If you are incapable of seeing the decline in the level of scholastic skills & competency of US H.S. graduates since the Federal Dept of Education was created/formed in 1979, then you're simply refusing to see a problem either because you haven't cared to look, or it's inconveniently inconsistent with your political biases. Or both.
What does that have to do with the Federal Department of education. They don't establish curriculum, nor certify teachers, nor determine teacher competency... Until no child left behind they had almost no involvement other than feeding kids, providing school boards with resources and making sure schools were integrated.
So, you're going to ignore the ever-more totalitarian government policies and legislation [list of technical restrictions]
As a trade off to have 1/3rd of the planet that used to be subject to imprisonment without trial, no property rights at all.... Yes I think those things are comparatively minor.
that enables the taking-down of websites and web services without due process,
That applies to foreign information sources. Foreign information sources aren't entitled to due process. If a foreign website wants US protections they need to have a US representative who is willing to assume legal liability.
the restrictions on free speech,
As compared to a generation ago? Virtually all the obscenity laws are gone, there are heavily distributed uncensored medium of exchanges.... Speech is much freer.
the loss of basic rights in being scanned & searched at airports,
Airports are less free than they used to be.
the emergence of domestic civilian drone surveillance,
A generation ago the FBI and police departments were running active domestic spying campaigns in US organizations.
Things like government environmental protection departments seizing private property and also dictating what activities may occur upon private property?
The government did that far more a generation ago, and multiple departments like labor were involved. As for dictating what activities may occur on private property that has always been US policy. They are much less restrictive (overall) than they used to be.
The effective outlawing of the ability to change or modify your own property (game consoles)?
I'm not sure that it is illegal to modify a game console. If it is... oh well, game consoles are likely far more free than a generation ago regardless of restrictions.
I'm not sure where you are getting that from. Apple's cost (what they were paying) for the iPad2 screen was $127. They paid $65.70 for the motherboard with CPU and memory ( http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/38683-image/ihs-isuppli-20110314-list.jpg ) Apple isn't ripping people off, I know in 2010 they actually lost money on their iPhone repairs, they just don't want to create a user serviceable device.
In general end users who don't know better ignore error messages and warnings, they don't know how to respond. 99% of the people who would get that warning message wouldn't understand the implication. Heck, I'm rather knowledgeable and I don't understand the implications. My impression is you don't either. So the question is why should Apple make it easy for you to shoot your own foot off without really understanding why they blocking you. There are different philosophies of what to do about this sort of situation:
Linux -- Assume you know what you are doing and let you hose stuff, often without much warning. Microsoft -- Most of the time assume you know how to respond to a warning and let you procede. Infrequently block you almost entirely. Apple -- Assume that if you know what you are doing, you also know how to bypass the protection. So prevent you from doing something stupid but put a lock on that is easily bypassed by the knowledgeable (for example those running the developer SDK).
The effect of Apple's policies is to create a world where almost everything follows Apple's specs but... developers can do what they really want to do. And I should mention that Linux has moved towards more safety.
I guess my question to you is. Assuming you would only have used a proper device the cost of the chip is probably under $3 more. What is your objection to paying that $3?
Sure but that's a different claim than "taking control from the user". This was the example given of Apple's control and they make it rather easy to change.
and there is no reason to believe that browser share is any more, nor any less, accurate.
Sure there is. We know usage patterns are different between manufacturers. For example RIM users are much heavier email / texting users. We know that iPhone users like apps to get web content. We know that Android has a much richer collection of browsers than any platform. In other words everything we know about usage patterns indicates that manufacturer is likely to bias browser figures as a way of measuring market share.
All I know is that no one is taking into account when devices are thrown in the drawer, and I submit that happens far more often with Android devices than with iOS. Precisely because of the demographics, and the relative cost of the two.
AFAIK comscore contacts the carriers and pulls information by phone / accounts. So their userbase numbers would measure what you are after rather well.
I'll be curious to see how those work out. That's the second time I've seen them mentioned. There is no way to have hardware even remotely as good as what is in a Nook / Kindle much less an iPad at that price point, but I don't know specifically what they are doing.
Potentially these garbage tablets disrupting from below could be a huge threat. I was thinking of buying one of those myself and I consider it a garbage tablet.... which is saying something about the price point.
In what way are Apple approved electrons different from unapproved electrons, other than having paid for the license chip that is?
I don't understand the difference, I can parrot and say there is all kinds of stuff about tolerances D+/D- pins.... Mainly Apple wants charges that meet specs and manufacturers that want to make cables for Apple devices go to Apple and get certified.
If you don't want Apple managing your stuff, in general don't buy Apple. OTOH if you do buy Apple you get a managed eco system.
No. Customers are encouraged to buy the Apple warranty go to the Apple store when something goes wrong and not worry about it. They aren't trying to sell you expensive repairs they are trying to sell you a total experience.
Which you can send to a 3rd party shop and get a battery replacement for about 1/2 that cost if you are out of warranty. Not "do it yourself" and not fixable are not the same thing.
I've owned Apple laptops almost exclusively for 14 years. I buy the warranty and I've never spent a nickel beyond that for repairs. If they have to open the case that's their problem.
Oh and Apple sent me a brand new replacement devices when I broke something at their expense.
Remember that old meme "Apple computers are the best for graphics"? How long was that actual true? Was it every really true?
Yes and there still are major differences between OSX and Windows that make Apples better for graphic professionals. Let me give you an example. When you render fonts on screen you have to make a choice:
a) You can layout the fonts in ways to optimize the appearance on screen but then kerning is different between screen renders and print renders (Windows and Linux do)
b) You can layout the fonts in a way to accurately reflect the printed document but then small type sizes while positioned accurately can often be difficult to read (what OSX does)
There are many of those sorts of choices made along the way especially 15 years ago that really mattered.
Honestly I think the resale value comes from the rapidly increasing market share and the higher price points. When Apple's market share was decreasing Apple had pretty low resale price points. And you can get excellent values on MacPros today. At least on the phone side I suspect the used market will be pros buying up damaged phones to refurb them.
Resale value isn't important to Apple. It just comes up a lot on/.
hmmm.... you tried to use a generic USB charger with an iphone. You do understand that those certified chargers have a microchip regulator inside them. You are lucky you still have a functioning phone.
I'm arguing with Daniel all over this thread. But...
Percentage sales and percentage of devices in use if they diverge are measuring two very different things I'm not sure either one is irrelevant. As for browser share that's not an accurate reflection. Given the different usage patterns on iOS vs. Android, and the different demographics for iOS vs. Android we have no reason to believe browser share isn't introducing a major complication in terms of how frequently people use browsers per phone.
Your own data doesn't support Apple market share decline. You have Apple going from a 27.4% to a 29.6% over the course of a quarter a 2.2% increase.
As an aside: Apple / (Android + Apple) Sep = 27.4/(44.8+27.4) =.38 Dec 29.6 / (47.3+29.6) =.385
i.e. a slight gain in relative share. As for tablet market share that includes Kindle Fire that's silly, Apple doesn't sell a product at that price point nor do we have any reason to believe customers consider those to be interchangeable products.
I don't see any evidence of the iPad losing ground to "open Android devices". Unless you mean the Fire which is a price point that Apple doesn't even have a product offering at and isn't meaningfully more open.
As for the iPhone.... Apple just gained contracts with many carriers and started offering less expensive phones. So far that's resulted in stunning market share growth. Too early to tell if that is a long term effect but the one quarter numbers were stunning.
We have no idea if "open hardware" was the reason for success over Apple. Expensive hardware was a very serious problem. The effectiveness of IBM in pushing the Microsoft/Intel/Western Digital standard was a serious problem. Apple was plenty successful up until the early 1990s. Most of the resistance to Apple still comes from cost concerns.
The Cook strategy is simple. Jobs originally felt the reason Windows tablets weren't successful is that they are aiming at too high a price point. Amazon / B&N own the the low end and subsidize their products by media sales, there is no way to compete at that space.
But... With the media companies at the low end, the iPad 2 starting at $400 and having hardware Android can't compete with, it is hard to find a way to sell an Android product below the iPad 2 price. The iPad3 line is going to own the space up to about $700, after which Windows laptop tablets coming in around $900-5000 start to become players and those are likely much more feature rich than any Android offering. Apple has shut off most of the room for Android tablets to develop a price point.
We aren't sure yet how this plays out. There are essentially three main groups of android buyers:
a) "iPhone wasn't available with my carrier". This group is disappearing. b) "Android costs less". Apple is trying to move down market we will see if they are successful at lower price points. c) "Women who like larger screens". Interesting gender reversal of the stereotype.
The erosion of property/ownership rights is to be expected, given the ever-more totalitarian direction of many, if not most Western governments
What are you talking about. The totalitarian government of eastern europe are gone. The harsher elements of state socialism in most of western governments is gone. Property / ownership policies all over the world are much stronger than a generation ago. There is no erosion.
Thanks to the Federal Government and it's education policies, they've already managed to drastically lower literacy rates
There has been no lowering of literacy rates in the USA. Further the federal government's main education policy for the last generation as been to provide subsidized food to children from poor homes so they have absorbed enough nutrition to learn.
The problems with US education are substantial, but the federal government isn't heavily involved.
The level of personal autonomy and concern for personal autonomy today is far greater than it was in the late 1970s at the birth of Apple. Individualism in all forms is much more tolerated even celebrated socially.
As for user hostile, there is nothing user hostile about Apple's design. Look at the satisfaction numbers.
Slashdot Mirror
If you are incapable of seeing the decline in the level of scholastic skills & competency of US H.S. graduates since the Federal Dept of Education was created/formed in 1979, then you're simply refusing to see a problem either because you haven't cared to look, or it's inconveniently inconsistent with your political biases. Or both.
What does that have to do with the Federal Department of education. They don't establish curriculum, nor certify teachers, nor determine teacher competency... Until no child left behind they had almost no involvement other than feeding kids, providing school boards with resources and making sure schools were integrated.
So, you're going to ignore the ever-more totalitarian government policies and legislation [list of technical restrictions]
As a trade off to have 1/3rd of the planet that used to be subject to imprisonment without trial, no property rights at all.... Yes I think those things are comparatively minor.
that enables the taking-down of websites and web services without due process,
That applies to foreign information sources. Foreign information sources aren't entitled to due process. If a foreign website wants US protections they need to have a US representative who is willing to assume legal liability.
the restrictions on free speech,
As compared to a generation ago? Virtually all the obscenity laws are gone, there are heavily distributed uncensored medium of exchanges.... Speech is much freer.
the loss of basic rights in being scanned & searched at airports,
Airports are less free than they used to be.
the emergence of domestic civilian drone surveillance,
A generation ago the FBI and police departments were running active domestic spying campaigns in US organizations.
Things like government environmental protection departments seizing private property and also dictating what activities may occur upon private property?
The government did that far more a generation ago, and multiple departments like labor were involved. As for dictating what activities may occur on private property that has always been US policy. They are much less restrictive (overall) than they used to be.
The effective outlawing of the ability to change or modify your own property (game consoles)?
I'm not sure that it is illegal to modify a game console. If it is... oh well, game consoles are likely far more free than a generation ago regardless of restrictions.
I'm not sure where you are getting that from. Apple's cost (what they were paying) for the iPad2 screen was $127. They paid $65.70 for the motherboard with CPU and memory ( http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/38683-image/ihs-isuppli-20110314-list.jpg ) Apple isn't ripping people off, I know in 2010 they actually lost money on their iPhone repairs, they just don't want to create a user serviceable device.
I still don't see how that's gets you there. Nook screen is like $30. Lets say the Ainoi gets the screen for free ....
In general end users who don't know better ignore error messages and warnings, they don't know how to respond. 99% of the people who would get that warning message wouldn't understand the implication. Heck, I'm rather knowledgeable and I don't understand the implications. My impression is you don't either. So the question is why should Apple make it easy for you to shoot your own foot off without really understanding why they blocking you. There are different philosophies of what to do about this sort of situation:
Linux -- Assume you know what you are doing and let you hose stuff, often without much warning.
Microsoft -- Most of the time assume you know how to respond to a warning and let you procede. Infrequently block you almost entirely.
Apple -- Assume that if you know what you are doing, you also know how to bypass the protection. So prevent you from doing something stupid but put a lock on that is easily bypassed by the knowledgeable (for example those running the developer SDK).
The effect of Apple's policies is to create a world where almost everything follows Apple's specs but... developers can do what they really want to do. And I should mention that Linux has moved towards more safety.
I guess my question to you is. Assuming you would only have used a proper device the cost of the chip is probably under $3 more. What is your objection to paying that $3?
Sure but that's a different claim than "taking control from the user". This was the example given of Apple's control and they make it rather easy to change.
Sorry I should explain. The first 4 columns are market share the last is total number of smart phone accounts.
and there is no reason to believe that browser share is any more, nor any less, accurate.
Sure there is. We know usage patterns are different between manufacturers. For example RIM users are much heavier email / texting users. We know that iPhone users like apps to get web content. We know that Android has a much richer collection of browsers than any platform. In other words everything we know about usage patterns indicates that manufacturer is likely to bias browser figures as a way of measuring market share.
All I know is that no one is taking into account when devices are thrown in the drawer, and I submit that happens far more often with Android devices than with iOS. Precisely because of the demographics, and the relative cost of the two.
AFAIK comscore contacts the carriers and pulls information by phone / accounts. So their userbase numbers would measure what you are after rather well.
OS Android RIM Apple MS Smartphones
Dec2009 5.2 41.6 25.3 18.0 39.4
Jan2010 7.1 43.0 25.1 15.7 42.7
Feb2010 9.0 42.1 25.4 15.1 45.4
Mar2010 10.3 41.7 25.2 14.4 46.8
Apr2010 12.0 41.1 25.1 14.0 48.1
May2010 13.0 41.7 24.4 13.2 49.1
Jun2010 14.9 40.1 24.3 12.8 49.9
Jul2010 17.0 39.3 23.8 11.8 53.4
Aug2010 19.6 37.6 24.2 10.8 55.7
Sep2010 21.4 37.3 24.3 9.9 58.7
Oct2010 23.5 35.8 24.6 9.7 60.7
Nov2010 26.0 33.5 25.0 9.0 61.5
Dec2010 28.7 31.6 25.0 8.4 63.2
Jan2011 31.2 30.4 24.7 8.0 65.8
Feb2011 33.0 28.9 25.2 7.7 69.5
Mar2011 34.7 27.1 25.5 7.5 72.5
Apr2011 36.4 25.7 26.0 6.7 74.6
May2011 38.1 24.7 26.6 5.8 76.8
Jun2011 40.1 23.4 26.6 5.8 78.5
Jul2011 41.8 21.7 27.0 5.7 82.2
Aug2011 43.7 19.7 27.3 5.7 84.5
Sep2011 44.8 18.9 27.4 5.6 87.4
Oct2011 46.3 17.2 28.1 5.4 90.0
Nov2011 46.9 16.2 28.7 5.2 91.4
Dec2011 47.3 16.0 29.6 4.7 97.9
Jan2012 48.6 15.2 29.5 4.4 101.3
I'm not sure what you mean by "platform versatility". Developers aren't a major consumer group for mainstream electronic devices.
But I'm sticking with my "3 main groups", unless you have evidence of 10m+ groups other than those.
I'll be curious to see how those work out. That's the second time I've seen them mentioned. There is no way to have hardware even remotely as good as what is in a Nook / Kindle much less an iPad at that price point, but I don't know specifically what they are doing.
Potentially these garbage tablets disrupting from below could be a huge threat. I was thinking of buying one of those myself and I consider it a garbage tablet.... which is saying something about the price point.
In what way are Apple approved electrons different from unapproved electrons, other than having paid for the license chip that is?
I don't understand the difference, I can parrot and say there is all kinds of stuff about tolerances D+/D- pins.... Mainly Apple wants charges that meet specs and manufacturers that want to make cables for Apple devices go to Apple and get certified.
If you don't want Apple managing your stuff, in general don't buy Apple. OTOH if you do buy Apple you get a managed eco system.
No. Customers are encouraged to buy the Apple warranty go to the Apple store when something goes wrong and not worry about it. They aren't trying to sell you expensive repairs they are trying to sell you a total experience.
Which you can send to a 3rd party shop and get a battery replacement for about 1/2 that cost if you are out of warranty. Not "do it yourself" and not fixable are not the same thing.
I've owned Apple laptops almost exclusively for 14 years. I buy the warranty and I've never spent a nickel beyond that for repairs. If they have to open the case that's their problem.
Oh and Apple sent me a brand new replacement devices when I broke something at their expense.
Remember that old meme "Apple computers are the best for graphics"? How long was that actual true? Was it every really true?
Yes and there still are major differences between OSX and Windows that make Apples better for graphic professionals. Let me give you an example. When you render fonts on screen you have to make a choice:
a) You can layout the fonts in ways to optimize the appearance on screen but then kerning is different between screen renders and print renders (Windows and Linux do)
b) You can layout the fonts in a way to accurately reflect the printed document but then small type sizes while positioned accurately can often be difficult to read (what OSX does)
There are many of those sorts of choices made along the way especially 15 years ago that really mattered.
Honestly I think the resale value comes from the rapidly increasing market share and the higher price points. When Apple's market share was decreasing Apple had pretty low resale price points. And you can get excellent values on MacPros today. At least on the phone side I suspect the used market will be pros buying up damaged phones to refurb them.
Resale value isn't important to Apple. It just comes up a lot on /.
hmmm.... you tried to use a generic USB charger with an iphone. You do understand that those certified chargers have a microchip regulator inside them. You are lucky you still have a functioning phone.
I'm arguing with Daniel all over this thread. But...
Percentage sales and percentage of devices in use if they diverge are measuring two very different things I'm not sure either one is irrelevant. As for browser share that's not an accurate reflection. Given the different usage patterns on iOS vs. Android, and the different demographics for iOS vs. Android we have no reason to believe browser share isn't introducing a major complication in terms of how frequently people use browsers per phone.
Your own data doesn't support Apple market share decline. You have Apple going from a 27.4% to a 29.6% over the course of a quarter a 2.2% increase.
As an aside: Apple / (Android + Apple) /(44.8+27.4) = .38 .385
Sep = 27.4
Dec 29.6 / (47.3+29.6) =
i.e. a slight gain in relative share. As for tablet market share that includes Kindle Fire that's silly, Apple doesn't sell a product at that price point nor do we have any reason to believe customers consider those to be interchangeable products.
I don't see any evidence of the iPad losing ground to "open Android devices". Unless you mean the Fire which is a price point that Apple doesn't even have a product offering at and isn't meaningfully more open.
As for the iPhone.... Apple just gained contracts with many carriers and started offering less expensive phones. So far that's resulted in stunning market share growth. Too early to tell if that is a long term effect but the one quarter numbers were stunning.
We have no idea if "open hardware" was the reason for success over Apple. Expensive hardware was a very serious problem. The effectiveness of IBM in pushing the Microsoft/Intel/Western Digital standard was a serious problem. Apple was plenty successful up until the early 1990s. Most of the resistance to Apple still comes from cost concerns.
Apple is happy about the Kindle fire.
The Cook strategy is simple. Jobs originally felt the reason Windows tablets weren't successful is that they are aiming at too high a price point. Amazon / B&N own the the low end and subsidize their products by media sales, there is no way to compete at that space.
But... With the media companies at the low end, the iPad 2 starting at $400 and having hardware Android can't compete with, it is hard to find a way to sell an Android product below the iPad 2 price. The iPad3 line is going to own the space up to about $700, after which Windows laptop tablets coming in around $900-5000 start to become players and those are likely much more feature rich than any Android offering. Apple has shut off most of the room for Android tablets to develop a price point.
We aren't sure yet how this plays out. There are essentially three main groups of android buyers:
a) "iPhone wasn't available with my carrier". This group is disappearing.
b) "Android costs less". Apple is trying to move down market we will see if they are successful at lower price points.
c) "Women who like larger screens". Interesting gender reversal of the stereotype.
The erosion of property/ownership rights is to be expected, given the ever-more totalitarian direction of many, if not most Western governments
What are you talking about. The totalitarian government of eastern europe are gone. The harsher elements of state socialism in most of western governments is gone. Property / ownership policies all over the world are much stronger than a generation ago. There is no erosion.
Thanks to the Federal Government and it's education policies, they've already managed to drastically lower literacy rates
There has been no lowering of literacy rates in the USA. Further the federal government's main education policy for the last generation as been to provide subsidized food to children from poor homes so they have absorbed enough nutrition to learn.
The problems with US education are substantial, but the federal government isn't heavily involved.
The level of personal autonomy and concern for personal autonomy today is far greater than it was in the late 1970s at the birth of Apple. Individualism in all forms is much more tolerated even celebrated socially.
As for user hostile, there is nothing user hostile about Apple's design. Look at the satisfaction numbers.