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The best Apple product of all time is...
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HamSandwich
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Mar 17, 2017, 01:02 PM
 
... the original iPod.

What's yours?

Edit: You see, it was groundbreaking industrial design, Phil had the idea for the wheel that was cool and unique, there was iTunes and the iTunes Music Store - and then, Steve had reinvented the world again! I dunno if I had that iPod, as it was sorta expensive, but I did have an iPod back then. I always had iPods, one of the first ones, then a later one, an iPod Shuffle, much later a nano and I actually tried an iPod touch at a point (gave it back after 10 days). The iPod sort of evolutionized to the iPhone somehow... But even today, it's a strong product that's a lot of fun.
( Last edited by HamSandwich; Mar 17, 2017 at 02:17 PM. )
     
Laminar
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Mar 17, 2017, 01:32 PM
 
PowerMac 7200.
     
subego
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Mar 17, 2017, 01:54 PM
 
IIfx
iMac DVSE

Bonus points because the DVSE came with the hockey puck mouse, which was the worst product of all time.
     
Doc HM
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Mar 17, 2017, 02:20 PM
 
PowerBook G3 Wall Street

redefined the laptop.
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HamSandwich
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Mar 17, 2017, 02:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
IIfx
iMac DVSE

Bonus points because the DVSE came with the hockey puck mouse, which was the worst product of all time.
That's a bit contradictory. The thread is about the best products, not the worst, subego... (which is replaced by German spell checking through "sub ego" by the way). I liked the puck, by the way, it was nice and and fun and you did always think of NHL games, somehow... I liked the DVSE, too, was that the one in graphite? The colors were great back in the day, always strong, always full - Jony tells the story that it was so easy to pass such a decision through Steve. You just walked up to him with that suggestion and he would simply decide on his own that that's the way forward. You didn't have to talk to dozens and dozens of managers and everything. The first iMacs were great.
     
HamSandwich
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Mar 17, 2017, 02:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
PowerMac 7200.
Wikipedia says it was nice. Running Mac OS 7.5.2. Not bad... Why the best?
     
Laminar
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Mar 17, 2017, 03:43 PM
 
It was terrible. 7300/7500/7600 was way better.
     
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Mar 17, 2017, 04:08 PM
 
Compared to its time: the original Mac, and the original iPhone. Few products have so completely redefined their entire fields. Also the 2nd gen MBA, for a while you couldn't get a laptop without getting one that wanted to be the 13" MBA.

From memory, I really liked the pizza box LC designs, and I think that the LCIII or possibly the LC475 was the best. Small box, yet easy to work in and still quiet. 7.1 was the most stable OS ever (or until 10.6, maybe) and it all felt...well balanced.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Mar 17, 2017, 04:38 PM
 
The question is what is meant by "best"? Based upon what criteria? Personally as far as industrial design is concerned I still think this machine was iconic. It could easily be revived and modernized as a updated Mac Mini.



OAW
     
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Mar 17, 2017, 05:21 PM
 
The OG 15" G4 TiBook (even with the hinge and paint issues).
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but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
     
ajprice
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Mar 17, 2017, 05:35 PM
 
Peak Apple for me was late 90s/early 2000s, iMac DV SE, Powerbook G4 Ti, Cube, clamshell iBook, Pro Mouse, original iPod. Pick any of those.

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
Thorzdad
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Mar 17, 2017, 08:54 PM
 
My 23" Cinema HD Display is still the most beautiful monitor I ever worked on. Sadly mothballed because of that damned ADC connector.
     
subego
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Mar 17, 2017, 08:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by PeterParker View Post
That's a bit contradictory. The thread is about the best products, not the worst, subego... (which is replaced by German spell checking through "sub ego" by the way). I liked the puck, by the way, it was nice and and fun and you did always think of NHL games, somehow... I liked the DVSE, too, was that the one in graphite? The colors were great back in the day, always strong, always full - Jony tells the story that it was so easy to pass such a decision through Steve. You just walked up to him with that suggestion and he would simply decide on his own that that's the way forward. You didn't have to talk to dozens and dozens of managers and everything. The first iMacs were great.
Yup! DVSE was graphite.
     
HamSandwich
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Mar 18, 2017, 04:26 AM
 
The original 22" Cinema Display could be mentioned. When you bought it, you got a PowerMac G4 for free, see, 10,000 $ :-) So, we saw this one back at Apple Expo in Paris, where they used it to demo their products - like iMovie - and it was fun. My dad wanted one, but thought it was a bit hefty. I sometimes think of the Cinema Display when I use my 22" iMac these days - it is just as big. Feels normal size these days. It's no longer huge, 30" is huge nowadays, but not unheard of.

Graphite, DVSE, was cool, too, we had a DV Indigo and it was great :-) The green spot with Kermit rocked, too, ads were great when Steve returned!
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 18, 2017, 09:29 AM
 
Mac IIci with Apple Portrait Monitor.

2016 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Sooo slick.

iMac DV would qualify (hockey puck mouse never bothered me), but they still had the ****ed-up FireWire ports - mine blew twice in a row. Second time, I didn't bother replacing the logic board.
     
subego
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Mar 18, 2017, 12:25 PM
 
Ironically, I never used the FireWire on mine (I had two).
     
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Mar 18, 2017, 01:16 PM
 
I know it may seem an odd product to fawn over, but Snow Leopard was pretty awesome.
     
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Mar 18, 2017, 01:36 PM
 
Firewire was awesome. Target Disk Mode is still fabulous.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
starman
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Mar 18, 2017, 01:56 PM
 
So many ways to look at this.

Macintosh Plus (for its time), maybe the SE.
Mac Cube (I still have one)
PowerMac 7600 (also still have one)
iBook
iPod
iPhone
Mac Pro

Home - Twitter - Sig Wall-Retired - Flickr
     
subego
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Mar 18, 2017, 01:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
Firewire was awesome. Target Disk Mode is still fabulous.
Loved FireWire. I'm really sad Apple abandoned it.

I used FireWire a bunch on my "main" computer. The iMacs were my render farm. Well, really more of a render garden.
     
subego
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Mar 18, 2017, 02:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by starman View Post
So many ways to look at this.

Macintosh Plus (for its time), maybe the SE.
Mac Cube (I still have one)
PowerMac 7600 (also still have one)
iBook
iPod
iPhone
Mac Pro
Looking at it as a product line, for me it's the iPhone, despite all the other goodness I've gotten from Apple over the years.

But I've been on the phone treadmill since the 4, so I don't get attached to one the way I was with the IIfx or the DVSE.
     
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Mar 18, 2017, 06:01 PM
 
What I currently use; my 27" 5K iMac. I've owned 10 Macs since switching in 1999, and I've sold literally thousands of them over 23 years, but as I age, I love this screen, and the power of the machine. I also have a 15" MacBook Pro, and a box full of other Apple gear, but this is my daily driver. My second favorite is my 9.7" iPad Pro.
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Thorzdad
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Mar 18, 2017, 10:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I know it may seem an odd product to fawn over, but Snow Leopard was pretty awesome.
Truth. The last really good, solid version of OSX Apple shipped. I really hated to have to finally upgrade away from SL last year.
     
subego
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Mar 18, 2017, 11:01 PM
 
I have some important legacy After Effects software which needs SL or older, and hopefully have a lifetime supply of the final generation of Minis to run it.

SL was the point where having the up-to-the-minute OS stopped being my deal.
     
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Mar 19, 2017, 08:50 AM
 
SL was good, but it also shines brighter in people's minds because Lion was bad.

While I loved my 27" iMac when I got it (first quadcore! Huge display! GPU that didn't actively suck!), after upgrading I have come to the conclusion that Apple went too far with the resolution on that model. I now have a 4K at that size, and it is a much better compromise between size of things and resolution.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
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Mar 20, 2017, 09:32 AM
 
I'd vote for the Apple Geoport Adapter.
Why? Because I was able to go from 9.6 - 33.6k modem speeds with free software updates and without buying new hardware.

The best computer at it's time was the first Intel iMac.
The Magic Trackpad is also worth mentioning!
***
     
subego
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Mar 20, 2017, 10:41 AM
 
MTP is a good call.

It's far superior to a mouse if you have a computer attached to the TV.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 20, 2017, 11:15 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
SL was good, but it also shines brighter in people's minds because Lion was bad.
Gosh, if we're going for OS X revisions, then Mavericks was a "holy shit" moment for me, when I installed it on my production machine. The last Logic mix I'd just completed went from ~30 GB of memory (28 GB swap) to ~EIGHT GB (90 MEGAbyte swap).

Only time I've ever really kicked myself for NOT upgrading mid-production.
     
subego
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Mar 20, 2017, 11:20 AM
 
I'm still kicking myself for picking Logic.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 20, 2017, 11:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I'm still kicking myself for picking Logic.
Why on earth?

There is nothing on the market that even remotely approaches it in terms of bang-for-the-buck, and it's reasonably stable.
     
subego
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Mar 20, 2017, 11:49 AM
 
The bang for the buck was a big attraction, but it ended up biting me in the ass.

It's fine in and of itself, but now I'm locked into Apple hardware. I need big iron for video, and Apple has told me to **** off.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 20, 2017, 12:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
The bang for the buck was a big attraction, but it ended up biting me in the ass.

It's fine in and of itself, but now I'm locked into Apple hardware. I need big iron for video, and Apple has told me to **** off.
Ah, that makes sense.

I'm audio, with the occasional dabbling into video. I'm doing pretty good by Apple's hardware.
     
subego
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Mar 20, 2017, 12:41 PM
 
After Effects is all about speeds and feeds. The more CPU and RAM I have, the faster work gets done.

If I built a PC for $8K, it would crush a Mac Pro.

I ended up getting an iMac. I'm hoping I don't have to put 4K video through After Effects on it.
     
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Mar 20, 2017, 07:47 PM
 
LC 580
Power Mac 5400
iMac DV
MacBook Pro Retina 15"
iPod (USB stick version)
Pro Mouse (black and clear version)
     
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Mar 20, 2017, 11:41 PM
 
I still like the Xserve. And it had by far the lowest failure rate of any Mac I'd wager. Bulletproof.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
subego
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Mar 21, 2017, 12:25 AM
 
I'd have got one (or more) if I had a place to stash loud shit.
     
sek929
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Mar 21, 2017, 12:17 PM
 
Original iPod was a total game-changer.

For software my vote goes to OS 10.4 Tiger. It was the first OSX iteration that not only kept up with Windows by actually leapfrogged it in many aspects. Finally felt snappy.
     
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Mar 21, 2017, 12:24 PM
 
I saw an eye-witness account from MS when they were watching the 10.4 launch on livestream. They were crapping their pants, because the one-two punch of Spotlight and Quartz Extreme 2D were two of the three tentpoles of Longhorn, and they already knew that one of them (the search system) was far from ready to ship. The third tentpole, "Avalon", was a new API that was easier to work with to replace Win32. They were already behind Apple on that front, as Apple had Cocoa live in production since 2001.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Mar 21, 2017, 01:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I'd have got one (or more) if I had a place to stash loud shit.
They are frightfully cheap these days. Great bang for your buck.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
Doc HM
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Mar 21, 2017, 06:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
Original iPod was a total game-changer.

For software my vote goes to OS 10.4 Tiger. It was the first OSX iteration that not only kept up with Windows by actually leapfrogged it in many aspects. Finally felt snappy.
Tiger was the first version of OSX that really felt it was what Apple wanted OSX to be. 10.6 was the high water mark but 10.4 was the genesis.

Surprising lack of love for the G3 powerbooks!!
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CharlesS
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Mar 21, 2017, 09:37 PM
 
PowerBook 100.

Popularized the form factor that's still dominant form for full-fledged computers, 26 years later.

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el chupacabra
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Mar 22, 2017, 12:14 AM
 
G3 powerbook was my dream machine back then. Couldnt afford it at the time though.
     
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Mar 22, 2017, 04:16 AM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
PowerBook 100.

Popularized the form factor that's still dominant form for full-fledged computers, 26 years later.
Yes, but it was a) designed and manufactured by Sony with Apple contributing the software and the logo, and b) it was severely underpowered for the time and quite expensive.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
subego
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Mar 22, 2017, 08:53 AM
 
I recommended to two people they get Apple laptops before Steve came back, and I still feel guilty about it.
     
Thorzdad
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Mar 22, 2017, 09:39 AM
 
Any love for the Airport Extreme (the last AppleTV-sized one, and not the newer tower)? Sure, it lacks most of the fiddly bits that geeks love, but as a set-it-and-forget-it wifi router for the masses, I think it's a great success. The setup software is pretty pain-free, too. Plus, there's Airplay.

I still think it's a bad move for Apple to be killing that product (and, apparently, Airplay with it.)
     
subego
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Mar 22, 2017, 09:51 AM
 
Do the Extremes have Airplay?

This is a Time Capsule, but it shows why I like the flat model.

     
Thorzdad
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Mar 22, 2017, 10:05 AM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Do the Extremes have Airplay?
Only sort of. Mine handles the wifi sharing. I have an AE broadcasting the wifi network and an Airport Express hooked-up to my old stereo on the other side of the room. When I set iTunes to Airplay, it looks for the Express via the AE network. Now, I don't know if that would work with another brand of router, but I know it's simple and pain-free with the AE.
     
CharlesS
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Mar 22, 2017, 10:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Yes, but it was a) designed and manufactured by Sony with Apple contributing the software and the logo, and b) it was severely underpowered for the time and quite expensive.
Who cares who designed it? It was a revolutionary product.

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
subego
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Mar 22, 2017, 10:27 AM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Only sort of. Mine handles the wifi sharing. I have an AE broadcasting the wifi network and an Airport Express hooked-up to my old stereo on the other side of the room. When I set iTunes to Airplay, it looks for the Express via the AE network. Now, I don't know if that would work with another brand of router, but I know it's simple and pain-free with the AE.
This is pedantic, but IIUC, that's the gravy. The meat is you can use your Express as a weak-ass AP and an Ethernet drop.

Thankfully, all my Expresses are hardwired.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 22, 2017, 02:14 PM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Only sort of. Mine handles the wifi sharing. I have an AE broadcasting the wifi network and an Airport Express hooked-up to my old stereo on the other side of the room. When I set iTunes to Airplay, it looks for the Express via the AE network. Now, I don't know if that would work with another brand of router, but I know it's simple and pain-free with the AE.
It's completely irrelevant what router you use. If your iDevice or Mac sees an AppleTV or Airport Express on the network, AirPlay works. The end.
     
 
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