One of the most important things that keeps me glued to Apple’s hardware and software ecosystem is the fact that, the vast majority of the time, things just work.
How many times did Steve Jobs get on stage at some event and say, “It just works”? So much so, that it became a clarion call for Apple, it became associated with the brand. And there’s good reason for that.
When I get a new printer, it just works with all my Macs. If there’s a struggle to print, it’s undoubtedly with my Windows machine. You get the idea.
This morning, Jim reminded me that we are once again temporarily mortal enemies as his Bruins take on my Caps in an important (to us, anyway) NHL matchup. I walked over to my Mac, typed a keystroke to bring up Reminders, clicked once to start a new reminder, then typed:
Mortal enemies Caps game 1pm
I then hit return. Two cool things happened. First, the Reminders application created a reminder set to remind me at 1pm, even though I had typed 1pm in the Reminder text itself. Reminders was smart enough to know that a time specified in a reminder was meant to schedule the reminder and not be part of the text. It just worked.
But the second cool thing was that the reminder also appeared on my iPhone and iPad reminder lists without any extra effort on my part. That single carriage return set Apple in motion on my behalf, working behind the scenes to make sure I got that “mortal enemies” reminder no matter what device I happened to be on.
To be fair, I don’t mean to imply that all Apple stuff will work all the time. There are plenty of people out there who have a pet peeve, some setup that doesn’t work for them. My point is that Apple’s products are designed to anticipate need, to make things as easy to use as possible. They are designed to just work. The little touches, like the Reminders example above, are what make these products work for me, what make the occasional hiccup worth working through.
Sometimes. At the moment Safari on all my iOS devices crashes several times a day, I can’t delete browser history while iCloud sync is enabled, and my bookmarks duplicate themselves randomly at least once a week. And don’t get me started on the bugs in iTunes Match..
I truly hope that one day Apple software catches up with the standard of Apple hardware.
The “It just works” mantra needs to die. It just works….until it doesn’t.
My Touch ID on the 5S, and my collague’s, doesn’t work a lot of the time. If I’m not mistaken, MG Siegler and other major figures also said the same thing.
This one needs work. It might work better than Samsung garbage, but it is not up to “it just works” standards.
It just works doesn’t mean that it never fails.
It means that it’s easy, intuitive, straightforward to understand and operate.
It was never a promise of perfection but one of usability.
I’ve always been so happy with the “plug and play” aspect of Mac ownership so it came as a shock when the Apple external DVD drive would not work on my older iMac or MacBook Pro.
I had to buy a Samsung drive which I just plugged and played. I’ve been hoping that drive was not a turning point for Apple.
Go Habs…
“It just works” isn’t just nice to have, it is sometimes a necessity given Apple’s way of doing things.
Since you are supposed to not mess with data itself, but let library-driven programs do that work for you (see iPhoto and iTunes), your chances of fixing when things get broken are slim.
That said, iPhoto is one of those apps which does not “just work”, and the utter lack of attention Apple shows to their (Mac) apps lately only adds to that.
For example, every once in a while, the iPhoto and iTunes combo will simply refuse to sync all (selected) photos to my iPhone and iPad, randomly choosing what doesn’t get synced.
So they don’t “just work”. Worse, they are designed so it is utterly impossible for me to find a way to make it work again.
Apple needs to fix this. In this special case, judging from my experience they needed to fix it since 2011. Judging from Google results, even before that.
Yes, Apple’s stuff mostly continues to just work. Still, Apple needs to fix (some of) their shit.
I got a USB SuperDrive at the Apple Store the other day.
Boom. No drivers to download, no settings to tweak.
It just worked.
That’s what “It just works” really means.
No setup, no configuration, no RTFM.
If only it were true… I have a printer that will only print odd numbered pages. I have a phone I can’t delete music from. This ‘just works’ myth is a pain.
I search for a business on my work computer in Chrome, and when I leave work, and open Google Now on my Samsung, it gives me navigation options to that business.
This is a nice example, but Apple is hardly the only game out there that ‘just works.’
Well said, Dave.
“It just works” is close enough for ordinary consumers who’d rather not have to rely on an IT nerd for repeated help.
Wish I not was stuck on one WIndows PC for all my Web dev work, It’s a pain really!!
Their hardware often just works. Their services … they just work not great.
Totally agree.
There is a difference between “it just works” and reliability. In Apple parlance, “it just works” refers to ease of setup and integration. Reliability is a different story. Furthermore, you simply cannot compare reliability of hardware and software.
The issue is that folks think that Steve ever said “it’s perfect, will not break down and will never have any bugs or issues” when he said “it just works”
He didn’t. Ever. The statement was made in a context and taking it out of that context doesn’t change what Steve said. He said it in response to all the hoops folks had to go through to set up tech before that point. Apple preloaded everything and make very short and simple set up screens so you could plug it in and ‘it just works’
The thing is when you fired up Safari again you are exactly at where it crashed.
Oh by the way when you fired ip Safari again it opens instantly and no lag.
Interesting that when I try that on an iOS device, it does not set a reminder at 1. So it works. Sometimes. And that’s frustrating.
why? my experience on OS X has been very different than windows. it holds true for me.
doom. dooooom!
itunes and iPhoto work great for me — they just work.
see what I did there?
apple makes printers again? they wrote those drivers?
inability to delete sounds like user error. my iPhone lets met delete music perfectly. just works.
why not change that?
I live in Argentina this county got a complete mad import tax what make Apple products prices really really high! And I don’t make that much of money. So that’s why I’m stuck.
Someone please tell Siri that. But if you do, chances are likely it will probably just play a random song for you…
Are you serious? I bought a mac a few months ago and it screws up ALL the time. Right now, finder wont open. I rebooted, and now its stuck on a white screen with the cursor for the past 5 mins. Whenever I setup apple tv to screen share, good for about 5 mins then a reboot is needed to fix it. This mac is a POS. Luckily i have a few other pcs, one running windows the other ubuntu server. The windows machine ‘just works’ and the ubuntu server has been going strong for months without a reboot while hostin my website, batch converting files, streaming movies. By the way did I mention the windows machine can detect the servers samba without any problem while the mac takes between 3-5 mins to see the server directories if at all. This mac is sooo inconsistent. Apple makes junk. let me rephrase that. Apple turned a good OS (FreeBSD) into a POS.
It isn’t the import tax that make the prices high. I live 10 miles from Apple HQ and I paid $2000 for a piece of junk that crashes all the time. Maybe for total moron laymen it just works, but for people who need to get stuff done its a brick.