Why doesn't anyone come close to apple as far as design?

[IGBT]

apple is a novelty fan boy box. Fits right in with all their Sharper Image junk.

 

[xSauronx]

Why is this? The most effective marketing of a any technology company for over ~12 years. That includes over all marketing, including planning, product development, AND promotion.

this is exactly how i feel. ios is nice, as far as ive had to use it, os x is not bad, but not great. i have zero interest in their products, but their marketing is excellent

ms has bad marketing and always seems to stop short on software. i have an android phone, because it was clear that windows phone 7 would be sub par compared to android, and i definitely dont have any MS apps on my phone to interact with my pc.

/try to take my android phone and youll pull back a stump
//google can almost just outright have my soul

 

[Pliablemoose]

Apple's massive advantage is being able to control virtually every aspect of their products.

They own their OS and tailor their products to it.
They control the manufacturing with an iron fist and a single vision
They have their own retail presence so they don't have to cut deals with retailers (the retailers put up with razor thin profit margins and make it up on accessory sales)
They provide great warranty service at their retail outlets
They have a great story people identify with
Their products are slightly better than average
They have a very good marketing team

No one has the control over their products that Apple has, Microsoft is stuck working with hundreds of manufacturers, all with a different focus.

The only manufacturers in mobile that can challenge them have poor leadership, RIM, HP, Nokia who don't seem to have the vision to knock their products out of the park like Apple. HP has a shot with it's purchase of Palm, but it remains to be seen if they can pull it off...

 

[Bill Brasky]

Apple is great if you like "their way" which come with their price. I prefer flexibility.

 

[0roo0roo]

lol anandtechs new article... what does that resemble??

 

[Locut0s]

I think the Level 10 looks gaudy, but to each their own.

Lian Li, Silverstone, etc. make some very classy aluminum enclosures, though.

Love Lian Li cases. Expensive as fuck as far as a case goes but they make amazing cases!

 

[MustangSVT]

1. that's how they sell apple, instant aesthetic classification. And they do spend alot of resources in design development.

2. PCs Always have to deal with using various parts and upgrades down the road. Just look at the various sizes in graphic cards and even heatsinks.

I do like some apple design but I don't think it is miles ahead of everyone else.

But their marketing is doing very very good job

 

[Locut0s]

There is no doubt that Apple is a trend setter. However to say that no one comes close to them now is to out yourself as a apple fan boy. There are other companies out there with equally good designs and philosophies. Asus comes to mind.

 

[Mike Gayner]

I used to hate Apple, but more and more I'm being drawn to them. Not because I particularly like their products, but mostly because the competition in most cases is so unbelievably poor.

Example 1: Apple's Macbook power supplies vs other laptop manufacturers:

It's literally less than half the size and weight.

Example 2 (no pictures this time) - I wanted a basic media player box for my TV. Apple's solution - the Apple TV, which has integrated wireless n, uses an x86 CPU so can be jailbroken to use a multitude of excellent software, and has a beautiful interface out of the box. Also integrates instantly with itunes without fucking around with the network.

Unfortunately I needed it to work with a shitty old TV, which means component out (Apple TV only supports HDMI). I have to go with a WD Live TV, which was more expensive, didn't have wifi, and had a big ugly power adapter. Moreover, it has the worst interface known to mankind, and you have to be a network engineer to get it to find media on your computer. Fuck people, why are Apple the only ones getting this stuff right?

 

[ed21x]

The only manufacturers in mobile that can challenge them have poor leadership, RIM, HP, Nokia who don't seem to have the vision to knock their products out of the park like Apple. HP has a shot with it's purchase of Palm, but it remains to be seen if they can pull it off...

you're comparing apples to oranges here. while android has the largest marketshare and growing, it's only a matter of time before the individual android-based phone manufacturers outpace apple's offering. At the current rate, Apple really needs to pull something off because their marketshare has been stagnant for the last year, which equates mainly to apple owners upgrading from one iphone generation to another rather than new users joining the fold. While this is happening, companies like HTC and Samsung are actually on pace to match Apple in units sold sometime this year, and these are only but a fraction of Android handsets being sold out there.

 

[sourceninja]

Screw the look of apple, I didn't buy it for looks. I want a solid laptop design with apple's touchpad and great *nix support.

 

[NFS4]

Those machines are going to sell for ~$200. Can you even buy an Apple power brick for that? :^D

Then no doubt it will be cheaply made using cheap low end plastic parts. Apple is designed to take a beating and last over a decade. Also at $200 it will be using low end components, apple only uses the best components.

The ASUS UX is made out of aluminum alloy, features a SATA 6GB/sec interface, and has a Core i7 in it. You do the math...

 

[lxskllr]

The ASUS UX is made out of aluminum alloy, features a SATA 6GB/sec interface, and has a Core i7 in it. You do the math...

I thought that was the new netbook they're coming out with. It looks the same. I have no use for a full size laptop anymore, but the new Eee netbooks have my attention. I'm hoping the battery life's better than my Eee900.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I used to hate Apple, but more and more I'm being drawn to them. Not because I particularly like their products, but mostly because the competition in most cases is so unbelievably poor.

Example 1: Apple's Macbook power supplies vs other laptop manufacturers:

It's literally less than half the size and weight.

Example 2 (no pictures this time) - I wanted a basic media player box for my TV. Apple's solution - the Apple TV, which has integrated wireless n, uses an x86 CPU so can be jailbroken to use a multitude of excellent software, and has a beautiful interface out of the box. Also integrates instantly with itunes without fucking around with the network.

Unfortunately I needed it to work with a shitty old TV, which means component out (Apple TV only supports HDMI). I have to go with a WD Live TV, which was more expensive, didn't have wifi, and had a big ugly power adapter. Moreover, it has the worst interface known to mankind, and you have to be a network engineer to get it to find media on your computer. Fuck people, why are Apple the only ones getting this stuff right?

Apples power adapter is the spawn of the devil. Whoever thought that it was an amazing idea to put the bulk of the power supply in the plug, where other plugs will probably be needs to be shot for being a selfish asshole.

 

[lxskllr]

Apples power adapter is the spawn of the devil. Whoever thought that it was an amazing idea to put the bulk of the power supply in the plug, where other plugs will probably be needs to be shot for being a selfish asshole.

Wall warts eat shit. A kitten dies every time a new one is created.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

yea its a damned shame, the thinkpads had good usability design but what awful screen panel choices... serious wtf.

That's no longer the case. The ThinkPad x220 has a optional IPS display and I think you can get one in the X1 as well. In contrast all of Apple's laptops come with TN panels.

 

[Numenorean]

lol anandtechs new article... what does that resemble??

It looks a lot like a laptop. What is it?

 

[Numenorean]

Behold the awesomeness that is Apple design:

ROFL!

 

[Pliablemoose]

you're comparing apples to oranges here. while android has the largest marketshare and growing, it's only a matter of time before the individual android-based phone manufacturers outpace apple's offering.

Dunno about that, Android growth seems to have stalled out over the last 3 months, and there are only 2 carriers in the US with the iPhone, that's rumored to be changing soon...

 

[NFS4]

It looks a lot like a laptop. What is it?

ASUS Transformer tablet slotted into its keyboard dock

 

[NFS4]

Behold the awesomeness that is Apple design:

ROFL!

ROTFL! Troll points to a 10-year-old Apple design :whiste:

Current iMac:

 

[MotF Bane]

ROTFL! Troll points to a 10-year-old Apple design :whiste:

Current iMac:

My First Keyboard, featuring its consort, My Second Mouse (not to be confused with the little rodent that came before).

 

[Zebo]

Behold the awesomeness that is Apple design:

ROFL!

Behold morning trolling.

 

[Numenorean]

ROTFL! Troll points to a 10-year-old Apple design :whiste:

Current iMac:

That also looks like shit.

 

[Arkaign]

behold the awesomeness that is apple design:

rofl!

how do i get the files out!!!!!!!!11111oneoneone!?????

*throws it on the floor repeatedly*