Video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU

I am an Apple man too but I am the first to admit that I really don't like the direction things have taken since Cooks is in charge. 
 
Let me put it this way: I found myself cursing Cooks more often in those last few years than I had Bill Gates in over a decade.
 
I wish I could buy a lifetime supply of pre-Cooks Mac to run Logic 9 and X for the rest of my life. Screw them upgrades and updates!

Fleer
Video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU

Other have learned from Apple already...
 
I have ordered DELL XPS... with a Dongle to connect Ethernet cable. It is still not white, and it is not slim (it has VGA connector as well). But M$ has already introduces white and slim things...
 
I have used only one Apple device in my life, old MacBook. I have tried to understand why someone can like them, several days long, till I have installed Linux on it. After that it was at least usable
 
iPad of my mother has more bugs then 3 Android tablets I have used so far. But I must admit the display is good, so the last Android tablet I have bought has the same.
 
My brother is rather happy with his iPhone... in comparison with Windows 7 phone he has used before. But here I should also admit that 5 and more years ago, iPhones was better then Androids.
 
You can be "on top" for a while, but you can not fight against the whole world in a long term.
 
I am waiting for Intel based phones, normal Windows, Linux, Android capable and sufficient power to be used as an office PC. Tablets are already there, just the next step.

Anybody remember the IBM PS/2 computers with their non-standard (=proprietary) adapter card interface and new keyboard and mouse connectors? And their attempt to migrate (=force) you to OS/2?
 
How'd that go for them?
 
Same reason I've always disliked Apple conceptually, that is, their closed, proprietary systems backed by a cadre of attorneys to enforce their "rights".
 
I worked for Motorola for 15 years, and back when Apple was using Motorola CPUs for their PCs, Motorola was split internally. Peeps who had nothing to do with creating product, that is, those who were creating marketing and sales collateral and the oh-so-important spreadsheets with which a bunch of clueless execs ran a damn fine company into the ground with, were on Apple products. Those on the engineering side were on PCs and Unix (not counting all of the custom development platforms). And I was stuck in the middle. What a nightmare trying to make Apples play nice with everyone else. Different network protocols. Different network hardware and cabling. Different email systems, both of which had to connect to a gawd-awful legacy mainframe email system. I could go on and on.
 
I have owned a couple of Apple products, like an iPod. That introduced me to iTunes for Windows. Then I had to talk to Ralph on the big white phone.
 
I really appreciate you posting the link to that video. I saw it a couple of days ago, but didn't bookmark it. Thanks for helping me almost wet my shorts. Funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Hm.

Apple's operating system is a free version of Unix (well, BSD) and GNU tools with the proprietery Aqua interface on top.

As for the loss of connection sockets I suspect that's the way most manufacturers of laptops will be going. More's the pity. Could be worse, some of the on-line Mac comics were joyfully predicting the MacBook Pro would lose all but one socket, a combined charging port and USB/Thunderbolt one like the MacBook - and how cool will that be?

Apple seem to have two quite distinct user-bases. One being the people who want to look well-off and really, really REALLY cool - ”latest product only and no nasty, ugly wires on my desk, please". The other being people who use Macs because they prefer the OS or otherwise find they do the job required in a way that suits that person better than the MS or Linux way. Like using wi-fi at low audio latency for example.

We found out last year that most laptops no longer come with a DVD drive. It was hard to find one. 
Seems Bluetooth connectivity has replaced a few ports like the card readers. 
And now all you get is the HDMI port which just made my video projector a doorstop. 

Cactus Music
We found out last year that most laptops no longer come with a DVD drive. It was hard to find one. 
Seems Bluetooth connectivity has replaced a few ports like the card readers. 
And now all you get is the HDMI port which just made my video projector a doorstop.

The answer is in the video - use dongles!
 
And when keeping distance from the Apple world and "original" devices:
USB DVD  ~ $25
USB CardReader ~ $6-10
USB-C to VGA ~ $15-20
 
(well, as I have already mentioned, I have ordered the original USB-C -> VGA/Ethernet for ~$80... but it depends who pays )
 
At the end, not so bad idea from all perspective:
1) you do not have to pay for what you do not need
2) you do not have to take with you what you do not need (especially DVD)
3) you can "upgrade" external components (if they are broken/damaged/outdated, and that happens often with mechanical devices and "professional audio interfaces").

azslow3
At the end, not so bad idea from all perspective:
1) you do not have to pay for what you do not need
2) you do not have to take with you what you do not need (especially DVD)
3) you can "upgrade" external components (if they are broken/damaged/outdated, and that happens often with mechanical devices and "professional audio interfaces").

1) Great if that means it is cheaper to buy,  but it isn't..
2) You always had everything with you because everything was built in (not separate)
3) You don't have to upgrade USB ports, HDMI ports, VGA ports, FireWire ports...   (the thread is about "dongles")

I know a number of artists using Apple that are sorely disappointed in Apple's direction and lack of innovation...they feel both crapped on, ignored and are grumbling lots these days... the latest being the recent announcements of microsoft vs apple... apple's was a joke... touch strip????  REALLY????
 
For whatever reason I never went there... between google and ms... two relatively open systems... I'm a happy camper.
 
 

MS went in the Apple direction...
Complete "jail" for Windows drivers (you can not install any till they are signed my MS, except in special "do not check at all" boot mode or in "TEST" mode). They still allow to install programs without signature (just with warning), and even root certificates for programs (to avoid that warning). But who knows how long that is kept...
 
There are only 2 open systems, both Linux based: Linux distributions and Google.
 
At first, in Linux I could run X2 only and with absolute "no go" latency. I have manages to run X3, with not perfect but usable latency. I hope for Platinum at some lucky day.... But if Reaper is released for Linux, hmm... I will have to think what to do (a beta I have tried was only partially working, but many toold was ok).