Random Predictions
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My Random Prediction: Raw denim is on the upswing. We're gonna see a lot of it in the next few years, and then it's gonna fade out again.
Reasoning: American Eagle has raw denim now.
…You are very late to the game with that prediction.
For over 3 years you see more and more selvedge and "selvedge" and raw denim everywhere. -
Back from the dead!!!!
This year we will begin to see the decline of the veblen effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good) surrounding Apple.
I believe that the purchase of Beats Headphones, the purported cheaper iPhone and iPad models and the insistence on using their own connectors rather than something more ubiquitous (mini USB?) will finally strip away some of the Steve Jobs veneer. I'll be sad to see it happen, but I think it's coming. You can't fight the tide.
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I think Apple's connector is rad and I can't blame them for getting tired of waiting on USB to make something decent. I moved from Apple to Windows Phone (Nokia) and micro USB is a piece of shit compared to Apple's connector; I really miss it. Apple seems to have actually looked at plugs as part of their development process, unlike the USB consortium. For example, it has chamfering and rounded edges just like an electrical plug to aid insertion such that you don't have to have an exact entry angle. Anyway, while I generally agree with the rest of what you said, a proprietary, internally-developed connector is VERY Steve Jobs. Show me the iPod/iPhone/iPad that doesn't have one.
Beats was definitely an interesting, and distinctly non-Jobsian, purchase.
My biggest issue is that nothing "just works" anymore. The biggest problem is there's not a micromanager-in-chief. Heads should be rolling after all the FAIL of late, and I think Cook is more of a bean counter than a visionary. It's disappointing to see such a fate befall Apple IMO.
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…the insistence on using their own connectors rather than something more ubiquitous (mini USB?) will finally strip away some of the Steve Jobs veneer.
Apple loves them some proprietary connectors and it doesn't seem to have any ill effects. Remember IEEE 1394 (I still can't call it "Firewire" without doing jazz hands)? Granted, that was when Jobs was around and could toss out something shiny to distract people from the bad ideas. It's a different company now, but I think Apple's decline will be less because of dumb proprietary hardware and more because of uninteresting products.
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Apple products have always been less interesting than other manufacturers, less features, less battery, less memory but they sold on quality, convenience and reputation. When I say this I am talking about average consumers rather than super savvy tech geeks (said in full expectation of being pulled down with a list of crazy Apple innovations that man in the street gives zero shits about).
They will fall because they are cheapening their own image, rather than being set apart they are getting closer to joining the herd and it is in the herd where inconvenient little details like proprietary connectors will just piss people off.
imo
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FireWire was initiated and primarily developed by Apple, and first included in their products, but it technically is an open standard that was implemented by a consortium (Texas Instruments, Sony, and perhaps others actively contributing). The Lightning connector has no such pedigree.
My suspicion is the Beats move had more to do with the streaming service and with negotiating with big media than with ugly, overpriced headphones. We will see. Kind of a head-scratcher. Cook seems more interested in money than product, and to me that spells the end of Apple. Perhaps not financially, but certainly culturally.
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My suspicion is the Beats move had more to do with the streaming service and with negotiating with big media than with ugly, overpriced headphones. We will see. Kind of a head-scratcher.
Yeah the majestic reviews I've read said the headphones are a side product of the core business which is streaming and closer access to hollywood to enable better access to industry figures to make solid deals.
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Exactly–even though the streaming service has a minute installed base, I think it's supposedly really high quality audio, and iTunes radio isn't good enough. The Beats Audio stuff could be integrated into laptops and devices too, basically all that is is a few innovations to improve signal over noise. Not rocket science, using plastic to reduce vibrations on jacks, isolating audio circuits, etc... Considering how terrible my MacBook Air's speakers are, I would expect to see this technology filter into the product lines. That Apple bought a company HTC had a large stake in is just weird though... They usually have very small, targeted, strategic acquisitions, this one was kind of odd.
Prediction: My Dell work laptop will meet a violent end, and soon.
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These will not sell well.
25oz Dropcrotch
https://www.g-star.com/en_us/product/men/jeans/20.0.50887.6108.001 -
every time I've travelled in Europe in the past decade i get re-amazed at how drop crotch is still a thing.
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That is probably the most atrocious pair of jeans in human history.
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every time I've travelled in Europe in the past decade i get re-amazed at how drop crotch is still a thing.
It's big in Sydney at the moment, with skinny/tight from thigh down, the worst look.
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Yeah–you didn't think it could get worse than Hammer Pants did you? All you have to do is stovepipe the legs… It makes you look like a fucking cartoon character, no idea why anyone would think this is a flattering look.
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I showed those bad boys to Giles last night, don't expect an Iron Heart version any time soon.
