Has Apple Lost Its Cool? Its Chief Says No

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

At first glance, I thought you'd pasted an article from The Onion.

"Have you lost your cool, Apple?"
"Absolutely not."
"That settles that. Now, tell me what to buy."

Asking the question of the chief exec of Apple means it might as well have been an Onion article....

[frahse]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Elon Musk and Tesla are doing both.
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/te...sit-6C10157218

Right now, Tesla is tops in cool. They make great electric cars, if a "wee bit" pricey.

There might be room in the market for an Apple iCar, but they'd better release it soon, before Tesla gets to their 3rd-gen model.

But that is what Apple does.
It takes old ideas, makes them more marketable and sells them at high prices.

So a "wee bit" pricey is right up their alley!

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by frahse

So a "wee bit" pricey is right up their alley!

What's pricey about a 80,000 $ car that can go 300 miles on one charge - provided you don't go too fast, it's not too cold and you use the air-conditioning or the heating sparingly?
And just pray that there is no waiting line at the fabled supercharger..

[afv011]

Originally Posted by David Munch

Apples own applications are usually rock solid.

I guess the iMaps team didn't get the memo. And a fair bunch of the bundled apps are of an inferior quality to 3rd party ones - I have seen it here multiple times about people putting the bundled apps in a "crap" folder to never be seen again.

[Fat Abe]

In the past day or so, the media have recycled an article about certain "cool" products Apple may be working on.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/5...tml/?a=viewall

These products or technologies are: eWallet, iPen, iAuto control, iGaming, and iWatch. The watch seems like a good idea, assuming that you can turn it into a personal assistant you can wear anywhere. Dear Mr. Watch, please record the following limerick or observation/thought I made while cruising through the airport. Doesn't that sound like an electronic Postit note? What would you like Apple to invent?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

I guess the iMaps team didn't get the memo.

And a fair bunch of the bundled apps are of an inferior quality to 3rd party ones - I have seen it here multiple times about people putting the bundled apps in a "crap" folder to never be seen again.

For my iPod, I label that folder "spam"

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

What's pricey about a 80,000 $ car that can go 300 miles on one charge - provided you don't go too fast, it's not too cold and you use the air-conditioning or the heating sparingly?
And just pray that there is no waiting line at the fabled supercharger..

The one I rode in was the sportster. Very fun ride.
For *that* market, the price was just a wee bit high as the gas-powered equivalent is pretty pricey to start with.

The Sedan?
Reviewers without blunt axes seem to like it.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...view/index.htm

http://www.windingroad.com/articles/...tesla-model-s/

(shrug)

Apple had better have something special if they go up against Musk, since Musk has ICBM capabilities in his back pocket.

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

In the past day or so, the media have recycled an article about certain "cool" products Apple may be working on.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/5...tml/?a=viewall

These products or technologies are: eWallet, iPen, iAuto control, iGaming, and iWatch. The watch seems like a good idea, assuming that you can turn it into a personal assistant you can wear anywhere. Dear Mr. Watch, please record the following limerick or observation/thought I made while cruising through the airport. Doesn't that sound like an electronic Postit note? What would you like Apple to invent?

they gutted rear camera on iPod
cool?

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The one I rode in was the sportster. Very fun ride.
For *that* market, the price was just a wee bit high as the gas-powered equivalent is pretty pricey to start with.

Apple had better have something special if they go up against Musk, since Musk has ICBM capabilities in his back pocket.

300 mile range excellent
80,000 (USD) in range of Mercedes, BMW or sports car

problem is charging on trips
Where to do it
2 hours charging time

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by afv011

I guess the iMaps team didn't get the memo.

Well, they got the memo, they just couldn't find the meeting room.

[Geralt]

Apple IS loosing it. Same as facebook.
There is this whole new young generation that doesn't want the same thing their moms and paps are using.
Happens every time.

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by forsooth

300 mile range excellent
80,000 (USD) in range of Mercedes, BMW or sports car

problem is charging on trips
Where to do it
2 hours charging time

It's a luxurious commuter car for those who have a second car at home for longer trips, probably the spouse's SUV. We'll see how happy people will be once these cars are more common and the happy owner arrives with a flat battery at the charging station - just to find several cars waiting for their turn there already.
I wonder how long the battery lasts if the car is being used as it's typical for big sedans here in Germany - at motorway speeds in excess of 100 mph.

I don't want to derail the thread, though.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by forsooth

problem is charging on trips
Where to do it
2 hours charging time

20 minutes gets you 150 miles at the superstations.
(Restroom stop, get a drink, stretch legs, car recharged.)
The network is under construction. NY to LA will be possible by late 2013.
http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Graham

I think it also comes from this site:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Virus/Malware_FAQ

which rules that malware, adware and spyware are not included in the definition of viruses.

Which is surely correct?
A virus is something that spreads itself. That is part of the definition.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Apple IS lo[]sing it[,] same as facebook.
There is this whole new young generation that doesn't want the same thing their moms and paps are using. Happens every time.

That might be the most arbitrary (and therefore charitable) explanation I've read so far: Disowning Apple the moment one's parents choose to like it. Embracing the supposedly protean as opposed to the purportedly fixed.

I tend not to accept that premise, since many of who have stopped buying iDevices aren't young. More obvious reasons for the change might be users' frustrations with Apple's limitations and cost/value ratio -- reasons which seem so obvious you might wonder why we're talking about this at all.

There's another reason as well: Apple appealed to consumers on the level of craftmanship and fixed media (whether or not the appeal was true), which was part of the reason the walled garden seemed palatable to users: Hard drives and SSDs replaced physical media, but those were simply more accommodating physical media. What we're seeing now is the toppling of fixed media semi-empires.

Apple's current models seem linked to that somehow. Despite the late embrace of online storage, the aesthetics of an iPad still make you think of a laptop publishing career machine from the '90s -- an extension of the very first silver-painted MacBook Pros.

The iPod debuted in 2001, after all. Those of us who preferred darker colors had issues with that nurse-white enameled-and-lacquered-hospital-hardware aesthetic even then.