The Hard and Soft of It

I’ve been thinking of the best way to cover Apple’s software because I don’t want to imply a negative view but I also want to convey there are some areas that need a little work. I thought comparing their operating systems to their office productivity software (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) would get my point across.

First, Apple makes two of the best operating systems in the world (OSX and iOS). They both work very well; are discoverable; getting more and more integrated; are as bug free as can be expected and in general are a pleasure to use. This comes from someone who has worked with Windows for many, many years along with Apple’s products.

Speaking of Windows, I’ve never found a lot of value in comparing Windows to OSX. They are both good operating systems in their own right and they both have their strengths and weaknesses. As of late, with Windows 10, they are both getting functionally similar. The one major advantage Apple has is it makes the hardware and the software so there can be much better integration between the two. This is where, I feel at least, the Apple ecosystem has significant advantages over Windows.

Apple has put a lot of time and investment in their OSs and it shows. It also shows that they have put a bit less of an investment in some of their applications. Maybe a more accurate statement is a lack of direction or a regularly changing direction with some of their applications. Let’s look at the applications I mentioned above, formerly known as iWork.

iWork was released in 2005. It eventually contained Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheet) and Keynote (presentations). By 2009 it had become a solid product with many great features and was a good alternative to Office for the Mac. Then things started to change. With the advent of IOS (iPhone and iPad) and eventually iCloud, Apple decided to not group the products anymore and to make them free. They also rewrote them several times (it appears) and each time removed features and made the Mac interface more IOS / weblike. Not necessarily a good thing to move backwards.

I develop and sell software so I understand the need and desire for a unified code base. However, that shouldn’t be a higher priority than the user experience. That experience is different on each device and on the Internet and the user interface, at its best, is optimized for each experience.

It appears that Apple has a different set of priorities. From looking at the current versions of the products, I would say a very consistent, simple interface with minimal functionality across all platforms is now their paradigm. I’m not sure that would fall under the category of great products though or just filler products.

Something that does qualify as a great product though is the Mac. When you look at how they are built, the technology and care that goes into their design and assembly, you have one of the best, if not the best computer in the business. No, Apple isn’t perfect, they have had their issues over the years with hardware but they continuously develop their products and do get them right.

But… they do sometimes over price products. The new Macbook is an example. It costs more than the 13 inch Retina Macbook Pro with significantly less features. This isn’t the first time this has happened and they are not the only company to make their newest technology their expensive technology. Folks just have to wait a release or two and the pricing comes back to reality.

Speaking of reality, it is time to come back to it and move on to other subjects!