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Apple Subpoenas, Sues Over Leaks
CNET reports that Apple has been granted the right to subpoena O'Grady's PowerPage, AppleInsider, and Think Secret over leaks of information concerning an unreleased product code named "Asteroid" and "Q97," which has been described as a FireWire audio interface for use with GarageBand. The subpoenas are related to a lawsuit against an unnamed individual who leaked the information.
The mark of true journalists is they will not give in. Rather than revealing sources like this a good reporter will go to jail and have a comtempt of court record for the rest of his life!
This has been fought out in courts many times. I'm not sure where the law stands now (though some cases have come down in favor of the reporter in the past).
Ever notice that the media can somehow interview big names like Bin Laden (not him in particular, but others like him) that the government wants yet cannot find? Its because a reporter understands the sources are everything and if you turn on them you are sunk.
Sucks, doesn't it?
And you can trust me, I'm the judge in this trial, at least the responders to this post seem to think so... ;)
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
(I won't try and keep up with the metaphors)
OK, so from your post we have two things..
1. It took WAY too long to open a log file, reasonable complaint.
2. You haven't seen a justified example of why a high(er/est?) end (g5 powermac, given the 3k figure) is worth the money.
Well, I will tell you why I find my $1480 laptop well worth the money. (12in 1ghz powerbook + wifi card, 512 ram added after purchase)
1. It works. I find Apple's computers to be much more straightforward and manageable. Settings are logical, and consitent across the system. Things work as they say and there is very little 'ok, that didn't go as planned, let me fiddle around with it'
Note: I am a knowledge(power user/well above average) tech at a school district. Been working on PCs for several years. I don't know everything, but I am pretty damn capable to troubleshoot the vast majority of windows fuck ups.
2. It is stable.
It just hasn't really died on me. Application works great, system is robust. XP is near/at this level in most respects(see next point), but I just like the system that keeps working, and this does.
3. Safe. First, I like being able to handle 'sensitive(windows viruses is an extreme case, but more often damagin batch files, poorly written software or adware ridden crap and the like) on my mac without worrying about double-clicking it or having to zip it up. I can read the code from crap that would thrash my windows box, and so I am immune to such things... This gives me a lot of freedom.
4. Secure. It just is more secure than windows. No activex crap, only ssh(!) is turned on by default. It is more secure in design. no root user, only su/sudo decent firewall builtin, with many really good free ones(better than zonealarm and the like, imo) available for added features. Mac OS X lets you do a lot of things like require a password to change anything 'important', similar to Linux, lets you encrypt your home folder, lock down(require passwords) on system preferences. Doesn't open shit automatically.
5. Unix. I can compile/install/use tons of linux and freebsd apps. No hassle, clean setup and go. From common stuff like lynx, to more exotic stuff like ettercap or ethereal. And with Apple's x11 server(it isn't perfect, but fulyl functional), I can run linux-based gui programs as well. This opens up every major market of software (classic mac, mac os x, unix command line, X11/Unix gui, Java, Windows 95->xp with VPC). Windows can't do that. Linux can't do that.
To sum up. The system is more consistent and guess-able (preferences are 99.99% always CMD+, in any native app), etc. It is more secure, free from adware/crap software that auto-installs, and immune to windows viruses. It lets me run linux/x11 and Java apps really well, and really fast(Java is very well integrated, linux/x11 is native speeds).
It gives me more power, with less hassle, in a cleaner, more attractive package. You are DAMN RIGHT it was worth every penny.
It's funny, Apple did everything right in this case. They filed a john doe lawsuit, then subpoenaed the web sites for information of their informant. If you had someone sign an NDA then showed them your top-secret project, would you do any less? I can see news sites refusing to answer the subpoenas as a matter of journalistic integrity in the case of a whistle blower, but this is not a case of wrongdoing, just a simple contract dispute. Despite doing everything above board here, half the posts are still criticizing Apple for trying to enforce their contracts. They did not threaten the web sites, one of which MS did just last week. They did not file any lawsuits against the web sites. What more could you ask?
A "musician" is someone who makes music with the tools at hand. Not all musicians, particularly those starting out, can afford a computer as well as a digidesign Mbox, whatever that is; therefore, they make do with what they have.
Such a person might already have a Mac, and can use it to make music at least somewhat more effectively using GarageBand.
That's the purpose of Garageband: a low-cost way for people to get their feet wet with digital music. No one is suggesting it's going to replace ProTools.
Apple was the first manufacturer to have built-in 802.11 wireless (iBooks, Fall 1999). Everyone else had external antennas. It took Dell over a year to have built-in wireless, and by that time, all of Apple's desktops and portables had built-in wireless.
You can buy a digidesign Mbox factory package for $550
So, for more than twice as much, you can get something different. You don't say. Sure, the Mbox is a good package, but $500 is still a lot of money, and ProTools LE is not even remotely as easy to use as GarageBand.
I mean, ProTools is the industry standard for digital audio recording and editing for a reason.
And that reason is inertia, more than anything else. ProTools is good, yeah, but that doesn't mean it's the best for everyone in all cases. There's a lot of different software on the market for a reason.
Then again, I suppose any "musician" who buys Garage Band isn't exactly looking to take their tracks to a real engineer or shop their creation around to record companies, and more than "graphic artists" who use MS Paint would take their creations to a printing press.
Why didn't you just say "I've never used GarageBand, so I don't get it."? Comparing it to MS Paint is absolutely rediculous. If you really want an analogy, I'd say it's more like Adobe Photoshop Elements. It's the home game of the pro app.
I've always seen GarageBand as the digital equivalent to the sub-$200 4-track tape recorder (a sub-$200 interface, like Apple's, will cement this analogy). There's a huge number of successful musicians out there that got started on a 4-track -- a lot of a lot of beautiful albums that were recorded on them (Iron & Wine's The Creek Drank The Cradle is a recent example), and a lot of happy users.
I'm also troubled by your implication that a musician that uses GarageBand is a "musician", somehow different than a person that uses ProTools. A talented musician will sound good on both. A skilled graphic artist could definitely make something worthwhile in MS Paint. They wouldn't, because MS Paint is crap, but the point is that it's the artist that creates the art, the tool is just a tool, good or bad.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.