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A Decade of Apple Oddities
harrymcc writes "It's been exactly ten years since Steve Jobs stood on a stage at Apple and explained to a surprisingly small group of journalists that his company was going to make a music player and call it iPod. Technologizer's Benj Edwards celebrated the iPod's first decade by rounding up a dozen iPod-related oddities, including the iPod-powered tooth cleaner, an iPod mount for a semi-automatic sniper system, and the classic 1958 Dieter Rams Braun FM radio that may have helped inspire it all."
Why has there been so much Apple crap here on Slashdot lately? I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a story when Apple does something of a technical nature that's notable, but most of these stories are totally irrelevant and very boring.
There's nothing special about iPods. They're a digital music player, just like every other digital music player out there. People have modded them for many years now, and many of these same "hacks" were done using portable CD and tape players well before then. None of this is remotely interesting, even to those of us who enjoy such hacks.
Can we please have some interesting content here for once? Something not having to do with Apple or American politics, perhaps? Maybe something involving science or math in some way, or maybe even engineering?
I understand that being in the eyeball-grabbing game, a site must post an avalanche of apple related stories especially around new or upcoming marketing drives, so I'll just state that I wish it wasn't so, that the site wasn't in the eyeball-grabbing game, but in the game of building a quality community. And I'll just leave a friendly reminder:
Take heed! Apple is evil. They are out to lock you in and to destroy your freedom.
Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
For myself, I could do without a constant stream of articles listing things he may or mat not have designed personally. If Apple release something new and interesting then by all means post it, but I think everyone here knows what an iPod is.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
The fact remains, however, that the iPod was lame and continued to be lame until it got wireless. And it didn't have much storage space. Also, it was DRM-laden back then, too.
It remains the case that Apple's business plan floats along on a big fat gasbag of marketing hype. Mr. Jobs flirted with new-age cult crap in his youth, and learned how to do that stuff pretty effectively. To the degree, even, that True Believers will write this comment off as coming from a Hater.
Apple's Macintosh, the basis of everything they have become, was founded on the principle that it was a 'hacker proof' machine. And yes, they meant 'hacker' in the old, good sense. It was hyped long and hard as a 'just use it, no screwdriver required, or even permitted' system.
Many of us have said 'fuck that' for decades.
It's been exactly ten years since Steve Jobs stood on a stage at Apple and explained to a surprisingly small group of journalists that his company was going to make a music player and call it iPod.
In 'B' school (yeah yeah, heard it all before) we had a Harvard test case about the PC industry which included Apple Computer, Inc. To make a long and boring story short, the test case basically left Apple for dead saying it had no chance competing in the PC industry because of the slim margins (they all do), small market share, etc ....I mentioned that Apple has other things going on and they'll keep kicking. The prof kicked in "as a computer maker, No.They should liquidate" But before I could finish my point - pointing out the iPod and the change in direction of the company - some fangirl kicked in about the wonders of Macs and blah blah blah blah ....
I was trying to make a point that Apple was no longer a PC Computer maker and they were a personal device maker. And Apple Computer eventually changed their name to Apple, Inc.to reflect that change in direction.;
I learned two things in my MBA cap class: I just wasted 2+ years on a shit degree. Apple fans can be such conformists.
Seriously 13 slides and zero good content even on the first page. I'm not clicking through that shit.
To say that they're a digital music player is backwards: the rest of the world would say digital music players are bad ipods
I owned a Diamond Rio & Creative Nomad, 2 years before the iPod was ever sold. I enjoyed them more than the first iPod, and I still would take the music management software that I had to use for them over any version of iTunes.
I say this as a iPhone owner. I don't hate Apple, but I hate the incorrect praise they get for inventing things they did not invent.
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
Oh, the Ferrari is special: it's an overpriced, unreliable, impractical car for guys who feel inadequate. Kind of like Apple products.
As a basic transportation appliance for moving a standard family unit with accessories and groceries from point A to point B, the Ferrari sucks ass. The Corolla provides 1000x the value for that purpose.
For recreational driving, having fun, going fast, showing off, the Ferrari wins. Some people will never appreciate any of those things and struggle to rationalize why anyone would ever waste money on a sports car. Finding nothing in their own psychological inventory, they project feelings and motivations familiar to them, such as issues of "inadequacy", particularly sexual inadequacy. ("He has that fancy car to compensate for his small penis, ha ha!") Such projections reveal at best a lack of experience, perspective, and imagination; at worst a small-minded pettiness brought on by envy that someone else would have the means to waste so much money on such a frivolity.
As a basic transportation appliance for moving a standard family unit with accessories and groceries from point A to point B, the Ferrari sucks ass. The Corolla provides 1000x the value for that purpose.
For recreational driving, having fun, going fast, showing off, the Ferrari wins. Some people will never appreciate any of those things and struggle to rationalize why anyone would ever waste money on a sports car. Finding nothing in their own psychological inventory, they project feelings and motivations familiar to them, such as issues of "inadequacy", particularly sexual inadequacy. ("He has that fancy car to compensate for his small penis, ha ha!") Such projections reveal at best a lack of experience, perspective, and imagination; at worst a small-minded pettiness brought on by envy that someone else would have the means to waste so much money on such a frivolity.
If I want to have "fun" driving, I go and play with dodgem cars or go-karts. I don't spend $100k on a toy car. In any case you can't have the sort of fun driving that you need a Ferrari for without either breaking the law or going to a race track.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer