This is a really good round up of Apple links from Michael Tsai. I just found Steve Blank's post on Tim Cook as Steve Ballmer a couple of weeks ago and since then there's been a few more posts on where Apple is going.
I've bought a fair few Apple products over the last 10 years but I'm not sure when I'll buy one again. The phones are admittedly excellent but I get 80% of the experience on my cheap Android phablet for a quarter of the price. Also it's really the hardware and local software experience with the phones that are good. Any Apple service has tended to be terrible e.g. iCloud - especially compared to Google's services on Android.
Also iTunes has always been a disaster. And now their laptops seem to be becoming glorified toys - any port I used has been removed. They have a fascination with thinness but I'd trade a few mm for battery life. I'm not sure what I'd do with one now over a Chromebook - especially given that Chromebooks are about a quarter of the price and soon you'll be able to use Android apps on them.
They never really did much with the Apple TV. I have an older model and it sits unused under the tv now. The remote for that was terrible - looks over usability. Given the way the app store took off on iOS, I thought they had an opportunity to push it as a gaming box. However that never happened. I think gaming seems to be a real blind spot at Apple and it never got the attention that music or movies got. It's a shame really.
My first iBook got me into the Mac ecosystem and the halo effect lead to more purchases but recent hardware updates (or lack of it on the desktop) are pushing me out again. It's more likely that Google has the halo effect now and that I'll be switching to their ecosystem completely.
→ posted on January 24, 2017apple