Phill Schiller tears journalists a new one with grammar issues. Apple's great taste in design doesn't transfer to Grammar.

[AlTech]

"The App Store on iPod touch ... gives users access to 1.5 million apps." . I shit you not. Apple doesn't even Grammar.

 

Apple likes to call it's product by either singular or plural versions using the same notation AND According to Phil Schiller (Apple's head of marketing) "Apple devices need not be pluralized". These are screenshots of Mr Schiller's conversation on Twitter.

 

 

 

Quote

 

If that weren't weird enough, Apple also wants its product names to be both singular and plural. The entire reason I'm writing this is because Apple marketing chief and occasional tweeter Phil Schiller decided to weigh in on a debate started during a podcast this week by Michael Copeland, Benedict Evans, and Steven Sinofsky — all of Andreessen Horowitz. (Editor's note: nice use of the Oxford Comma, the One True Way to make lists in a sentence. Also nice use of the em dash.) (Author's note: Dieter added that em dash.)

I did not listen to the podcast, which is 30 minutes long, but apparently someone argues in favor of referring to multiple units of the iPad Pro as "iPads Pro," which is either a very funny joke or an even crazier grammar idea than what Apple is pitching.

Either way, Schiller decides to set the record straight: (Editor's note: you should have used "decided" in the past tense here, as it was a decision that happened in the past. "Schiller writes" would also have worked, as you can use the present tense when referring to writing or speaking, because that's the way we do things when quoting. Our conventions surrounding grammar are weird!)

 

But that sounds strange. The way that most people would word the sentence above is: "I have three Macs." Language kind of just works however people decide it does (which, yes, defeats the point of this entire article), so I'd argue that we should just go with what's natural. Which is, "three Macs," not "three Mac" ("three Mac computers" would also be acceptable, but slightly awkward). (Editor's note: the terminology you're looking for is Prescriptivist and Descriptivist. The Prescriptivist believes that there is a "right" way to say things and makes people feel bad for doing it the wrong way. The Descriptivist understands language is an ever-changing thing and it's the job of the grammarian to try to make flexible rules of grammar that match how people use words in real life — the Descriptivist also probably has a chip on their shoulder about Victorians and Colonialist attitudes. The Prescriptivist gets annoyed that the Descriptivist up and decided to use "their" as a non-gendered singular instead of "his or her." I could go on.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple, you are a bunch of Arrogant bastards telling people how they should do things instead of the consumer deciding what is better for them. Learn to write English. FFS.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/30/11541268/apple-grammar-is-weird

[chromed343]

8 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Apple, you are a bunch of Arrogant bastards telling people how they should do things instead of the consumer deciding what is better for them. Learn to write English. FFS.

The ironic thing is that what you have written is gramatically incorrect.

[Master Disaster]

I believe the correct answer to his third tweet would he

 

I have 3 macintoshs'

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, chromed343 said:

The ironic thing is that what you have written is gramatically incorrect.

Which part?

[chromed343]

12 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Which part?

Apple, you are a bunch of Arrogant bastards telling people how they should do things instead of the consumer deciding what is better for them. Learn to write English. FFS.

 

This should be writtens as:

 

Apple, you are a bunch of arrogant bastards, telling people how they should do things intead of them themselves deciding what is better for them. Learn to correctly write in English for fuck sake.

 

Apple, you are a bunch of arrogant bastards that are telling customers' how they should do things intead of they themselves deciding what is better for them. Learn to correctly write in English for fuck sake.

[Sakkura]

1 hour ago, chromed343 said:

This should be writtens as:

Nicely grammarfied sentenceism there.

[Sakkura]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

"The App Store on iPod touch ... gives users access to 1.5 million apps." . I shit you not. Apple doesn't even Grammar.

 

Apple likes to call it's product by either singular or plural versions using the same notation AND According to Phil Schiller (Apple's head of marketing) "Apple devices need not be pluralized". These are screenshots of Mr Schiller's conversation on Twitter.

 

 

Apple, you are a bunch of Arrogant bastards telling people how they should do things instead of the consumer deciding what is better for them. Learn to write English. FFS.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/30/11541268/apple-grammar-is-weird

His explanation isn't great and you may consider it an odd plural form, but it's completely legit for a word to be identical in singular and plural form. Here are some other examples of that (thanks Wiki):

 

bison

buffalo

deer

fish

moose

pike

plankton

salmon

sheep

squid

swine

trout

[Godlygamer23]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

Which part?

For example, you used "it's" instead of "its." 

 

It's is defined as "It is."

Its is defined as being possessive. 

[VerticalDiscussions]

Angrish!

[captain cactus]

Phil, you have other stuff to worry about.

[ThinkWithPortals]

2 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

 

What? Apple deciding that their way is correct and better than everyone else's even though literally every single other thing uses another, more correct and overall more normal method? When has this ever happened before?

 

Also, look what I just noticed:

Philip Schiller.

Philip Schiller.

Schiller = Shiller

Shiller = Shill

What is a shill, you may ask?

 

Shill = North American slang for an accomplice of a confidence trickster or swindler.

 

How convenient!

 

 

 

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

Also, look what I just noticed:

Philip Schiller.

Philip Schiller.

Schiller = Shiller

Shiller = Shill

What is a shill, you may ask?

 

Shill = North American slang for an accomplice of a confidence trickster or swindler.

 

How convenient!

That's comparable to seeing "God" in "dog." It means nothing as it's an arbitrarily chosen name.

[ThinkWithPortals]

16 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

That's comparable to seeing "God" in "dog." It means nothing as it's an arbitrarily chosen name.

...

 

...it was a joke. Just an interesting thing I found. I know it doesn't actually mean anything.

[FakezZ]

2 hours ago, chromed343 said:

Apple, you are a bunch of Arrogant bastards telling people how they should do things instead of the consumer deciding what is better for them. Learn to write English. FFS.

 

This should be writtens as:

 

Apple, you are a bunch of arrogant bastards, telling people how they should do things intead of them themselves deciding what is better for them. Learn to correctly write in English for fuck sake.

 

Apple, you are a bunch of arrogant bastards that are telling customers' how they should do things intead of they themselves deciding what is better for them. Learn to correctly write in English for fuck sake.

You overdid it there mate. Most of what he said was fine. The best way, in my opinion, would be:
Apple, you are a bunch of arrogant bastards (that are -it is not required-) telling people how they should do things instead of letting the consumer decide what is better. Learn how to write in English for fuck's sake. (You also missed the 's in fuck's and also I do not think "learn to correctly write in English" is gramatically correct, either. Also "them themselves"!? The fuck? I have never heard anyone say that xD)

[AlTech]

1 hour ago, Godlygamer23 said:

That's comparable to seeing "God" in "dog." It means nothing as it's an arbitrarily chosen name.

in this case it is linked because Tim Cook Lies to people.

[Godlygamer23]

4 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

in this case it is linked because Tim Cook Lies to people.

Cook might, but not necessarily Phil. Correlating names with personalities and actions of people is not proper at all. 

[ThinkWithPortals]

6 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Cook might, but not necessarily Phil. Correlating names with personalities and actions of people is not proper at all. 

 

12 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

in this case it is linked because Tim Cook Lies to people.

'Twas a joke.

[Energycore]

If English was a programming language 90% of what people say over the internet would not compute.

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

 

'Twas a joke.

Well Tim Cook does Lie. He said in an interview Americans weren't suitable to make apple products because they didn't have the training or skills. The reality is that they want cheap labour from china. Americans cost too much to hire.

[AlTech]

Just now, Energycore said:

If English was a programming language 90% of what people say over the internet would not compute.

it is. We communicate with each other using it. Many  people do not compute it.

[Energycore]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

it is. We communicate with each other using it. Many  people do not compute it.

I can tell you humans are miles better at parsing than computers at the moment. Miss a bracket and your program will crash. A person would give you shit for it at worst.

 

Also notice how I missed a comma up there.

[AlTech]

Just now, Energycore said:

I can tell you humans are miles better at parsing than computers at the moment. Miss a bracket and your program will crash. A person would give you shit for it at worst.

 

Also notice how I missed a comma up there.

Yeah and I'm not giving you shit for it

 

[LAwLz]

Reminds me of Steve Wilhite saying gif should be pronounced "jiff". Sorry Steve (and Phill), but I will keep saying things the way I do, even if you don't think it is correct.

 

By the way Phill, Steve Jobs would disagree with you, since he often said "iPads" and "iPhones".

[That Norwegian Guy]

This reminds me of ASUS wanting to be pronounced "Asoose".

 

If you wanted to be pronounced "Asoose" you should have called your company that, I'm going to call you "A-suss" as is correct and you're gonna deal with it.

[LAwLz]

1 hour ago, That Norwegian Guy said:

This reminds me of ASUS wanting to be pronounced "Asoose".

 

If you wanted to be pronounced "Asoose" you should have called your company that, I'm going to call you "A-suss" as is correct and you're gonna deal with it.

But "A-suss" is the correct way of saying it.