

Apple’s hardware “dilemma” - ValentineC
http://counternotions.com/2012/06/06/hwdilemma/

======
crazygringo
> _...the differences between consecutive iPhone versions, from 3G to 4S, are
> purely incremental improvements or aesthetic embellishments, not hardware
> breakthroughs. Sure, better cameras, higher resolution screens ...but no
> significant surprises or breakthroughs in hardware._

Personally, I consider the retina display to be the most exciting hardware
enhancement since Wi-Fi, and certainly qualifies as a breakthrough in my book.
It's not a slightly better resolution, it's a completely different screen.

What kind of breakthroughs is the author asking for? It's not like any other
manufacturers appear to be providing them.

~~~
electrograv
I agree. This article comes off as confused and unguided. First it mentions
the "inability of analysts (or anyone) to understand Apple" (unpredictable).
Then, it says Apple's hit-driven business results in their product refreshes
being incremental/expected (predictable).

The self-contradictory ramble continues. He mentions how Apple knows how to
design a user experience, rather than being design-blind and spec-obsessed,
then goes on say that Apple has hardware spec issues, and that's a "dilemma".
What...?

To top it all off, Apple is actually leading as far as hardware specs go
(unless by "good specs" you mean "cram every feature you possibly can into the
chasis without regard for user experience whatsoever"). The retina display is
one obvious example. I wouldn't even consider a tablet without one at this
point. The iPad 3's GPU is yet another example of Apple's hardware advantage.
The fact that they bested NVIDIA, a company dedicated to designing the best
GPUs, is extremely impressive.

Imagine you're a consumer walking into a store to buy a laptop/tablet/phone.
From your perspective, who is leading the pack in every way that actually
matters to you? I don't see a dilemma here for apple.

~~~
mikeash
I'm fairly amazed that people are _still_ stuck on the idea that Apple sells
lower-specced products for more money and makes it up with, depending on your
opinion of them, either a good experience or flashy marketing.

Certainly they don't win on _every_ spec, but I think that if you do a fair
comparison on all specs together, weighted by the ones that actually matter,
you'll find Apple near the front of the pack. I guess people's opinions take a
while to change.

As for the article, I agree completely. I finished it thinking, "That was
interesting... wait a minute, none of that really made any sense." Too bad.

------
ctdonath
Methinks Apple's brilliant insight (other than profound supply chain
management) is: specs shouldn't matter. Specs are an excuse for underwhelming
performance.

Author touches on the point with “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch
drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.” Apple is doing what it can to ensure
that _users don't care about specs_ ; the just want X done. Retina is a good
starting point: the resolution is now so high that nobody will ask about pixel
count - whatever it is, it's better than users' eyes. Likewise with other
specifications which Apple is straining or succeeded at making irrelevant:
iPad battery life is "charge at night, use all day", MacBook Air size/weight
so low it fits in a manila envelope, pervasive use of wireless so cable
compatibility is nigh unto a non-issue, progressive elimination of files &
filesystems, instant-on behavior ... all vs. competitors' "no, really, it's
good enough" specifications of "5 hour battery life if you're careful, 6
pounds and hope there's enough space in your briefcase,
USB/Firewire/Ethernet/PS2/Centronix/RS-232/eSATA/XYZPDQ/OMGWTFBBQ ports, don't
forget to put double quotes around the file path, 90 second startup..."

Users don't want to ask "is X compatible with Y?" and have to learn technical
obscurities about what that question means. They have X, they want to get Y,
and put together they should _just work_. Forget specs - if my mother-in-law
has to know about technical specifications, the manufacturer did something
wrong.

~~~
electrograv
_> vs. competitors' "no, really, it's good enough" specifications of "5 hour
battery life if you're careful, 6 pounds and hope there's enough space in your
briefcase, USB/Firewire/Ethernet/PS2/Centronix/RS-232/eSATA/XYZPDQ/OMGWTFBBQ
ports, don't forget to put double quotes around the file path, 90 second
startup..."_

Not to mention the PC MacBook Air clones, which in addition to questionable
battery life, screen resolution, etc., ALL fail to have an actually usable
trackpad. They've tried to emulate various multitouch gestures, but it all
feels absurdly clunky and impossible to actually use. I tried one in a store
and every time I tried to scroll with two fingers, it would intermittently
zoom in like crazy. When it did actually scroll, it was laggy and choppy.

I know this is a bit off topic, but seriously, does anybody know what is up
with PC track pad drivers? Why are they so laughably bad. Actually, it's not
even laughable it's so pathetic... I'd cry (if I was a PC manufacturer).

Seriously though, I'm genuinely worried/curious about this. I am still looking
for a Windows laptop that rivals the MacBook Air, because I do programming
both on Windows and Mac (I by no means have an emotional attachment to any OS
or HW vendor, so I'm pretty unbiased when it comes to these things). I'm still
confused as to why this does not exist in any usable sense.

~~~
ctdonath
Get a MacBook Air, thereon run Parallels (or some PC virtualizer), therein run
Windows, therewith run Visual Studio.

------
brudgers
What I noticed recently is that Apple has been pushing the new iPad based
almost purely on specs - i.e. Retina. Now that's not to say that the Air
didn't also differentiate in part on specs: light thin and long battery life,
but those had obvious functional implications, where as the Retina display is
largely a drag on hardware performance.

~~~
ctdonath
To the contrary: "retina" is the opposite of specs. Resolution is so high
users don't care what it is; like weight, size, and battery life, screen
quality is now so good nobody cares what the numbers are because it just _is_.

~~~
Turing_Machine
The screen is there for me. The size is fine, given the limitations of having
a usable keyboard. The weight is fine, though no one would complain if it were
even less.

Battery life? Not for me. Not even close.

------
stcredzero
_Apple has the best hardware-software-service integration in the industry, bar
none. So the fact that the new device wars are now actually fought not on
hardware specs but on vertical integration accords Apple a unique advantage._

Apple's secret sauce is this realization: That customers want their problem
solved, and the way to deliver that with personal computing is through
vertical integration. I'm not sure anyone else gets it yet, even Microsoft and
Sony, which already have retail stores.

