Apple Corporation is Bad for Technology

Michael Hardner · February 19, 2015

Apple/Google may have colluded but that would have little effect on the over all market because the majority of jobs are at other companies (even in Silicon valley).

You're ok with collusion, so I guess you're ok with unions then.

overthere · February 19, 2015

And for myself and probably for many people, I think cell phones may have also reached a "don't care anymore" plateau.

Count me in. It is an essential work tool for me. I don't game, take selfies, look at many videos or participate in social media on it.

I have an older Iphone and know its life must be limited.

I'll be going back to Android soon, when I have time for all the tedium associated with changing phones and platforms.

The Iphone works OK.

What will take me away from Apple is Itunes. I hate it. I hate the intrusiveness. I hate the wholesale vertical integration of their products. I hate the difficulties of syncing contacts and date with non-Apple products. Buh bye.

Boges · February 19, 2015

What will take me away from Apple is Itunes. I hate it. I hate the intrusiveness. I hate the wholesale vertical integration of their products. I hate the difficulties of syncing contacts and date with non-Apple products. Buh bye.

SYHTFOTW but Android Phones are vertically integrated with Gmail.

A lot more freedom in what you can use and download though.

WestCoastRunner · February 21, 2015

BTW, it does affect salaries in Vancouver and Calgary and elsewhere.

When we lived in Ottawa and dad worked at Nortel, he'd often come home from work and jokingly (?) ask "so, who wants to move to Carolina?" "Who wants to move to Dallas?" because every week he got phone calls from recruiters in places like that. And I am acquainted with a couple of programmers right here in Kim City who are working for companies in Silicon Valley. They don't even have to get out of their pyjamas to go to work.

-k

Not sure what you mean with your statement above?

I have worked in the IT industry in Canada for well over 25 years and have also been involved in hiring and salary reviews. I too have been actively recruited to work in the U.S. and the wages being offered have nothing to do with what is offered in Silicon Valley. Here in Canada, we only care that we can offer wages that will entice an employee to work with us and offer enough to allow them to live in the area where they will be working. Vancouver and Toronto are very expensive to live in and companies will offer 'hard to find IT employees' whatever it takes. We don't care what Silicon Valley pays.

As mentioned above, software engineers, programmers, business and systems analysts, quality assurance analysts and anything else to do with the software industry don't give two hoots on what Apple, Google, Microsoft and other companies in Silicon Valley are paying. This has more to do with 'demand' and 'scarcity' of workers.

Edited February 21, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

TimG · February 21, 2015

You're ok with collusion, so I guess you're ok with unions then.

Unions are given a monopoly over a workplace. Apple/Google are two players in a market filled with other players. That is why the effect on salaries for top talent would be minimal. It is like the Yankees and the LA Dodger agreeing to never sign each others free agents while they gleefully compete for free agents from other teams.

bush_cheney2004 · February 21, 2015

....As mentioned above, software engineers, programmers, business and systems analysts, quality assurance analysts and anything else to do with the software industry don't give two hoots on what Apple, Google, Microsoft and other companies in Silicon Valley are paying. This has more to do with 'demand' and 'scarcity' of workers.

Yes...I would agree with this as an IT professional in a U.S. Midwest market. Salaries and billable hour rates are driven by market compensation for the region and available supply. Foreign workers (e.g. H-1B visas) from outsourcing giants like Tata and Infosys distort the market as well. Silicon Valley opportunities are dwarfed by the IT employment volume of garden variety businesses in banking, healthcare, education, insurance, reatail, etc.

Boges · March 10, 2015

SO INNOVATIVE!!!!

http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-watch/

I love how the biggest unique feature it has is NFC. I remember when Iphans scoffed at NFC.

Unless users just blindly support this thing just because it's Apple, it has the same problem as the Android Smart Watches. An 18 hour battery life for a watch just won't cut it. Putting information into the watch will always be an issue.

The main feature that makes it nice is that you can see your push notifications without having to whip out your phone. But is that really worth $300-$500?

msj · March 10, 2015

If it is going to do well (and who knows) then it will probably be due to the Apple ecosystem and the development of specific apps.

Integration is why I am interested in it.

If it can give me certain types of notifications while I run and certain other kinds of notifications while I am working then it will be the best $500 I will have ever spent.

Although, I kind of like the past 12 years or so as being a glorious period where my wrist was free.

GostHacked · March 11, 2015

The Apple Watch is a waste of money, time and resources. There is nothing of benefit from this device.

cybercoma · March 11, 2015

I don't understand any of these cellphone watches. I sure as hell won't be wasting my money on them.

Boges · March 11, 2015

I don't understand any of these cellphone watches. I sure as hell won't be wasting my money on them.

What's not to understand? They allow you to control aspect of your smartphone through a watch with poor battery life.

cybercoma · March 11, 2015

What's the appeal? What benefit do you get from them? Not having to pull your phone out of your pocket? I just don't get it.

Boges · March 11, 2015

What's the appeal? What benefit do you get from them? Not having to pull your phone out of your pocket? I just don't get it.

That is the appeal. I guess it all depends how many push notifications and reminders you get. It also works as a fitbit, iPod etc etc etc.

Just as a smartphone can be a second screen to your TV or computer, a smartwatch can be a second screen for your smart watch.

I won't try to hard to convince you, because I don't see myself getting one either, but that's supposed to be the appeal.

The big problem is that Watches are meant to be jewellery as in they look good on your wrist, most smart watches are horugly.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Boges

cybercoma · March 11, 2015

I guess. I just don't see the screen being big enough to read a text or whatever. I suppose it's nice to see at a glance if an email is important. But at the end of the day, I'm trying to get away from feeling compelled to respond to my cellphone like one of Pavlov's Dogs. I find this cultural shift to erase the lines between work and leisure to be troublesome to say the least.

AngusThermopyle · March 12, 2015

Although, I kind of like the past 12 years or so as being a glorious period where my wrist was free.

I like wearing a watch, not for decorative purposes but practical ones. At work pretty much everyone has a phone. These people are constantly asking me what time it is. It's far more convenient to glance at my wrist than to pull out a phone to check the time. In fact a few of the younger ones have gone out and bought watches. As for a phone on me at all times, not a chance, I despise phones and only use them when I have to. The idea of people being able to bother me any time where ever I may be is repugnant to me to say the least.

Wilber · March 12, 2015

Always worn a watch, feel naked without it. Analog dial, stopwatch, waterproof, can wear it anywhere, swimming, fishing, whatever. Try that with your smart phone. Like Angus, lot of people asking the time.

GostHacked · March 12, 2015

What's not to understand? They allow you to control aspect of your smartphone through a watch with poor battery life.

You need a device to control your device? I also like it when they remove USB ports from a laptop and sell me an attachment for another 80 bucks.

Boges · March 12, 2015

You need a device to control your device? I also like it when they remove USB ports from a laptop and sell me an attachment for another 80 bucks.

That's Apple's MO.

GostHacked · March 13, 2015

That's Apple's MO.

Great pay more for less. Oh you want to have USB ports? Here buy this proprietary dongle that gets in the way and you are screwed if you forget it. They want to make it as thin as possible, but they are sacrificing functionality for style.

Boges · March 13, 2015

Great pay more for less. Oh you want to have USB ports? Here buy this proprietary dongle that gets in the way and you are screwed if you forget it. They want to make it as thin as possible, but they are sacrificing functionality for style.

The Cloud Baby, The Could.

msj · March 15, 2015

Found this article again which is what got me interested in the watch: http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/06/the-apple-watch-is-time-saved/

It is the "If you argue the Watch isn’t going to sell or do well, it’s worth pointing out that there are very, very, very few products that allow you to hand someone cash and be given back TIME" part that has me interested.

But time is important to me: time is money, especially when you and your staff are billable by the hour which provides a decent living to then spend "free time" in foreign lands.

Although I am still leaning on the skeptical side, the fact that the NY Times has done an "I hate the Apple watch" editorial may be a contraian indicator.

Not to mention a very silly editorial: http://www.macworld.com/article/2896798/digerati-heal-thyself-blaming-our-shortcomings-on-our-devices.html

cybercoma · March 15, 2015

I'm not sure that it won't sell or be a flop. I just don't get it. It seems to repeat things that I'm already capable of doing by adding an additional device. What made smartphones popular is that they consolidated devices. Separating things out again just doesn't make much sense to me.

I understand the convenience of checking the time on your wrist or handling notifications without pulling out your phone, but that's a minor convenience for the price tag and let's be honest, the fairly ugly design.

msj · March 15, 2015

Looks are subjective. I think the watch looks good.

As for the price tag?

That too is subjective.

$500 for the base model is cheap if it can save time.

I like the idea of being able to check an email surreptitiously during a meeting without having to lug out my phone.

Or seeing it with the flick of my wrist as I drive, or as I type on my keyboard while working or ....

And as a replacement for my Garmins? I will gladly pay for that as Garmin seems to be making crappier products with each generation.

Since I need to replace a Garmin every 2 to 3 years I may as well switch to Apple for which I am already part of their ecosystem and will give me a better product that will do more than log my runs.

cybercoma · March 15, 2015

Of course it's all subjective. That's what I'm saying. Personally I don't get it. I don't see the value for the money. If you think $500 is worth the price tag to be able to check emails in the middle of a meeting when you can't really do anything about them anyway is worth it, then great. You get it, I guess. As for replacing the Garmin, you're simply getting voice commands over your car stereo via bluetooth. Your phone already does that from your pocket. Again, I don't see the value.

Where I guess I do see some value is if it has a heart rate monitor in it and acts like the FitBits which seem to be all the rage. There's some value there. However, a FitBit is like $100 which is 1/5 the base price of an Apple Watch. I just can't see value for money. It's seems to be a gadget for the sack of having a gadget. I suspect this might go the way of tablets and Google glass. It's redundant, so people probably won't see the value in it.

Maybe I'm wrong though. That's just my opinion on the things. One company dove into this "wearable tech" idea and the others are pretty much required to follow suit so they don't fall behind. No one really looks at the viability of the product though. I hope they've done methodically rigorous focus groups to get people's opinions on the tech because it just seems like something people buy for no other reason than to have the newest tech.

Michael Hardner · March 15, 2015

No one really looks at the viability of the product though. I hope they've done methodically rigorous focus groups to get people's opinions on the tech because it just seems like something people buy for no other reason than to have the newest tech.

Well Google Glass failed (at least I think it did) even with the hype. The demo for the Apple Watch did show how convenient it would be to use it for travel, as opposed to taking your phone out every two minutes.

However, I am not so sure that the experience can be designed to be that easy and still be flexible/configurable enough for most people to use.