Who me? I love apples! They are a great spring / summertime fruit, and quite delicious. My personal favorites are braeburns and fuji, they have the crunch and the flavor. However, for the fall, I like granny smiths. Why? Because they go into one of America's favorite desserts, apple pie. I'm kind of hoping the bunnies make some soon. If not, I shall make one. You can tell I'm munchy. I actually plan to discuss Apple's recent Livestream event / 2015 Keynote.
Apple, as many of you know makes Iphones, Ipads, laptops, desktops, and watches. Every year they release a new line of updated products for us all to drool over. In case you missed it, here is a quick recap of their major announcements for the coming year:
To start with, I'm going to back up to spring. Apple released a new macbook line of thin, lightweight laptops with a single USB Type C connector. This magical little connector is designed to charge the laptop, connect to external displays, hard drives, dvd drives, and all manner of peripherals. In short, it plans to replace all other connectors in the future.
Fast foward to the Summer, and Apple announced it's new set of Operating systems: iOS 9, and OS X El Capitan. These new OS's add more features, including a split screen (borrowed from Windows 10) all new mission control, spotlight (competing with Cortana, another windows 10 product) seemless integration with all your devices, and of course, the new metal platform underneath the hood. iOS 9 promises all this for the iPhone, and iPad. Both are slated to release in late September.
But the real excitement with Apple is their September annual announcement of new hardware! It was these Keynotes Steve Jobs was famous for, when he released products such as the ipod, iphone, ipad for the first time. These keynotes became legendary. This year's keynote was distinctly toned down, mostly announcing updates for previous systems. That's not to say we're disappointed (well maybe a little). Anyway, here are the highlights:
1) New software and apps for the Apple Watch. I don't follow the watch as closely, but a better user interface, more health tracking apps, and a better system to sync with your iphone are the main things.
2) New Apple TV. This got a round of applause. The apple TV has been due for a makeover for some time, and Apple has finally delivered. The update includes a faster processor, touch sensitive remote, and a wealth of new features to make it more user friendly than ever before. Features include voice activated commands, capability to play games using iphones as remotes, and advanced searching capabilities. The new box will cost about 150$, or 200$ for the larger storage drive.
3) Ipad Pro. A super large iPad, mimicking the Surface Pro. This ipad is 12.9 inches across, almost the size of a macbook air! It is very light, boasts a faster processor, and of course, the new iOS 9. It can be used with a featherlight keyboard, but does NOT use the full system OS like macbooks. This was a bit of a disappointment. The Surface Pro comes with a full feature windows OS, why shouldn't the Ipad Pro do the same?
4) Apple Pen?! This was by far the biggest surprise (and controversy) of the show. A pen accessory made specially for the iPad series to write with, draw with, and otherwise interact with. Steve Jobs famously made a statement in 2010 that "If you see a stylus they blew it". So why is apple making this pen 5 years later? The answer is Jobs may have been referring to a pen as the only way to interact with a device. Palm Pilots of the 90's used pens, but you could not use your finger. Apple is bringing back the pen for specific tasks that fingers are simply not precise enough for: like drawing. Used in this way, the pen makes sense. However, apple fans are torn. This isn't exactly the big new announcement like when the ipad came out, or an iphone.
5) iPad Mini 4. They very quietly mentioned the iPad mini 4 is coming out, but didn't go into detail. this is possibly the last mini they will be releasing.
6) Just a few notes; Apple spent much of their presentation bringing in guests to demonstrate how the new products can be used with updated software packages such as Adobe, WarHammer, hospitals, and others. Overall, it just felt a little anti-climatic. But again, some years are like that. My thoughts? Wait on the Ipad pro until you are sure you want the full-sized ipad with the same iOS software, give the apple pen a pass unless you are an artist or writer (and prefer to write with a pencil than a keyboard). The apple tv is the product I'm personally most excited about. It comes with enough new features that it may be worth the upgrade.
That's it for Apple's Keynote!
Get ready to update your devices with the new OS9 and OS X El Capitan! Or, wait for the bugs to be fixed, then update. :)
Woof!
2 comments:
I get made fun of at work for being an Android user. Most of the team has access to iPhones or use them personally, and they're a lot more familiar and comfortable with them than I am. I learned to use a computer with a Macbook, and I've owned an iPod since I was twelve or thirteen (scary thought, how old that thing is) but I've never personally owned an iOS device.
Considering my taste (and complete disregard for the "power" of any given device) is there any reason at all to invest in an iOS device of any sort? As far as I've seen, the only real allure of Apple products is how many years they keep running, and running well, but with iPhones and iPods and iPads, everyone upgrades within two years anyway, so what's the point of buying something that's supposed to last?
I guess I'm still scouting possibilities for upgrading my poor, worn-out Acer desktop.
Interesting question. First of all, my thoughts on phones in general comes down to two questions:
1) Which kind of phone are you more comfortable using?
2) Which kind of phone has access to the apps / features you want?
I have an android at work, and an iphone at home. Both work just as well in my opinion, each has pro's and cons. I prefer my iphone, even though it is 2 years old now. It feels more familiar, works with my apple tv at home, and I can use all the apps I want. However, my android also can use my apps (I really only use chrome, pandora, games, photos and texting). In both cases I use only free apps, so I don't need to worry about paying apple store vs google store.
As far as the iPads go, they are handy, and great for surfing / watching videos. however, I am a real keyboard user, and while the ipad can have attachable keyboards, it doesn't really have the full version of word that I am comfortable using. It's basically like a giant phone when it comes to the operating system. If you want a full functioning computer, I would go with a laptop/desktop. If you just want to cruise the internet, and do some typing on google docs / or apple's version of word for the ipad, then that would be fine.
Apple laptops are sleek looking, put up with a lot of abuse, and sadly are rather expensive. I think the cheapest you can get is a macbook air, which costs 800$...
In a long-winded answer to your question, I would purchase something you like using, are comfortable with, and has all the features / programs you are looking for. While I opted for a lenovo laptop, I did go with the iphone. :) But that's all preference.
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