★metal★matt★Apr 6, 2024
Matt Birchler
I don’t actually want Apple to make everything https://birchtree.me/blog/i-dont-actually-want-apple-to-make-everything/
I don’t actually want Apple to make everything

I was reading the most recent Club MacSrories and this paragraph got me thinking… The reasons why Apple is so hesitant to compete more directly with a broader segment of the videogame industry are as much a mystery today as ever. However, the rise of handheld gaming on Linux- and

Birchtree
Apr 6, 2024 at 8:53pmWeb
Show threadBenRiceMApr 6, 2024
@matt I want Apple to get back into making routers and cameras much more than cars and robots
Show threadChristina WarrenApr 6, 2024
@matt I agree with this. And I’ll be contrarian perhaps and say that I do think current Apple lacks the leadership and talent to make a gaming PC or Steam Deck device. I don’t doubt they could design a box or handheld, but I absolutely don’t think they’d be able to deliver a gaming experience equivalent to what Steam or even a solid Windows gaming PC can offer. Apple Arcade proves that to me.
Show threadcounternotionsApr 6, 2024
@film_girl @matt Not a gamer, but why would a vertically integrated company with a very small footprint in games get serious about a horizontally loose model?
Show threadChristina WarrenApr 6, 2024
@counternotions @matt I fully agree
Show threadChristina WarrenApr 6, 2024
@counternotions @matt I'm with Matt, don’t think Apple should try to make gaming optimized machines (tho I do think opening the game porting toolkit up more could be a boon for their ecosystems) or even accessories like controllers. But I also don’t think they could with their current leadership and strategy. And that isn’t as judgmental as it sounds; I’m a big fan of focusing on core strengths.
Show threadMichael GemarApr 6, 2024
@film_girl @counternotions @matt That’s why I didn’t understand the car project (or the alleged robot project) — Apple’s core competencies are not in those domains.
Show threadChancerubbageApr 7, 2024

@film_girl @counternotions @matt

Just baiting the hook hoping fish will bite won’t work. Apple needs to actively fish for any game devs to come over. Use a net even.

So much of their culture is anathema to what gamer and game dev culture wants.

Show threadPeter CohenApr 6, 2024

@film_girl @counternotions @matt Designing the hardware to do it is one thing. Creating APIs that are compelling for developers to use and giving publishers reasons to support it is something else entirely. Apple has *never* demonstrated this sort of core competency.

Going back to Pippin, Game Sprockets, QuickDraw 3D RAVE, the last 40 years have been littered with examples of Apple just not "getting" games, gamers, game developers or publishers, Phil Schiller's best intentions notwithstanding.

Show threadChancerubbageApr 7, 2024

@flargh @film_girl @counternotions @matt

Pippin should have been a minimalist universal CD-ROM and disk player, with some computer functionality. But they insisted on ‘pippin only’ discs. Should have played all those CD-ROM archives that were basically just print archives using web file formats. Should have been able to play Myst, etc.

Show threadMatt BirchlerApr 6, 2024

@film_girl Of for sure, I’m also super skeptical they could be successful, especially in the high end PC space. Basically every opinion they have about how they make computers is counter to what PC gamers want.

Their Steam Deck clone would be cool hardware, though 🙂

Show threadRavi Apr 7, 2024
@matt @film_girl Just imaging an Apple gaming portable with 64GB memory at twice the price of a Steamdeck, no SD slot and $200 for each doubling of storage 😭
Show threadJuri PakasteApr 6, 2024
@matt I don’t want Apple to make everything but I want more companies like Apple (at their best): simple product lines, OK on privacy, overall good products. Apple is far from perfect but most other consumer electronics and home appliance companies just make me wish I was growing organic carrots without electricity somewhere far from civilization. So pretty often that causes me to say things like I wish Apple was making X.
Show threadJosh RiversApr 6, 2024
@matt Doctorow isn’t wrong when he despises the “Tech Savior” but I fail to see a currently achievable model that can deliver values-oriented tech products over more than a decade without attempting to be a singular market behemoth. I’d like to see a cartel of companies with a contractual and legislatively enforceable set of compatible values principles to protect against the inevitable sniping of the capital markets. But I don’t know any legit way to get that started. Apple has been in my corner against the banks, advertisers, bosses, and governments better and for longer than any other major company. But more options with values would be even better.
Show threadMaximilianApr 6, 2024
@matt agreed! I love Apple but I don’t want Apple everythinh. I am excited for the iPad mini though now that emulators are supposedly allowed now. Hope we get a new revision of the hardware later this year
Show threadKaneApr 7, 2024
@JediMax @matt my partner and I were talking about something similar as well. I don’t care about a car or robots, I want Apple to start making things like routers and backup capsules again. Things people actually need rather than stuff just to make investors happy
Show threadMatt BirchlerApr 7, 2024
@kanec @JediMax The “no public company can ever be big enough” way of the world is certainly behind most of the things that make me go 🤨 at them.
Show threadRich AestheticApr 7, 2024
@matt I'd like Apple to try making anything they feel they can make, then let users and the market decide if Apple has something worthwhile. I don't think this is a fanboy position, although I am a “fanboy", not that I don't have complaints or issues with Apple. I just don't see why they should be restricted from trying to create new products.
Show threadMatt BirchlerApr 7, 2024
@richaesthetic For sure, and I tried to make it clear I wasn’t saying Apple should never make new things, so shame on me if it came across that way. Anyone saying Apple should be restricted from making what they want is being silly.
Show threadTom HannenApr 7, 2024
@matt listening to Apple-following podcasters dutifully discussing credit cards and watch strap fashion trends is one symptom of this. I want beautifully designed computers in interesting places! Nothing else!