Quick Takes: Apple's Ecosystem Explained, Crumb-Resistant MacBook Keyboards, and More

Here's a wild idea Apple - Why don't you admit to your mistake and realize that the butterfly keyboards were an indulgence in Ive's ego (much like the Trash Can Mac was) and go back to the scissor keyswitches?

Interesting. Don’t get locked into one ecosystem. Does that include google?

I won't watch the YouTube video, but in general I think the benefits of using an integrated set of tools outweigh the fear of "lock in". You either take the pain all at once when you change from one ecosystem to another, or continuously over time in trying to make tools work together when they weren't meant to. I'll choose the former.

Marques Brownlee is a decent enough guy, and his general theory here seems alright, though it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. But I think some of the motivations that he attributes to a few things in this video are a little off.

First of all, he suggests that one of the goals Apple has every time they invent a new product is to gather more of your data, which is a bit specious. Apple sells products, not advertising, so a user’s data does not have the same sinister value for Apple that it does to Google and Amazon.

Secondly, the idea that Apple’s primary motivation is lock-in, rather than giving the user the best possible experience is a projection or speculation, not a fact. Apple didn’t invent the W1 chip to lock people into the ecosystem, they did it to make the wireless experience better and smoother because the existing Bluetooth and chip technologies in the marketplace couldn’t do what they wanted. This is true a lot of the time—Apple gets into businesses or areas where the current technology isn’t good enough. Texting sucked so they fixed it and made it better. But the reason they didn’t make Messages or FaceTime available for other formats first and foremost is that they don’t control the hardware and software of Android and other phone makers, (and there’s a lot of cheap hardware out there) so they cannot assure a high level customer experience the way they traditionally like to.

It all goes back to the early days when a lot of third party companies didn’t make hardware/software that was Mac compatible, so Jobs and Apple often had to roll up their sleeves and make some of their own hardware and software out of necessity, lest Mac buyers might be so underserved that they leave the platform.

Thirdly, and this cannot be emphasized enough, every other manufacturer out there would love to keep you in their ecosystem—they just aren’t as good at it!

For all my needling of Apple, they deserve all the financial success they get. Apple sells useful products to people who want to buy them and bring more beauty/art/functionality to people's lives. Contrast this with a lot of companies that make money deceiving and outright shagging people (e.g. big banks and Google (YouTube censorship)). They remain the best at providing an integrated ecosystem...in spite of Siri.

Crumb-resistant keyboard. I like the idea. :)
[doublepost=1520638561][/doublepost]Describing integrated features across different products as being "hooks," shows how ignorant or biased Marques Brownlee is.

He’s actually a terrible tech reviewer. I have no clue how he got so popular. He’s generic and super biased.

Crumb-resistant keyboard. I like the idea. :)
[doublepost=1520638561][/doublepost]Describing integrated features across different products as being "hooks," shows how ignorant or biased Marques Brownlee is.

We used to have those. They called them "removable keyboards". You just slid a couple of sliders, popped the keyboard up, hit it with a little compressed air, and you were back in business. Just saying.

The iPad Pro keyboard (Smart Keyboard) is crumb resistant because it’s covered in fabric.

Apple desperately needs some solution for the new MBPs since the keyboard failure rate is astounding.

Steve was quoted for the strategy of trapping young customers with iTunes, iPod, and "the cool factor."
I was firmly in the Apple ecosystem, but I am branching out now and seeing how limited Apple products really are. For instance, the Mac Mini/Pro haven't been updated in years and I don't want an iMac. Linux Mint is a breath of fresh air.