You're looking at it from the wrong angle. Sure, Asus' (or whatever vendor's) models comparable to MacBooks will be similarily priced, but there's only 6 Macbooks to choose from, and they're not that different. Want a high end, compact laptop. You can't officially run OS X. Want a budget laptop with a large screen? You can't officially run OS X.
OS X will unfortunately stay a niche product until Apple pulls its head out of its ass, and lets the market provide commodities, like hardware. One company cannot possibly hope to provide what everyone needs.
The problem comes in when you want something other than what Apple sells. Don't have any use for firewire, bluetooth or a built in camera? Tough shit, you pay for it anyway. Want the T2300 Core Duo, with it's much better price/performance ratio? Nope, you can shell out for a 2Ghz plus or no Mac for you. Want a key on a North American laptop? Nope. Ergonomic keyboard? No, Apple doesn't care about your wrists. Multiple mouse buttons on the built in touchpad? No, we live in 1978 here.
I think they're hiding the real reason. Its not that they think septegenarians are incapable of understanding the agreement, its that they want to know that grandpa has someone to call, other than them, when things don't work.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing on the larger point, but you hardly need a CS degree to work in IT. A one year certificate from a community college will do in spades, assuming no other experience.
If what you want happens to be what Apple sells, they're competitive. The reason they're considered expensive is that they're only one company, and thus can only serve the needs of a small fraction of the market. If you want a low end, large screen laptop, you're can't buy a mac. If you want a high end, compact laptop, you can't buy a mac.
Actually, I was reading via the comment notification system, so it wouldn't matter which system I was using. (They're all awful, especially for the volume of comments most/. stories get.) No reasonable person could read all the comments in most stories, so I read a few, then ignore it unless someone responds to me.
I much prefer the nice threading system in scoop sites, and rarely read/. comments these days.
Analog cable has always been on the honour system anyways. While I may be misunderstanding how the filter system works, it wouldn't need to support 150 channels, 20 or 30 would do just fine. Make all of the basic channels available over analog cable, and require digital cable for the specialty channels.
It's theft if you refuse to give it to them, but you're not under any particular obligation to deliver it to them or notify them if they don't specifically ask for it.
Or, they assume its simply a gift basket someone brought in and didn't realize they were for sale at all. Most people of any intelligence in modern societies have mental blinders towards advertisements, so they may not see a sign even if it is there.
To be fair, the higher up on the food chain you are, the more likely you are to get perks like free muffins. Some percentage would simply not notice that they weren't intended to be free.
I like having pdf versions of my textbooks, regardless of whether I buy the dead tree version or not. Physical books are much better for reading large sections of, especially the first time through, but ebooks are much better for reference. There's no search function in cellulose;).
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That's entirely a matter of preference. Besides, there's no excuse for not providing both.
How much is the Mac notebook when you configure it similarily to the default Asus?
Oh right, you can't...
You're looking at it from the wrong angle. Sure, Asus' (or whatever vendor's) models comparable to MacBooks will be similarily priced, but there's only 6 Macbooks to choose from, and they're not that different. Want a high end, compact laptop. You can't officially run OS X. Want a budget laptop with a large screen? You can't officially run OS X.
OS X will unfortunately stay a niche product until Apple pulls its head out of its ass, and lets the market provide commodities, like hardware. One company cannot possibly hope to provide what everyone needs.
The problem comes in when you want something other than what Apple sells. Don't have any use for firewire, bluetooth or a built in camera? Tough shit, you pay for it anyway. Want the T2300 Core Duo, with it's much better price/performance ratio? Nope, you can shell out for a 2Ghz plus or no Mac for you. Want a key on a North American laptop? Nope. Ergonomic keyboard? No, Apple doesn't care about your wrists. Multiple mouse buttons on the built in touchpad? No, we live in 1978 here.
OS X is somewhat nice. Macs aren't for everyone.
Dell seems to be doing a better job at quality control. They recalled all those explodey batteries first...
So write some scripts with easy to remember names.
I've never been able to get that running on a modern machine.
I think they're hiding the real reason. Its not that they think septegenarians are incapable of understanding the agreement, its that they want to know that grandpa has someone to call, other than them, when things don't work.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing on the larger point, but you hardly need a CS degree to work in IT. A one year certificate from a community college will do in spades, assuming no other experience.
If what you want happens to be what Apple sells, they're competitive. The reason they're considered expensive is that they're only one company, and thus can only serve the needs of a small fraction of the market. If you want a low end, large screen laptop, you're can't buy a mac. If you want a high end, compact laptop, you can't buy a mac.
Actually, I was reading via the comment notification system, so it wouldn't matter which system I was using. (They're all awful, especially for the volume of comments most /. stories get.) No reasonable person could read all the comments in most stories, so I read a few, then ignore it unless someone responds to me.
/. comments these days.
I much prefer the nice threading system in scoop sites, and rarely read
This is the post I responded too. Perhaps you should take your own advice ;)
You mentioned buying printers, and complained about getting exactly the capacity the included sample cartridges are rated for.
BTW, I've seen colour laser printers for $250 CND.
No, I'm telling you that the $0 cartridge that came with the printer is a sample.
They've dealt with that. Printers only come with a 'sample' cartridge now.
I'm not defending inkjets in any way, but the cartridges that come with them usually aren't intended to last more than 50 pages. Its a sample.
Analog cable has always been on the honour system anyways. While I may be misunderstanding how the filter system works, it wouldn't need to support 150 channels, 20 or 30 would do just fine. Make all of the basic channels available over analog cable, and require digital cable for the specialty channels.
You don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. They can and do restrict which analog channels go over the wire.
They've been offering tiered packages for a long time. There's no reason they couldn't offer a la carte analog service.
Sure it does. Lots of companies leave giant notes all over the place for me, and I rarely notice them. I think they're called billboards.
It's theft if you refuse to give it to them, but you're not under any particular obligation to deliver it to them or notify them if they don't specifically ask for it.
Or, they assume its simply a gift basket someone brought in and didn't realize they were for sale at all. Most people of any intelligence in modern societies have mental blinders towards advertisements, so they may not see a sign even if it is there.
To be fair, the higher up on the food chain you are, the more likely you are to get perks like free muffins. Some percentage would simply not notice that they weren't intended to be free.
How much did a loaf of bread cost in the 70's?
I like having pdf versions of my textbooks, regardless of whether I buy the dead tree version or not. Physical books are much better for reading large sections of, especially the first time through, but ebooks are much better for reference. There's no search function in cellulose ;).