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What Users Don't Need

Entry 1407, on 2012-07-02 at 16:29:55 (Rating 2, Computers)

Apple like to push the boundaries of technology. As an Apple "fan boy" I would say that but I think even Apple's detractors would grudgingly admit that it is often the first to introduce new stuff and, more often, remove old stuff which is no longer necessary - or at least is in the process of becoming less necessary.

One of Apple's strengths is knowing what not to put into its new machines. The Apple experience is often defined as much by what you don't get as what you do get. And the lack of certain functionality can seem painful initially but in the end Apple is always right. I can't think of any situation where Apple has removed a function and then had to re-introduce it later.

The classic example is the floppy drive. There was a period of about a year when not having a floppy was a nuisance but who misses them now? Flash drives are so much faster, higher capacity, smaller, and more reliable. I'm sure that the demise of the floppy on Macs accelerated the move to flash media, both on Macs and PCs.

Sometimes the discontinued feature is software rather than hardware. The most conspicuous example recently was the dropping of the "Rosetta" environment. This allowed Intel based Macs to run software designed for the previous processor Apple used: the PowerPC. It was a remarkable piece of software engineering because it was fast and almost invisible to the user: even quite complex and sometimes fairly flakey older games ran well in Rosetta.

Now it's gone and that will force anyone who still (after all these years) hasn't converted their programs to run on the Intel processors to make that update. No matter how good Rosetta was programs running that way still weren't as good as those running directly on the Intel processor.

I think Apple does engage in a little bit of "social engineering" when it does this stuff. It does force people to make a break with the past and to move on. It's one reason why the Mac environment is so much cleaner and more reliable than Windows: there's just less legacy code to support. In some ways I admire the way Microsoft has continued to support old stuff: it's both good and bad, and just a different approach to Apple's.

Sometimes changes can cause a bit of consternation to users and support staff. I recently had trouble diagnosing why one of the latest MacBook Pros wouldn't run properly in 32 bit mode. It would crash after a short time running but was fine in 64 bit mode. Unfortunately I needed to start in 32 to support an old piece of network software our infrastructure here required.

After Googling the problem a bit and finding nothing meaningful I called Apple support. Even they were initially stumped but after going away and discussing it for a short time the support person got back to me and said "we don't recommend running the new machines in 32 bit mode". Apparently this is due to performance enhancements related to the new processor and how it does memory access.

It did seem odd though that 32 bit mode wasn't totally blocked. You can start that way but the machine will die horribly after 30 seconds. So Apple don't recommend having you machine die before you can get anything done? Why not avoid confusion and just force the machine to start in 64 bit mode every time?

Anyway it means that the odd piece of 32 bit software will now need to be upgraded to 64 bit. And that will be Intel only of course! More social engineering from Apple maybe?

It's interesting why some of the changes are necessary. The latest "retina display" MacBook Pro is so thin that there is physically no space for an ethernet port on it ... or an optical drive either ... or a Firewire port! Plus the power connector has been changed to make it fit. On the other hand it does have USB3 and Thunderbolt so all that stuff can be connected at high speed with the right adapter. And do we really need CDs, DVDs or wired networks any more? I can't remember the last time I used any of that old stuff!

I'm sure that in a few years PCs will do the same things that Apple are doing now. In the past that has been the case: to see what a PC will be like in 5 years look at a Mac now. Actually I don't know if that's necessarily true, most of the PC laptops I've seen are more like 10 years behind Apple, not just 5!

Apple does take risks and there could easily be a negative user reaction to the loss of all of these previously useful technologies. But that doesn't seem to happen. Apple really does have an amazing ability to know what its users want before even the users themselves know, and more significantly it knows what the user doesn't need any more!

Comment 6 (3216) by SBFL on 2012-07-10 at 09:03:50: (view earlier comments)

Yes but generally you're only superficially dismissive. In reality you love them through thick or thin.

Yes an iPad could be acceptable for granny, much user friendlier than a desktop. Maybe I should wait for Windows 8 so I know her new tablet can communicate with all her descendants, including my old Windows Vista PC!

Comment 7 (3223) by OJB on 2012-07-10 at 10:08:02:

As long as they keep producing the best products I will stick with Apple. If they "do an HP" and stop caring I will have to move on to something else... maybe Linux.

An iPad would be a good choice. It really is a very nice environment for basic web browsing, email and other tasks the average user needs. You could go with Windows but is that really a good idea? Will Windows on tablets even survive with iOS and Android already there and doing a good job?

Microsoft has had more failures than successes since Gates left. It's a dead company, they just don't know it yet!

Comment 8 (3225) by SBFL on 2012-07-10 at 10:15:55:

What's "doing a HP"? Did I miss a post?

Yes, I'll agree, an iPad would suit her more than anything. Seriously, its a market they should target more. Take the fear our of technology.

Comment 9 (3227) by OJB on 2012-07-10 at 10:21:59:

Yes, you missed a post. I did a little rant about HP, here.

I think Apple would disagree with the idea of marketing to grannies. It would definitely detract from their cool image, don't you think? :)

Comment 10 (3229) by SBFL on 2012-07-10 at 10:32:10:

Okay, I'll read it and comment there if need be.

A good ad agency would know how to market to both without obvious contradictions (e.g. different media).

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