If Apple truly wanted to keep it simple, they could design whatever “improvements” they make to avoid that issue. David Nanian has been successful in getting around those issues with the replicator by “thinking different”. Apple used to be that way, but that seems to be no longer the case, at least in this instance. And I suspect there are others.
In actuality, you said it yourself: “Sure, Apple could make it easier to create bootable backups”, ie. keep it simple. But seems like laziness and non-innovation are at play here. Thank god there are folks like David Nanian still around who can devise reliable methods to get around Apple’s shortcomings.
Some really interesting thought expressed here, which highlights, to me anyway, part of the high value of the TBT experience.
I haven’t been able to bring my thoughts on the subject to any succinct post yet but I think they revolve around the Big Picture idea of the meaning of any new tool introduced to human society, in this case Apple software and hardware.
Initial attraction for me, as a visual person, was the GUI, attractive hardware, software that let me do interesting things and be more efficient, all enhanced with a feeling of shared values, that is, attention to detail and quality, care for the user experience, development of helpful community (user group/developer) spirit. That’s all gradually faded for me (exc here at TBT) especially since I worked in an Apple Store and since its massive growth.
All of those things I mentioned led to people not being able to use what were (at the time) seen as the most basic of skills. That was my point. Every generation thinks the next is losing something crucial, without the self-awareness that the previous generation thought exactly the same about them, and that perhaps the lost skills aren’t as crucial as thought.
And I think we’re actually in a period of great innovation. In the past 20 years, I’ve acquired a supercomputer in my pocket that keeps me closely linked to the world, and that connects to a constellation of satellites which locate me precisely so I always know where I am. I’m resistant to an entirely new disease because of a new way of making vaccines. There are genuinely reusable rockets going into space and coming back. On the horrible side, drones and cyberattacks are completely remaking warfare. Whether one likes it or not, AI is remaking entire economic sectors.
(Historically innovation has two sequential periods. The first, where the new capabilities are invented / created and the second, where those capabilities are democratized / universalized. The latter is often much more important than the former. Cell phones existed in the 1980s but were rare, expensive, and barely portable. It’s only the universalizing of the capability in the 2000s – by Apple among others – that really changed the way society worked).
People (for the most part) have never been able to apply basic mathematical skills in the way you’re hoping. Throughout my life, I’ve had cashiers struggle to make correct change quickly, seen car dealerships use deceptive math to rip off customers, and students get flustered when a professor starts chiding them for not being able to handle a “simple” question.
That is true, but my point is that by not applying those basic skills, it leads to non-innovation. People cannot think on their feet, even though their brain never runs out of batteries! And thus it is crucial. Fortunately there are still some folks like Dave Nanian around who think differently, and obviously knows all too well how to even apply those basic skills.
What you say about innovation is true in many industries, but for the most basic one, thinking on one’s feet (and using their brain), there are so many instances where it is lacking. And I, at least for now, cannot embrace AI. That is definitely in its very “infant” stages, still prone to numerous issues and mistakes. Also, you are missing another phase of innovation: making it easier and better. That needs to be the second phase. Unfortunately, with the third stage, making it universal does not always make it right or useful.
Same with me. When I was teaching I avoided humiliating someone who could not do even simple calculations. I did not want to inhibit their chance for improvement. That is just common sense, which again a lot of folks these days lack. But again I point to the wide availability of calculators (and now cell phones) for making that even worse! You can not me that is not a by product of those devices. People mostly want the easiest way of doing things, but ignore the consequences.
…It wasn’t one thing, it was a million little touches that only became clear upon using these Apple products regularly: there was care put into the process. These devices were thoughtfully designed. A joy to use. They were everything a PC was not…
Agree 100% in that was the way it used to be, and including from a software perspective. But unfortunately Apple started moving away from the KISS philosophy, especially with their software, back in the early 2000’s, and it unfortunately continues today. Macs are, for the most part, still somewhat easier, and a pleasure, to use. But not as good as earlier.