I feel like I could write a nice article on why most critique's of Apple critique articles, are also garbage.
I will refrain and just offer a well rounded and fair opinion of Apple.
Apple is obviously still making well built products with slick software, but they have not created anything recently more compelling than just being an upgrade or polish to what they already have. The watches, while very nice, did not bring anything new to the table that android watches hadn't. Their phones, while having to compete with gobs of hardware running android, have certainly not changed that much, but they have incrementally gotten better.
iOS has not distanced itself from stock android, and on top of the line hardware like the Nexus 6P, the only factor people have to consider now is what ecosystem they want to live in. Either way they get a buttery smooth OS with everything they could want and all the apps they need.
From a geek perspective, I am chomping at the bit for them to shock the world with the next big thing, like they did with iPods and iPhones. I would love for them to make another laptop I can't live without, that nobody else can touch.
To make use of an analogy, if apple is car maker, its top of the line supercar is still a formidable foe on the drag strip and the track, and while other supercars may outpace it one area or the other, and Apple has the edge in other aspects, its still an amazing all around supercar. It's just not showing any signs of pulling away from the pack any time soon, and for that matter, for the money there are other good options out there that may be more your style.
Thank you for reading Ben. You see, I agree with you, there are very fair and justified criticisms of Apple; I'm no Apple apologist. My beef is the focus on idiotic arguments such as the one Manjoo wrote. Manjoo is arguing for change for the sake of change, which to me does nothing to push Apple to actually get better in the areas they need to.
I will refrain and just offer a well rounded and fair opinion of Apple.
Apple is obviously still making well built products with slick software, but they have not created anything recently more compelling than just being an upgrade or polish to what they already have. The watches, while very nice, did not bring anything new to the table that android watches hadn't. Their phones, while having to compete with gobs of hardware running android, have certainly not changed that much, but they have incrementally gotten better.
iOS has not distanced itself from stock android, and on top of the line hardware like the Nexus 6P, the only factor people have to consider now is what ecosystem they want to live in. Either way they get a buttery smooth OS with everything they could want and all the apps they need.
From a geek perspective, I am chomping at the bit for them to shock the world with the next big thing, like they did with iPods and iPhones. I would love for them to make another laptop I can't live without, that nobody else can touch.
To make use of an analogy, if apple is car maker, its top of the line supercar is still a formidable foe on the drag strip and the track, and while other supercars may outpace it one area or the other, and Apple has the edge in other aspects, its still an amazing all around supercar. It's just not showing any signs of pulling away from the pack any time soon, and for that matter, for the money there are other good options out there that may be more your style.