ScottC

Why are they better questions? Why didn't you start a new thread about that question? I wonder why. (Not really)

I'd say that Surface took the world by surprise. Nobody saw it coming, it is filled with innovative design features. Obviously, it didn't help sales, but the innovation is definitely there.

Nokia Pureview at launch took the world by surprise, and set the standard for perfect phone imaging sensors. In Europe, their Windows phones are almost at 10% marketshare, so someone is clearly buying them, they are just too busy to post about them here on Flyertalk.

So - do you have any actual thoughts on why Apple hasn't announced anything radically new in over three years?

skofarrell

The only surprise that the Surface brought was that Microsoft was so far behind the curve that they were willing to honk off every single one of their hardware partners to try to get even (forget about ahead).

FLYMSY

Didn't start a new thread because it would have been as inane as this one.

Surface took the world by surprise???

Nokia Pureview took the world by surprise???

...and set the standard for perfect phone imaging sensors....
Nothing in this world is perfect, IMO.

As to your last sentence, I think too many people like to hook their thumbs under their armpits, puff out their chests, let out a big Harumph and pontificate in a negative fashion. Tim Cook could walk on water and some people would b*tch that the bottom of his feet got wet.

I don't want to get into a p*ssing match with you because I do have respect for a lot of what you post, however, it seems like this thread was started to ....., well, I can't really figure out a good reason. It's a whole lot of nothing.

skofarrell

For today?

Mavericks has a ton of innovation baked in. Free is another huge shift. Plus, you don't have to deal with Mavericks Pro, Mavericks Home, Mavericks Enterprise...

The MacPro is extremely innovative, and the fact that is it assembled/made in the USA is another big plus.

Apple is positioning itself to compete head to head with Google. Now, all of their core apps (iLife, iWork) are free. How is Microsoft going to compete with free?

You'll be happier when the AppleTV is baked into the 4K displays that they will release next year.

(While not innovative, the price drops across all the MacBook lines are a nice surprise.)

pseudoswede

But were average consumers truly vexed on what version of Windows 7 to purchase? How about enterprise businesses looking for a Windows OS for their server farm?

Yes, you certainly can't beat free. How are they planning on recouping the development costs? Will future iterations be free?

skofarrell

I'm a nerd and I'm not sure which version of Windows 8 is the one I should be running (guessing Pro). 32bit? 64bit? Does it matter?

The cost upgrade is anywhere from $88 to $150 depending on which version of Windows I'm currently running. Compare that to free.

Google makes their money on ads.

Apple makes most of their money on hardware. But they also have the iTunes store, iAds, etc.

ScottC

MacOS is not free - it is sold as part of their hardware. Mavericks is to OSX what Windows 8.1 is to 8 - and that is also free. With your logic, I can claim that Windows 8 is also free, because it came on my laptop/desktop. Since you can't actually walk into a store and buy a box of Mac OS, the whole price/value thing doesn't work.

ScottC

No, you made it inane. I asked when Apple will start innovating again, and as usual, an Apple fan tried to divert the topic to other companies.

So, lets try again - when was the last time Apple did something on stage that made people go "WHOA - I didn't see that one coming"? That is not something I make up, it is what they used to do. The iPhone, iPad the iPod Touch, iPod Shuffle, Apple TV - all products nobody saw coming, that took the world by surprise and sold in the millions. They haven't had a hit like that in over three years. And it isn't just me asking, even the hardcore Apple blogs are starting to wonder what happened to the spark. Innovation surely didn't leave Apple when Steve Jobs passed away, did it?

I'll grant you the new Mac Pro - but other than the design, the only surprise there is that it is made in the US (even though some of their iMac lines already moved here). The $2999 price is not a surprise, as that is well in line with Apple pricing.

DJ Bitterbarn

Right now at work it seems to me that it goes like this:
Most of the people with a high-end smartphone have a new Lumia.
Almost everyone else has a mid-level Android.
Of the remaining, there's a few with high-end Android phones, usually Samsung, and then I think there's one or two people with iPhones.

So there is a market, somewhere. I don't think, though, that this is enough to take Nokia back up anywhere near where they were.

By being the de-facto standard. People love free like nothing else, but business will pay out the money to have the product that is the standard. Note: As I should specify rather than revising my statements later I am mostly referring to Office here, but it also somewhat applies to the OS.

That and Excel. There's no serious replacement for Excel yet.

skofarrell

I'm lost. Windows license comes with your PC hardware. OSX license comes with your Mac. You need to pay Microsoft to upgrade. You used to have to pay Apple to upgrade,

If I'm still running Snow Leopard because I'm too cheap to upgrade to Lion ($20) or Mountain Lion (another $20 I believe), it's now free to get to Mavericks.

If I'm cheap and running XP, and I want/need to upgrade to windows 8 or 8.1 because XP is going off support, I have to pay $88-150 to get to Windows 7 or 8 or 8.1.

How does Microsoft compete with free?

skofarrell

Check back in 5 years...The erosion has already started.

DJ Bitterbarn

Maybe. But the organization I work for has been making noises about migrating TO Office 365 from our current virtual office system. And while I could envision a scenario where Word and maybe Powerpoint face stiff competition (because word is awful and Powerpoint is standard but not that strict a standard) it'll be a big undertaking to dethrone the whole suite. Have I mentioned before how there is no replacement for Excel? I may have.

skofarrell

80% of the users out there don't use any of excel's advanced features. Those users will be very happy with "free" office replacements (google docs, open office, iWork). That represents a lot of lost revenue for Microsoft.

Weez_1000

The next big whoa for me would be an appleTV and not the little streaming device I mean a full blown TV with appleTV/ios built in. Its been rumored forever but then it went very quiet.

skofarrell

https://www.cio.com.au/article/52928...n_led_us_apps/

30K Office licenses and the annual maintenance fees....gone.