That's how I got from there to here.
So there.
BTW, Stop making examples up. I regularly source Toshiba parts older than 3 years - and usually no problems with parts older than 10 years.
You would also have the options of going gray-market, or finding a second hard part.
It really wasn't made up. I don't know if I just lucked up one the ONE obsoleted part; but I couldn't find it anywhere. I must admit I didn't try eBay, Craigslist, or my local TV repair shop; but as far as the MANUFACTURER went, that part was no longer available.
Want to try that here?
How do you think Apple would react to a request to release the required encryption keys to allow 3rd party support of this device to continue?
What encryption keys? The issue is that the iTunes-Store-end of the system is going to change, and Apple isn't going to accommodate the OS of the first gen Apple TV anymore, nor are they going to update the most recent version of iTunes that can run on XP or Vista to use this new Protocol.
That does NOT mean that:
1. The Apple TV will suddenly be bricked.
2. That you won't be able to load Kodi On your first gen Apple TV and continue to use it that way.
3. That you won't be able to use iTunes to access LOCAL content, including content already purchased from iTunes.
4. That you won't be able to use your Apple TV to do anything that you could before with it, EXCEPT for purchasing/renting NEW content from the iTunes Store, nor (I assume) receive Apple Music content.
And that's it! If you are currently using a first gen Apple TV to access content on a local computer, file server, NAS, etc., YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT, FFS!!!
No, there is a damn good reason Apple is fighting tooth and nail to block right-to-repair, Loves the DMCA, etc.
Once they have people on the hook, they expect them to keep paying, or suffer the consequences. It is device based Catholicism.
And no, your examples of software cost do NOT apply. The only reason they need to do additional work is because they wish to add new features
to OTHER, NEWER products - there is no direct costing being created by the existing devices - so it is in no way similar to the cost of keeping
a physical inventory of parts.
You're just stupid.
Just because YOU declare something a "non-cost", doesn't make it so. There is a REAL, accountable cost associated with continuing to support older devices and OSes, whether you think so or not.
Everything isn't one big conspiracy to force you into upgrading. And you know why? Because every time a customer upgrades, there is at least a chance they will go somewhere else.
And you want to know what customers are the MOST likely to "vote with their feet"? The ones who believe that they have been FORCED to reconsider their last purchase, due to even a FEELING of being "orphaned".
No one's disagreeing with you there. But this hardware is being sold like an "appliance" and it isn't failing as an appliance - it's being effectively remotely disabled.
There are DVD players still going strong after 20 years of use. VCRs still kicking after 30. AM/FM Radios still going after 50+ years. There is still no question that the obsolescence was built into the Apple TV by virtue of how it is designed and what it's required to rely on. And in the end, you're still effectively renting the hardware - but it's being treated for most legal purposes like a purchase.
And the thing is, if you went to fix any of those "beater" tech devices, you would likely be out of luck if you needed something like a display for that DVD Player or tuning stack for that AM/FM radio.
The issue is "support", and how long is long enough. A friend of mine's Toshiba TV decided to have a special-purpose HDMI input IC die. Rest of the TV was fine; but no HDMI. The TV was only about 3 years old. No dice. All service parts, service info, etc. was deemed OBSOLETE. I had to get him an HDMI to Component Video converter so that his $600 TV wasn't dumpster fodder to him...
But this is just software, you say. True; but in both cases, the issue is cost. For Toshiba (who CLEARLY ended support WAAAAY too early for their TV), they didn't want the cost of warehousing, inventory-ing, etc. a bunch of stuff that wasn't useable in their current production models, and in Apple's case, they made the decision to keep designing for, and TESTING for, a model of hardware that probably only represented a few percent of total units still in existence, and Operating Systems that were in the same boat, was simply not worth it for the iTunes Team, and the TVOS team.
And, just like my still-functioning G5 PowerMac, which is perfectly fine, but which can only run up to OS X 10.5, and a special-PPC version of iTunes 10.3, making it useless for accessing my Apple Music subscription, it doesn't mean that it has lost the ability to do all the things it does have the capability of doing.
Time marches on, especially in the tech world.11 years is enough. It isn't a "durable good", like a washer or a refrigerator.
Remember, Apple isn't bricking these devices. They will continue to do all the things they used to, sans the iTunes Store.
That's what I was thinking.
While the CONCEPT of "One API to Rule Them All" is always tempting, weren't DirectX, Metal, etc. created SPECIFICALLY to REDUCE the number of "Layers" between well, the Software and the "Metal"?
DirectX12 (the Direct3D bit), Metal and Vulkan were designed to expose more of the driver details to the developer so we could get away from these monolithic drivers that contained application-specific code in them. It also offered a clean break from many of the legacy baggage carried through from older versions of APIs. The problem is that Metal and Direct3D are closed source and proprietary so in order to do cross platform applications you generally need a rendering backend layer that sits between your API-agnostic engine/application and the graphics API that the driver exposes.
With Vulkan drivers (and therefore API) available on Windows, Linux and Android that makes application portability much simpler and more efficient. The implementation of Vulkan (MoltenVK) sits atop the Metal driver and the concepts don't map exactly so Vulkan on Apple isn't going to perform as well or be as flexible as Vulkan on other platforms.
You sound just like the HiTech Complier people, who argued that C Compilers and microcontrollers in general had gotten to the point where even in time and performance-sensitive portions of real-time embedded code, there was absolutely no need for Assembly Language coding.
Anyone who has been an embedded dev. for more than a few years knows how laughable that is, given thei right circumstances.
My point is, Just like tightly-hand-coded Assembly Language is likely to beat even the best Compiled code, as far as raw performance goes, it is also true that you will NEVER increase performance by adding interposing "translation" API layers to time-sensitive code.
It is always the case when the Metal Meets the Code...