chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
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Post by chinacat on Sept 16, 2017 7:26:04 GMT -8
Whew! The whirlwind of "new iPhones (and other things)" week is over, and to be honest, I am happy with a small gain given the product delays that were part of the announcement. Fabulous Spouse and I are likely to wait for our recent usual practice of mutual Christmas gifts to pick up our new devices. Mine is likely to be an iPhone 8. While I see the advantage of larger screens for many people for whom their phone IS their computer, with an iMac and and an iPad each for our large screen needs we both value the "pocketability" of the standard size. Emerging (at least for non-fanatics such as people who frequent AFB) star Apple's Craig Federighi details Face ID in new interview contains a few interesting details about the new products. As a follow up to my recent post about hand-wringing in the online advertising industry, Apple addresses ad industry complaints over Safari tracking prevention feature. Let's cross our fingers that the new product delays are no worse than the expectations set by Apple in the presentation. If they can meet the holiday demand and position themselves with ample supply for Chinese New Year next quarter, then AAPL should go if not to "infinity and beyond," then at least to somewhere that will make everyone in this forum very happy.
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Post by aaplcrazie on Sept 16, 2017 7:56:47 GMT -8
Chinacat Thanks for the great open!
I for one, find the "Trade and Marketing Groups"concern and dismay over Safari blocking cross site tracking and probable less access to our personal data via Safari particularly grating. Coming as it does the same week as the Equifax revelations. Apparently the entry point for the Hack was via some open source software used on Equifax's dispute page. A vulnerability was discovered in March but they failed to apply the Patch that would have made it secure. Oh Yeah!
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
Posts: 4,426
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Post by chinacat on Sept 16, 2017 7:58:51 GMT -8
These stickers cover up the Digital Crown red dot on your Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular highlights what does seem to be (to me, at least) an unusual aesthetic misstep by Apple. I hadn't really noticed it during the presentation, and I suppose that it is useful to have SOME kind of distinguishing characteristic to identify the models with LTE. The fact that the Watch can be used with multiple bands does complicate the problem, but still... What do actual Watch owners (or owners-to-be) think?
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
Posts: 4,426
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Post by chinacat on Sept 16, 2017 8:24:35 GMT -8
I actually considered architecture as a career before diving into software (and it's a good thing I did because I would be terrible at schmoozing/fawning with very rich people), so I did enjoy The incredible architectural secrets of Steve Jobs Theater. It reflects the fanatical attention to detail of its namesake, and I am sure he must have driven folks at Foster + Partners crazy, but I am also sure that they were very well compensated for their troubles.
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Post by BillH on Sept 16, 2017 12:27:38 GMT -8
I graduated with a degree in Interior Architecture and practiced for a few years before veering off in search of better compensation. In the following years I continued to build showrooms, homes, office buildings, cabins etc. Our school was modeled after Cranbrook which touched or produced some rather familiar names including Charles Eames and Aero Saarinen (father Eliel Saarinen was running the place). I mention this only to suggest that I have a slightly better than casual understanding of the complexity of what we're all looking at and I'm quite simply in awe. Many seem to think that anyone could get this kind of result if they threw similar amounts of money at it. Not a chance. The intersection of a Norman Foster, willing client and budget to execute is the rarest of planetary alignments. PED's walk through videos were the highlight of the day for me personally. They've set a bar out there that will leave architects and designers with performance anxieties/insecurities for decades. As a profession it was humbling enough already. :-o
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
Posts: 4,426
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Post by chinacat on Sept 16, 2017 13:16:34 GMT -8
I graduated with a degree in Interior Architecture and practiced for a few years before veering off in search of better compensation. In the following years I continued to build showrooms, homes, office buildings, cabins etc. Our school was modeled after Cranbrook which touched or produced some rather familiar names including Charles Eames and Aero Saarinen (father Eliel Saarinen was running the place). I mention this only to suggest that I have a slightly better than casual understanding of the complexity of what we're all looking at and I'm quite simply in awe. Many seem to think that anyone could get this kind of result if they threw similar amounts of money at it. Not a chance. The intersection of a Norman Foster, willing client and budget to execute is the rarest of planetary alignments. PED's walk through videos were the highlight of the day for me personally. They've set a bar out there that will leave architects and designers with performance anxieties/insecurities for decades. As a profession it was humbling enough already. :-o Thanks for validating my totally unprofessional thoughts, and I hope that you took my comments about architects in the manner that they were intended, i.e. as a recognition of my own deficiencies rather than as a negative commentary on those who are better equipped to succeed in the field. I just had to recognize that my talents were not a match for my aspirations.
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Post by BillH on Sept 16, 2017 17:32:48 GMT -8
I graduated with a degree in Interior Architecture and practiced for a few years before veering off in search of better compensation. In the following years I continued to build showrooms, homes, office buildings, cabins etc. Our school was modeled after Cranbrook which touched or produced some rather familiar names including Charles Eames and Aero Saarinen (father Eliel Saarinen was running the place). I mention this only to suggest that I have a slightly better than casual understanding of the complexity of what we're all looking at and I'm quite simply in awe. Many seem to think that anyone could get this kind of result if they threw similar amounts of money at it. Not a chance. The intersection of a Norman Foster, willing client and budget to execute is the rarest of planetary alignments. PED's walk through videos were the highlight of the day for me personally. They've set a bar out there that will leave architects and designers with performance anxieties/insecurities for decades. As a profession it was humbling enough already. :-o Thanks for validating my totally unprofessional thoughts, and I hope that you took my comments about architects in the manner that they were intended, i.e. as a recognition of my own deficiencies rather than as a negative commentary on those who are better equipped to succeed in the field. I just had to recognize that my talents were not a match for my aspirations. Not even for a second did I feel you were casting aspersions on me or the profession. (every once in awhile I nail it with just the right word but know that I had to look up 'aspersions' to make sure. ) The entire profession is a bitch as there is far too much to know and what we think we know changes constantly. As I said...,very humbling.
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
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Post by chinacat on Sept 16, 2017 19:20:00 GMT -8
At the risk of boring everyone else, and as long as we have turned this into a discussion about architecture, I thought that this series of short videos shot by PED during his visit to Apple Park for the big event really changed my perception of it. The many drone videos that we have seen during construction really emphasized the expansiveness of what have been dirt-covered spaces (dotted with construction machinery). When viewed from ground level (especially Part 5), and now that most of the trees and much of the plantings have been installed (at least near the Steve Jobs Theater), it is easy to imagine how lush and private the campus will be after a year or so of growth. I feel pretty certain that this was deliberate, in order to provide spaces that allow employees to get out of their offices and yet have quasi-private areas to have informal meetings and spaces to clear their heads a bit.
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Post by rob_london on Sept 16, 2017 23:50:31 GMT -8
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chinacat
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AAPL Long since 2006
Posts: 4,426
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Post by chinacat on Sept 17, 2017 18:19:35 GMT -8
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Sept 17, 2017 21:17:43 GMT -8
I think too much is trying to be made of the differences. The reality is that people at Apple, as long as they continue to have been Mac (and now iPhone) users for a while have a way of thinking about things because that's how things have been for them. It's all about keeping things simple, even if that means cutting off some options. What is most important? I don't remember the specifics anymore, but for software update server, that meant only having 4 options, or limited buttons, instead of a lot more. The mail server was a little different, only giving UI control for a limited number of options, but since it was based on an open source product, there was still everything under the hood, if you didn't mind messing around with a settings file. Other server products were the same, of figuring out what was used the most (one of my bosses liked the 7/8 rule, of basing it on what 7 or 8 people wanted), but often giving more stuff under the hood for those real power server managers. I don't know if I ever saw a bug/feature/etc coming from SJ in the Server product, though I do remember at least one coming from Avie. Pages/Keynote was a little different. My understanding, mainly from some of the MacWorld Keynotes long before I touched the product, was that Keynote was basically made for Steve. As such, he had a lot of input. 4 iterations in, there were a lot less from him, but I do remember something about a Pivot Table that didn't make sense to me, but I was told I was outvoted since SJ wanted it that way. But with those products, there was a lot of "do cool things without much work from the user", such as with keynote a marble background with a mirroring option, and then various page-turn effects. Or with Pages, just a lot of templates already set up with 3 columns and pictures inlayed with text filling around shapes. All cool stuff, that was much harder to do on the competitor product. At the same time, it was aimed at the lower end consumer without much experience, so it was setup in a way that was a bit annoying having a decent Word background. Same with Numbers, vs Excel. Numbers was likely much easier for the newbie, just as Keep It Simple, Spreadsheet was years earlier. But for those with an Excel background, it wasn't the easiest. As far as differing from others, I worked for a bit at IGT, where 2 things in particular stood out to me. They had a button like "Item(s)". I don't believe I had ever seen a button that tried to be both the singular and plural, and it sure didn't fit any UI standards I had ever seen. The next was that their install was actually hard enough that the managers felt that someone who had experience installing their application was a positive, both there and on your resume for a future job. Granted, they only had around 10 customers, so they send out a team to install and setup each time (and we're talking millions per server). Still, it's an install. I think most people would laugh if I put "installed software" on my resume. But hey, that could be right after "sharpened a # 2.5 pencil" Anyways, just wanted to give some details. In general, you know what you know. If you're used to Apple's mindset of trying to make complicated things simple, it's no surprise. I'm sure in the last decade, with all that they've had to hire, there have been new people without a huge Apple related background. It is a mindset, of trying to find one way to do the most important things intuitively, instead of giving 3 different ways to do all sorts of things.
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