Live Blogs - Apple Press Event 12 Sep 12

[foghat]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

However, hardware wise, I don't see anything that Apple even changed for the better. They took existing ideas and rolled them into a polished package, which is still just an amalgamation of prior art.

Like or loathe apple, really, you don't see anything apple changed for the better with the iphone? The look or having a touch screen take up the whole front of the phone, how easy it was to use (unheard of simplicity at the time), nothing? Given the similarity and popularity of all smart phone devices these days, I'd say a lot of others liked what they saw.

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

And that's the crux of it. I've already said multiple times that iTunes is quite nice and the first, that I'm aware of, totally integrated sales channel that hit the market.

However, hardware wise, I don't see anything that Apple even changed for the better. They took existing ideas and rolled them into a polished package, which is still just an amalgamation of prior art.

Droll.

I wonder, do you ever eat out at restaurants? With an excellent chef? Or would that be pointless because they just take existing ideas and roll them into a polished package, which is is still just an amalgamation of prior recipes?

I mean, why bother going to The Tour D'Argent or the French Laundry when you can go to Applebee's. These guys didn't innovate squat! Where's the innovation? Pizza Hut's been using the rounded form factor for years!

I know that you guys think you're being clever in a Socratic sort of way when you play dumb, but really you just come off sounding dumb.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

You mean MP3 players did not exist before the iPod? What about all the Creative products? The Nomad II even had a wheel similar to what the iPod ended up with. I can't find a ship date for it, but there's an Epionions review for it several months before the iPod debuted. Also, the manual is copyright 1999. But if you mean the actual capacitive touch of the wheel, well, Apple didn't invent that. Synaptics did.

I had a Nomad II. It was *horrible.* Just horrible. It is what drove me to buy an iPod, which was my first Apple product.

What made the iPod successful wasn't it's design (which was fine), or even the itunes store. It was the way that iTunes integrated with the iPod. Itunes is bloaty and overstuffed now, but at the time, it was *vastly* superior to any other music management program for 80% of consumers.

Most people at that time were still interested in a way to move their CDs to MP3 players, and iTunes was extremely easy to use - you just stuck the CD in the drive and hit "rip" - Gracenote looked up the data for you and while you could tag, you weren't required to.

It also had very powerful playlists and smart playlists, and flawless syncing.

It was a *real* program in an era where the programs that came with other players were either at the level of the free programs you get when you buy a camera, or else much much worse. (Sony's program was particularly bad). Music management programs that were supposed to sync often didn't, and were very buggy when syncing, either crashing or hanging.

Other music management programs tended not to come with ripping software...and if they did, there was no gracenote function.

Some didn't come with programs at all and just had you move files and folders. This worked fine when your player only held a few dozen songs, but it is very inconvenient when you have 1000+

If I had a CD I wanted to put on my Nomad, I had to first rip the cd (I don't remember what ripper I used to use); it gave me generically named files. I then had to change the names of the folder to match the artist (if I didn't already have an artist folder), album name and the files to match the song name. I then had to move these folder to wherever I wanted it on my computer. Then I plugged in my nomad and dragged the folders or files I wanted to the device.

With iTunes, I put the CD in the drive and hit rip. (ITunes did all of the labeling, indexing, and moving). When the ripping was done, I plugged in my iPod and the songs were automatically transferred to my iPod.

*This* is why the iPod eventually became 80% of the market. While I think the iPod had a nice design and was certainly more usable than my Nomad (which required you to go through a couple of menus before you could even play music), it was the simplicity of putting music on the iPod and keeping track of it that made it so much better than any other player out there at the time.

As far as iTunes, it's very nicely integrated. However, you could purchase digital music before iTunes, just not all in one place. If you wanted a single source for music, Napster or Kazaa were always available.

I don't think that the music store itself helped until the iPod was already established in the market; I think I bought maybe 10 songs the first year I had an iPod. I was still buying mostly CDs because I was worried about the permanence of digital music (itunes still had DRM at that time).

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by holymadness

but really you just come off sounding dumb.

That is really funny considering the source.


It is not only those of us debating here that think that the iPhone 5 is a catchup phone and not an innovative trend setter. The professional media reviewers are also agreeing that it is out innovated.

iPhone 5 opens the door for Nokia, Samsung

[foghat]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

That is really funny considering the source.


It is not only those of us debating here that think that the iPhone 5 is a catchup phone and not an innovative trend setter. The professional media reviewers are also agreeing that it is out innovated.

iPhone 5 opens the door for Nokia, Samsung

My argument is not that I think the iphone 5 is innovative, but that apple has been innovative post 1990's.

Any google search of apple innovation will turn up many similar articles.

http://techliberation.com/2007/02/20...vs-innovation/

I don't know. As expected, everyone has differing opinions. Live and let live, I guess.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

That is really funny considering the source.


It is not only those of us debating here that think that the iPhone 5 is a catchup phone and not an innovative trend setter. The professional media reviewers are also agreeing that it is out innovated.

iPhone 5 opens the door for Nokia, Samsung

Yep, like it said in that linked article I posted a dozen or so pages back....

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

The professional media reviewers are also agreeing that it is out innovated.

If thats the case it explains why no other phone manufacturers come close to the profits that Apple is bringing in...they don't even know what question their phones are suppose to answer.

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

That is really funny considering the source.


It is not only those of us debating here that think that the iPhone 5 is a catchup phone and not an innovative trend setter. The professional media reviewers are also agreeing that it is out innovated.

iPhone 5 opens the door for Nokia, Samsung

They've been saying the same thing for years. Ho hum. I await sales figures with bated breath. I expect Nokia, in particular, to perform particularly weakly this year.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yep, like it said in that linked article I posted a dozen or so pages back...

iPhone 5 vs. the competition: It stacks up pretty well

The iPhone 5 might not be a big departure visually from the previous generation, but Apple is packing a punch with its new smartphone.

...the iPhone 5 has no major shortcomings compared to its rivals.

[david_e]

That ridiculous pen / notepad thing makes me laugh every time I see it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ScotiaBurrell

So the question is: will the Android handset makers be content with the portion of the market (bigger than what Apple has) that they have...or will they make move to take away a significant portion of those pretty profitable users that Apple has a grip on? It's obvious bigger brighter wider alone won't do it if they want them.

If you were to separate each Android phone maker and compare individual companies sales to the iPhone, the iPhone still is a better seller.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you were to separate each Android phone maker and compare individual companies sales to the iPhone, the iPhone still is a better seller.

Samsung sold twice as many smartphones as apple last quarter.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by afv011

Samsung sold twice as many smartphones as apple last quarter.

An argument could be made that buyers were waiting for yesterdays release.

Tell us please, in the history of the Galaxy brand, how many times this happened before...

[John F]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yep, like it said in that linked article I posted a dozen or so pages back....

Give him a break, he's innovating.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by John F

Give him a break, he's innovating.

Is that what we call it these days?