I have been a satisfied Apple user for six years. I bought my first MacBook in 2006 and an iPad in 2010.
Everything was going well. My Mac and iPad were doing exactly what I wanted, and my productivity was at its peak.
Every now and then, I saw announcements of new products, and I evaluated if I needed the new ones or not. I easily resisted the urge of buying an iPad 2. What I had was perfectly OK with me. My first generation iPad was doing everything I needed. True, the iPad2 is faster, lighter, and can take pictures, but it would not improve my work in any substantial way.
Then the iPad 3 was announced, and again I did not see any reason for upgrade. Retina display? Well, no. I don't need it. I could continue using my iPad, which was working very well. Or so I thought. Actually, I noticed that some apps that I was using almost on a daily basis (such as iBooks and Keynote) were slower than previously. I dismissed that as a symptom of developer misuse of resources, which would certainly be addressed and fixed, because millions of users must have had the same issue. I was wrong.
What I did not take into account is that almost all the apps would be updated for Retina display and for the iPad 3. How does this affect me? There is no separate apps for iPad first generation, second, and third. All of them get the same updates. So my hardware, which was perfectly efficient 2 years ago, is now dealing with apps that are more than twice in size and require much more CPU power. In short, with the same apps that I was using before, I was running slower and my free space was magically eaten up. I am not alone with this issue, but unfortunately there is nothing I can do, short of upgrading to the iPad with a retina display, which I don't need, but this seems to be the only way of doing what I was doing before at a reasonable speed.
What about the MacBook? I have two quite recent models, which do what I want, are very much powerful, efficient, and robust. In short, I thought I wouldn't need to upgrade for a while. However, Apple has just announced new MacBook models with Retina display, and it has started updating Mac apps with support for the new hardware.
What does it mean for me? I am looking at the software update list that has just arrived:
| App | old size | new size |
|---|---|---|
| iPhoto | 187 M | 630 M |
| iMovie | 418 M | 1.08 G |
So here we go again. If I want the new features in the application I use, I have to accept the bloated app with more than double size, and probably the same decrease in performance that I have already noted in my iPad. The choice is between giving in and eventually buy a new MacBook to use the updated apps, or skip the upgrades.
Apple, why do you want to alienate your current customers to please the new ones?
Cosi' Fan Tutte
ReplyDeleteShocking news: New features means bigger files sizes! How can we possibly live with such horribleness! Where's the "eye rolling" smiley when you need it.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want the bigger files, live without the added features. Pretty damn simple, wouldn't you say?
@tomandyourmom "If you don't want the bigger files, live without the added features. Pretty damn simple, wouldn't you say?"
ReplyDeleteDid you at least RTFA?
What??! 1.08G for a movie-editing piece software???! That's not a AAA game with tons of multimedia content, it's a movie editor!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world of economics!
ReplyDeleteIt does not matter that your product is still good, they have to make money and they leverage what they can to get you to change it.
The PC industry has been doing it for years, especially gaming and 3d render workstation : new games and 3d render software need faster, powerful 3d graphic boards and processors which in time produce more demanding games and software.
You cannot stop this madness and Apple is the King of this technique : I bought a ipod shuffle a few years ago because I liked the solid block of metal and thought I will have it forever, well after one year the earpieces rubber went off and cables broke and the price of that now is exactly what I payed for the whole package then so no point in repairing, just need a new one now.
Product now have a precise life carefully calculated by scientists that are payed to plan and hide a self destroy sequence in your device (be it materials, accessories, software updates) and to get you to pay more for other crap.
Sad ... isn't it?
@Anonymous - absolutely. and i stand by my statement. do you have a point, or are you just trolling?
ReplyDeletethe OP is complaining because he wants to have his cake and eat it too:
"I want the new features, but waaaaaah, that makes the file size bigger"
I'd say this falls under the category of "no [kidding] sherlock"
You have my sincere sympathy!
ReplyDeleteI find myself often wondering why and if we really had to upgrade the 640x480. It was working just fine. But lately I had to buy a new Monitor for Photoshop - can't believe how they suck at my wallet!
Giuseppe,
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience (and I still keep my loved iPad1, since it has enough power for me), but I do not see this as big news.
This is what happens with SW and HW products: simply upgrade or continue to use the old versions. I know for IOS it may be difficult, but that is a completely different story (and market), since it is devoted to consumers. I tried to use my iPad for business for a long time and a year ago I gave up: I bought a 11" Air and that was a perfect choice.
Re old and new - I still have my 2005 MacbookPro, one of the first powered by Intel. With 32 bit and 2GB RAM, we run Snow Leopard on it, my daughter uses it for all school applications, MS Office 2011 works without a glitch and so iWorks and iLife (not to mention Comic Life!). We are simply happy to use Snow Leo and not upgrade.
I am wondering how many 7 y/o laptops still work so well.
Cheers,
-ivan
As much as I'm an Apple fan, I've realized that I only like their hardware and operating system. Other than OSX, the only other Apple software I use is iTunes. Most of the rest is open source or from 3rd party developers.
ReplyDeleteOn iOS, I tend to use more of Apple's apps, but I do try to find alternatives to Apple's apps, even in their own iOS walled garden.
I can understand your grief if Apple gives you bloated iOS apps as part of auto-updates from the iTunes app store, but you should be able to delete bloated apps you don't use.