Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Portables, Apple, Mac Pro, Leopard, iPhone, Apple TV, Holidays
Christmas gifts Apple could give me
It's the Holiday Season, and over the years I have happily spent a lot of my XMAS money with our favorite fruit named company. My love affair with Apple products goes back to the venerated Apple II. I do have a couple of PC laptops in the house, and of course I can also run Vista on VMWare Fusion, but I'm pretty much a Mac guy through and through. Always have been. Always will be.Nevertheless, I'd like to find some gifts from Apple under my tree this year. They are not big deals, but would be greatly appreciated. So Kris Kringle, if you're listening, pass these on to Mr. Jobs and friends.
- How about some documentation? I know Steve thinks books are dead, but in the old days Apple documentation was really first rate. Remember that old MacWrite manual? Apple, I know you are in the electronics business, but reading help files on a laptop screen that covers up the application I am trying to learn is a bit of a pain.
- When you release an update to an iPod, iPhone or OS X how about telling me what the update really does. I know you have gotten better at this, but why should people have to guess all the features and fixes that you have put in? Just own up to it and trust your customers.
- Find another partner in addition to AT&T for the iPhone. My phone is a great product that is significantly damaged by an inferior, unreliable network. To me, "more bars in more places" means I'm looking for bars to find a stiff drink so I can recover from my frustration with dropped calls, poor signal strength, and sporadic 3G coverage.
- A lot of your products get really warm. My MacBook Pro can be a sizzler on my lap. My Mac Pro keeps my office pretty warm, and I don't need those high temperatures since I'm in Arizona. Don't get me started on the Apple TV. I do think it is a great product, but I'm thinking I could make a fondue on that top surface. There is no fan in the Apple TV and when I put it in standby to spin down the hard drive it wakes up by itself paying no attention to my command. If I want to be ignored, I can walk into any Home Depot. (Update: Some users say the Apple TV does have a fan. I regret the error. It's still too darned hot!)
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ethan said 7:14AM on 12-20-2008
Let me get text from my mac onto my iPhone and vice-versa.
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rob said 7:24AM on 12-20-2008
I second that request! Text reading on the desktop FTW!
Kila said 7:50AM on 12-20-2008
The Apple TV does have a fan...
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Neg said 8:09AM on 12-20-2008
Indeed it does, a small, very quiet one that most people don't even think is there.
Just goes to show how low TUAW's hiring standards are.
G3 coverage for christ's sake?
Honestly, TUAW?!
Jesus christ, I'm starting to think this site is barely worth reading anymore.
NirO Shan Man said 8:23AM on 12-20-2008
I agree with you neg. I don't get the point of this post at all, and if there are bloggers on here that mix up G3 with 3G, you better be hiring me (16 year old) as your next blogger... jeez
Christopher Price said 7:58AM on 12-20-2008
I'd like something to do the second week of January. You know, maybe a vacation where I could watch product demos and interact with all the companies that help make Mac work as an alternative to Windows.
And, at this event, there could be some starting announcement... some sort of advanced PowerPoint presentation, with an effective communicator delivering it.
Oh well, maybe next year... D'oh!
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Mark III said 8:06AM on 12-20-2008
Can I have a 13" macbook Pro please.
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Neg said 8:09AM on 12-20-2008
See: Aluminium MacBook Pro.
Neg said 8:09AM on 12-20-2008
See: Aluminium MacBook.
SuperMac said 8:30AM on 12-20-2008
G3?? Maybe a typo. Should be 3G!
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Mark III said 8:31AM on 12-20-2008
No! not a 13" macbook or a 15 " macbook Pro. I want, I want, I want a 13" macbook Pro!
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Neg said 6:59PM on 12-20-2008
Why?
the Aluminium MacBook is a Unibody MacBook Pro in a 13" size.
If you're talking about the lack of FireWire on it, TOUGH COOKIES.
If you're talking about the GPU, be happy with what you get, you're not getting any more in a device that size.
jollyllama said 6:05PM on 12-21-2008
@Neg
That makes about as much sense as saying that France is Germany but in the shape of France.
What Mark is saying is that he wants a pro machine, that he's willing to pay more money for, in a smaller case with a smaller monitor. Not that he wants a cheaper, lower power machine in that smaller case.
Mark III said 6:11PM on 12-21-2008
Well said jollyllama. Exactly my point.
Micah said 8:42AM on 12-20-2008
You Want hard copies of your documentation? Really? Are you my grandma? Nothing comes with books any more for a lot of reasons and they are all for your benefit.
1. Hello the environment - that is a lot of paper that will never be thrown in a box somewhere and never be used.
2. You can search a digital document and find what you want immediately instead of fanning through a 200 page book and hope you find what you want.
3. It is easily updatable as the product is changed with patches and updates.
If your problem is reading the document while having the help screen open spend 100 dollars on a second monitor.
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huth.sebastian said 10:06AM on 12-20-2008
or just print the page you need, much, much easier.
I agree though, huge burdon for the environment, imagine first of all how much paper it would need to print 200 pages for - let's say Leopard, and how much they weigh and then, add that weight to every computer Apple ships. Just putting the stuff on a CD is easier, and even if some users might want to have the whole thing hard copied, they can print it, but a lot of them won't, I don't even read manuals anymore, unless there's really something I can't figure out and can't find anything online.
Sasha S. said 8:50AM on 12-20-2008
I wish for new year for Apple to realise that they can not (and should not) invent every piece of electronics under the Sun.
It is time to start building partnerships, Cupertino! How about start talking to companies that have similar DNA (Sony, Bang Olufsen, Loewe, Philips to name just a few) and start building pertnerships, cross licencing agreements. You have done a good deal or two with early iPods and WV and BMW. We need more of that.
Arrongance will only bring you so far. Once when you are a major player - it is the time to start listening to what others have to say.
Case in point: BangOlufsen knows a thing or two about design but they have no clue about digital media. In return they have large network of shops that could easily sell iMac's and AppleTVs.
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Wheels said 11:49AM on 12-20-2008
*cough* ROCKR *cough*
beaugiles said 9:23AM on 12-20-2008
Come to Australia - iPhone works better than any other mobile phone I've tried over here! :)
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Perspective said 10:07AM on 12-20-2008
Sasha:
It's one thing this company does NOT do, it's "invent every piece of electronics under the sun." Even in 2008, it's still computers, iPod/iPhone + accessories and the AppleTV, which is essentially a television/sound system iPod. For an electronics company that tries to make everything, see "Sony," a company that gets less than $500,000 in revenue per employee, while Apple gets $1,000,000 per. Sony can't offer Apple much in terms of tech (or vice versa, really), but Apple could teach Sony a thing or two about operating efficiency (keep in mind that the bulk of Apple's 32,000 employees work in the retail stores).
Lastly, are you suggesting that Apple should sell iMacs in Bang & Olufsen shops? Are you kidding? The whole point of Apple Stores is for people that are very knowledgeable about the hardware to present it to the public. You move the things to shops in which Bang & Olufsen shops sell and you get a bunch of headphone-heads who are only there because their local record store has closed.
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