Apple have just announced their updating product line; I’m not sure I am particularly impressed. In part, they seem to be searching for the next big idea. Earlier this year they did away with the headphone jack on the latest iPhone (their wireless earbuds are still awaiting release so I guess most people are having to buy an adapter). Now they have dropped the traditional function bars in place of a long, thin touch screen. I wonder how that is going to work with apps like Inkscape or when running a Linux or Windows Virtual Machine?
For me, those would be quite critical questions if I were at the point of needing a hardware upgrade. I’m probably not in their core demographic though – one of these days I’ll end up back with Linux as my host OS. However, I note that their prices also seem to have significantly increased. Is this paying the price of innovation or Apple seeing just how far it can gouge its customers while still remaining broadly popular?
It is cool to have something new and, if nobody ever innovated, there wouldn’t be progress. However, I’d be more interested in core things running faster, smoother and drawing less power than in just having the new shiny.