In my previous post I wrote about choosing an operating system. I chose macOS in the end. Frankly, this was a more difficult choice for me than it has been in the past. Certainly the price of Apple's hardware has always been a deterrent to entering into the world of Apple, but in the past choosing the hardware was much more closely associated with budget than anything else. As Apple has evolved the choices are not as "simple" as in the past. Sure, you had to choose if you wanted to buy a computer that had no floppy drive just as you now have to choose if you want a computer with nothing but USB-C ports and a headphone jack (which will undoubtedly be gone before long), but you rarely had to choose if you wanted to buy a computer with built-in "hardware bugs".
My advice for anyone that asks me which computer to buy has always been, "Buy the latest, most powerful computer you can afford regardless of the operating system you choose." Now I find myself breaking this rule intentionally for the first time, not only when choosing my Mac laptop, but also when I was recently asked which iPhone to buy. In my case this meant buying a 2017 MacBook Pro with a 13" Retina Display rather than the 2018 model. While I did double the RAM and the HD, I did not purchase the model equipped with the fantastically ridiculous Touch Bar. While this decision did save me several hundred dollars, it also meant I had to give up the latest generation of Intel's processor (which provide an incredible boost in performance), two extra ports, and a few other features. That being said, I would gladly recommend the 2017 model without the Touch Bar to anyone interested in an Apple laptop. It is an amazing piece of hardware thus far. In the case of suggesting an iPhone (the day after the release of the newest models), I was forced to recommend the iPhone 8 rather than the latest, most "advanced" hardware Apple is now offering.
Obviously there is a huge amount of subjectivity involved when discussing the issue of the Touch Bar and the "notch". Still, it is also obvious that a large portion of Mac users (and probably close to 100% of users of other operating systems) find the thing gimmicky and distracting at best, and a step backwards into a past universe that never existed at worst. It is as if Apple went back in time to a period where touch screens on computers had not been invented to start innovating towards what would become the future...only they set their time machine to the wrong date and skipped right over the place where that innovation would have occurred had it been needed. In other words, Apple has not forced its users into the future as they have been known to do, but rather they have forced their users into a past that never existed.
As concerns the notch, it appears that other manufacturers are doing what often happens and following right along with the trend (although technically they were not the first to do this). Unfortunately, I doubt another solution for edge to edge displays without a notch will be viable before the end of life of the iPhone 8. Still, I cannot recommend such a (dare I say it again) gimmicky piece of hardware to anyone with a clear conscious. In this case it may indeed be a matter of inevitable progressive innovation, but if so, it is one I will try very hard to jump over. The notch gives hardware developers the ability to claim edge to edge displays, but at what cost? Why would I want an edge to edge display that conceals content on the very display I am now looking at? Frankly, I cannot wrap my mind around it.
In this latter case, I can certainly see a future where technology finds a way to provide both a true edge to edge display along with a camera, mic, speaker and whatever else is needed. In the former case, one can only hope that Apple is simply attempting to placate users that want something they are unwilling to provide because of super secret plans they have for the future. I refuse to believe that every Mac for the next five years will sport a Touch Bar. I suspect, and hope dearly, that something will change when they roll out their new silicone in 2020 in conjunction with the continued convergence of iOS and macOS. If I am wrong, it will be much more difficult to choose macOS in the future unless they find a way to include the Touch Bar in such a way that I can safely ignore it and still get my work done without distraction and even disruption.
My relationship with Apple has been tenuous for some time. Months ago I wrote about Apple products I was impressed with (the iPhone 8 being one of them), and two years ago I was railing on the fanatical acceptance of everything they do by a certain demographic. I hate to say it because it has become almost cliché, but the tension did seem to begin escalating shortly after the death of Steve Jobs. He may have been a huge douche, but there is no doubt he knew innovation when he saw it, and was patient enough to wait for the right time to implement it. I hope Apple can find its way back home again, but as long as profit margins are high I see nothing compelling them to do so.
I feel like Jobs was always behind certain decisions. Like when Apple released a keyboard and trackpad that ran on double-A batteries. I got the impression he insisted on that kind of stuff, even though he probably had nothing to do with it.
I just imagine, “Look, you idiot, I don’t want to use some stupid one-of-a-kind gum-stick batteries in this. I want something I can replace myself if it’s dead. Make it happen.”
I think he was also the driving force behind the agonizingly slow, methodical nature of software updates and to some degree hardware as well. At the time it was infuriating, but in retrospect I believe he knew what it took to achieve excellence. By the time he died Apple was positioned to move as fast as possible without negative repercussions to their bottom line.
The current state of affairs is software that is ahead of the hardware or hardware that is ahead of the software. He was certainly idolized to an unrealistic degree, but nothing like ‘Apple as a lifestyle brand’ is at this point. I was occasionally taken aback when Jobs would announce something mediocre and the audience would applaud in madness, but it was nothing in comparison with the insanity of hearing applause when Cook described drawing on one Apple Watch and seeing it show up on your friend’s. Of course, just when you thought it could not get any more pathetic he went on to show in great detail the display tables that would be used in Apple Stores to show off the watches. Fortunately they redeemed themselves with a useless touch surface, a screen that is partially blocked by design, and talking poop.
None of this changes the fact that I still bought a Mac, but it was a MUCH harder choice this time. It feels as if the point of convergence between the negatives of Microsoft Windows and Apple’s software/hardware offerings is quickly approaching.