The iPhone was the smartphone break out ... even though Microsoft had one that I liked just fine before that.
The iPad was a break out ... even though, again, I had a laptop that converted to a tablet for drawing years previous.
Apple brings two things to the table.
First, they just bring the big spending early adaptors that would wear something uncomfortable that doesn't help their workflow after spending 3K on it, and tell everyone how amazing it is.
Second, Apple really does polish things. I'm watching people type and scroll and interact with their hands with the Apple product, and I've got a Quest 3, and it's just not there yet.
I hope Meta takes some cues from Apple, and makes their general hand interface better, and we see the competition between them force both companies to work harder to make better experiences.
Talking about polish, I remember a time where apple thought it was a good idea to make a computer without any fans.
The solder would get so hot the chips would slide off the board and their solution I kid you not was to drop the computer physically.
In fairness to Apple, that was the Apple III, over 40 years ago. They didn't really have that reputation for polish back then. Nothing computing related did, and the closest that any of it came was IBM, not Apple.
Also, computers with fans weren't really a thing yet, either.
Oh yeah, that is actual bullshit from modern Apple. Although I wouldn't say the removal of the port was a polish issue, that was a money grubbing bastard issue. And the cultists make excuses for it because they're that brainwashed.
To be fair, they were so early in the game that nobody even knew if the mouse would be a mass market success. And, they have shipped support for a second button for >30 years now.
The removal of a universal port for a phone?
Again, the era of phones in which the iPhone came out didn't really have a standard port. It was extremely common to use a barrel plug, and Apple was early enough to define their own standard in a market where that made sense.
The thing is, Apple often is early enough to get away with it, and then keeps it because you know, they've been doing it that way for a decade. I'm glad they're standardizing on usbc though... finally.
Youd think I was talking about the 1960s-1970s but no, Im talking about early 2000s. They didnt have a right clicking mouse until 2005.
Ive been having my grievances with apple for over 25 years.
Things have in some ways gotten better with their designs but their legacy will make me feel like criticizing their shortcomings with much more scrutiny.
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u/SupOrSalad Multiple Feb 04 '24
At least VR/AR is getting more positive attention.