
WWDC 2018 - ttflee
https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/
======
saagarjha
A bit early, don't you think, given that the keynote doesn't start for another
six and a half hours?

~~~
ianai
Pretty revealing that this does seem premature. This is named the developer
conference. There ought to be plenty of topics to discuss for developers
before hand. But really the compelling conversational piece is the specter of
what they may release during it.

~~~
saagarjha
Well, if you're here to speculate, we already have the Xcode leak to talk
about, as well as possible plans to move towards a new, more cross-platform UI
framework. Also some subdued hardware rumors.

~~~
Cthulhu_
There was an instance of a Macbook with a 6-core cpu appearing on a benchmark
site too today.

~~~
have_faith
If only the benchmark sites could detect MBP with improved keyboard. It's a
sad state when that's the only feature I look forward to nowadays lol.

~~~
ianai
It’s highly frustrating. So many companies used to be able to make decent
laptops. Now even Apple doesn’t seem capable of keeping a straight face with
their releases (in the sense that they don’t seem to be targeting an end user
that owns a Mac anymore)

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jcrei
Honest question to those attending. How do you pick which sessions to attend
from the schedule list? They all sound so vague...
[https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/schedule/#!/](https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/schedule/#!/)

~~~
verytrivial
Akin purchasing one of the new butterfly-keyboard Macbooks, treat it as an
exciting and expensive gamble.

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mercer
Watching this, I can't help but feel that Apple has committed fully to a very
specific target audience, and that audience is mostly the global affluent.

While this is not entirely surprising, it's still fascinating to see how much
emphasis they put on things that I, a working-class-but-now-tech-middle-class,
truly don't care about. Until a year or two ago I felt Apple still targeted at
least my audience, but recent developments feel strangely alienating.

The alternative explanation is that Apple is spinning its wheels and just
doesn't know what to do next, but what with the rise of global uber-affluent
(Chinese and Russian elites, for once, see: gold themed products), this
doesn't seem like a bad choice considering the competition. It just feels
saddening somehow.

~~~
rubicon33
Can you explain in more, concrete terms (with examples) what you are saying?

~~~
mercer
I'll admit it's more a feeling than something I'm convinced of, but I'll try.

The Airpods, Apple Watch, Apple TV and the HomePod are products that
relatively few people around me bother with. It's mostly the few techies (that
make well above median wage) and more well-off friends (couples or otherwise)
that can afford these kinds of 'extravagances' or care enough to make the
expense. But even those wouldn't bother with much of this because they lack
the house/space or lifestyle for it. The slightly older iPads are sort of like
this, but I know quite a few people who do have one of those lying around, I
suppose because they're both cheap and useful enough.

The Apple Watch is perhaps the best example of how it feels Apple is shifting
their focus. As far as I can remember, it's the first of their products that
offered insanely expensive versions (and wristbands) that couldn't be
justified as 'pro user stuff'. And even the cheapest version is one very few
people I know would by unless they had plenty of disposable income (or bad
with money / huge Apple fans). I mean, the thing is basically Apple's entry
into the jewelry world.

There's a few other things that made me feel like they were changing
direction, but they've slipped my mind. And again, it's more of a feeling than
something I'm utterly convinced of. I do mean to investigate this properly
sometime, because aside from a slight 'sadness' I also find it fascinating.

(let me add that perhaps it's more that, in a broader sense, the
'tech/gadget/digital lifestyle' world seems to be moving/aiming upwards in
society somehow. I remember reading an interesting BBC article that argued the
'techies', who I suppose are both the creators and primary audience of a lot
of this stuff, are becoming a class of their own, and one economically above
what we would traditionally call the working class. maybe that has something
to do with it.)

~~~
rubicon33
I'm not sure how large of a timeline you're looking at Apple with, but in my
experience, they've always catered to the "wealthy", or those who didn't spend
their money well.

They've always been a company that made beautiful hardware, the kind that
serves an aesthetic purpose in addition to it's function. Far cheaper
alternatives exist, but that's never been Apple's goal.

~~~
mercer
Yeah, that's a fair point, but my feeling is mostly that they've become _more_
catering to wealthier over time. Could very well be I'm wrong.

I'd say for timeline the Apple Watch (so about three years ago?) is probably
when I started feeling this way. This is also around the period they released
their weirdly pretentious/impractical cylindrical Mac Pro, and moved to the
new, generally-disliked-by-the-pro-audiences MacBook Pro's (to the point where
I'm about to buy a 2015 model in the near future).

EDIT: actually, the new MacBooks are a great example of why I feel there's
been a 'shift' of sorts. The whole things seems to mostly aimed at the
affluent than the pro users: thinness at the expense of everything else, a
touchbar that looks cool but is the last thing pro users want, and removal of
ports which strikes me as exactly the kind of thing that wouldn't bother a
fancy executive with a gold iWatch, but cause major trouble for most power
users.

It's like they decided the original MacBook Air customer is now their primary
one, or at least more important than before.

~~~
rubicon33
Ahh, I see your point. While they have generally been marketed as a "premium"
product, it's really the rise of these "pretentious/impractical" products +
features that indicates their catering to a wealthy / elite class.

Interesting. Could be as wealth has become more striated, they've decided to
double down on the affluent.

~~~
mercer
Another less cynical reason why Apple might be 'changing' is that their usual
approach to things just doesn't work as well as it used to.

The usual approach Apple takes, or so it seems to me, is to first release a
'luxury' iteration of a product and eventually make it accessible to a broader
market. I remember the first iPhone felt like a bit of an excess, and few
people around me bought it other than die-hard fans and people with more
disposable income (often techies). But around the 3GS (I think?) this changed
and it became a mass-market thing.

The same happened with iPods, and the MacBook Air is an even better example.
The first iteration of the latter was clearly just for the fancy few, but
eventually its innovations (unibody, thinness) became core to their more
affordable range.

The iPod and iPhone and MacBook are the kinds of products everyone needs,
wants, and is willing to pay a decent chunk of money for. But already with the
iPad and Apple TV that seems more difficult. And the latest iPhones also seem
to suffer from a lack of proper innovation that has mass-market appeal. A
watch or, say, a car strike me as even more difficult to turn into a smash
hit. Same goes for smart home stuff.

So perhaps it's not so much that Apple is intentionally targeting the
affluent, but rather that their later products are stuck in a kind of first-
iteration-for-the-fancy-people limbo.

I don't know whether this is lack of creativity on their part, or an actual
issue. Probably a bit of both, but I have to admit that I also find it
difficult to come up with an iPhone style innovation or new product that
wouldn't suffer from this problem. I suppose something AR glasses could be a
thing someday: start with luxury versions, Apple Watch style, that end up
having mass-market appeal in a way the Watch clearly doesn't.

------
timeimp
Apple clearly has a sense of humour here. Checking the schedule, there is
clearly something FISHY going on. I mean, no squidding around here...

------
nagarjun
WWDC's website feels so bland compared to the Google I/O website. Monotone
design, awkward text positioning.. there's just no excitement. Ditto for
recent Apple keynotes.

There isn't anything new anymore. This isn't the Apple we knew a decade-or-so
ago. It feels like Apple peaked around then, sad! They just don't try anymore.

I for one, really want to see Apple do something creative (but before they do
anything new, PLEASE FIX IOS NOTIFICATIONS.. THEY'RE A JOKE COMPARED TO
ANDROID)!

~~~
vesak
>PLEASE FIX IOS NOTIFICATIONS.. THEY'RE A JOKE COMPARED TO ANDROID

What? They way more usable than Android's mess.

~~~
vyper91
said no-one ever

edit: clearly some people share your sentiment, but whilst introduction of iOS
notifications were a relief, I can't understand why anyone would think they
are better than Android.

It's a commonly shared sentiment at least that Android notifications are
leagues ahead of iOS.

My biggest gripe is the lack of grouping, and I do miss the fact Android used
to give me 'active' notifications such as a progress bar on the download of a
Spotify album, for example.

~~~
dijit
Aside from grouping, iOS notifications are better for me.

It feels like you control the messages you get, how they're positioned, what
priority they get etc; much more on iOS. I'm sure this is actually release
dependent, I can only speak from the old CM and modern Samsung ROMs.. but iOS
generally >feels< a lot nicer, like I'm in control; non-removal notifications,
general frequency and lack of notification location control contribute to
this.

~~~
zaarn
Newer Android version do bring a lot of control, you can disallow applications
to send specific types of notifications and set up how the notification will
be made notifiable; vibration, tone, none at all, blink LED, etc.

You can set priorities too IIRC.

