美国果粉：新MacBook和机顶盒软件令人失望透顶
上周苹果公司召开了一场新品发布会，会上发布了几款笔记本电脑和一款升级版的电视机顶盒软件。然而这场发布会却遭到了多方质疑和吐槽。有些人甚至质疑苹果对这两个市场的基本战略是否已经搁浅了。 发布会的产品介绍环节首先从一款叫做“TV”的苹果电视软件开始。这款应用旨在改进苹果电视的一个主要弱点，以往用户要想在苹果电视上找到一个特定的节目，就得在好几个视频应用里一个个地搜索。但有了这款新应用后，用户就可以同时在多个视频应用上搜索一个节目。不过它也有一个说大不大说小不小的问题——Netflix和亚马逊视频（Amazon Video）这两个在美国最受欢迎的流媒体视频网站并未被包含在内。 介绍完了这款软件之后，苹果终于揭开了姗姗来迟的升级版Mac系列电脑的神秘面纱。然而令广大果粉不满的是，此次升级的电脑只有MacBook Pro笔记本这一条产品线，而iMac和Mac Pro系列台式机仍然原封未动。更令人接受不能的是，升级版的MacBook Pro居然搭载的还是几年前的英特尔芯片。 苹果迈出的这一步——或许还有没迈出的那几步，引得外界纷纷批评苹果在这两大市场上的战略。 最新发布的苹果TV也是市面上最昂贵的网络机顶盒，然而现在就连许多廉价机顶盒都具备了播放4K高清视频的功能，售价最高的苹果TV却不支持4K播放，实在是说不过去。知名博主乔伊·斯蒂尔干脆在他的博客上贴出了一张表，表上的10款其他品牌的网络机顶盒的功能都比苹果的多，但价格却都更便宜。 比如亚马逊的Fire TV机顶盒只卖90美元，但它也支持4K播放，还有一个包括了Netflix在内的通用搜索应用。 斯蒂尔写道：“在2016年秋天，为了进入苹果的电视生态系统而花150美元买这么一个硬件，无论如何也说不过去。现在谷歌也生产了一款UHD HDR播放器，而且它的成本还要低于苹果的Siri遥控器，这就说明苹果卖的硬件有问题了。” 虽说TV应用在有些情境下还是挺有用的，然而随着谷歌和AT&T等竞争对手的在线电视服务日益突飞猛进，苹果至今仍未建立自己的具有吸引力的在线电视服务。苹果的一些独有的节目或许会让部分铁粉产生购买欲望，但是刨去这些独有内容或一些最抢眼的功能，“还有谁会买这款产品？”史蒂尔问道。 而在笔记本电脑方面，苹果的做法也招来了类似的问题。 首先是苹果对CPU的选择，此次发布的新版MacBook Pro基于英特尔三年前推出的Skylake平台，而非最新的Kaby Lake平台。写手兼开发者欧文·威廉姆斯指出，老款MacBook Pro笔记本的CPU性能在某些标准上还超过了新款的CPU性能。 “如果你现在用的是一台2012年的MacBook，你可能都说不出来它跟新款有什么区别。”威廉姆斯写道：“但这有一个问题：这家公司等了四年之久，却没有推出任何实际的有未来价值的功能，又有何‘新’可言。” 还有人批评苹果对Pro系列的升级力度不够，对从事创造性工作的专业人士没有提供额外的帮助，而这本来一直是苹果最有强项的市场之一。比如创意数字媒体网站（Creative Digital Media）的总编彼得·科恩就指出，苹果的新款笔记本电脑并不具备处理虚拟现实（VR）项目所需要的强大的图形芯片。 科恩认为：“Mac之所以一举成名，就是因为它抓住了桌面出版和图形处理领域，而PC当年则在这方面错失了良机。目前看来，苹果也要在下一代的图形、3D和VR领域步PC的后尘了。” 在上周的发布会上，苹果还回顾了1984年第一代Mac和1991年初代Mac笔记本发布时的情景。但如果粉丝们的批评真的切中了要害，那么苹果或许的确忘掉了“初心”——也就是当初让那些经典产品大获成功的东西。（财富中文网） 译者：朴成奎 | Apple’s event last week to unveil new laptops and some improvements to its TV set-top box software were underwhelming on multiple levels. Now some are questioning whether Apple’s fundamental strategies for the two markets are running aground as well. The new product introductions started with a new app for the Apple TV software called “TV.” The app was supposed to correct one of the chief weaknesses of Apple TV in which a user might have to search across multiple apps, one at a time, to find a particular program to watch. With the new TV app, users were supposed to be able to search for a show across many apps at one time. The problem was that Netflix and Amazon Video, the two most popular Internet streaming video services, weren’t included. Then Apple finally moved to update its aging line of Mac computers. But only the MacBook Pro notebook line got updates, while the iMac and Mac pro desktop lines remained unchanged, and the updated MacBook Pro models rely on year-old CPU chips from Intel. The moves—or the lack of additional moves—have prompted criticism of Apple’s strategy in both markets. The TV announcement left Apple with the most expensive Internet set-top box on the market, but lacking the features of many cheaper devices that can display 4K video. Blogger Joe Steel put together a list of 10 competing Internet video devices that cost less and had more features. Amazon’s $90 Fire TV set top box, for example, can display 4K video and has a universal search app that includes Netflix. “There is no way to justify spending $150 to enter Apple’s TV ecosystem in the fall of 2016 on hardware alone,” Steel wrote. “When Google is making a streaming UHD HDR player that costs LESS than a replacement Siri Remote, there is a problem with the hardware Apple is selling.” While the TV app may be helpful in some situations, Apple still hasn’t been able to create its own compelling online TV service while competitors, like Google and AT&T , push ahead. An Apple line-up of programming that was uniquely available on the Apple TV box might provide a compelling reason to buy the device. But without unique content or the most desirable features, Steel wonders “Who is this product for?” On the laptop side, Apple’s decisions have raised similar questions. One red flag came with Apple’s choice of CPU, which is based on Intel’s three-year-old Skylake platform, not the brand new Kaby Lake platform. Writer and developer Owen Williams pointed out that the CPUs in older MacBook Pro laptops outperform the chips selected for the newer models in some benchmarks. “You can use a MacBook from 2012 right now and probably can’t tell the difference,” Williams wrote. “But therein lies the problem — the company waited four years, then didn’t really deliver any real future-value other than it’s ‘new.'” Others criticized Apple for failing to make the “Pro” line more useful to modern professional workers in creative fields, traditionally one Apple’s strongest markets. The new laptops lack the powerful graphics chips needed to work on virtual reality projects, for example, observed Peter Kirn, editor in chief of the Creative Digital Media website. “The Mac made its name because it embraced desktop publishing and graphics when the PC missed the boat,”Kirn wrote. “Now, it seems Apple is about to miss next-generation graphics, 3D, and virtual reality.” At last week’s event, Apple harkened back to the introduction of the original Mac in 1984 and the first Mac laptop in 1991. But if the critics are correct, the company may have lost touch with what made those iconic products so successful. |
