Apple - Showing The Cracks?

[onewhippedpuppy]

It seems that companies can only continue a great run for so long. I'm starting to wonder if Apple is slipping. I like tech, and I like it to just work without tinkering. My wife and I have had an iPhone 3, 4, and now 5s. My kids both have new iPod touches, and we have two iPads in the house. But in recent months they have began to infuriate me with flaky, random behavior that has been difficult to correct. Just a few examples:

Software updates, the damned devices forget their settings. That means I have to manually reconfigure every device for stuff like iMessage, or my wife will get my text messages.

My kid's iPods, despite being set to manually manage music, have random songs appear. Worse yet, YOU CAN'T EFFING DELETE THEM. Not in iTunes, not on the phone. I had to manually download songs that were in iCloud so I could delete them from the phone, and yes I had show all music turned off. My son's iPod had over 100 songs that we did not select, some that were not appropriate. Is it too hard to add a "delete all music" button so I could at least start over?

When they opened their iPods on Christmas, it took an easy 3 hours of my time to restore them from a backup and update them. Both crashed at some point, causing me to start over.

I could go on and on. Am I the only one? iTunes has royally sucked for a LONG time, but it seems that iOS 7 has brought it to the devices.

[JavaBrewer]

Since updating my MBP to 10.8.5 it is a crashing POS. I am constantly getting a GPU panic that is documented by Apple as a bug. Apple says anything older than 3 years is not eligible for fix. I missed it by 2 months and both local Apple stores told me to pound sand. Same story for an older G5 iMac that toasted it's MB inside 2 years.

My Nokia Lumia 920 running WP8 is having more and more issues. Seems every app update I do the apps run worse. WP8 mail app constantly crashes. GPS was broken until I did a recent update as was the great onboard camera. Now both work intermittently. My family is running Android phones and have zero issues.

I have no plans to spend any more of my money with Apple or MS. Android and Linux is my go to from here on out.

[Oracle]

I have iOS and Android and I have experienced issues on both platforms. Truthfully Android is no better and how its all fragmented makes iOS look like heaven sometimes..
But Android (latest release by the way) is getting better and I like the parental controls that don't exist on iOS.

[nostatic]

The recent and current MacBookPros with retina display and SSD have been very well behaved and (knock on wood) very stable. Industrial design still beats anyone else.

iPad - meh. It is a great tool for my music charts but beyond that I don't care for them. I tried to use only a tablet over the holidays and it convinced me that it isn't for me. I don't really like iOS7 but I don't like Android or MS mobile OSs either. I still find the iPhone to be hard to beat for functionality and form factor. At some point phones get too damn big. I actually find it easier to work on my 5s than on an iPad oddly enough. But if I need to do any real work, I need a real OS. My wife's Air suffered a coffee death at work, and they bought her a new 13" MBP. It is about the perfect combination of power and portability if you're in the Mac ecosphere. Have a time capsule now and everything backs up automatically. Setup of that was ridiculously easy. No geekery needed. I'm tired of messing with crap, I just want it to work.

Apple isn't perfect, but I haven't found a better/easier alternative, and their industrial design (hardware) still kicks arse.

[dondarnell]

Apple....blah. Nothing special. Buggy. I would ditch my iPhone if it weren't for the expensive ass docks in three of my cars.

[masraum]

Im a big fan of Android. I had an Google G1, then a Google G2 and now I have an HTC One S. I had an iPad 1st gen because at the time, there wasn't a better android option. I used it for a while around the house. It wasn't great, too heavy and too slow.

I just bought the missus a Macbook Air 11", so she bought me a new iPad Air (typing this post on it). The iPad Air is a huge improvement over the first gen iPad. It's much lighter and faster and works great for listening to music at work, surfing the net, reading, and the occasional game. Her Macbook Air is super cool. I've been a microsoft guy since the late 80s, but I'm considering going to an iMac for my next computer. I think the real strong point of Apple is their hardware. IOS isn't super impressive to me, but OSX seems pretty darn cool.

[Rusty914s]

My house is equivalent to a small apple store. A few issues here and there but nothing to complaint about.

About two months ago, my 6 year old iMac gave the screen of death. I upgraded the memory, followed internet directions and is now faster than when I bought it.

Apple products aren't perfect but when I look at my 4 year old PC next to it (intranet at work use to only allow PC), the PC looks like a machine from the 80's and behaves like from the 50's

[speeder]

Matt, do you have an Apple store near where you live? Are they any good?

I've had good luck with Apple products for a decade now but one of the big pluses for me is that when I have had an issue, the service at their stores has been amazing. And that's in multiple cities and multiple stores here in L.A.

I know it's a PIA to drive to the mall or wherever and make the appointment but I've had them hand me a new device more than once and quickly solve problems other times.

Overall, I've had great performance from the hardware. As for IOS7, I haven't installed it in my phone yet. Holding out because I like the old one.

[Chocaholic]

It's a once-enigmatic company that has lost it's larger-than-life leader. Jobs was really the personification of something that is otherwise another "institution". The masses can no longer identify with a "person" that we know won't tolerate anything but stellar performance and unrivaled innovation. Both of those have clearly fallen to the sidelines.

This transition started the day Steven Jobs left the scene.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Denis, no Apple store nearby. Nearest is OKC or KC, 2+ hours away. The joys of living in the big city. Honestly I was pretty happy with our products until I upgraded to iOS 7. That's when our phone problems started, and I had to tweak the hell out of the interface to make it not look like an anime cartoon that ran my battery down in a few hours. It's the first time I've felt the need to really tweak anything on an Apple product, normally I have been 100% satisfied with the products right out of the box. Like I said, they typically just work. It seems like they've been on a dud streak recently - Apple Maps and iOS 7 were both pretty half baked.

[scottmandue]

First, let me state, I have no dog in this fight... I have been a lowly tech for the last twenty years and spend half of my life digging around in the guts of these machines.

I have worked with and taken apart a few apples... to me all computers (apples, PC's, whatever) are just circuit boards and components.

I don't believe apple is any better or worse than any other computer.

I do believe they are living on there reputation and you are paying extra for the logo on the case.

I also believe over time their rep will fade, people will stop paying the premium, and they will go the way of IBM.

Just my two cents.

[VaSteve]

I downloaded a song in iTunes on the PC. I could not add it to my iPad by dragging it like every other song. I have to d/l off the cloud and load it that way. Weird.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by Rusty914s

My house is equivalent to a small apple store. A few issues here and there but nothing to complaint about.

About two months ago, my 6 year old iMac gave the screen of death. I upgraded the memory, followed internet directions and is now faster than when I bought it.

Apple products aren't perfect but when I look at my 4 year old PC next to it (intranet at work use to only allow PC), the PC looks like a machine from the 80's and behaves like from the 50's

A PC operates like a Mac with Parkinson's.

I do worry that Apple will start behaving like MSFT soon now that Jobs is gone.

rjp

[RANDY P]

PS you guys seen Apple's new depot service deal?

I bought my 2011 MBP in for a loose hinge- drivers side was loose. They said they had to send it in to the depot for repair- FOR A LOOSE HINGE.

How it works is that it would be a Tier service- and they would fix anything wrong with the computer- nothing but a loose hinge on mine.

The Tier service was $430.00- I literally laughed at the rep. I told her even at $100 / hr their quote is totally fcked up. There is nothing wrong with my machine except a LOOSE HINGE.

I finally nutted up, got the special screwdrivers and my torx bits out, and loctite and fixed it myself in 5 minutes.

It seems Aapl service has gone away now. I don't remember it being such an expensive PITA. They used to be cool.

Well, as long as they don't start sticking paid advertising into the search results like Win 8.1 does then I'll be OK.

If they start sucking I'm going Linux next.

rjp

[81Kremer930]

I had an Iphone for 4 years, and have had an Ipad for a little over 6 months. I just upgraded to a 5S and was kind of tired of the phone as it were. A month later, my little brother asked me to trade him my new 5S for his galaxy S4. I did, thinking it would be a good change, and that I would like learning and enjoy using a newer/different phone with different operating system. I WAS WRONG.... The Iphone is head and shoulders above the Galaxy. Easier to use, the functions require less user integration, and the OS is just better. Apple may be pricy, and the design is somewhat dated, but the functionality is all there and just better IMO.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

If they start sucking I'm going Linux next.

rjp

I have already started that move... loaded Mint on a sucky desktop I had at home that was running Vista... it is fantastic!

A real eye opener, I think as more people discover you can get an OS that is just as good as apple and MS for free there will be an exodus.

However I also think the market is fairly deeply entrenched in the belief that they need Microsoft/apple to hold their hand to get all the computing done.

You Apple guys crack me up, you stack up a PC with a slower processor and less RAM against a apple with more of everything and bash the PC.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I like Apple because of its customer service. My 2010 MacBook Pro graphics card died 2 months ago. I could still use it, was just slower in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Brought it to a store, they shipped it out and replaced the logic board, graphics card, keyboard and screen and top shell. Screen and keyboard were fine, no notes on why they replaced them, top shell had a tiny dent in it and that was noted on the repair order.

$320 for all that.

[speeder]

Matt, that sucks. The over the counter service at their stores is a big part of the deal with Apple.

[biosurfer1]

I've been a PC/android guy my whole life. I really don't have a problem with Apple with the exception of when it comes to money. Everything just seems to cost more. When you buy it, when you need to upgrade, when it needs to be repaired. It all seems to cost more.

ok, two problems. The time it takes for them to fix bugs is also annoying.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by 81Kremer930

I had an Iphone for 4 years, and have had an Ipad for a little over 6 months. I just upgraded to a 5S and was kind of tired of the phone as it were. A month later, my little brother asked me to trade him my new 5S for his galaxy S4. I did, thinking it would be a good change, and that I would like learning and enjoy using a newer/different phone with different operating system. I WAS WRONG.... The Iphone is head and shoulders above the Galaxy. Easier to use, the functions require less user integration, and the OS is just better. Apple may be pricy, and the design is somewhat dated, but the functionality is all there and just better IMO.

I always have to laugh when I read opinion pieces like this. I wish someone could post a couple examples of how iOS is easier to use, or iOS requires less user 'integration' (whatever that means), or the iOS is just better. Yeah right