What is Digg?189 Comments
- dafragsta, on 07/21/2008, -13/+83heheheh.... they make PCs now.
- Apocalyptic0n3, on 07/21/2008, -11/+61Yeah... buried as duplicate. This made the front page once or twice last week.
- shark72, on 07/22/2008, -7/+50Food for thought:
The article doesn't state the volume that HP shipped, but if it was in the range of four million units, then Apple's unit share is about 10%. Impressive numbers, right? Apple fans sure are celebrating, as well they should -- it's an impressive achievement in a very tough market.
Microsoft has about 10% market share of the MP3 player market. This is seen by Apple fans as an utter failure; something to be mocked. Yet Microsoft has had a much higher growth rate -- they entered the MP3 player market just a couple of years ago, while it's taken Apple a couple of decades to get this far.
One person's failure is another person's amazing success. It all depends on how much of a fanboy you are. - synystar, on 07/21/2008, -6/+40So now that this official, as the third largest "PC" maker should we expect "Hi, I'm a PC. And I'm... a PC." commercials?
- skyshock1, on 07/22/2008, -11/+29Nah, Gigabyte, Asus, Quanta, Seagate, Crucial, Western Digital, etc... all make the parts. Apple just puts them together in a shiny box with a slick OS and charges you triple.
- Konstantino, on 07/21/2008, -4/+20Maybe just because it's a stupid name?
- rmxz, on 07/21/2008, -6/+21I'm surprised Acer's that big. Yeah, I know they bought a few other companies; but I know maybe a dozen people with Apples, and noone with the acer brands. And companies I see are mostly HP or Dell with a bit of Apple in specific groups.
Who's buying all the Acer's? - Galaxylander, on 07/21/2008, -3/+15You make that sound like it's bad. Realize this: Apple is competing with every single PC vendor that exists, but there is nobody else that makes Macs. There are like 50 PC vendors and only 1 Mac vendor.
Compare Apple to ONE of the PC makers, and you see how successful they really are. That's like saying Windows Mobile is more popular then the iPhone OS. Well duh- iPhone's OS is only on one phone, but Windows Mobile is on a tonne of them. - 2Deluxe, on 07/22/2008, -2/+13Very well said, Sir!
- mrsteveman1, on 07/21/2008, -0/+10eh, maybe. The electronics market is sort of split at the moment, all these companies originated in the U.S but nothing is manufactured here. So could companies in other countries copy things? Sure.
However the 2 largest consumer operating systems in use are from the U.S, and that's not likely to change in the next few years, even with Linux spreading. - khoa1708, on 07/22/2008, -3/+12i like shiny white things
- LilBoyLuver, on 07/22/2008, -1/+9Stock is down $19 after-hours.
- theurge14, on 07/21/2008, -2/+10I love the smell of competition in the morning.
- lead2thehead, on 07/22/2008, -0/+810% of the market is still a hell of a lot of computers.
- Travicolpist, on 07/21/2008, -0/+8Acer bought Gateway earlier this year.
- ocellnuri, on 07/21/2008, -6/+141950's thinking for a 2000's world! Horrah!
- kss42, on 07/21/2008, -4/+11Now let's get this out of the way:
You cannot determine the complete personalities and tastes of millions of people based on their preferred brand of computer. There are Mac users who like the commercials, and there are Mac users who don't. Some Mac users like hot dogs, some like hamburgers, and some should learn to use the singular pronoun "I" instead of the collective "us Mac users." Is this a rant? It wasn't meant to be, but it sounds kind of ranty now. Oh well.
(Linux wins) - greevar, on 07/22/2008, -0/+7No, MITS Altair invented the PC.
- alexra, on 07/21/2008, -2/+9think of what the percentage was just 4 years ago
- stealthc, on 07/21/2008, -7/+14Didn't we just see this story a few days ago? I like Macs but did that many people miss the story the first time it was reported?
- anthonybruno, on 07/21/2008, -6/+13because this story isnt a week old
- FrankTheTank17, on 07/22/2008, -2/+8That honestly doesn't mean much, Acer is on of many companies that uses Windows as their default OS. Apple could be the largest "PC Vendor" but Windows will still most likely be on top in the OS department. I'm going to bury this for more of a misleading article.
- anon748296, on 07/22/2008, -1/+7...depends on what you consider a "PC". Eventually, you can count on Apple finding ways to include ipod and iphone numbers in that "personal computer" count.
- BlackCow, on 07/21/2008, -3/+9They are basiaclly the same thing, same hardware. The only difference is the case and the fact that you are allowed to run OS X on it. Which is total *****, I might try using OS X if I could run it on my PCs. Until then, Linux and Windows still win.
- KIERANMULLEN, on 07/21/2008, -1/+7I bought and Acer and a Gateway laptop. The price is good on the units.
The customer service is just as crappy as HP so why pay more? - aserer511, on 07/21/2008, -2/+8Not *really*; enough people are buying dells and HPs that they have #1 in the bag easy
- jstone, on 07/22/2008, -1/+6Assembling a kit car is well beyond anybody but a very skilled individual. Assembling a computer takes far less time and skill. If I could build a car with all of the features of one off the lot for less money than purchasing a preassembled car, and put the whole thing together in the same amount of time as a computer, I would do it gladly.
- TobyDumb, on 07/22/2008, -3/+8"According to a Survey"
riiiiiighttttt.... - pixelguru, on 07/22/2008, -2/+7There's nothing "illegal" about Apple tying their OS to their hardware, and their prices have been proven to be quite competitive when compared to equivalent PC packages. It's Apple's software and hardware, and they can license it however they see fit. It would be illegal for Apple to sabotage competing software from running on OS X or their hardware (like Adobe Premiere or Lightroom) but Apple has never been that kind of company. Microsoft, on the other hand, has previously been found guilty of actively sabotaging competing software (Borland, Quicktime) using their control of the dominant Windows OS. That's illegal, anti-competitive, and the exact opposite of the "innovation" they like to tout in their marketing.
- xombiefarts, on 07/22/2008, -8/+12Is it possible to build your own Mac? Apple support included? No? Oh. Why is that?
- grungegbunny, on 07/21/2008, -5/+9Between rising use of Macs and more trying out Linux OS on their PC, MS has their work cut out for em in staying competitive.
- inactive, on 07/22/2008, -18/+22***** Apple.
- darkane, on 07/21/2008, -1/+5"... did that many people miss the story ..."
You mean all 210 people that had dugg the story when you made this comment? I imagine with the amount of users that Digg has, a good percentage of them are not capable of or not interested in refreshing the site every 2 minutes of every day to make sure they didn't miss something.
210 is not 'that many'. - blacklilyninja, on 07/22/2008, -4/+8I use apple computers. Always have.... I helped make them successful by continuing to buy them when i needed an upgrade.
however... i don't buy the other *****.
*iPhones are nice but the cell phone industry is just a big collection agency.If you can't buy something cash and choose a service provider in a competing market for that service then you are helping create monopolies which are unhealthy and not innovative.
*iPods... as a musician they are the best thing to store media in a playable format. Exclusivity with iTunes creates another "service" limitation issue. I have one though as it was a gift from a friend. A black nano which rarely gets used anymore.
* airport base station b/g ... not a purchase. was also a gift
** everything else apple. unnecessary crap
apple will at some point close off the computer and OS from the internet without exclusive connection services like the phone so at that point i will have to move to linux.
Dear steve ... this is my letter of resignation as a loyal apple customer unless you change your policies toward less exclusive services. Thank you for taking my choices away and creating a world portrayed in the 1984 super bowl commercial. I mean b4 the jogger runs in with the hammer.
or at least revise the ad to show the hammer girl put on a suit and sit down with the rest of the robots. - iChopPryde, on 07/22/2008, -1/+5Gateway/eMachines worst laptops EVER! Horrible customer service and horrible cheap parts!
- tnoy, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4Getting OS X to run, and getting OS X to use all your hardware properly are two entirely different things.
Sure, I can put OS X on my Laptop, but I apparently cant use the built-in ethernet, wifi, or sound. - MonkeyFarts, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4Is it possible to build your own Dell? Dell support included? No? Oh. Why is that?
Is it possible to build your own HP? HP support included? No? Oh. Why is that?
Is it possible to build your own Gateway? Gateway support included? No? Oh. Why is that?
Is it possible to build your own Acer? Acer support included? No? Oh. Why is that?
I'm seeing a trend.
I feel the need to point out that if you build your own of *anything*, you're responsible for "support" because nobody else is responsible for its being built. I built my own PC a couple of months ago. Who do I go to when it gets screwed up? Oh, that's right, *myself.* Kind of a no-duh issue if you ask me. - sintaxi, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4@evo8ftw: I have never heard of a computer manufacturer named "PC" before. Did you understand what the article was about? Its about computer manufacturing not OS market share. Are you aware that there is a difference?
- justananomaly, on 07/22/2008, -2/+5dupe from last week...
http://digg.com/apple/Apple_passes_Acer_to_become_ ... - bjornski, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3You can hardly call your local neighborhood geek a "service plan".
And their return policies and warranties suck, too.
But then, I don't need a service plan. Only a return policy on my new parts. - bjornski, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3Best Buy (HAHAH) Circuit City or other repair shops?
Why? I don't need them. I won't let *ANYONE* fix my machine but me.
And if you call their $40-$80 an hour a "service plan", you're daft.
Geek Squad doesn't fix computers, they swap out hard drives and replace memory. That's about it. Oh yeah, and they'll run a virus scan for what, $60? Total rip-off. - inactive, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3Acer manufactures (a lot of) laptops for Apple.
- lead2thehead, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4No, it's much more fundamental than that. OSX, BSD, Linux and Unix all have inherent design features which make them more resistant to viruses than Windows. The biggest and most important is a concept called Discretionary Access Control. Allow me to explain...
You see, jabberwolf, all *nix-based systems have a user called "root". This is a super user that can control the entire computer. In order to install software, you must first become root. In order to read or change configuration files, you must become root. If you want to modify an executable, add a shared library, modify a device driver, or change anything meaningful, you must first become root. This makes it next to impossible for a regular user to unwittingly install a virus or any piece of malware on his computer because, in order to do so, he would need root permission. This is called "Discretionary Access Control", or DAC for short.
Most Windows users will tell you that this is akin to the "Administrator" account on your PC, but that is not exactly the case. Microsoft has attempted to emulate this technique many times, but always fails miserably in its implementation. On a typical Windows PC, THE DEFAULT USER ACCOUNT has Administrator access! This makes it very easy for users to unwittingly install all kinds of malware on their computer without realizing it. Think about that for a second... why would you ever need to run a word processor or a web browser as a super user? That would mean that Internet Explorer, for example, would have permission to write to your system32 directory! Why would IE ever need to do that? And what person in their right mind would ever allow it to? It's a virus writer's dream come true.
Now let's talk about software vulnerabilities. Try to stay with me here, because this gets complicated. The vast majority of software vulnerabilities (greater than 90%) involve buffer overflow attacks. This is an attack, where by a malicious user takes control of a running program and shoe-horns its own malicious code onto the instruction stack. When this happens, the malicious instructions have the same permissions as the program it just took over. And what permissions would those be?... it depends on which user is executing the program. When you run everything as Administrator, as is the default behavior in Windows, EVERY vulnerability becomes a critical vulnerability and EVERY piece of malware can run as a super user. Do you see the problem with that?
Let's back up... I'm sure that by now, the Microsoft crowd is saying "Wait a second! You don't have to run everything as Administrator! You can create regular user accounts and restrict their permissions too." And they would be correct. I have never met anyone who does this on their home PC, but the option is certainly there. But even if you do that, you're still screwed because EVERY SINGLE BACKGROUND SERVICE runs as Administrator. Oh, you forgot about the background services, didn't you? Don't feel bad... Microsoft forgot about them too. Right click on "My Computer", select "Manage", and click "Services" if you want to see I'm talking about. There you can see nearly a hundred services, all running as Administrator! Break any one of them and you have Administrator access to the entire computer. Nice, huh?
But wait, you say, doesn't Mac OS have that same problem? Of course not. Only an idiot would run everything as super user. Mac OS comes from the factory with FORTY different user accounts, one for every background service that it runs. So if you happen to exploit one of them, you can only do what that small, very restricted user account can do... and it isn't much. In fact, when you buy a computer from Apple, they don't even give you the root password! You only have access to your user account... your own little world. And if you mess it up, you're not going to take down the entire computer. You'll only screw up your own account because you don't have the required permissions to screw up the rest of the OS. So the underlying architecture of Mac OS is inherently more secure.
Keep in mind that this piss-poor excuse for a DAC is one of a thousand flaws with Windows. I could go on for days about the absolutely retarded design decisions made by Microsoft. Remember the outbreak of email viruses about 5 years ago? Know why those were such a big problem? Because some genius at Microsoft said, "Hey! Let's invent a scripting language that allows user to embed executable code into email messages and then execute that code automatically when you open the message!" Brilliant, huh? It's like they put that hole there on purpose so that every script kiddie with a copy of Microsoft Word could write CRIPPLING email viruses that took down servers and cost billions of dollars to fix.
So you see, jabberwolf, the problem is much more fundamental than you think. People who use that "security through obscurity" excuse clearly do not comprehend the issue. - swimtwobirds, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4fwiw, Apple, at this time, are putting together (more or less) a better computer, os, mp3 player and phone.
they're a bit tiger woods at the minute & as mortal as the rest no doubt, but they're doing extraordinarily well on
an astonishingly broad range of fronts. im a fanboy for sure, no doubt; but never a better time to watch them bat away. - Kratos76, on 07/22/2008, -5/+8When was the last time you saw an Acer... really, in real life.
- Frejesal, on 07/21/2008, -10/+13It's becoming less and less that Apple is incompatible with some things, and more and more that some things are just incompatible with Apple.
Oh, and that joke SUCKS. - desired, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3Apple still only has 3.5% of market share worldwide: http://a.gd/1d488a
- xombiefarts, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3well done. +1 to you my friend.
- MonkeyFarts, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3' "Buy my own parts, hack it together and then bring it in for service when it ***** up? Where can I get that service without a 3rd party contract?"
How about Best Buy, Circuit City, or any of the thousands of PC repair shops?'
Yeah, because they'll be glad to cover the repairs for FREE like major vendors do when you purchase a product from them while they're under warranty. That must be that new free warranty service they're offering on any product, regardless of where you purchased it, that I keep hearing about in that alternate reality of mine. -
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