Still Fearing the Reaper inessential.com

@brentsimmons Excellent point that every single other time before when the Mac went through a transition, the Mac was Apple’s only focus at the time—and, modulo some ocasional “hobbies” like the Newton or Claris, only source of revenue.

Today, though, it’s just one (small-ish) piece of the Apple pie—but it’s still a critical one (because without the Mac, you can’t (yet?) make the apps that are the compelling feature of its most extensive and profitable platform), and Apple leadership have no excuse for having “taken their eye off the ball on Mac” given that. That Apple leadership couldn’t recognize/pay attention to that fact is another reason I’m very wary.

It’s like you’ve built a great, expansive, fancy deck where your parties are awesome and well-attended, but you forget to inspect the support pillars and don’t realize that as the ground has shifted, they’ve come loose….

@smokey …and there’s a party across the street with better beer. :)

@smokey @brentsimmons When the iPod catapulted Apple as a mainstream electronics company did Steve Jobs "take his eye off the ball on Mac"? No, he didn't, so what can we look at, the iPad? It is not in the same position as the Mac was then re: power and capability.

There is no alternative; this situation is similar, except the iPhone has made a ridiculous amount more money, and so I can't help but think of it in a similar way.

@smokey @brentsimmons A related point: the Mac OS X transition wasn't exactly smooth either, and took many years even with Apple's full attention. There was a lot of frustration along the way.

@manton And some things that were lost I still miss.

@manton @brentsimmons Exactly. How many early Mac OS X releases was “It’s so much faster now!” a prominetly-promoted feature? Mac OS 9 was so much faster and all of your apps still ran/existed, even though it didn’t have lots of other modern niceties. I didn’t switch until I got a new PowerBook that wouldn’t boot Mac OS 9 near the end of 10.2 era, and I still used Classic for a fair amount of things (actually, I still use SheepShaver for a few apps that never made the transition to Mac OS X…).

@smokey I mean to say that I can understand the iOS-centric optimists (I've noticed a lot of cross-over with this crowd and people like STS who think Marzipan will definitely be great and that Microsoft's hardware is good enough to forgive Windows, neither of which I think are true) but I do not believe the Mac's role at the time of the iPod boom can be reproduced; the closest thing I can think of for today, during the iPhone boom, is the iPad but it's nowhere near ready to take on such a role.

@simonwoods Getting closer (sorry, my brain is obviously not fully engaged today) ;-)

but I do not believe the Mac's role at the time of the iPod boom can be reproduced

Role as in the flagship platform/revenue source (which the Mac is never going to be again, agreed)? Or as in the more complex device that is used to support/develop software for the simpler one (which the iPad is not yet ready to be, and therefore if the Mac craters there’s no successor as the sturdy support pillar that holds the ecosystem up)?

@smokey Both, I guess. I think the Mac appears to be less significant but that's only if you look at the surface level.

@simonwoods 👍

@manton I went to the WWDC where they handed out the early release of Mac OS X. Judging on the first few releases I think a person could rationally have damned the whole effort. But taking into account the intent and effort being made thinking long term paid off for Apple and developers who stuck through it. I launched a fun business out of what started there. Of course some of the tech was doomed and the most lasting thing I have left from those bits is some logo’d mock turtlenecks still in my closet.

@manton @smokey @brentsimmons Not to mention, I recall Jobs saying in the video for the unveiling of OS X that they had a 'single OS strategy'. Whilst it was crucial that they got it right because it was their entire focus, it's now even more important that they bring all of their platforms into line and ensure a consistent experience. I'm optimistic about where the Mac is going. The Mac Pro and recent laptop keyboard issues must have been a kick up the backside.

@brentsimmons I too fear the reaper. I want to remain positive but I predict the worse. Similar lock downs at work make me realize that our computing future is not going to be rosy. Makes me sad.