Apple: Unfortunately, No Longer the Underdog
Cabel Sasser has a nice piece about no longer being fringe:
If Apple can find that comfortable middle, we’re set. With keynotes still watched closely, but constant flying-car expectations mellowed out. Innovating constantly, but at a possibly more relaxed pace, so that those innovations can truly stand out. Still pushing the industry, but still with something to prove.
“So that those innovations can truly stand out” is my new favorite euphemism.
If all else fails, Apple, take solace in this inarguable fact: We—the nerds—will always be there for you. As long as you don’t dump too much DRM in our dingles, or donate all your proceeds to dolphin-harvesting, we’ll buy every new thing, and hang on every word.
I was surprised that Sasser ended his article this way. If the Amiga and Mac users of yore were teenagers today, would they really choose iOS?
I truly hope that today's young nerds don't pick iOS for their experiments. There's only so much you can learn about computers from installing App Store apps. I hope they at least pick Android, which runs full IDEs, and is a self-hosted system, so you can write Android apps on an Android phone.