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Post by phoebear611 on Jun 6, 2015 3:12:30 GMT -8
Looks like it will be a Barista Bar Opening for the weekend thread ... a caramel macchiato perhaps?
Finally a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with the WWDC on Monday. Wondering if it will move the stock at all. Hoping there are some surprises...no, wait ... hoping for at least ONE surprise. Nothing much in the news other than what to expect from the conference. Speculation on what Beats Streaming may deliver - and what Apple TV won't. Barron's has two articles - one on Apple Watch being "not so smart" and user friendly and the other on TV streaming. Other than that...pretty quiet out there.
Looks like any real excitement will be at the Belmont Stakes for the hopes of a Triple Crown this evening.
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Ted
fire starter
Posts: 882
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Post by Ted on Jun 6, 2015 7:39:06 GMT -8
Looks like it will be a Barista Bar Opening for the weekend thread ... a caramel macchiato perhaps? Finally a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with the WWDC on Monday. Wondering if it will move the stock at all. Hoping there are some surprises...no, wait ... hoping for at least ONE surprise. Nothing much in the news other than what to expect from the conference. Speculation on what Beats Streaming may deliver - and what Apple TV won't. Barron's has two articles - one on Apple Watch being "not so smart" and user friendly and the other on TV streaming. Other than that...pretty quiet out there. Looks like any real excitement will be at the Belmont Stakes for the hopes of a Triple Crown this evening. This Barron's article seems to be a classic Apple WATCH attack and way late to the game, but interesting in its formulaic approach. The title is "Apple Watch is Not User Friendly" - no link and behind a paywall reachable via the Goog - but fear not, I've quoted way too much below cause I found it annoying and over the top. Also notable was the watch expert's approach to the review, which seems to be the new norm. First, establish yourself as an unabashed Apple believer to gain credibility: "I am a passionate collector of vintage watches, a rare-watch consultant to auctioneer Phillips, and a reviewer of contemporary mechanical watches for Barron’s Penta...Before my smack-down of Apple (ticker: AAPL), let me disclose that you’ll find multiple MacBooks, iPads, Apple TVs, and Apple Wi-Fi routers in my home. I appreciate the simplicity, quality, and luxurious feel of Apple products, which is why I strapped the timepiece on, eager to reach my own conclusion."Then go to town. The plastic bands suck: "Strapping the band on is a chore, requiring dexterous finger maneuvers to properly fit the pin. I tried buying a better strap from an Apple Store, but, like the watches, they can only be purchased online, so I was stuck with what I had as I flew to Geneva on a business trip." Setup sucks: "Configuring the Apple Watch was not at all intuitive for me. A bug quickly showed up where notifications—alerts such as text messages received by my phone that should have been immediately sent to the watch—weren’t coming through. My sophisticated Swiss friends were unimpressed as I fumbled around trying to show off the watch’s features. Frustrated and without time to figure things out [Boo Hoo] , I took it off and placed it in a suit pocket, where it remained unused for the rest of my trip." [Bad, naughty Watch!] Software sucks: " I gave the watch another chance, out of respect for Apple, and found that it requires patience and training to master. This is not a watch for everyone. I’m an engineer and devoted time to watching Apple’s tutorial videos, learning an all-new gesture they call “force touch,” where pressing down on the watch’s Ion-X crystal triggers a menu, allowing you to change the timekeeping face. I chose one titled Utility, customizing it to show the battery life, current temperature, date, and upcoming calendar events. Online research further revealed that many other users weren’t getting their text notifications, either. Once I reset several settings, the notifications finally began working as intended."Apps suck: "Most of the apps won’t work without an iPhone connection and then are agonizingly slow to load."As a watch, yup, it sucks: "Just telling the time takes getting used to. You have to deliberately and indiscreetly raise the watch toward your face for the screen to display the time. On occasion, it fails to wake up. When it works, its responsiveness is not immediate, even after a major software update was installed. In bright sunlight, the screen is difficult to see. Thankfully, the mechanical watch on my left wrist was always there to provide me the correct time at a glance."But then he went too far for me: "During meetings, I couldn’t resist compulsively turning the watch toward my face with each alert—as distracting to my colleagues as constantly looking at an iPhone [REALLY?! Did you ask them that or what, dude?!] . Other features such as activity monitoring and heart-rate measurement capability, while interesting, simply aren’t relevant to my lifestyle."And to conclude, it sucks: "With a traditional watch on one wrist and an iPhone always with me, I struggled to find a compelling use for my Apple Watch. The slow app performance, the draining of my iPhone’s precious battery during the necessary tethering between the two devices, and having to charge the watch every night, made it a gadget whose novelty quickly wore off. After several weeks of trying to fit it into my life, I found it redundant and too much of a hassle, and wonder how sales of the watch will hold up over time. But still believe me: "Still, out of brand loyalty, I’ll probably take a look at the Apple Watch 2 when it comes out."I don't have an Apple Watch, so I ask those of you that do, is any of this real? Are you still enjoying your watches? Do you overlook the bad cause the rest is good? Is this guy a douche? Have a nice weekend, everybody.
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Post by hledgard on Jun 6, 2015 8:28:55 GMT -8
"I don't have an Apple Watch, so I ask those of you that do, is any of this real? Are you still enjoying your watches? Do you overlook the bad cause the rest is good? Is this guy a douche? Have a nice weekend, everybody."
Nice post Ted. I would like to hear responses to your questions.
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Post by deasys on Jun 6, 2015 9:16:05 GMT -8
This Barron's article seems to be a classic Apple WATCH attack and way late to the game, but interesting in its formulaic approach. The title is "Apple Watch is Not User Friendly" - no link and behind a paywall reachable via the Goog - but fear not, I've quoted way too much below cause I found it annoying and over the top. Also notable was the watch expert's approach to the review, which seems to be the new norm. Over the top indeed! Your interpretation of this FUD job is spot on. Yes, he is. To respond to the specifics: "Strapping the band on is a chore, requiring dexterous finger maneuvers to properly fit the pin."He's just barely started and already desperate. The sport strap takes a mere pull-and-press. "Configuring the Apple Watch was not at all intuitive for me."It's hard to imagine how Apple could make it simpler or better directed. You are guided through setup every step of the way with on-screen prompts and short instructions. Even the pairing process has been simplified—no codes to enter, just focus the iPhone's camera on the watch face and bingo! "A bug quickly showed up where notifications—alerts such as text messages received by my phone that should have been immediately sent to the watch—weren’t coming through."That's possible. I have not encountered the issue. "I gave the watch another chance, out of respect for Apple, and found that it requires patience and training to master."If I were an "engineer," I would not make that information public out of respect for myself. Learning how to control and interact with the Apple Watch takes perhaps an hour of reading and practice. Is that what he calls "patience and training?" "Once I reset several settings, the notifications finally began working as intended."Oh! A miracle! "Most of the apps won’t work without an iPhone connection"True. "…and then are agonizingly slow to load."I have yet to experience the "agony" of slow app loading. In any case and such as it is, this is a third-party problem that Apple may shortly help to resolve. "Just telling the time takes getting used to. You have to deliberately and indiscreetly raise the watch toward your face for the screen to display the time."Absolute nonsense. It does not take a raise of the arm at all—deliberate or otherwise. It merely requires the normal rotation that one traditionally does to glance at a watch face. It has been 100% reliable for me. "On occasion, it fails to wake up. When it works, its responsiveness is not immediate"Once again, I have never experienced such a problem. "…even after a major software update was installed."Wait…what? "Major" software update? Is version 2.0 already out? (You'd think an "engineer" would know the difference between a minor update and a major one…) "In bright sunlight, the screen is difficult to see."In direct bright sun (unshaded by one's free hand), perhaps. Beyond that, he may not know that display brightness is adjustable… "During meetings, I couldn’t resist compulsively turning the watch toward my face with each alert"Idiot. First, you control what alerts your Apple Watch presents. Second, the Apple Watch has a readily accessible instant "Do not disturb" setting. "…the draining of my iPhone’s precious battery"I've heard some similar complaints. In my case, the iPhone's battery is showing less drain since I've had the Apple Watch! "…having to charge the watch every night"I typically end the day with 40 to 50% battery left. In any case, is it a big deal to drop the watch on the magnetic charger button? Sheesh…
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JDSoCal
Member
Aspiring oligarch
Posts: 4,182
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Post by JDSoCal on Jun 6, 2015 11:49:42 GMT -8
Dick the butcher said to kill all the lawyers (mostly because by disturbing law and order, the corrupt can rule), but is that really who you'd kill first, if given immunity? Or would it be tech reporters? Or analysts? Or Fast Money panelists? You may only pick one.
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coma
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Post by coma on Jun 6, 2015 12:30:24 GMT -8
I'll take tech reporters for a $1000, JD . . .
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Post by redinaustin on Jun 6, 2015 12:37:31 GMT -8
A neat tweet: @wtffacts: The generation that invented the internet, the smartphone, and the iPad all played outside as children. Could it be that some of our favorite commentators didn't play outside? ?
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Post by auhkram on Jun 6, 2015 14:24:40 GMT -8
This Barron's article seems to be a classic Apple WATCH attack and way late to the game, but interesting in its formulaic approach. The title is "Apple Watch is Not User Friendly" - no link and behind a paywall reachable via the Goog - but fear not, I've quoted way too much below cause I found it annoying and over the top. Also notable was the watch expert's approach to the review, which seems to be the new norm. Over the top indeed! Your interpretation of this FUD job is spot on. Yes, he is. To respond to the specifics: "Strapping the band on is a chore, requiring dexterous finger maneuvers to properly fit the pin."He's just barely started and already desperate. The sport strap takes a mere pull-and-press. "Configuring the Apple Watch was not at all intuitive for me."It's hard to imagine how Apple could make it simpler or better directed. You are guided through setup every step of the way with on-screen prompts and short instructions. Even the pairing process has been simplified—no codes to enter, just focus the iPhone's camera on the watch face and bingo! "A bug quickly showed up where notifications—alerts such as text messages received by my phone that should have been immediately sent to the watch—weren’t coming through."That's possible. I have not encountered the issue. "I gave the watch another chance, out of respect for Apple, and found that it requires patience and training to master."If I were an "engineer," I would not make that information public out of respect for myself. Learning how to control and interact with the Apple Watch takes perhaps an hour of reading and practice. Is that what he calls "patience and training?" "Once I reset several settings, the notifications finally began working as intended."Oh! A miracle! "Most of the apps won’t work without an iPhone connection"True. "…and then are agonizingly slow to load."I have yet to experience the "agony" of slow app loading. In any case and such as it is, this is a third-party problem that Apple may shortly help to resolve. "Just telling the time takes getting used to. You have to deliberately and indiscreetly raise the watch toward your face for the screen to display the time."Absolute nonsense. It does not take a raise of the arm at all—deliberate or otherwise. It merely requires the normal rotation that one traditionally does to glance at a watch face. It has been 100% reliable for me. "On occasion, it fails to wake up. When it works, its responsiveness is not immediate"Once again, I have never experienced such a problem. "…even after a major software update was installed."Wait…what? "Major" software update? Is version 2.0 already out? (You'd think an "engineer" would know the difference between a minor update and a major one…) "In bright sunlight, the screen is difficult to see."In direct bright sun (unshaded by one's free hand), perhaps. Beyond that, he may not know that display brightness is adjustable… "During meetings, I couldn’t resist compulsively turning the watch toward my face with each alert"Idiot. First, you control what alerts your Apple Watch presents. Second, the Apple Watch has a readily accessible instant "Do not disturb" setting. "…the draining of my iPhone’s precious battery"I've heard some similar complaints. In my case, the iPhone's battery is showing less drain since I've had the Apple Watch! "…having to charge the watch every night"I typically end the day with 40 to 50% battery left. In any case, is it a big deal to drop the watch on the magnetic charger button? Sheesh… I have an Apple watch and agree with everything Deasys said. This hit piece is ridiculous. I've had my watch for 4 weeks now and my wrist feels naked without it. Saving the few seconds each time I get a notification by quickly looking at the watch, if that's all the watch could do and it does so very well is enough for me. Everything else that is does is just icing on the cake.
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Post by jmolloy on Jun 6, 2015 14:55:34 GMT -8
OK, Sorry to lob a hand grenade into the conversation. But the guy from Barrons is actually right.
The Apple watch has a steep learning curve.
Don't get me wrong - I love mine and it is great - BUT it took a while to get hold of the functionality and be able to use it.
This is not how Apple usually works and I fear it may also be related to the falling of iPad sales.
I know that skeuomorphism is now frowned upon but I think that the reason the iPad took off - especially with older users was that you pressed a button and it presented something familiar that anyone could grasp and use, which is why several older people I know purchased the iPad and it was their first computer purchase ever. When iOS 7 came out and removed that look and feel I think that many older people had the rug pulled out from them.
Of course it could be argued that the rocketing sales of the iPhone 6 and 6+ undercuts my entire argument and as a shareholder it's great that Apple has moved low margin iPad sales to the high margin iPhone 6 sales - in both versions but I think something has been lost.
So when you reach for your apple watch and notice that little red dot at the top of the screen and you know a swipe down will bring you the notifications you need to look at take a step back and realize there is nothing in the universe has prepared you to either know that or do that. Again with the swipe up gesture that brings your glances forward. You have to know that to do that. Same with the buttons on the watch. You have to be told what they do - nothing in your life experience has prepared you to know that. You have to be told.
With the iPhone and the iPad you pressed on something and if you got lost you pressed the one button the device had and you'd be taken back to as et of icons.
Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic device. I just feel that perhaps too much geekiness is now required to use the device. And don't get me started on force touch, it's something that works great but you have to know about it.
Up until now prior knowledge has nothing to do with using Apple stuff - or if it was prior knowledge it was stuff you did at some point in your life with something real.
The Watch has gone elsewhere with the new gestures. It may be the future but I think it is very fair to say that it has left quite a large number of people behind.
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Ted
fire starter
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Post by Ted on Jun 6, 2015 14:58:05 GMT -8
Dick the butcher said to kill all the lawyers (mostly because by disturbing law and order, the corrupt can rule), but is that really who you'd kill first, if given immunity? Or would it be tech reporters? Or analysts? Or Fast Money panelists? You may only pick one. Clearly, JD, there is a dark, festering corner of Hell reserved only for tech-reporters-with-an-agenda - somewhere between, oh, say, necrophiliacs and big game hunters.
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Post by plcm123 on Jun 7, 2015 5:41:32 GMT -8
OK, Sorry to lob a hand grenade into the conversation. But the guy from Barrons is actually right. The Apple watch has a steep learning curve. Don't get me wrong - I love mine and it is great - BUT it took a while to get hold of the functionality and be able to use it. This is not how Apple usually works and I fear it may also be related to the falling of iPad sales. I know that skeuomorphism is now frowned upon but I think that the reason the iPad took off - especially with older users was that you pressed a button and it presented something familiar that anyone could grasp and use, which is why several older people I know purchased the iPad and it was their first computer purchase ever. When iOS 7 came out and removed that look and feel I think that many older people had the rug pulled out from them. Of course it could be argued that the rocketing sales of the iPhone 6 and 6+ undercuts my entire argument and as a shareholder it's great that Apple has moved low margin iPad sales to the high margin iPhone 6 sales - in both versions but I think something has been lost. So when you reach for your apple watch and notice that little red dot at the top of the screen and you know a swipe down will bring you the notifications you need to look at take a step back and realize there is nothing in the universe has prepared you to either know that or do that. Again with the swipe up gesture that brings your glances forward. You have to know that to do that. Same with the buttons on the watch. You have to be told what they do - nothing in your life experience has prepared you to know that. You have to be told. With the iPhone and the iPad you pressed on something and if you got lost you pressed the one button the device had and you'd be taken back to as et of icons. Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic device. I just feel that perhaps too much geekiness is now required to use the device. And don't get me started on force touch, it's something that works great but you have to know about it. Up until now prior knowledge has nothing to do with using Apple stuff - or if it was prior knowledge it was stuff you did at some point in your life with something real. The Watch has gone elsewhere with the new gestures. It may be the future but I think it is very fair to say that it has left quite a large number of people behind. Years of using the iPhone should have prepared you to at least figure that out (the notification dot) There are only afew possibilities (swipe up, down, sideway) which should take no more than 2 seconds to succeed.
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Post by plcm123 on Jun 7, 2015 6:07:17 GMT -8
Regarding the Barron article reporter, I also think the guy is a douche.
I've been using my Apple watch for 3 days since it arrived and I noticed about 50% battery level at the end of each day. I have not tried any 3rd party apps so I have no comment on the performance. The first time pairing set up was relatively easy.
The Apple watch I have is the sport space gray w/ black plastic band ( I bought the extra white band the day after and it looks very nice I must say). The first time I tried to put it on it tookme a bit of struggle, until I figured out that it's much better to simply snap in the pin first before inserting the band's end into the loop; and I really think this is what that idiot reporter was complaining about when he said it required some finger maneuver in putting it on.
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Post by Red Shirted Ensign on Jun 7, 2015 6:33:38 GMT -8
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Post by phoebear611 on Jun 7, 2015 6:44:15 GMT -8
Forgive my indifference but unless there is a wow factor or something truly differentiating why is it such a HUGE deal? (Referring to the music streaming). Just wondering what the heck they can do to actually get folks who are now committed to other services to drop them and say - hell no, gotta go with Apple on this one. I hope they have more substantive news to deliver - that's just me.
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Post by Luckychoices on Jun 7, 2015 7:08:22 GMT -8
Thanks for posting this, Red. I don't presently stream music and probably won't use Apple's streaming. But these comments, coming from such an important person in the music business, make me think it's an important deal and good move for Apple. Anything that puts Apple in a position of having the best of something, e.g. music streaming, is, IMO, an asset when it comes to people choosing the Apple brand. ===================== “It’s happening tomorrow,” Morris said during an interview at Midem in Cannes that primarily focused on his storied career in the music industry. A highlight of that career was a 37-year partnership with iconic producer Jimmy Iovine, who now is running Apple’s music services after the company paid $3 billion to acquire Beats. Underscoring Iovine’s role in the music industry, Morris said he still talks to him twice every day by phone. Morris said the move by Apple to bring in Iovine was a brilliant one.“What does Apple bring to this?” Morris said. “Well, they’ve got $178 billion dollars in the bank. And they have 800 million credit cards in iTunes. Spotify has never really advertised because it’s never been profitable. My guess is that Apple will promote this like crazy and I think that will have a halo effect on the streaming business. “A rising tide will lift all boats,” he added. “It’s the beginning of an amazing moment for our industry.”
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Post by artman1033 on Jun 7, 2015 7:39:22 GMT -8
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Post by artman1033 on Jun 7, 2015 7:50:22 GMT -8
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Post by Lstream on Jun 7, 2015 8:44:04 GMT -8
Regarding bands, I have had a Milanese loop on order since April. It still shows shipping as being 5-6 weeks out. I am on my second day with the Watch. All it takes is a bit of curiousity and maybe some reading, and you are set. People bitching about it being non intuitive are page hit whores, or expect to be spoon fed everything. And the complaint about some stuff being new?! Really? We have a brand new product category, and there are complaints due to new UI modes? SMH.
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Post by redinaustin on Jun 7, 2015 8:44:13 GMT -8
If Apple wanted Gurman shut down he would be. Why don't they want that?
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Post by deasys on Jun 7, 2015 8:59:22 GMT -8
OK, Sorry to lob a hand grenade into the conversation. But the guy from Barrons is actually right. The Apple watch has a steep learning curve. I think Apple could have done a better job of providing a quick orientation or framework to the Apple Watch. On the other hand, Apple has provided tons of clear, informative materials to help new owners get up to speed including video guides (available directly in the "Apple Watch" app on your iPhone) and the Apple Watch User Guide (PDF). The labelled diagram alone on p. 5 of that document gets you well on your way. Jean-Louis Gassée did make an important point in his Apple Watch: Five Weeks, A Dog's View article. He noted that, He then presented his own excellent orientation: I hope this will be helpful to new Apple Watch owners.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2015 9:26:31 GMT -8
Regarding bands, I have had a Milanese loop on order since April. It still shows shipping as being 5-6 weeks out. I am on my second day with the Watch. All it takes is a bit of curiousity and maybe some reading, and you are set. People bitching about it being non intuitive are page hit whores, or expect to be spoon fed everything. And the complaint about some stuff being new?! Really? We have a brand new product category, and there are complaints due to new UI modes? SMH. For myself, I had a rather easy time of it. Some trial and error? Sure! I viewed Apple's Watch videos ahead of time and may have helped, but I was up and running in no time. I love the Watch and as much as I'm tempted by the high-end mechanicals, I'm MUCH less inclined to buy one now, unwilling to forsake both the convenience and features of Apple's Watch.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2015 9:32:06 GMT -8
If Apple wanted Gurman shut down he would be. Why don't they want that? I don't know about that. Apart from threatening Apple employees with termination for leaking information, Apple's too big an organization now to conduct a witch hunt for the blabbermouths. Mark Gurman is no friend of Apple, and accordingly, he'll be watching it at home and not as a member of the media. I think some of the "sell the news" occurred over the past two weeks. I'm not expecting much from WWDC and will pounce on any AAPL weakness.
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JDSoCal
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Aspiring oligarch
Posts: 4,182
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Post by JDSoCal on Jun 7, 2015 10:32:30 GMT -8
Of course they could shut Gurman down. It's well-documented how Apple roots out leakers and terminates them. Either there is an active investigation going, the leaks are intentional, or Tim has changed Steve's draconian policies on this. That last option is hard to believe from the guy who supposedly doubled-down on secrecy.
As a former journalist, who relied on well-placed deep background sources, painstakingly cultivated, through building real relationships, working long hours, and enduring a lot of hate from miffed higher ups, I can respect the guy for cracking the toughest of nuts. I was a noob then, and was amazed by how lazy and dumb journalists were about basic J-school stuff that Bob Woodward has made famous for 40+ years. The fact that this kid can do it with such a widely-covered company just reinforces what we think about tech journalists. They are retarded.
But, from the stockholder perspective, if these leaks are unintentional, some leakers need to get plugged, and be walked to their cars by security with their shit in a box - as any Fortune 500 company would do.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2015 12:01:39 GMT -8
The only leak from Apple that makes sense was to dampen expectations for Apple TV, if that's not coming. I think it's silly to think Apple approves of the detail Gurman broke on Friday. I guess we'll know tomorrow if Tim's "doubling-down" on secrecy is working. My bet is that it isn't.
I agree that Gurman is far more reliable than the other talking heads who talk before they think or god forbid, do any research.
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Ted
fire starter
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Post by Ted on Jun 7, 2015 12:05:25 GMT -8
Forgive my indifference but unless there is a wow factor or something truly differentiating why is it such a HUGE deal? (Referring to the music streaming). Just wondering what the heck they can do to actually get folks who are now committed to other services to drop them and say - hell no, gotta go with Apple on this one. I hope they have more substantive news to deliver - that's just me. Um, how bout create a compelling new service and advertise the heck out of it - just like Steve taught em? Granted Apple's track record with music hasn't been great over the last few years. iTunes still stinks, iTunes Radio was hyped and is pretty darned bad (playing the same songs over and over - why?), iTunes Match anybody? Ping... So, yes, the new streaming product could be disappointing, but I'm thinking it could also be good and do a few simple things well enough to get people who -maybe- have not signed up for a music service to climb aboard. Spotify losses $, has no $ to advertise with apparently and only has 60 million users. Apple could possibly crush them grab some market share just by carpet-bombing the world with (good?) ads. But with Trent Reznor and Jimmy & Dre on board, lots of time to work on this, big $$, and failures like the Maps app and Ping behind them, I'm hoping they've come up with something we can get excited about.
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Post by Lstream on Jun 7, 2015 13:33:19 GMT -8
Regarding bands, I have had a Milanese loop on order since April. It still shows shipping as being 5-6 weeks out. I am on my second day with the Watch. All it takes is a bit of curiousity and maybe some reading, and you are set. People bitching about it being non intuitive are page hit whores, or expect to be spoon fed everything. And the complaint about some stuff being new?! Really? We have a brand new product category, and there are complaints due to new UI modes? SMH. For myself, I had a rather easy time of it. Some trial and error? Sure! I viewed Apple's Watch videos ahead of time and may have helped, but I was up and running in no time. I love the Watch and as much as I'm tempted by the high-end mechanicals, I'm MUCH less inclined to buy one now, unwilling to forsake both the convenience and features of Apple's Watch. I have been thinking of the high end mechanicals too. But I am beginning to doubt that I will be able to give up the convenience of this device in exchange.
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chinacat
Moderator
AAPL Long since 2006
Posts: 4,426
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Post by chinacat on Jun 7, 2015 13:39:21 GMT -8
Since it's the weekend, if a bit late into it, I'm going to broach a topic that may very well generate too much vitriolic verbiage; I promise to move it to its own thread if it seems worth continuing. Definitely should not creep into the daily threads. I quoted Ted, but there is nothing personal about that because I cannot remember reading a single positive thing either here or in any Apple tech column ever about iTunes. I have little else to compare it to, but it has improved my enjoyment of my fairly large collection (more than 1200 albums, with hundreds more CDs and LPs yet to be ripped). Smart Playlists help me to keep in rotation well-liked songs that I haven't played in a while, or new favorites that I have lost track of. They let me mix complementary genres into constantly self-refreshing combinations. This does require some effort. Rating songs is crucial, and when outliers creep into the wrong rotation, some maintenance of the playlists is required. But I know that I enjoy my collection more now than before I started using playlists. Now perhaps my situation is atypical. My advanced age means that I have a substantial backlog to pull from (and thankfully, two sons who keep me in touch with more current items). But as I think back to the days of manually managing my collection, it was all too easy to fall back on a set of repetitive choices, especially missing favorites that were the one or two strong songs on an otherwise weak album. And the basic stuff of creating and re-using playlists for parties, birthdays, etc. also comes in handy. So i would be interested to know what other music collection management tools people have used and why they like them better, or conversely, what they find unsatisfying about iTunes for how they want to enjoy their music collections. Otherwise, looking forward to the webcast tomorrow and to the day that AAPL breaks out of its doldrums.
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Mav
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Post by Mav on Jun 7, 2015 15:05:56 GMT -8
Regarding bands, I have had a Milanese loop on order since April. It still shows shipping as being 5-6 weeks out. I am on my second day with the Watch. All it takes is a bit of curiousity and maybe some reading, and you are set. People bitching about it being non intuitive are page hit whores, or expect to be spoon fed everything. And the complaint about some stuff being new?! Really? We have a brand new product category, and there are complaints due to new UI modes? SMH. For myself, I had a rather easy time of it. Some trial and error? Sure! I viewed Apple's Watch videos ahead of time and may have helped, but I was up and running in no time. I love the Watch and as much as I'm tempted by the high-end mechanicals, I'm MUCH less inclined to buy one now, unwilling to forsake both the convenience and features of Apple's Watch. This is not ENTIRELY a troll. How techie do you consider yourself to be? What iPhone do you have, and how often do you sigh to yourself about buginess and lack of system resources? (Baseline test.)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2015 16:44:45 GMT -8
For myself, I had a rather easy time of it. Some trial and error? Sure! I viewed Apple's Watch videos ahead of time and may have helped, but I was up and running in no time. I love the Watch and as much as I'm tempted by the high-end mechanicals, I'm MUCH less inclined to buy one now, unwilling to forsake both the convenience and features of Apple's Watch. This is not ENTIRELY a troll. How techie do you consider yourself to be? What iPhone do you have, and how often do you sigh to yourself about buginess and lack of system resources? (Baseline test.) I would rather research issues online than take my chances with an Apple Genius who more likely than not would have to do the same thing to fix my issue. Lack of system resources? I'm a heavy user of both a 6+ and 5S and unless you're running iOS8 on a 3GS, I'm inclined to ask if you're trolling us?? I AM a little irritated (as a shareholder) about Apple retail replacing my iPad Air 2 because the Genius wasn't able to properly diagnose an AT&T issue that stumped me. It turned out to be an invalid SIM card. If some are expecting a smartwatch works like a regular watch simply by turning the crown, then yeah, there's a learning curve. There IS some lag in certain apps, but for a 1.0 version, I'm quite pleased with Apple's execution. Things will get easier, more feature-rich and faster from here.
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Mav
Member
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Post by Mav on Jun 7, 2015 18:10:00 GMT -8
This is not ENTIRELY a troll. How techie do you consider yourself to be? What iPhone do you have, and how often do you sigh to yourself about buginess and lack of system resources? (Baseline test.) I would rather research issues online than take my chances with an Apple Genius who more likely than not would have to do the same thing to fix my issue. Lack of system resources? I'm a heavy user of both a 6+ and 5S and unless you're running iOS8 on a 3GS, I'm inclined to ask if you're trolling us?? I AM a little irritated (as a shareholder) about Apple retail replacing my iPad Air 2 because the Genius wasn't able to properly diagnose an AT&T issue that stumped me. It turned out to be an invalid SIM card. If some are expecting a smartwatch works like a regular watch simply by turning the crown, then yeah, there's a learning curve. There IS some lag in certain apps, but for a 1.0 version, I'm quite pleased with Apple's execution. Things will get easier, more feature-rich and faster from here. OK, so you're an iPhone power user. In which case you must not use the apps I do (my rotation doesn't include Infinity Blade III or whatever lately, though), because it is TOO EASY for my iPhone 6 to say "I needed 2GB of RAM yesterday, oh, or maybe a restart, is my lack of core app functionality showing again?". That or I use a collection of buggy apps? Whatever the case, Apple can address it. Don't tell me no one here has had the potentially seriously annoying "Delete All only option" situation (read, tap wrong and say goodbye to entire conversation thread forever) when deleting stuff in Messages. Or, shaking to Undo and it doesn't work. We agree on the the second part though. If you're putting iPod+ (and a few extra plusses) functionality into something with that small a screen, there's gonna be a learning curve! The compare in that case is NOT bigger screened iPhones and iPads, it's devices with similar form factors.
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