Comments on: Has 2008 Been The Outstanding Year Steve Jobs Promised?

By: SkateNY

SkateNY — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 04:09:36 +0000

Apple was on the endangered species list in 1997, and many years before. The first three years of Steve Jobs’ return were fraught with doubt, criticism and continuing floundering with Macs, the Mac OS, and future directions. Only the PowerBook and, later, the iMac, grabbed the attention of the masses. And, even then, to a very limited extent.

When the iPod was first introduced in 2001, sketpics skepted, and comedians laughed. It was joke, right?

Since then, the iMac has blossomed; the PowerBook has become a standard bearer for Apple quality; and the iPod has become, well, the iPod and the iPhone.

Also during this time, AAPL investors had several opportunities to make a fortune, to live the American dream — retiring early. Apple has taken the tech sector by storm, and then some. Everyone wants to be Apple. Everyone wants to be as good as the next Apple product.

Rising expectations always garner rising disappointments. We get spoiled. We want more, and we want more faster. And we want more faster and better.

Apple’s doing fine. Every year that Apple dominates the tech headlines, provokes competitors to work harder, and provides a great place to criticize superior technology is a good year for Apple.

By: Danny Ocean

Danny Ocean — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:04:57 +0000

“But they did their best and will continue to do so. Which is more than we can say for a lot of companies these days.”

Awesome last sentence man. So very true. Nobody’s perfect, but in striving for that seemingly unattainable perfection, Apple tries harder and is more relentless than ANY OTHER COMPANY around. Even Google.

By: OSXlova

OSXlova — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:58:45 +0000

Let me get this straight Rob. You think it hasn’t been a good year because you’re whining over your own personal preference? Do you think Apple is lying to you about something? I’ll bet you MOST people actually prefer the glossy screens. a previous commenter around here mentioned that under controlled lighting, Apple could convince anyone the glossy screen was better.

all i hear in your tone of voice is whining and hoping that apple would just always stay the same. the camera on the iPhone is why it was a joke? what about the advancements in mobile computing the iPhone has brought to you?

the one thing i completely agree with you on… the imac. unreal.. i can’t believe we can’t use the imac as a monitor on its own, or connect a cable box as you mention. i have dreams of wrapping my home theater experience around an imac. i have a small space in crowded NYC and it would be absolutely perfect for my setup. i literally, have dreamt of this.

plus, apple could sell them as external monitors as well, completely double duty. sometimes, the company leaves me baffled… i’ll give you that, but in no way was it a bad year based on a matter of personal preference decisions.

By: Rob Podell

Rob Podell — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:40:18 +0000

No, it has not been a good year. The iMacs now have crappy glossy screens, which are awful to use and try to see what you are doing with. The fact that Apple “claims” users want them is a joke…. what they are doing is saving about $10 per screen due to leaving out the anti-glare coating. Instead of telling people they’re cutting something, they flip it around as a ‘new feature’. Unfortunately, most of the masses are stupid enough to buy it.

Also, the iMac STILL lacks a video input port, despite having a huge screen, optical audio output, remote, and frontrow, it cannot follow through with those other features of being a media center because you cannot hook any videogame system up to it, nor can you hook up cable, etc. There are work arounds, but they all degrade quality and include lag. Trust me, I have an EyeTV Hybrid already.

And, the towers are still way too expensive. WAY too expensive. They need to make a headless iMac that lets up have a video input port, so you can buy a huge whatever screen you want. Something about double or triple the size of a mini, but not nearly as large as the beast of a machine that is the MacPro.

AND, the iPhone received a few new upgrades but the camera is still a complete and total joke. Apple has been making a few great decisions, but a lot of incredibly stupid ones.

By: ROVER9

ROVER9 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:58:56 +0000

I still f’ing have problems with mobile me. it just doesn’t work snappy and responsive like it should, or like i’d like.

And believe it or not, some of the computers I use don’ support the browsers it runs in. my work is old school and just can’t get onto it sometimes.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:46:11 +0000

July and August seemed like the longest months ever. At least out of 2008. They just dragged on and on with SOOOO many posts about Mobile Me being a Mobile Mess. I’v had enough of that for a long, long time.

By: Aviv

Aviv — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:44:09 +0000

Thanx a lot Steven. Hear hear on 2009 being a great year !

By: Stephan

Stephan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:41:36 +0000

Once again, a great article. Thank you for summing up the roller coaster that has been Apple (and their stock price) over the last year. Here’s to a prosperous, and technically advantageous, 2009 for Apple.