If you're not using an iPod or an iPhone, you don't have to use iTunes to control your music library do you?
Palm chose to play dirty, and they got slapped down. Palm tries to bully Apple, and gets its nose bloodied instead. Revenge is best served cold. Ed Colligan has shown himself to be an ignorant and immature dumbass. A smart CEO would have made a mutually beneficial agreement with Apple.
I'd definitely mod you up if I had points. This is classic Microsoft business strategy at work. They don't bother innovating to differentiate themselves, they just use pure muscle to try to smash their competition.
I don't think people are saying it's a bad thing as such. I think most just think it's amusing and it perfectly illustrates how MS lacks innovation and just copies what other companies like Apple are doing, despite the best efforts of MS fanboys to defend them.
Instead of coming up with your own high quality products and ideas, just muscle in on other people's. That's the MS way.
He probably thinks you're a dumb consumerist sheep as well (whereas he's a genius and paragon of virtue). That's why nobody takes these kinds of rants seriously. The original message of promoting openness and freedom is lost amidst the immature insults to anyone who doesn't share their extreme beliefs.
I waited and waited for months last year and there was never a Linux version of the netbooks I was looking for (Eee PC 901, this is in Australia). There simply was never any stock.
Which was bloody annoying, because the Linux version happened to have a secondary SSD with 16GB instead of 8GB capacity (the Windows version).
For me it's screen size and keyboard. I keep thinking I should've waited for the 10" netbooks rather than buy the Eee PC 901. I find my netbook too small and cramped for any serious work.
Oh, and a higher screen res than 1024x600 would be damn nice too.
But you had to upgrade your netbook with a faster SSD. I think that's an important point. Most SSDs that come with netbooks by default are slow and/or low capacity.
Not saying that netbooks aren't great, but I think once you factor in the added cost for the upgrades (2GB RAM is a popular one) needed to make it perform at its peak, that changes the equation somewhat. And bear in mind a lot of average users wouldn't have a clue how to buy the right upgrades and install them.
I think netbooks are very much a plaything for geeks. They're great if you know what you're doing.
I bought my Eee PC 901 last year for A$650, and now I'm agonising over whether I should buy a new faster and higher-capacity SSD which would undoubtedly make it much more responsive. I keep thinking I've already spent enough on the machine as it is.
In its current vanilla state, the factory SSDs in the Eee PC 901 are slow and taxing on my patience.
You don't still drive the exact same car that you did when you were 18, right? Cars wear out eventually, and people don't generally like driving old unreliable cars unless they simply can't afford anything else.
The same goes for computers. Parts fail, HDDs die. Also, old CPUs and GPUs can't keep up with the demands of the latest high-definition videos and games.
I don't know how you you got the idea that the PC industry is in danger of dying or stagnating. There's always something new around the corner, other than more GHz, more RAM and more storage. New models are evolutionary, so change is usually slow, but it's constant change. And most makers have already learned how to sell computers on style, including Sony and Dell and of course Apple.
I think if you bought a new PC in 2010, it's going to be hard to run keep it running by 2020, unless you just repurpose it for something really simple I suppose (primary desktop PC use is probably out of the question). Drivers will be hard to find and the latest OSs may not support your chipsets anymore. You could run the old OSs if you religiously kept all your driver discs/downloads. By 2020, computers will probably have evolved in many mind-boggling ways, and the hardware will have evolved to keep up with the demands of the latest tech, which will probably include various augmented reality and VR features.
Apple is doing really well even in the current recession, and I don't see where you got the idea of rental models from. The only thing I can think of with Apple is renting movies via iTunes. But I certainly don't see them pursuing any rental model.
Of course, there's also the whole thing of forced obsolescence that Steve Jobs seems to favour (limiting the support of older Macs in new OS Xs), and I'm sure that will keep people buying new Macs for some time yet, until the Depression bites I suppose.
You obviously have different needs to the average user.
As far as I'm concerned, Apple's iPhone is the only usable phone for me on the market. I'd been waiting for a decent phone for years. Now I finally have it: notes, address book, calendaring, email, SMS, all in one usable package. All previous mobile phones and PDAs I've had over the years have been average at best, and usability trainwrecks at worst. Samsung, Panasonic, Sony Ericsson, Dell Axim, Nokia, Palm: you were what I used and had to put up with, but no more.
After the iPhone came out, we finally saw some decent usability in the smartphone market. I don't intend to buy a Pre or Android phone myself, but I'm glad that the competition is out there now.
And I don't know where the hell you pay $1400 for an iPhone 3GS, even here in Australia they cost a lot less than that.
Most of the time, form and function can co-exist very well. It's just that eBay's developers are too lazy/incompetent to do it right, like the majority of web designers/developers.
It never ceases to amaze me how many "professional" web developers can't even write a basic HTML and CSS page without a dozen+ errors and sheer semantic idiocy (like using tables for layout).
Microsoft is basically an engineering company headed by marketing and sales types (i.e. Ballmer). I think it's pretty much to be expected that they've turned out the way they did.
I'm sure most of the actual MS engineers aren't too happy with the business decisions that the higher-ups make.
I think the best thing would be to encourage people to buy computers that come with Linux pre-installed and thus supported by whichever company (Dell, HP, etc). That way they can avoid all the hassles of checking for hardware compatibility and drivers.
You just demonstrated exactly why it would be stupid for Apple to license Mac OS X to run on plain x86 beige boxes. Having to support all the hardware and software combinations out there is a nightmare.
People drop open source software when the commercial stuff is better.
And people drop the commercial stuff when the open source software is better. I think there's no mystery about it, really. Just look successful open source apps like Firefox, VLC and Transmission (Bittorrent client). They're superb.
If you want more people to use your products, you have to be prepared to put in a lot of sweat and tears and pay attention to the smallest details in order to make it insanely great. Apple learned this lesson a long time ago, but some people still dismiss it and ridicule them for it.
It's not enough for your product to be merely "good enough" or "roughly equal to" existing products. You have to be clearly superior in at least one department. It's the same reason why there's no clear iPhone killer yet. The competing products are not (at this time) sufficiently better for people to want to jump ship.
It helps when you have a lot of money and resources to back up your project, of course, which I think is one reason why Firefox has been so successful. But there's also plenty of billion-dollar corporations that still make mediocre software.
I'd have to agree, particularly when it comes to the corporate/enterprise space on Windows. I'd say 90% of expensive commercial software apps have god-awful user interface and are frustrating and infuriating to use.
That's why I went to Mac for home use and have never looked back. Unfortunately, I still have to deal with and support the enterprise Windows crapola during the working week.
Agreed. Usability and good product design is top on my list. Firefox scores well in these areas, so I use it as my main browser on Mac OS X. For other stuff like writing HTML and CSS, I go with commercial stuff like CSSEdit and Espresso. MS Office for Mac and iWork Pages for document creation, etc.
However, if the open source software has at least one standout feature that trumps the competition, then I'm prepared to put up with crappy user interface design.
Case in point: VLC. God awful user interface typical of most open source apps, but it works with just about anything and it's very fast.
I'm on a Mac, so it's usually not difficult to find great, well-designed and easy to use software for whatever I need. Transmission is an awesome and easy to use Bittorrent client on the Mac.
Slashdot Mirror
One term for it is "agent provocateur":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur
You should take some of your own fucking advice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch#Mac_OS_X_Tiger
Explain how you are forced by Apple to use only the one store for your music purchases.
Then obviously Apple products are not for you. Isn't choice wonderful?
Agreed. Some people just can't work efficiently in OS X, and in the end it basically comes down to personal preferences.
That cuts both ways too. For some people like me, the only operating system that allows me to work effectively with a minimum of stress is OS X.
Thanks for that info, that's very interesting. I think I'd be seriously tempted to work at an Apple store for a while as well, just for the discounts.
If you're not using an iPod or an iPhone, you don't have to use iTunes to control your music library do you?
Palm chose to play dirty, and they got slapped down. Palm tries to bully Apple, and gets its nose bloodied instead. Revenge is best served cold. Ed Colligan has shown himself to be an ignorant and immature dumbass. A smart CEO would have made a mutually beneficial agreement with Apple.
I think people just find it amusing. You're not going to see Apple poaching Microsoft employees en masse, for example.
I don't think people are suggesting there's something wrong ethically with the situation. If MS can pay the employees better, that's great.
I can just picture the line of black-clad employees clapping and cheering and giving high-fives everytime a customer walks into an MS retail store...
I'd definitely mod you up if I had points. This is classic Microsoft business strategy at work. They don't bother innovating to differentiate themselves, they just use pure muscle to try to smash their competition.
I don't think people are saying it's a bad thing as such. I think most just think it's amusing and it perfectly illustrates how MS lacks innovation and just copies what other companies like Apple are doing, despite the best efforts of MS fanboys to defend them.
Instead of coming up with your own high quality products and ideas, just muscle in on other people's. That's the MS way.
He probably thinks you're a dumb consumerist sheep as well (whereas he's a genius and paragon of virtue). That's why nobody takes these kinds of rants seriously. The original message of promoting openness and freedom is lost amidst the immature insults to anyone who doesn't share their extreme beliefs.
Yeah, I bet you still use Google or Bing though. Admit it :p
That is an awesome story. Thanks for sharing!
Reminds me of the Fallout game series (I haven't played the original games myself, but have read about the story numerous times).
I waited and waited for months last year and there was never a Linux version of the netbooks I was looking for (Eee PC 901, this is in Australia). There simply was never any stock.
Which was bloody annoying, because the Linux version happened to have a secondary SSD with 16GB instead of 8GB capacity (the Windows version).
For me it's screen size and keyboard. I keep thinking I should've waited for the 10" netbooks rather than buy the Eee PC 901. I find my netbook too small and cramped for any serious work.
Oh, and a higher screen res than 1024x600 would be damn nice too.
But you had to upgrade your netbook with a faster SSD. I think that's an important point. Most SSDs that come with netbooks by default are slow and/or low capacity.
Not saying that netbooks aren't great, but I think once you factor in the added cost for the upgrades (2GB RAM is a popular one) needed to make it perform at its peak, that changes the equation somewhat. And bear in mind a lot of average users wouldn't have a clue how to buy the right upgrades and install them.
I think netbooks are very much a plaything for geeks. They're great if you know what you're doing.
I bought my Eee PC 901 last year for A$650, and now I'm agonising over whether I should buy a new faster and higher-capacity SSD which would undoubtedly make it much more responsive. I keep thinking I've already spent enough on the machine as it is.
In its current vanilla state, the factory SSDs in the Eee PC 901 are slow and taxing on my patience.
Huh? Not sure what your point is.
You don't still drive the exact same car that you did when you were 18, right? Cars wear out eventually, and people don't generally like driving old unreliable cars unless they simply can't afford anything else.
The same goes for computers. Parts fail, HDDs die. Also, old CPUs and GPUs can't keep up with the demands of the latest high-definition videos and games.
I don't know how you you got the idea that the PC industry is in danger of dying or stagnating. There's always something new around the corner, other than more GHz, more RAM and more storage. New models are evolutionary, so change is usually slow, but it's constant change. And most makers have already learned how to sell computers on style, including Sony and Dell and of course Apple.
I think if you bought a new PC in 2010, it's going to be hard to run keep it running by 2020, unless you just repurpose it for something really simple I suppose (primary desktop PC use is probably out of the question). Drivers will be hard to find and the latest OSs may not support your chipsets anymore. You could run the old OSs if you religiously kept all your driver discs/downloads. By 2020, computers will probably have evolved in many mind-boggling ways, and the hardware will have evolved to keep up with the demands of the latest tech, which will probably include various augmented reality and VR features.
Apple is doing really well even in the current recession, and I don't see where you got the idea of rental models from. The only thing I can think of with Apple is renting movies via iTunes. But I certainly don't see them pursuing any rental model.
Of course, there's also the whole thing of forced obsolescence that Steve Jobs seems to favour (limiting the support of older Macs in new OS Xs), and I'm sure that will keep people buying new Macs for some time yet, until the Depression bites I suppose.
You obviously have different needs to the average user.
As far as I'm concerned, Apple's iPhone is the only usable phone for me on the market. I'd been waiting for a decent phone for years. Now I finally have it: notes, address book, calendaring, email, SMS, all in one usable package. All previous mobile phones and PDAs I've had over the years have been average at best, and usability trainwrecks at worst. Samsung, Panasonic, Sony Ericsson, Dell Axim, Nokia, Palm: you were what I used and had to put up with, but no more.
After the iPhone came out, we finally saw some decent usability in the smartphone market. I don't intend to buy a Pre or Android phone myself, but I'm glad that the competition is out there now.
And I don't know where the hell you pay $1400 for an iPhone 3GS, even here in Australia they cost a lot less than that.
Most of the time, form and function can co-exist very well. It's just that eBay's developers are too lazy/incompetent to do it right, like the majority of web designers/developers.
It never ceases to amaze me how many "professional" web developers can't even write a basic HTML and CSS page without a dozen+ errors and sheer semantic idiocy (like using tables for layout).
Microsoft is basically an engineering company headed by marketing and sales types (i.e. Ballmer). I think it's pretty much to be expected that they've turned out the way they did.
I'm sure most of the actual MS engineers aren't too happy with the business decisions that the higher-ups make.
Sound almost like a hackintosh experience.
I think the best thing would be to encourage people to buy computers that come with Linux pre-installed and thus supported by whichever company (Dell, HP, etc). That way they can avoid all the hassles of checking for hardware compatibility and drivers.
You just demonstrated exactly why it would be stupid for Apple to license Mac OS X to run on plain x86 beige boxes. Having to support all the hardware and software combinations out there is a nightmare.
People drop open source software when the commercial stuff is better.
And people drop the commercial stuff when the open source software is better. I think there's no mystery about it, really. Just look successful open source apps like Firefox, VLC and Transmission (Bittorrent client). They're superb.
If you want more people to use your products, you have to be prepared to put in a lot of sweat and tears and pay attention to the smallest details in order to make it insanely great. Apple learned this lesson a long time ago, but some people still dismiss it and ridicule them for it.
It's not enough for your product to be merely "good enough" or "roughly equal to" existing products. You have to be clearly superior in at least one department. It's the same reason why there's no clear iPhone killer yet. The competing products are not (at this time) sufficiently better for people to want to jump ship.
It helps when you have a lot of money and resources to back up your project, of course, which I think is one reason why Firefox has been so successful. But there's also plenty of billion-dollar corporations that still make mediocre software.
I'd have to agree, particularly when it comes to the corporate/enterprise space on Windows. I'd say 90% of expensive commercial software apps have god-awful user interface and are frustrating and infuriating to use.
That's why I went to Mac for home use and have never looked back. Unfortunately, I still have to deal with and support the enterprise Windows crapola during the working week.
Agreed. Usability and good product design is top on my list. Firefox scores well in these areas, so I use it as my main browser on Mac OS X. For other stuff like writing HTML and CSS, I go with commercial stuff like CSSEdit and Espresso. MS Office for Mac and iWork Pages for document creation, etc.
However, if the open source software has at least one standout feature that trumps the competition, then I'm prepared to put up with crappy user interface design.
Case in point: VLC. God awful user interface typical of most open source apps, but it works with just about anything and it's very fast.
I'm on a Mac, so it's usually not difficult to find great, well-designed and easy to use software for whatever I need. Transmission is an awesome and easy to use Bittorrent client on the Mac.