The Apple Discussion Thread

[ramuman]

JR and others - with Amazon and Google now in this game, do you think the next Apple TV embraces something similar? It almost seems effortless for them with Siri.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016...cial-google-undercuts-the-amazon-echo-at-129/

 

[Jr Mouse]

I was surprised the last Apple TV didn't have it. The device seems like a natural fit to be the your central home hub device.

Apple's very behind the game here.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

So the g/f needed to replace her old plastic macbook. Since she doesn't know **** from shinola about computers I copped a brand new older macbook air (no retina) with a teeny 128 gig ssd and she is on cloud 9. The most she will do on it is use word & powerpoint, facebook, pinterest and skype. At this very moment I'm upgrading it to Sierra. She was babbling something about a pretty pink case but I had stopped listening at that point

 

[ramuman]



So the g/f needed to replace her old plastic macbook.  Since she doesn't know **** from shinola about computers I copped a brand new older macbook air (no retina) with  a teeny 128 gig ssd and she is on cloud 9.  The most she will do on it is use word & powerpoint, facebook, pinterest and skype.  At this very moment I'm upgrading it to Sierra.  She was babbling something about a pretty pink case but I had stopped listening at that point

Would be curious about your take on the performance/battery life. I'm running Sierra on a 2014 MBP (can't wait for the new ones to launch) and it seems to be working pretty well and not punishing battery life. Craig and team have been pretty solid imo.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Would be curious about your take on the performance/battery life. I'm running Sierra on a 2014 MBP (can't wait for the new ones to launch) and it seems to be working pretty well and not punishing battery life. Craig and team have been pretty solid imo.

Got to get back to you on that in a week or 2

 

[Van Veen]

MacBook Pro won't boot. I don't know why I keep buying Macs. The hard drive was replaced under AppleCare last summer, and when I try to repair it with disk utility, it can't be repaired. Maybe it's just the connector. If the hard drive is dead, I'm just going to get an SSD. Dammit.

 

[GreenFrog]

SSD is the way to go. I have a late-2010 MBA that is still chugging along without any major issues.

 

[jcman311]

SSD is the way to go. I have a late-2010 MBA that is still chugging along without any major issues.

I got a 2009 MBA with a ssd and feel no need to upgrade yet as it suits my home use well. No lagging issues yet. Have you update the OS yet to Sierra?

 

[GreenFrog]



I got a 2009 MBA with a ssd and feel no need to upgrade yet as it suits my home use well.  No lagging issues yet.  Have you update the OS yet to Sierra?

Yep, I'm on Sierra. TBH it does seem to have slight lag compared to the prior OS (forget the name) and I don't really benefit from any of the additional features.

If you're on the prior OS, I'd recommend you stay on that one. That's what I'd do in retrospect.

 

[ramuman]

I'm with GF. I'm not seeing Sierra bringing anything to the table that I use, but it's just sorta there and hasn't ruined the experience. I don't use Siri on my phone and neither do I on my laptop.

IMO, Siri or the equivalents would have to be full on transparent - e.g. I walk into my house and just say full natural phrases like 'turn the temp to 70 degrees, play some Buddy Holly, and get water boiling for some tea' - the last part is where the cliche of the internet of things comes into play.

I don't think we're actually too far away from that - likely by the end of this decade, but that's when I fully buy in. Of course, these steps are necessary to get there.

 

[GreenFrog]

Siri still sucks major ass crack. I never use it.

 

[ramuman]



Siri still sucks major ass crack. I never use it.

A man of choice words.

 

[the shah]

there's a huge leap going from per-determined phrases to natural language processing, especially if you take into account the subtleties of pronunciation, never mind thicker accents. this is such a hurdle that there has been discussion of using a simplified and standardized language for interacting with inanimate objects.

 

[ramuman]



there's a huge leap going from per-determined phrases to natural language processing, especially if you take into account the subtleties of pronunciation, never mind thicker accents. this is such a hurdle that there has been discussion of using a simplified and standardized language for interacting with inanimate objects.

Wired had a great article a few months back titled 'the end of code' which was about AI and such. Great read on this matter. It's about a host things and the progress being made in that area. I agree there is a hurdle (if there wasn't one, we would've walked past it). However, it's actually not that big of one given the tech we have.

 

[otc]

Ordered a Pixel.

If it sucks, I think I am giving up, ordering a 7 and drilling a headphone jack.