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I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. ?But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me?
?
?
Harold Appel
--?
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Apple is not far from Big Brother. They have definitely moved away from “a computer for the rest of use”, “it just works”, and simplified to a bloated, where the heck did they hide the setting, “our way or the highway”, you have to be youthful to see this, and you need to be in the know to find the hidden controls.?
What do I mean? In Catalina, there are about two dozen, top level, default, built-in System Preferences. In the later macOS, and all OS derived from iOS, at the top level of System Settings, there are about 60-80 items. In iOS 18, the abbreviated that by adding another layer by placing the app settings under a new tab.?
Another example, on one device, the X to close a tab is on one side, but on another, it is on the opposite side, and hidden on both.?
The dot to denote unread emails is so tiny, it is easy to miss. The scroll bar is so narrow, it is hard to grasp. They are using dim, low contrast text and backgrounds. Yet they know about vision issues, because they have a whole section of settings called Accessibility.?
And don’t get me started on the roadblocks Apple has places in the way of third-party or DIY repairs. And you better stay current on hardware and software, because they are deleting all knowledge of products much older than 5 or 6 years old.?
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On Dec 18, 2024, at 09:29, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
? I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. ?But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me?
Harold Appel -- Harold Appel, NYC iMac 24-inch, M1, 2021 MacOS?13.3
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On Dec 18, 2024, at 12:28?PM, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote: Hi Harold,
President Nixon used to say "Just because everyone is watching me does not mean I'm paranoid."
Sadly, I agree with both you and Brent, in the slow but steady demise of the now long-gone days Steve Jobs' initial crusade and the original Apple culture that surrounded it.?
Even the new Jaguar commercial seems to mock the now infamous sledgehammer hurled into "The Machine" in the 1984 superbowl commercial. The iconic 1984 Apple Computer Macintosh commercial conceived by Chiat/Day and directed by Ridley Scott was nationally aired on television only once - during the 3rd quarter of the 1984 Super Bowl football game: ?
What an amazing commercial, which ironically encapsulates exactly in reverse what's going on today! Watch it and see for yourself.? How time flies.?
Of course the only thing that remains constant is change, and at each step along the way over the decades Apple somehow seems to have lost its way to some degree. Perhaps because we are long in the tooth we cling to the past and resent having to adopt. It's probably a little bit of both.
But overall, I don't recognize "Apple Computers" has morphed into (a design company) "Apple" and it's not the apple of my eye.
Cheers, John?
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On Dec 18, 2024, at 9:28 AM, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me? As we get older, it natural to fear change. Especially technological change. Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it. “Steve Jobs never would have done this!” “Apple has lost sight of its users! Apple will surely fail due to this change!” “How can users be expected to adapt to all this new change?!” Yet…somehow we’ve all managed to adapt. Almost every single time, when we look back on these changes after a bit of time has passed, it seems that Apple made the right choice. And Apple has consistently grown and has become more successful for the last THREE decades. Apple Intelligence is nothing to be afraid of. It won’t be hard to learn to use or use in practice. In fact, it might make a number of difficult things a lot easier. It won’t make your computing less secure. It won’t force you to change how you do everything if you don’t want to. It won’t introduce anything that you will find impossible to understand. What it WILL do is slowly introduce new apps and features, some or most of which will be insanely awesome! Think of putting in a couple of lines of explanatory text into a program to describe a drawing, and having the program create the drawing for you instantly! (I’ve done this with my daughter. It’s wildly fun!) Think of pointing your computer to a long article and asking it to summarize the article in a few sentences. This of talking into your computer to create a recording of your voice, and being able to ask the computer to turn that recording instantly into a text file! This will all open up a new era of productivity and creativity. The quickest way to assuage your paranoia about something, is to learn about it. Have a look at: I tried Apple Intelligence on my Mac — it could change the way you use macOS Apple Intelligence on Mac is AWESOME! Apple Intelligence on Mac: what it is, what it does, and how to use it Get started with Apple Intelligence on Mac __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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Thanks Randy. I am a senior and have just begun embracing the term boomer I hear a lot these days when younger folks refer to something I do that dates me. But I have always thrived on change. So I am itching to start using AI and figure I’d feel most secure to learn with Apple. Thanks for the links!
I’ve also been solely an Apple user since the early 80s when my company forced me to switch from my IBM PC. Back then and for many years after that Apple was not profitable and had no market share. Steve Jobs was great but if a business doesn’t become and stay profitable it will cease to exist.
Lastly, I don’t think of Apple as ‘big brother’. But I trust Apple with my data over any other company of any type.
Susan
Sent from iPhone
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 3:15?AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
?
On Dec 18, 2024, at 9:28 AM, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me? As we get older, it natural to fear change. Especially technological change. Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it.
“Steve Jobs never would have done this!”
“Apple has lost sight of its users! Apple will surely fail due to this change!”
“How can users be expected to adapt to all this new change?!”
Yet…somehow we’ve all managed to adapt. Almost every single time, when we look back on these changes after a bit of time has passed, it seems that Apple made the right choice. And Apple has consistently grown and has become more successful for the last THREE decades.
Apple Intelligence is nothing to be afraid of. It won’t be hard to learn to use or use in practice. In fact, it might make a number of difficult things a lot easier. It won’t make your computing less secure. It won’t force you to change how you do everything if you don’t want to. It won’t introduce anything that you will find impossible to understand.
What it WILL do is slowly introduce new apps and features, some or most of which will be insanely awesome! Think of putting in a couple of lines of explanatory text into a program to describe a drawing, and having the program create the drawing for you instantly! (I’ve done this with my daughter. It’s wildly fun!) Think of pointing your computer to a long article and asking it to summarize the article in a few sentences. This of talking into your computer to create a recording of your voice, and being able to ask the computer to turn that recording instantly into a text file! This will all open up a new era of productivity and creativity.
The quickest way to assuage your paranoia about something, is to learn about it. Have a look at:
I tried Apple Intelligence on my Mac — it could change the way you use macOS
Apple Intelligence on Mac is AWESOME!
Apple Intelligence on Mac: what it is, what it does, and how to use it
Get started with Apple Intelligence on Mac
__________________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice
__________________________________________________
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Nicely put, Susan, thanks for posting. ?I feel the same way on all counts including thanks to Randy for his invaluable comments.
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 4:49 AM, Susan Tropeano via < stropeano@...> wrote:
Thanks Randy. I am a senior and have just begun embracing the term boomer I hear a lot these days when younger folks refer to something I do that dates me. But I have always thrived on change. So I am itching to start using AI and figure I’d feel most secure to learn with Apple. Thanks for the links!?I’ve also been solely an Apple user since the early 80s when my company forced me to switch from my IBM PC. Back then and for many years after that Apple was not profitable and had no market share. Steve Jobs was great but if a business doesn’t become and stay profitable it will cease to exist.?Lastly, I don’t think of Apple as ‘big brother’. But I trust Apple with my data over any other company of any type.?SusanSent from iPhoneOn Dec 19, 2024, at 3:15?AM, Randy B. Singer via <randy@...> wrote:
?
On Dec 18, 2024, at 9:28 AM, Harold Appel via <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. ?But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me?
As we get older, it natural to fear change. ?Especially technological change. ?Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it. ?
“Steve Jobs never would have done this!”
“Apple has lost sight of its users! ?Apple will surely fail due to this change!”
“How can users be expected to adapt to all this new change?!”
Yet…somehow we’ve all managed to adapt. ?Almost every single time, when we look back on these changes after a bit of time has passed, it seems that Apple made the right choice. ?And Apple has consistently grown and has become more successful for the last THREE decades.
Apple Intelligence is nothing to be afraid of. ?It won’t be hard to learn to use or use in practice. ?In fact, it might make a number of difficult things a lot easier. ?It won’t make your computing less secure. ?It won’t force you to change how you do everything if you don’t want to. ?It won’t introduce anything that you will find impossible to understand.
What it WILL do is slowly introduce new apps and features, some or most of which will be insanely awesome! ?Think of putting in a couple of lines of explanatory text into a program to describe a drawing, and having the program create the drawing for you instantly! ?(I’ve done this with my daughter. ?It’s wildly fun!) ?Think of pointing your computer to a long article and asking it to summarize the article in a few sentences. ?This of talking into your computer to create a recording of your voice, and being able to ask the computer to turn that recording instantly into a text file! ?This will all open up a new era of productivity and creativity.
The quickest way to assuage your paranoia about something, is to learn about it. ?Have a look at:
I tried Apple Intelligence on my Mac — it could change the way you use macOS
Apple Intelligence on Mac is AWESOME!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPo98mIY7j8&t=51s
Apple Intelligence on Mac: what it is, what it does, and how to use it
https://thesweetbits.com/apple-intelligence-on-mac-what-it-is-what-it-does-and-how-to-use-it/
Get started with Apple Intelligence on Mac
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/get-started-with-apple-intelligence-mchl46361784/mac
__________________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice
http://www.macattorney.com/welcome.html
__________________________________________________
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Thanks, Randy! ?Great reliable info & analysis!? ? Aside: ?While I don’t “trust” Apple nearly as much as do some others, I agree the folks running Apple at this point have ethics above average. ?It’s like, for all its flaws, our USA system of government, with Constitution, Bill of Rights, 3 branches of government, trustworthy elections, etc. is way, way better than a theocracy or dictatorship. ?As long as the folks in our 3 branches of government also have ethics and intelligence, we’re okay, but a change in personnel can start an (irreversible?) downturn overnight.
Re: being called “boomer,” yup, a grandson called me that, too. ?I don’t mind as long as he knows I really am one — hate it when accuracy gets twisted by the ignorant, whose trendy insults/word usage might warp history until history is lost. ?So for accuracy, to be a real boomer, one has to have been born in a year from 1946 - 1964, and the complete term, as I’m sure all of us old fogies know, is "Baby Boomer”, and it refers to the spate of procreation when soldiers returned home from World War II.?
And now, that grandson calls me “Old Lady”, and I call him “Smart Ass Young Man”.
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 12:15 AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
On Dec 18, 2024, at 9:28 AM, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. ?But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me?
As we get older, it natural to fear change. ?Especially technological change. ?Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it. ? “Steve Jobs never would have done this!” “Apple has lost sight of its users! ?Apple will surely fail due to this change!” “How can users be expected to adapt to all this new change?!” Yet…somehow we’ve all managed to adapt. ?Almost every single time, when we look back on these changes after a bit of time has passed, it seems that Apple made the right choice. ?And Apple has consistently grown and has become more successful for the last THREE decades. Apple Intelligence is nothing to be afraid of. ?It won’t be hard to learn to use or use in practice. ?In fact, it might make a number of difficult things a lot easier. ?It won’t make your computing less secure. ?It won’t force you to change how you do everything if you don’t want to. ?It won’t introduce anything that you will find impossible to understand. What it WILL do is slowly introduce new apps and features, some or most of which will be insanely awesome! ?Think of putting in a couple of lines of explanatory text into a program to describe a drawing, and having the program create the drawing for you instantly! ?(I’ve done this with my daughter. ?It’s wildly fun!) ?Think of pointing your computer to a long article and asking it to summarize the article in a few sentences. ?This of talking into your computer to create a recording of your voice, and being able to ask the computer to turn that recording instantly into a text file! ?This will all open up a new era of productivity and creativity. The quickest way to assuage your paranoia about something, is to learn about it. ?Have a look at: I tried Apple Intelligence on my Mac — it could change the way you use macOS https://www.laptopmag.com/ai/i-tried-apple-intelligence-on-my-mac-it-could-change-the-way-you-use-macos Apple Intelligence on Mac is AWESOME! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPo98mIY7j8&t=51s Apple Intelligence on Mac: what it is, what it does, and how to use it https://thesweetbits.com/apple-intelligence-on-mac-what-it-is-what-it-does-and-how-to-use-it/ Get started with Apple Intelligence on Mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/get-started-with-apple-intelligence-mchl46361784/mac __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice http://www.macattorney.com/welcome.html __________________________________________________
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What company was that? Sounds like they were ahead of the curve! ;-) Jerry On Dec 19, 2024, at 3:49?AM, Susan Tropeano via groups.io <stropeano@...> wrote: <snip> I’ve also been solely an Apple user since the early 80s when my company forced me to switch from my IBM PC. Back then and for many years after that Apple was not profitable and had no market share. Steve Jobs was great but if a business doesn’t become and stay profitable it will cease to exist.
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So I loaded Apple Intelligence and had a “What?” episode right away. When the setup process cot to the voice training for Siri, I didn’t notice any indication as to what was going on. The screen asked me to repeat phrases (“Siri, show me the way home” for instance - why would I say this since I am at home and never need help getting back, anyway.) but I didn’t know this was voice training so the process was a bit confused. Once I realized what was happening, it went OK. A better explanation at the beginning would have helped.
So far, there doesn’t seem much useful to me, but I hope that will change as we go along.
Jerry
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 12:15?AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
On Dec 18, 2024, at 9:28 AM, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me? As we get older, it natural to fear change. Especially technological change. Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it.
“Steve Jobs never would have done this!”
“Apple has lost sight of its users! Apple will surely fail due to this change!”
“How can users be expected to adapt to all this new change?!”
Yet…somehow we’ve all managed to adapt. Almost every single time, when we look back on these changes after a bit of time has passed, it seems that Apple made the right choice. And Apple has consistently grown and has become more successful for the last THREE decades.
Apple Intelligence is nothing to be afraid of. It won’t be hard to learn to use or use in practice. In fact, it might make a number of difficult things a lot easier. It won’t make your computing less secure. It won’t force you to change how you do everything if you don’t want to. It won’t introduce anything that you will find impossible to understand.
What it WILL do is slowly introduce new apps and features, some or most of which will be insanely awesome! Think of putting in a couple of lines of explanatory text into a program to describe a drawing, and having the program create the drawing for you instantly! (I’ve done this with my daughter. It’s wildly fun!) Think of pointing your computer to a long article and asking it to summarize the article in a few sentences. This of talking into your computer to create a recording of your voice, and being able to ask the computer to turn that recording instantly into a text file! This will all open up a new era of productivity and creativity.
The quickest way to assuage your paranoia about something, is to learn about it. Have a look at:
I tried Apple Intelligence on my Mac — it could change the way you use macOS
;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!Q5GQPHIJmoZcJCLN_MepSFxtR_popD25El1hfDNBxyWRi5UbpV1Xg4GlmyygAofgLMMtg66gNXrlDq2YY_7q0UDH30gvpu8$
Apple Intelligence on Mac is AWESOME!
;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!Q5GQPHIJmoZcJCLN_MepSFxtR_popD25El1hfDNBxyWRi5UbpV1Xg4GlmyygAofgLMMtg66gNXrlDq2YY_7q0UDHONXpLrs$
Apple Intelligence on Mac: what it is, what it does, and how to use it
;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!Q5GQPHIJmoZcJCLN_MepSFxtR_popD25El1hfDNBxyWRi5UbpV1Xg4GlmyygAofgLMMtg66gNXrlDq2YY_7q0UDHRkmklZ0$
Get started with Apple Intelligence on Mac
;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!Q5GQPHIJmoZcJCLN_MepSFxtR_popD25El1hfDNBxyWRi5UbpV1Xg4GlmyygAofgLMMtg66gNXrlDq2YY_7q0UDHl6mNWvw$
__________________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice
;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!Q5GQPHIJmoZcJCLN_MepSFxtR_popD25El1hfDNBxyWRi5UbpV1Xg4GlmyygAofgLMMtg66gNXrlDq2YY_7q0UDHbwZkTM0$
__________________________________________________
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Resistance to change is almost universal, and not age dependent. The young struggle with new and strange things, too.
The elders just have stronger habits and muscle memories.
But after all the noise, people act as if it has always been that way.
Brent
On my iPhone Xr
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 00:15, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
As we get older, it natural to fear change. Especially technological change. Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it.
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Perhaps I should have made my point more clearly. I am 82 years old but I am not afraid of technological change (I love using my iMac as much as I did my Mac Plus), I am not afraid of using AI, and I don't think I am paranoid. I fear that using AI replaces my own judgment with relying on someone else's (a mystery, unknown to us) algorithm in order to obtain information or automate a task in a way that computers have not done before. I fear that in this process, something important will be lost. ChatGPT might be able to summarize a long book review for me but I would prefer to take the time to read it in it's entirety and make my own judgment. There are many things which are, by definition, ambiguous and if we rely on algorithms for too long we may lose this knowledge. I tried out ChatGPT a while ago and asked a provocative question that lead to a little debate, and at the end, AI apologized to me for having conflated opinion with fact. I say this not to brag but to recommend caution. To use the The infinite monkey theorem as an analogy, I think we are asking the monkey for a play instead of reading Shakespeare. I think that "AI" has become a marketing tool like "organic" and Apple is "all in."
--
Harold Appel, NYC
iMac 24-inch, M1, 2021
MacOS 15.2
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I don't know if they were ahead of the?curve but they were in the data management?business (Epsilon Data Management). They had me working on something they wanted kept strictly confidential and the Macs were new and not yet on the network. (Back then there was no internet, only the internal network.)
On Thu, Dec 19, 2024 at 2:14?PM Jerald Levinson via <levinson= [email protected]> wrote: What company was that? Sounds like they were ahead of the curve! ;-)
Jerry
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I understand your position Harold.?
We all need to remember that the majority of member in both online and in person Apple support groups, formerly known as MUGs, are people ho started using a Mac in the 1980s & 1990s, and often are above average in intelligence, in at least one area of knowledge.?
I think Randy’s example of AI being able to summarize a book is more for research or study, not pleasure reading. I much prefer audiobooks for pleasure reading, but want an ebook, PDF, or hardcopy for study or research. Each has its place.?
To paraphrase, I think Apples products are the worst, except for all others.?
I have used Windows and Android products, and they have their places. I just prefer to use Apple. Hell, I’ve used punchcards, and a Timex Sinclair. Thank gawd, they are both ancient history.?
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 12:56, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
? Perhaps I should have made my point more clearly. I am 82 years old but I am not afraid of technological change (I love using my iMac as much as I did my Mac Plus), I am not afraid of using AI, and I don't think I am paranoid. I fear that using AI replaces my own judgment with relying on someone else's (a mystery, unknown to us) algorithm in order to obtain information or automate a task in a way that computers have not done before. I fear that in this process, something important will be lost. ChatGPT might be able to summarize a long book review for me but I would prefer to take the time to read it in it's entirety and make my own judgment. There are many things which are, by definition, ambiguous and if we rely on algorithms for too long we may lose this knowledge. I tried out ChatGPT a while ago and asked a provocative question that lead to a little debate, and at the end, AI apologized to me for having conflated opinion with fact. I say this not to brag but to recommend caution. To use the The infinite monkey theorem as an analogy, I think we are asking the monkey for a play instead of reading Shakespeare. I think that "AI" has become a marketing tool like "organic" and Apple is "all in."
--
Harold Appel, NYC
iMac 24-inch, M1, 2021
MacOS 15.2
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International Harvester, the heavy truck division anyway, used Macs for years. Don’t know if? they still do as it’s been years since I have needed parts for any “Binders”.
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 2:41 PM, Susan Tropeano via < stropeano@...> wrote:
I don't know if they were ahead of the?curve but they were in the data management?business (Epsilon Data Management). They had me working on something they wanted kept strictly confidential and the Macs were new and not yet on the network. (Back then there was no internet, only the internal network.) On Thu, Dec 19, 2024 at 2:14?PM Jerald Levinson via <levinson= [email protected]> wrote: What company was that? Sounds like they were ahead of the curve! ;-)
Jerry
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Interesting discussion. I had a similar one with my son and daughter-in-law last week. He's a successful YouTuber (I add successful because YouTuber still sounds so trivial to me) and his wife is a research biologist at a well-known biotech company. They had been having an on-going discussion about how AI could or could not replace what they do for a living. My son who uses AI regularly contended that it could; his wife, not so much. He challenged her to ask some AI, I think he called it Claude, to summarize some research she had just finished summarizing. She took the challenge?and I think it is fair to say she was surprised and impressed with the results. As a serious researcher it took quite a bit to impress her. She still contended it couldn't replace her but she could see that it could indeed assist.?
I understand your position Harold.?
We all need to remember that the majority of member in both online and in person Apple support groups, formerly known as MUGs, are people ho started using a Mac in the 1980s & 1990s, and often are above average in intelligence, in at least one area of knowledge.?
I think Randy’s example of AI being able to summarize a book is more for research or study, not pleasure reading. I much prefer audiobooks for pleasure reading, but want an ebook, PDF, or hardcopy for study or research. Each has its place.?
To paraphrase, I think Apples products are the worst, except for all others.?
I have used Windows and Android products, and they have their places. I just prefer to use Apple. Hell, I’ve used punchcards, and a Timex Sinclair. Thank gawd, they are both ancient history.? ? Perhaps I should have made my point more clearly. I am 82 years old but I am not afraid of technological change (I love using my iMac as much as I did my Mac Plus), I am not afraid of using AI, and I don't think I am paranoid. I fear that using AI replaces my own judgment with relying on someone else's (a mystery, unknown to us) algorithm in order to obtain information or automate a task in a way that computers have not done before. I fear that in this process, something important will be lost. ChatGPT might be able to summarize a long book review for me but I would prefer to take the time to read it in it's entirety and make my own judgment. There are many things which are, by definition, ambiguous and if we rely on algorithms for too long we may lose this knowledge. I tried out ChatGPT a while ago and asked a provocative question that lead to a little debate, and at the end, AI apologized to me for having conflated opinion with fact. I say this not to brag but to recommend caution. To use the The infinite monkey theorem as an analogy, I think we are asking the monkey for a play instead of reading Shakespeare. I think that "AI" has become a marketing tool like "organic" and Apple is "all in."
--
Harold Appel, NYC
iMac 24-inch, M1, 2021
MacOS 15.2
|
Best take on that I’ve heard is someone wandering through the monkey field, stops, rips a page out of the typewriter (giggles), and says: Got it! “To be or not , to be, that is thrchxraohh ybroobrrcrch ?onthoeulaoechlolouuhooeusoehunoshlkblaomklapp.”
shalom, ncoom
???? ??????? small-odds-man We’re all here because we’re not all there
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On 19 Dec 2024, at 22:56, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
The?infinite monkey theorem as an analogy, I think we are asking the monkey for a play instead of reading Shakespeare. I
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A little off topic but my early Mac club, the Beta Traders, had a motto. ?“If you have to read the manual, it’s not Mac enough”
I’ve had a Mac since February of 1984. ?Still have it with the original box and carrying case.
Dutch
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 11:22?AM, Pat Taylor via groups.io <pat412@...> wrote:
Nicely put, Susan, thanks for posting. ?I feel the same way on all counts including thanks to Randy for his invaluable comments.
Pat On Dec 19, 2024, at 4:49 AM, Susan Tropeano via < stropeano@...> wrote:
Thanks Randy. I am a senior and have just begun embracing the term boomer I hear a lot these days when younger folks refer to something I do that dates me. But I have always thrived on change. So I am itching to start using AI and figure I’d feel most secure to learn with Apple. Thanks for the links!?I’ve also been solely an Apple user since the early 80s when my company forced me to switch from my IBM PC. Back then and for many years after that Apple was not profitable and had no market share. Steve Jobs was great but if a business doesn’t become and stay profitable it will cease to exist.?Lastly, I don’t think of Apple as ‘big brother’. But I trust Apple with my data over any other company of any type.?SusanSent from iPhoneOn Dec 19, 2024, at 3:15?AM, Randy B. Singer via <randy@...> wrote:
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On Dec 18, 2024, at 9:28 AM, Harold Appel via <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I am a long time user and supporter of Apple products and, therefore, an old fogie. ?But with the latest iteration of “improvements,” notably the so-called “intelligence,” I fear that Apple has gone from being the iconoclastic hammer thrower to being Big Brother himself on the screen in the 1984 commercial. Is it just me?
As we get older, it natural to fear change. ?Especially technological change. ?Every single time that Apple has made a big change (in their hardware, or their software), for as long as I can remember, there have been a number of folks who have wailed and lamented over it. ?
“Steve Jobs never would have done this!”
“Apple has lost sight of its users! ?Apple will surely fail due to this change!”
“How can users be expected to adapt to all this new change?!”
Yet…somehow we’ve all managed to adapt. ?Almost every single time, when we look back on these changes after a bit of time has passed, it seems that Apple made the right choice. ?And Apple has consistently grown and has become more successful for the last THREE decades.
Apple Intelligence is nothing to be afraid of. ?It won’t be hard to learn to use or use in practice. ?In fact, it might make a number of difficult things a lot easier. ?It won’t make your computing less secure. ?It won’t force you to change how you do everything if you don’t want to. ?It won’t introduce anything that you will find impossible to understand.
What it WILL do is slowly introduce new apps and features, some or most of which will be insanely awesome! ?Think of putting in a couple of lines of explanatory text into a program to describe a drawing, and having the program create the drawing for you instantly! ?(I’ve done this with my daughter. ?It’s wildly fun!) ?Think of pointing your computer to a long article and asking it to summarize the article in a few sentences. ?This of talking into your computer to create a recording of your voice, and being able to ask the computer to turn that recording instantly into a text file! ?This will all open up a new era of productivity and creativity.
The quickest way to assuage your paranoia about something, is to learn about it. ?Have a look at:
I tried Apple Intelligence on my Mac — it could change the way you use macOS
Apple Intelligence on Mac is AWESOME!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPo98mIY7j8&t=51s
Apple Intelligence on Mac: what it is, what it does, and how to use it
https://thesweetbits.com/apple-intelligence-on-mac-what-it-is-what-it-does-and-how-to-use-it/
Get started with Apple Intelligence on Mac
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/get-started-with-apple-intelligence-mchl46361784/mac
__________________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice
http://www.macattorney.com/welcome.html
__________________________________________________
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 10:52 AM, Jaqi Thompson via groups.io <yywomyn@...> wrote:
While I don’t “trust” Apple nearly as much as do some others, I agree the folks running Apple at this point have ethics above average. Apple is a company, and well above anything else, the reason that a company exists is to make money. A company can usually be expected to do whatever makes them money, with little regard for their customers (other than to keep them buying their products). So, it’s true that ordinarily, you should never trust a company. However, unlike a company like Google, whose entire business model is to offer free services that invade the privacy of their customers, aggregate their personal information, and sell it (they don’t even make a secret of this), Apple makes money by selling hardware. Not just any hardware, but high-end hardware that is sold with, if not a guaranty of the highest security, at least a good chunk of security being built-in. It’s in Apple’s best interests to instill confidence in their products in their customers. That’s Apple’s thing. I don’t think that it’s even a matter of ethics. I think that it’s a matter of company policy, and consumer expectation. If Apple started to disappoint their customers, I think that their customers would leave in droves. Because there is no lack of similar, cheaper, alternatives. What differentiates Apple is their quality and security. Apple knows this and they aren’t stupid enough to do anything that would change customer perceptions of them. However, Apple also has to keep innovating. Even if that scares some consumers (and it does). When Apple stops innovating, their products will become boring, and once again, customers will jump ship in droves for similar cheaper products. Apple adding AI to their products is fundamentally no different than them embracing WYSIWYG, plug and play, SCSI, AppleTalk, USB, all-in-one computers, RISC, SOC, etc. All were considered daring when first released. But each of these differentiated the Macintosh as an advanced product. If Apple doesn’t lead in cutting edge technology, someone else will, and take Apple’s customers away. __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 12:05 PM, Brent via groups.io <whodo678@...> wrote:
Resistance to change is almost universal, and not age dependent. The young struggle with new and strange things, too. The difference is that the old tend to get scared easily and give up. The young keep on banging at it until they become masters of it. That’s why you can usually ask your twelve year old child to help you with your computer. They have no fear of technology, so they will have invested nearly unlimited time into mastering it. It’s why lots of kids teach themselves how to program at surprisingly young ages. Approaching it doesn’t intimidate them at all. Conversely, it’s why, when I was working as a consultant, when I went to try and explain what really were simple concepts to middle age men, they would often suddenly get angry and shut down. Sometimes going so far as to yell and curse. These folks were scared out of their minds. Very generally, the older folks get, they more resistant (afraid) they become of technology. Don’t try to tell me that this isn’t true. I’ve seen unlimited examples of it. Right this second I can drag in a middle-aged man and a 10-year-old, and offer to teach both of them how to use Microsoft Word, for instance. I’m willing to bet any amount of money on which will become scared out of their mind at the prospect, and which will be very open and receptive. (I’m not saying this to put down old people. I’m an old guy myself. It just is what it is.) __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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On Dec 19, 2024, at 12:56 PM, Harold Appel via groups.io <haroldappel@...> wrote:
I fear that using AI replaces my own judgment with relying on someone else's (a mystery, unknown to us) algorithm in order to obtain information or automate a task in a way that computers have not done before. I fear that in this process, something important will be lost. AI is just another tool. It’s not a separate mind, it’s a tool wielded by humans. Just like using a computer was considered “cheating” by some in the very early days of personal computing, AI will become mainstream as time goes on. Currently, if you go on Facebook, you will often see offerings of very pretty pictures. But lots of people feel compelled to comment “THIS IS AI !!!” Like that somehow invalidates how attractive and enjoyable the picture is. That sort of nonsense should pass pretty quickly. Just as some people prefer the sound of music played on vinyl records to that played from digital files, I have no doubt that there will be folks who value doing things the old way. And that’s fine. You will still have a choice. But there is nothing to fear from AI. It’s just another tool that will lead to new sorts of end products. As I said, the more that you learn about AI, the more comfortable you will become with it. AI isn’t a dystopian evil come to dominate and replace all humans, like something from 1960’s science fiction. It’s just another way to save time and create works that previously might have been too tedious to routinely pursue as projects. __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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Harold Appel
Brent
John
Pat Taylor