Posted on 01/05/2015 7:48:37 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Respected developer Marco Arment is worried about Apple's future.
In a blog post he writes: "Apple's hardware today is amazing — it has never been better. But the software quality has taken such a nosedive in the last few years that I'm deeply concerned for its future."
Arment was CTO at Tumblr before he left to start Instapaper, the first app that let users save stories to be read later. He also launched Overcast, an increasingly popular podcasting app. He records his own podcast, which has a devoted following in Apple and developer circles.
Arment is not an alarmist. He dislikes people who are alarmist. And he knows the reaction his posts will provoke, so he's generally careful with his words.
"Apple has completely lost the functional high ground," Arment says. "'It just works' was never completely true, but I don't think the list of qualifiers and asterisks has ever been longer."
Arment blames the prioritizing of marketing for the problems with Apple's software. Apple wants to have new software releases each year as a marketing hook, but the annual cycles of updating Apple's software are leading to too many bugs and problems, he says:
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I would agree with this. I’ve had numerous problems with my Apple mobile devices dealing primarily with poor application programming.
I’m including Swordmaker on this, since he’s sort of our resident Apple geek. Any opinion on this, sword?
iOS 8 is horrible on older iPads and iPhones.
Apple’s software has always been crapware; a half to full step above down and out malware. They go all out producing flashy, good, but overpriced hardware but it seems that they throw a bunch of chimps into a room and a few bunches of bananas to hack out their software.
“Apple’s software has always been crapware; a half to full step above down and out malware. They go all out producing flashy, good, but overpriced hardware but it seems that they throw a bunch of chimps into a room and a few bunches of bananas to hack out their software.”
Not to cause a flame war here, but have you ever heard of the name “Microsoft”?
I succumbed to upgrading to iOS 8 on my IPhone 4s and my battery life immediately went into the toilet. I turned off every open app, every notification, everything, but couldn’t get more than a couple hours of life. And making a call would immediately kill it. So I bought a new 6, which was probably their plan all along.
“I succumbed to upgrading to iOS 8 on my IPhone 4s and my battery life immediately went into the toilet. I turned off every open app, every notification, everything, but couldn’t get more than a couple hours of life. And making a call would immediately kill it. So I bought a new 6, which was probably their plan all along.’
Hate to provide multiple inputs to this post, but I have a a 4s and it’s fine. Battery life is superb.
(In no way to I claim the newer IOS issues are good. IMHO, they are indeed crap...for presentation, ease of use, and all the things Apple used to do well. Apple had better shape up, lest they replace Microsoft as the GM of software.)
This might be the reason Apple stock is falling today.
Really falling.
I have the “old” iPhone 4s and “old” iPad 2. Both were great pre-iOS 8 and unstable until iOS 8.1.2. Still buggy but at least now usable.
I succumbed to upgrading to iOS 8 on my IPhone 4s and my battery life immediately went into the toilet. I turned off every open app, every notification, everything, but couldn’t get more than a couple hours of life. And making a call would immediately kill it. So I bought a new 6, which was probably their plan all along.”
Same thing happened to me. My 4S would not hold a charge. I do not like the form factor of the 6, so Apple lost me to a Droid mini which is a smaller size like the 4s.
I believe that Jobs resisted the biggy phones and when he was gone they injected their own ideas about size into the product. I have an iPad mini so I do not want some gigantico tablet-like phone to carry around.
This is just FUD from Apple haters!!!
-the FR iCult
$106.71 1032AM CST
RE: This is just FUD from Apple haters!!!
I don’t know, this complaint is actually from a Apple DEVELOPER... hardly someone who hates Apple.
I’ve mostly used Microsoft software over the years as both a user and developer. Had very few problems. I ran Vista on multiple machines and use Win 8 with no problems. Most of the problems I’ve seen have more to do with the incompetent use of the software rather than the software itself. For Apple software, it is the software, especially when the Apple “Geniuses” at Apple stores can’t make it work correctly or address user problems brought to them.
Linux? Fine for servers, not too great or useful for average users unless someone sets up a Windows virtual instance on their Linux box.
Any updated iOS is horrible on previous devices, that’s always been the truth, apple has never concerned itself on the mobile device front anyway, ensuring that OS upgrades run reliably on anything less than 1-2 generations prior. If you are more than 2 generations out of date, they expect you to upgrade, period.
The only exception might be the iPad2 which they still sell, but that’s mainly due to its footprint in certain verticals, and frankly I really wouldn’t want to think how IOS 8 runs on that old hardware, sure its a dog.
And, iCloud integration makes it all worse. Purchased content sometimes disappears into the Cloud, sometimes it doesn't. Right now, my purchased copy of Zero Dark Thirty exists on my iPad - and nowhere else. Not in iTunes, not in my backup folders, not in the Cloud, and not as an available download.
There was a time, around Snow Leopard 10.6.8, where everything about my network and my various clients "just worked". This is no longer true, and that's a shame.
The user interface over the OS X Public Beta to Yosemite time period has not had a consistent design philosophy - from Aqua to brushed aluminum to translucent to 3D to the current kinda brutal, flat 10.10 icons - it's hard to see a guiding hand in all of that.
I know!
I own Apple stock.
I think the iPhone5 was the perfect compromise between size and one handed function... I have a 6, not a 6 plus, and it is a fabulous piece of hardware, but one handed use is not nearly as comfortable or effective as the 5.
IN terms of comfort in the hand the original iPhone design was by far the most comfortable, the original iPhone/3/3gs designs were by far the most comfortable in the hand.
The larger screen is nice in the 6, but one handed operation is not nearly as nice. I personally can’t imagine the 6+, but like it or not the market is demanding these silly huge beasts.
There are rumors that they will be releasing a new phone that shares the same footprint as the 5 next year with updated specs... to fill in the lower end, that the 5C did.. not sure if its true or not, but if you like one handed operation, I would certainly consider it. As I said the 5 form factor was the perfect compromise to add size, and still allow comfortable 1 hand use.
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