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140 Comments
- Lightstab, on 11/04/2009, -8/+69It was kind of stupid of them to start their argument with iTunes, since iTunes runs on Windows and especially since the songs are DRM-free now. I mean, COME ON, even before the DRM was removed, you could still put an MP3 in iTunes and play it with absolutely no problem. You could also rip CDs with absolutely no problem and play the resulting files in any competing player.
And anybody that hates the fact that Apple ties their software to their hardware, must also hate the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, the Wii, digital cameras, alarm clocks, just about any gadget that ties software to hardware. And before someone chimes in with: "But... but.. Microsoft got sued for tying Internet Explorer to Windows..."
No, they did NOT get sued for tying Internet Exploer to Windows. Microsoft got sued for threatening OEMs who installed Netscape by default on their computers. There is nothing illegal about tying software to hardware.
And I still think it's stupid for people to imply that Apple is somehow hurting developers when there are over 100,000 apps available in the App Store and 96 percent of apps submitted are improved. You could argue that Apple is hurting a small number of developers, but most of them are actually doing pretty well. Try making a game for a console and see how hard it is to get approved compared to the App Store. Try to put something like Paper Toss or Koi Pond on Playstation and watch Sony laugh in your face. - ssttuu, on 11/04/2009, -7/+56So essentially the argument is... if you buy apple hardware, you buy apple software. If you wanted to switch to another type of hardware, you'd have to buy other software.
PCWorld.com is hiring geniuses! - lebeagle, on 11/04/2009, -1/+40You must be exhausted after that.
- borez, on 11/04/2009, -11/+49Well nobody's forcing you to buy their stuff.
- KevenM, on 11/05/2009, -1/+33Can you elaborate please?
- AngelBunny, on 11/05/2009, -0/+30Your comment should be the story.
- Branchex, on 11/04/2009, -3/+20FTA: "...hence the ongoing controversy over Google Voice, an application that would allow VoIP calls over the iPhone, if only Apple would approve it."
It's not VoIP and there are already real VoIP apps available. This type of mistake is something you would expect from a non-tech source, not PC World. - getoffmybridge, on 11/05/2009, -1/+17tl;dr
- Lane, on 11/05/2009, -3/+19Widman, for one, says, "Choice is overrated. As a consumer, I'm more interested in something that works."
Clearly a mac user - z3r0sp4c3, on 11/05/2009, -4/+18Really? Buried for a lot of reasons, but mostly for comparing some guys who decide on iPhone apps to a truly evil dictator:
"... North Korea's Kim Jong-il has nothing on the people who run the App Store..."
Seriously? - ssttuu, on 11/04/2009, -5/+18OS X can run Windows and Linux software. Doesn't change PC World's argument.
- JohnnySoftware, on 11/04/2009, -28/+41Wow, thank you so much for the "useful" information.
Re: Apple "turned off" jail breaking.
First, jail breaking relied on a bug - and not a bug that it was in the iPhone customer base's interest to have. Second, if you modify the binary executable code of a commercial operating system, do not have your heart set on it working after the next update - you think elves will weave your changes together with the manufacturers changes?
Re: Mac OS X being tightly controlled, closed system.
Only a portion of Mac OS is closed. The other half is true open system software. The whole Unix layer is open source (Darwin) and is based on the widlely available open source "FreeBSD" Unix operating system.
Further, the web browser, which is closed on MS-Windows (IE, argh) and a constant sense of torment to its users, on the Mac is Apple's "Safari" and again, is half open source and half closed source. The open source part is the whole web engine. This web engine is called "WebKit". The efficacy of this being true open source software is aptly demonstrated by the fact that WebKit is the core of Google's Chrome browser! Google is a competitor of Apple's in the web browser and soon, cell phone market too.
While Microsoft does not give away the source code of IE for free, its workings are laid bare to computer criminals using basic software like debeggers, in circuit emulators, and so on. Microsoft is aware of the tools. Professional software engineers have been using them since the 1970's or 1980's and Microsoft was using them decades ago themselves. Why does Microsoft claim that cyber criminals have to wait for a patch to come out to exploit a vulnerability that has always been there that off the shelf tools can be used to find and study? I don't know, you would have to ask Microsoft.
So now, the mystery is over for why Windows and IE flaws are exploited; especially more and more often lately, before Microsoft ever issues a patch. The vulnerability starts when the defective software product is shipped - not when Microsoft releases a patch. And this is true for other operating systems too. That is why the more systems that are sold, the more profits need to be plowed into making the system safer - and, it has to be pretty safe to start with too.
So while jail breaking sounds nice at first blush, allowing it places all customers at some risk, especially the intentional jail breakers. Worse, the people promoting the jail breaking tools downplay the pretty much inevitable problems that are going to occur when an OS or firmware update comes slamming down on the device or computer. If they don't fully disclose the risks, I am wondering if there is some liability involved? Regardless of the legal risks the jail breaking software makers, it is a bad idea for the people doing it and harms the real customer base.
Re: iPhone Store is a dictatorship?
Did someone actually write that?
Re: violating the DRM by changing software and jailbreaking
Apple's DRM is hardly an abuse of customers who buy hardware from Apple or of copyright law. Microsoft puts DRM everywhere and yet its piracy situation has gotten economics so out of balance that consumers in North American pay 5-10 times as much as consumers in Asia for the same OS. Apple is not forcing US customers and their neighbors to subsidize sales on other continents.
Microsoft cries DRM violation when someone installs Windows, it dies, and they want to use that OS on a new computer. Given the number of Windows shiny, new computers that died for one reason or another last week, that should concern people - a lot.
Due to rampant piracy that has evolved DRM has taken hold everywhere on the MS-Windows platform . With OS, music, etc., especially during the past decade, honest users are being punished with more restrictive/costly MS-Windows licenses, inconvenient music file restrictions, and volatility in what song files still play from year to year on Microsoft's audio devices & software.
What about all those Windows Music Anywhere (WMA) files? They don't play on Zune - you have to go to the Zune store to buy music. Windows Mobile phone music - will it sync with the default music player on MS-Windows? How will you convert your WMA files to Zune files and Zune files to what comes next?
Right now, the DMCA says if the player manufacturer(s) orphan the songs then you can legally convert them to a new format that is playable with contemporary technology. But will that consumer protection law still be around next year or will it get stripped by Congress? Maybe Microsoft's extra volatile, always in flux DRM is a special danger for consumers. Apple has been using AAC for years. They don't have 4 different, incompatible schemes.
Microsoft itself has claimed repeatedly that violating its DRM is responsible for PC users' malware problems, although the largest botnets and worms are spread by simply using the Windows OS and its browser Internet Explorer - not by Trojan horses from pirated commercial actions.
It is the bought and paid for stuff on MS-Windows platform that spreads most malware infections these days. Not in the 1980's or 1990's, perhaps - but now in the 2000's, yes.
While Microsoft protects its revenue, it has not spent enough of that collected revenue on protecting its paying customers. Paying customers fare not much better than the pirates today!
Apple clearly pours its income into R&D. They are not just stamping out CDs and pocketing the difference. They have managed to lead in their product families markets in the 1990's. Music, cell phone, computer? That is iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and Macintosh (or Windows, Linux, and some certainly non-household names).
Everyone knows the brand names and they have customer good will. Have you ever heard an OS X user curse Apple because he visited a web page or connected his computer to his LAN? No. And yet how often does it happen in homes and small businesses today? What is the cost of banking on Windows today vs. banking on t he Macintosh to be safe?
Do you want your cell phone to be safe? Look at Windows Mobile or Sybian. The idea of the SmartPhones sounds great - but does a 21st century virus or BlueTooth worm sound great? No, it doesn't.
Apple is vetting the software that goes on their Apple Store. They do some checking. They actually consider what the program does, whether it has problems with legality, what it is named, if it might do certain kinds of harm.
Imagine how the world would be if Microsoft bothered to test each dodgy application for Windows this way - both Windows and the Internet would be a whole lot better, wouldn't it?
Imagine if Apple never bothered to test any iPhone apps? The iPhone would be a whole lot like Windows with all kinds of malware, wouldn't it? Pretty easy to see iPhone owners are pretty happy to have some checking done to software before they grab it. Remember, a cell phone can: dial long distance calls, hook up to their computer, hook up to the Internet, and transfer data.
Apple is the biggest seller of music in the US. The iTunes store does not overcharge for music. So kids and adults have little reason to pirate it. The iTunes plays standard MP3 files and it plays the songs from the iTunes store. The iPhone plays apps from the iTunes store. The Mac uses Mac OS that comes with your app and that you buy upgrades for from Apple.
This is why you do not see Apple caterwauling about piracy all the time. They sell the hardware and the software together. People buy the product because its hardware and software parts work well together. The price of the product is determined by the cost of the hardware and software development, and people buying Macs do not have a problem with that. Their OS X upgrades are cheaper than Windows - far, far, far cheaper this year. They get more updates and less hassles with them too. Apple optimizes the software with their OS upgrades - not bog it down.
Apple takes pride in supporting Mac hardware with their OS. It is not a crap shoot like it is with Windows. Apple spells out exactly which models an OS will work when they put that OS up for sale. Remember the "Vista Compatible" stickers on PCs a couple years before Vista came out? People are still laughing about that one.
Now, who in their right mind would recommend or imply that users should get some off brand computer and throw OS X on it. No warranty, no checking of that model in the OS X regression tests, no coordination between the manufacturer and Apple - basically, nothing - just, "it works today" and the fact it requires a hack someone wrote that seems to violate federal copyright law (DMCA). Of course that is setting up people to fail and since they are being encouraged to buy this old NetBook, it is encouraging them to make a financial loss.
Sure, they can go out and buy MS-Windows for the NetBook, if it supports it. And maybe that is what the NetBook guys are hoping. Maybe they are just shilling for Microsoft, hoping that someone who sets out to have a Windows computer and a Mac computer to go along with it, simply winds up with a second Windows that they don't need. Oh, boy - another chance to buy an expensive MS-Windows license.
It is not like Apple pocketed the money it made off computer system sales & consumer devices and did not do anything with it. From 2001 onward, Apple constantly improved their OS and consumer products, kept it from getting choked with malware, kept honest Mac consumers from being sucked into gigantic botnets that now infest the Internet like a exactly like cancerous tumors, and provides simple, painless upgrade processes. Can Microsoft say the same? Would MS-Windows users say the same?
What if, what if - Microsoft had the same attitude Apple did?
(a) Wouldn't that mean that the FBI would not have put out a bulletin today saying malware had cost small companies $100m in recent months by swiping it from their bank accounts all by itself on their PCs, without them seeing it?
(b) Would Microsoft have had to lay today in that shadow of that announcement that, yes, there are some pervasive botnets and worms that have infected incredibly large numbers of "computers" and now are stealing from those computer's owners?
No, the FBI and Microsoft would not have had to make these announcements.
Instead, the FBI would be worrying about chasing men with guns and Microsoft would just be ticking off neat things they have on their Windows 7 feature list.
The Apple approach eliminates costly piracy lawsuits against cities and schools and students that have been the hallmark of Microsoft copyright lawsuits, brought by its "Business Software Alliance" spin off. If Microsoft wants to tell BSA to cease all copyright lawsuits, more power to them. It is not like the Windows and Zune DRM is protecting consumers from malware. I mean, it's here. The malware is everywhere. The tens of billions of dollars collected for MS-Windows should have bought better protection than this.
The Mac really has not inflicted that kind of DRM headache on consumers and in fact its music files have transitioned away from restrictive DRM, instead letting the users follow the law rather denying them what the law allows. That is not to say they don't have legal responsibility if they do pirate software or a moral responsibility to help artists. It just means if they are playing by the rules then their songs in their music collection don't get broken.
The fact this article about the Mac comes out months after Snow Leopard has come out and just a week after Windows 7 comes out clearly shows it trying to defend MS-Windows as a reasonable operating system by painting Apple with ill-fitted slurs borrowed from hack politicians.
The article all but cries out, "please, please, please - don't walk into an Apple store this week". Maybe you should. You are not saving any money by being a Windows 7 early adopter. In my experience, if a manufacturer is trying to keep you from even looking at the competition - you should look at the competition. Because if you spend your money wrong, you are not getting it back.
This article seems to be an anarchist's cookbook on how to cheat on software licenses and use possibly illegal means to create a dodgy system that only works for a short time, to save only a tiny bit of money to buy a system that will work as expected for years and years. It is sad but before you follow the advice in this article which PC magazine is apparently endorsing, you should seek the advice of a lawyer. You should also speak to a software engineering professional with a couple decades of experience what he thinks about the practicality 3rd paty hacks to binary software that is frequently updated. It is a shame when an article taunts you to waste hundreds of dollars and increases your legal exposure.
All we have learned from this article is to look for the name "Dan Tynan" at the top of an article before we read it. - DanielPhermous, on 11/05/2009, -1/+13The entire article reads like it was copy/pasted from Digg comments.
- SPECOPS, on 11/05/2009, -1/+12Not true at all, all Palm has to do is write code to interface with the PUBLIC API of iTunes, and problems solved, but no, Palm wants to take the cheap&lazy way out, and emulate someone else's hardware. Other hardware manufactures that actually write code to interface with the public API and get their devices talking to iTunes do not have the same issues as Palm, and hopefully you'll now understand why.
- TrancePhreak, on 11/04/2009, -7/+15Windows software can be made to run in Linux/OSX. OSX software can run in OSX.
- TherealObadiah, on 11/05/2009, -6/+14I can't tell you how many times I've seen the same people who berate Sony for its tactics of using proprietary UMD, stick memory, etc. sing the praises of Apple and their hero, Jobs. Apple is a corporate dicatorship.
- geodebug, on 11/05/2009, -1/+8The idea that hackers don't care enough to write viruses for OS X is kind of stale. If you are going by percentages then why wouldn't 5% of the hackers write a virus for OS X, especially if, as you imply, it is so easy.
I'm not saying OS X is bullet proof, but macs are hardly obscure and the motivation for virus writers is not solely "me hate windows" but a grab for attention. Who would get more attention? The first guy to cripple a fleet of macs or the next guy to put a minor scare into the Windows world.
Usually the 'compromises' in the system are not the kernel itself but the software that the user has allowed to run on the system: Safari and IE Explorer have been weak points. Your own link proves this point. OS X is pretty secure as long as 1) you don't fall for phishing attacks and 2) you don't allow direct access to your hardware.
Linux can also be easily compromised if the wrong software is installed or if the user does something dumb.
I'm happy these contests exist though, somebody has to force companies to be vigilant. - BrBybee, on 11/05/2009, -8/+15And I don't.
- Lightstab, on 11/04/2009, -6/+12I don't give a crap about Microsoft being locked in or closed or whatever you think Apple Fanboys rage against Microsoft about. I hate Microsoft most of all because their software sucks.
The other stuff, killing competitors and such, that stuff bothers me now, looking back, but it didn't really bother as much when I was still a Windows user. The viruses, BOSDs, WGA, multiple activations, registry, and driver nightmares is what finally forced me to get a Mac.
And what do you mean by a white box? I've never owned anything made by Apple that was white. Everything I've owned from Apple comes in an aluminum case, but it's more the software inside that made a difference to me. I had a lot of beautiful PC cases over the years, but it still didn't change the fact that Windows sucked. - electrikyle, on 11/05/2009, -1/+7Don't care. Love my Mac.
- AngryDeuce, on 11/04/2009, -7/+12No, I think Apple fanboys rage at Microsoft because they're "supposed to" according the other Apple fanboys. Try it, mention something cool Microsoft has done around an Apple fanboy and watch them lose their minds saying how it's not cool.
Now try the same experiment saying something's cool Apple did to a PC fan, I assure you that, while SOME may do just like an Apple fan, a lot more will say "neat" and go about their day.
I don't hate on Apple because I think they suck, I hate on Apple because I think they're way overpriced for what they offer and they do the same ***** any other manufacturer does with their products and tries to act like they are the ones "for the people" when obviously they're just another computer manufacturer like all the other computer manufacturers... - knobbysideup, on 11/05/2009, -2/+7Nor do I. But I have to deal with their actions nonetheless because of the sheeple giving them market dominance. For example, no car head unit to date that I've tried has a reasonable implementation of using mass storage devices. They write all of their controlling stuff for icrap, and leave mass storage to simply sort everything by, get this, file *CREATION* time.
And on downloading music. Who in their right mind pays for lossy-compressed music? Apple is pretty much responsible for *that* fad that is quickly turning into the only way to get music legally. - Kamujin, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5Dell m6400 Quad Core with 8GB RAM. = $3000
Same MacBookPro = $4000
Actually, not the same. The macBook is only dual core. - KevenM, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5In case you weren't born at the time (and it sounds like you weren't), Apple was late to the game with portable music players. Until they showed up, MP3 WAS the standard, which, last I checked, is also lossy-compressed.
As for head units, your observation is correct, but I would hardly blame Apple for that. Blame Sony, Samsung, Technics, etc... for their ongoing policy of slow feature rollout (which again, they've been doing since way before even MP3 players existed) - Coffeedemon, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4I usually bury the tl;dr comments... but seriously Johnny... get a blog FFS.
- Lightstab, on 11/04/2009, -3/+7You miss the point. Microsoft doesn't have to make a good operating system because they have a monopoly on OEMs. They got their contracts with PC makers when the market was smaller over twenty five years ago. The OEMs don't have a choice of what to put on their computers now, because they all decided to get in bed with Microsoft and and made Windows the standard, hence consumers don't have a choice either.
You can't walk into a Bestbuy and buy a PC without Windows being already installed. It would be different if you walked in and asked for a certain computer and the Bestbuy sales guy asked if you wanted Windows or Linux. If people still chose Windows after that, then Microsoft could brag about their market share, but that the decision is made for consumer even before the computer leaves the plant.
The remarkable thing about Macs is that even though Macs are higher priced and PCs are considered standard, people are starting to buy them in droves. Apple keeps having great quarters, even in the middle of a recession, they had their greatest quarters ever, so obviously people are getting tired of being in the Windows ecosystem.
Windows used to have 98 percent of the market. Now they're down to 88 percent. - Twinnie, on 11/05/2009, -2/+6Unless Apple have patented a feature you want.
You can choose what you buy but you can't choose what everyone else buys. If a certain product is getting all the developer support then you often have pretty much no choice if there's certain things you really want from a product. If you don't like Apple's lock-in features on the iPhone you can buy an Android phone, but try comparing the App Stores. Most other people buy an iPhone/iPod Touch over an Android phone, so if you want decent apps then I'd say you are forced to buy an Apple product.
Apple know that what they're doing isn't good for their customers, but they still do it knowing that they can get away with it. Why should people not be pissed off about that? - jdames1980, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Walrus balls are hot!
- ExSlashdotter, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4iTunes uses the Bonjour network protocol to browse the shared music libraries on your LAN. Just like iTunes uses the Quicktime framework to play music/video. If you open the iTunes store, its actually using Safari embedded there to browse the pages. Thats why iTunes requires QT, Safari, and Bonjour. MobileMe is just because they're trying to sell you something.
Not necessarily a fanboy, just answering your question.
BTW, Bonjour is actually also bundled in Adobe CS3 Suite too. - zunipus, on 11/05/2009, -2/+6Ye olde 'Macs are more expensive' myth:
Every professional comparison of computer prices includes two things that consumers rarely take into account:
1) Return on Investment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_on_investment
Example: Statistically, Macs have double the lifetime of a PC. Personally, I run a server 24/7 on the Internet that is an upgraded PowerMac 9600 from 1997. Not a typo. I still use my 1993 upgraded Quadra 650 as an imaging workstation. I am using my upgraded 1998 PowerBook WallStreet as a media server.
2) Total Cost of Ownership:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_ownership
Example: Do you have to buy and maintain anti-malware for your computer? Windows PCs = YES. Macs = NO. Which OS requires 10x more maintenance time and man power, Mac or Windows? WINDOWS.
Therefore, every single professional study comparing Macs to Windows PCs has determined that Macs have been, and remain, CHEAPER than comparably equipped Windows PCs. There is not exception to this finding.
Conclusion: Macs save you money. Stories to the contrary are ignorant and lack supporting research. Do the Google work yourself and discover this for yourself. - hasslinthehoff, on 11/05/2009, -4/+8The difference is... for Apple, product is king. The ***** works, and it works well. For all the times that Microsoft tried to corner the market and monopolize and fail because their product just sucked, I think Apple's foibles can be forgiven.
- gijinka, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3I for one am getting tired of the whole Mac vs Windows thing. Both computer systems have their faults. I use both systems at work the Windows one crashes a lot but I just blame that on Vista, while the Mac system has been running with out any problems for 3 months now.
Get over it already and move on... - zunipus, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4No digg. The simple fact that the article's author quotes the biggest ignoramus in the technical journalism bizz, Rob Enderle, indicates that the article is at the very least poorly researched. I'm finding it riddled with errors and missing facts that negate the premise of the article. Therefore, what is the point of this article? Trolling? Maybe. In any case, it was a waste of my time.
I work know how to share any data, files, MP3, etc., among any computer platform. I'm not locked into Apple stuff in the least. I CHOOSE what hardware and software I want to use. I CHOOSE the best I can get at any period on time. Sorry this author doesn't like the BEST choice of the moment: Apple. I know I'll be abandoning Apple as soon as a better alternative is available.
Meanwhile, I suggest the author give away everything he creates without patent or copyright to all humanity. That's what Open Source is about. Contribute if proprietary anything bothers you. Altruism is a wonderful human trait.
Stop attempting to slam inventors and innovators who choose to make a profit from new superior technology. It's called Capitalism. It works. As long as it includes competition, it creates incentive for innovation. And yup, keeping new technology proprietary is part of competition. Deal with it and stop whining. - thinkdifferent, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4Being a market leader or even a monopoly isn't illegal. Using your market position to restrict competition or force yourself into other markets is an illegal monopoly. Where you have to give Apple credit is they continue to innovate on the iTunes/iPod/iPhone front. It's because they are so much of a better product that attracts everyone to them. Remember back in 2001 when the first iPod came out... it had zero market share. It only won out because it was much better than everything else.
- footbag01, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4Unless you've already bought their stuff.
- wreidk9, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4Dugg down for a ridiculously lame article. These examples are not only obvious but expected by any potential buyers.
- CeeAyy, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4Angry Deuce... you know nothing about Macs nor their users. What's even more funny is your selective memory. You stated that PC users wouldn't care if Apple made some new advance and Apple users talked about it... they would just go about their way... BS. When Apple stories about their OS hit Digg there are a large number of people who make negative comments or talk about Jobs being the messiah or how Apple users like shiny objects or Apple users don't know anything about computers... The list goes on.
Then your argument about the quality of an OS based on its user base... its ridiculous. When everyone thought the earth was flat, they were all geniuses right? Because they all thought the same way that made that theory correct right? The number of people who buy something does not correlate to the quality of anything. Look at how many people voted for dubya.
As for licensing the Mac OS... you know nothing of Apple's history. There was a time when the OS WAS licensed and it almost killed the company. Apple is primarily a hardware company and its software is one of the major factors that differentiates it from its competitors. If you can get the software on crap hardware two things happen... when there is a problem you are likely to blame the software first even though that is not likely to be the culprit and you have no incentive to buy Apple hardware (which is Apple's bread and butter).
You seem to think that OEM's use Windows because it is the best OS... That idea has nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, more and more people are getting laptops with linux installed. At the end of the day it is about what makes money for these companies and not what is best. Is a Chevy Malibu better than a BMW based on the sales of each? Which would most people rather have and which is sold more often in America?
As for Apple fanboys "raging at microsoft because they are supposed to...", ummmm.... no. I see what you did there, but you're an idiot. Generalizing about a whole population is just plain stupid. Most Apple users were formerly Windows users. I'd argue that most people who don't like Windows have a personal experience that made them dislike it. Most windows users DON'T us a Mac and therefore don't have legitimate cause to hate Apple.
Basically you have no reading comprehension, you make wild assumptions, and you have no knowledge of the subject that you are talking about. - AngelBunny, on 11/05/2009, -4/+7This story is so hilariously hypocritical and untrue it belongs on the daily show... ok maybe not but still WTF?
- karan1003, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3It was hyperbole - an exaggeration.
- HonoredMule, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4Ony-way syncing is not syncing at all.
- Altotus, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3While the things cited in the article are actually poor examples, the point is well taken. But the article misses the point. Apple's in very good company here, everyone does it (and most much more completely and egregiously).
The real story isn't so much that Apple does it, but that companies do it at all. Why do they feel compelled to do these things which are a disservice to their customers? Why do we let them? How did we get to the point where "proprietary" is anything more than "not interesting enough that anyone's picked up on it yet"?
It's the 21st century, that vendors actually expend time and money on lessening what you can do with their products is a shame? I'm sure that marketing departments feel certain that lock-in or lock-out yields more profit, but I doubt that the realized profit offsets the cost of the implementation and maintenance of a state that's counter consumer. Principally, it limits innovation and opening of unforeseen revenue opportunities... - spworm, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4because they don't have the market share.
- footbag01, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4The difference is market share.
- geodebug, on 11/05/2009, -1/+3It isn't market share, boys.
Apple sells their won hardware and are allowed to (try) to control the software they write to only run on their hardware. That isn't a monopoly. There is no 'barrier to entry' if some other company wants to sell their hardware. You could start a company tomorrow, sell your own music player/computer and nothing Apple does would directly stand in your way.
MS got into trouble when they tried to use their power to strong-arm PC manufacturers who wanted to pre-install Netscape. There MS was directly limiting the ability of competitors to establish market-share.
So, now you know and knowing is half the battle. - jv2k, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Please stop with the car brand analogies. The difference between windows and mac is not the same as one between an entry brand and a luxury one.
The only similarity is that upgrading or buying parts for a foreign luxury car is more expensive than toyota. - ohreilly, on 11/05/2009, -1/+3"
Do you want your cell phone to be safe? Look at Windows Mobile or Sybian. The idea of the SmartPhones sounds great - but does a 21st century virus or BlueTooth worm sound great? No, it doesn't."
Worth a bury for "Sybian", but like Windows, the trick is not to install *****.
With Symbian it is even easier - you need to get an application signed for it to do anything substantial to your phone. Viruses tend not to get signed by the big software houses, so the only way for it to get anywhere is for you to sign it using the freely available open symbian signed process (signs an application for one IMEI, anyone can do it for free). Therefore, you've had to do something to deliberately get it onto your phone. It is then your fault that it makes you have to reformat. - saikyan, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2I just use both.
It's pretty awesome because you get the advantages of both sides while their weaknesses are largely negated. - Rwshilling, on 11/05/2009, -5/+7I sometimes wonder how Apple hasn't been struck down with the same damn anti-monopoly lawsuits as Microsoft.
Although correct me if I'm wrong. - ohreilly, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2"'I'm willing to pay more for a Mac because I don't have to deal with half of the things that Microsoft puts me through. When you buy a PC, you have to remove all the crapware first. Or if you make a PC on your own, you have to do the following:"
MS aren't to blame for PC manufacturers putting the crapware on the machines they make. I could argue that I don't care about iWork - so why does Apple put a trial on my Mac?
"Activate your copy of Windows, not once, but TWICE. You have to put in a ***** activation code that came with your copy of Windows, which in turn, gives you another ***** activation code, which you read over the phone to someone at Microsoft. And then after you download and install Firefox (because IE sucks donkey balls) you have to run around the internet finding all your drivers for every piece of hardware and restart every ***** time."
a) Activation in the UK has always been partially automatic, you don't need to read codes out, just type them. It is now pretty much fully automatic. I don't think less than 5 minutes to activate is a big deal (if you bought the PC from Dell or so on you don't even need to do that)
Windows 7 has managed to find drivers for all my stuff. Sometimes it found the wrong driver (like on my MACBOOK, odd huh?) so I have to install BloatCamp to fix that but most of the time it has been successful (like on my non-Mac desktop) - SPECOPS, on 11/05/2009, -1/+3why do so many people thing > marketshare = better products? I mean, what is the #1 TV out there? Is it the 80" HDTV? Is it the super thin and cool LED HDTV? No. Why is Walmart doing so well? I suppose AngryDeuce has some valid points, most people want cheap stuff. But guess what, some people will eat noodles for a year saving up for better stuff - like that LED TV, or like that over priced BMW/AUDI/MERC - who cares! Is the LED Samsung TV division going broke? Is BMW going broke? Is Apple going broke? Some people like to throw out the fact Nokia is the # cell phone maker in the world - well guess what, its not number one because its the best, its #1 because most (other than USA) cell phone providers give it out for free with a plan. The same logic is with Windows, not necessarily for free anymore, but DELL/HP/SONY all get great deals from Microsoft to be locked it. How long did it take Dell to start offering PCs with Linux on it? Do you think it was they didn't have the skills to put it on the OS? Also, another though, why is the Sony laptops so much more expensive than the Dell laptops? Also, why is the new Dell XPS super thin laptop so much more expensive than the HP laptops with the same specs? Maybe when AngryDeuce opens up his mind and sees a bit more of the big picture, he and others will understand basic marketing 101, supply and demand, and other necessary skills in order to run a profitable company on your own terms and conditions.
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