but Pystar is modifying that code in order to get it to run on non-Apple hardware. that is a basic violation of IP rights.
I don't agree with the majority of what I believe I understand concerning IP rights, but this does appear to be a violation of their rights and tantamount to theft.
If Apple is forced to let them distribute modified code that's forcing them to give away IP.
Hopefully this'll be more for improving the OS experience, and less for countering douchebags like Pystar. No one wants to pay for custom hardware that doesn't actually bring a benefit to the user. That being said, I can understand why Apple would do that just to prevent this sort of thing that they are doing and it would probably be in the best interest of the company and it's customers in the long run.
the price will go up to cover the lost $ from hardware sales. This is the fundamental issue concerning apples business model vs. that of Microsoft/Dell/HP/etc. Apple sells one total unit. It gets a little more for major OS updates, but those actually help keep the owners happy so that when they upgrade they stay with Apples hardware. If they start (or are forced by Pystar) to sell the OS to anyone, to run on any hardware, they'll need to increase the cost of the OS to cover the lost revenue from people buying 3rd party hardware to run the $130 OS on. MS charges a shit ton for it's OS because Software development is their only way to make money. Apple infamous markup on hardware subsidizes it's OS development.
Antitrust was not instituted to make companies give their IP away, it was designed to prevent them from using it to strangle innovation. Their is nothing innovative about what pystar is doing.
... and I don't appreciate this cretin endangering the one popular and successful cohesive computing experience out there because he has an undeserved sense of entitlement to someone elses work.
However, it's good that you mentioned these two because they run a free OS with no restrictions. It's not like the Mac OS is the only alternative to windows out there. He could have come up with is own Linux based machine, based on an OS that the authors actually want installed on as much hardware as possible.
Instead he decided to try and rip off the work of the one company that doesn't want their OS installed on random hardware so that he can benefit from their good name.
In my person opinion (for what it's worth) I put this up their with identity theft. And my good name isn't worth anywhere near what Apples is, monetarily speaking.
I'm a user of Apples products. I feel that the trade offs are worth the price. However, if Pystar wins it's suit, Apple will be forced to increase the cost of OS upgrades to be a realistic reflection of the development costs of the OS.
Apple sells the OS upgrades but that in no way actually covers the cost of developing the OS. I expect that we'd see a doubling, or possibly trippling of the OS upgrade cost. It would be perceived by the "IP Bad - Stealing Good!" crowd as Apple trying to penalyze Pystar, but in actuallity it would be absolutly necessary to keep being able to invest in improving the OS at the expense of Hardware sales.
Anecdotal as it is, I view my computer as a single device. The Hardware and the software together are "The Computer," and I don't appreciate this cretin endangering the one cohesive computing experience out there because he has an undeserved sense of entitlement to someone elses work. Anyone that actually purchases his computers is contributing to the "Windows-ification" of the Mac ecosystem.
Apple doesn't compete in the bargain basement, already obsolete hardware market. Dell does. The base mac is equivalent, hardware wise (size, processor, HD, etc), to the mid range Dell laptop. So compare prices where they are relevant, not cheapest model to cheapest model.
What was the last version of Mac OS you used? early OS X was more crash prone (10.0-10.2) than recent versions, just like the initial release of XP was more crash prone than SP2. The only crashes I have to deal with on a regular basis these days are office '08 apps. They may have gotten native code but it is as buggy as they come IMHO.
I actually switched to Mac in the last year or so of OS 9, so I remember installing OS 10 on a separate partition and finding it too unstable for everyday use until late in the 10.2 cycle.
No one will argue with you that Image is very important to Apple. No one will argue with you that Image is important to ANY company marketing to consumer. The point where you'll get nasty responses is when you claim that Apple is Only, or Mostly image. I was a Windows fanboy in HS because of the Image of Apple products (overpriced, underpowered, niche, etc.). When I finally gave them a try is when I realized that the Image I had of Apple was actually being espoused by people who hadn't used a Mac in years, if ever. I made the switch because I don't have to fight with the OS.
You want to argue that the Windows OS's are easier to use, more stable, more intuitive/consistent? Fine, you can argue that point if you don't like looking silly.
You want to argue that PC's are cheaper than Mac's? You've got a more valid point here, Macs usually do come at a ~10% premium. I think the increase in usability and not having to spend that money on virus/spyware prevention makes up for the difference, but I can see the other point of view.
You want to argue that the iPhone does nothing special? Fine, I can concede that point as long as we ignore the whole "usability" issue. I currently have a phone that has most of the features that everyone raves about on the iPhone, but I've never used them. It doesn't even occur to me to use them because I feel like I need a PhD in computer science with a specialization in programing for imbedded devices to figure out how to use the damn features. You don't have that problem? Good for you but the general public shares my frustrations and seem to have been able to figure out the iPhone without so much as having to by an "iPhone for Idiot's" book.
If you insist that everyone with a different set of priorities and judgement calls is being bamboozled by
the bling-bling
, then you're just showing yourself to be myopic and condescending to those around you. Maybe you need to consider that the reason people aren't listening to your advise is that their priorities differ from yours and not that they are slaves to Apples marketing material.
Unless it's different in wherever you are from, the emergency services are also responsible for getting the police to show up when something is in the process of happening (hostage situation, bar fight, drunk ex-bf pounding on the door and threatening people, etc.) So while protecting is not the only reason that they exist, it is one of the primary reasons for services like 999 or 911.
you can now officially pull your foot out of your mouth and try to climb off of the soapbox you pulled out of your ass.
that crank calling the emergency phone number isn't illegal and that violators aren't punished (fines of rapidly increasing value).
These emergency services are set up to protect the public and tying up the line asking stupid questions about the age of the internet or bitching about what your wife is making for dinner could very well mean the difference between life, death, and/or permanent disability for someone not able to get through immediately.
many are still pissed off over the grant of retroactive immunity for spying on American citizens for no reason
many are still pissed off over the grant of retroactive immunity for spying on American citizens for no good reason
Their was a reason for the spying. You may think it was good, most Slashdot members appear to believe that it was not a good reason, but a reason was given (after the fact). That reason being, they were spying on international calls believed to be involved in terrorism.
I'm not defending the ISP's or the Government, but the original post is misleading IMO.
I'm a graduate student at a major university. I work with a professor (master craftsman) who teaches me how effectively design research projects, pursue funding, analyze the results, write them up, and ultimately publish my findings in peer reviewed journals (the Trade). I've spent the last 6 years leaning my trade and have a least another 18mo before I'm ready to have my master work (Ph.D thesis) judged.
Most people didn't have apprenticeships, even in the heyday of the master craftsman. Most jobs don't need that kind of long-term training. I agree that the education system tries to hard to fit everyone into a cookie cutter mold and that it could benefit from a some revision, but I don't believe it's as broken as those on this board are making it out to be.
The town I grew up in had something on the order of 16 elementary schools, and the one I attended was ranked dead last every year. The student body consisted of 2/3 english as a second language (1/3 Puerto Rican, 1/3 Russian/Ukrainian/etc., 1/3 blue collar) and because of rapid changes in districting, money, and educational plan, I switched schools 5 times in 5 years. For many of the same reasons our HS lost it's accreditation the year before I started there and didn't get it back until the year before I graduated.
I still received my Asoc, BS, and MS with 3.9, 3.7, and 3.6, respectively and was eligible to get my BS a whole year early. I'm no genius (I've taken the tests and always come up short). I just benefited from a combination of greater than average intelligence (like 50% of the population), parents that wouldn't accept C's unless they were satisfied that it was truly the best I could do, and a desire to be able to put "Dr." in front of my name.
Just because busybody parents want to have a huge say doesn't mean they should have it.
My wife is a Choral teacher and she was burned by this. In order to work closer to home, she took a job in the middle of a school year to cover for a teacher on maternity leave. EVERYONE loved the mother to be, in part because she let EVERYONE walk all over her (Band teacher, drama director, students, parents, etc.)
When the original teacher decided not to come back at the end of her leave, the position became open again, but now for the permanent position. The administration interviewed half a dozen candidates and decided that my wife had impressed them and deserved to keep the job. They even told her that the job was hers, but it turns out that a bunch of the middle school students that were expecting choir to be a cakewalk were pissed and told their parents that my wife was a horrible teacher. Their parents vetoed the administration and they were forced to hire someone else.
I recently found out that they were forced to fire the man they hired to replace my wife in the middle of the year. He was showing up +1hr late occasionally, and would at least once every 2 weeks pull a no show. That makes 4 teachers in this class in less than 2 years. How's that for stability (and karma IMO)!
The program their had been awesome under the original conductor, my wife had maintained that momentum, and because the parents decided that the students should get the final word on school system hiring they ended up with a program that's half the size it used to be.
It's good for Video_TS folders in general. In fact, a handful of DVD's can't be ripped directly from the disk using handbrake and need to be copied to HD via something like MacTheRipper before being transcoded by Handbrake. I don't know what format the guy is trying to transcode from, but most people only need to transcode DVD's.
I think the vast majority of the gains Apple is making is in the Personal part of the PC market.
Most purchasing departments will not even consider Mac's unless its for a specific reason. Either, someone important demands it (how important this person needs to be depends on the company), or the application it'll be used for doesn't allow for an obvious Windows alternative.
Purchases made by individuals for their Personal (at home) use are not necessarily constrained as much by raw horsepower/$. They can look at the nuanced differences between windows/PC experience and the Leopard/Mac experience and decide if a change might be good for them. The Intel/Dual-boot situation just means that if they decide they don't like it, or need a specific app they aren't up shit's creek without a paddle.
I think that the degradation of the windows monoculture will help make developers keep non-windows OS's in the back of their mind. It has already helped with the use of non-standards based protocols on the web.
As recently as 6 years ago, my bank and credit card sites didn't support any browser outside of internet explorer. Some of the CC sites worked on a mac, but I had to set my browser to tell the site it was IE.
I don't believe that more macs will lead to more cross platform apps or anything, but PC builders loosing market share b/c the only OS they offer is one people don't want may cause them to open their eyes and start offering alternatives to windows.
Unless you've had direct contact with the company over this issue, I fail to see how you can tell me that my experiences have been an aberration.
I'm sorry but Apple isn't competing with Linux. It's competing for the attention of people that want to buy everything in one purchase and have it work, straight out of the box. Windows claims that's how it works, Apple actually delivers, and only recently has Linux really even made a legitimate attempt.
As far as the whole, "Cool, but expensive" line. Apple only sells a handful of models, if you want more or less than they offer, you don't have to buy from them. If they offer a model that does what you're looking for you'll find they are competitively priced. Especially if you discount the "Build your own" option which Apple isn't targeting.
I also fail to see how they've bastardized the Unix environment. They are the single biggest distro of Unix now. They offer alot of extra layers between the raw Unix and the user, but that's because they are targeting a different audience.
If you don't like their complete package, you don't have to buy it. You also don't need to come up with essentially unnecessary arguments for why it's a rip off if anyone else decides that the package they offer is worth the money when you consider the trade offs that need to be made.
I've done it on machines that later were serviced under my AppleCare Protection Plan. Even though the person in the call center noticed my specs didn't match what they were at time of purchase they didn't try to weasel out by claiming a warranty violation.
The last time I sent my Powerbook G4 in for service, the problem was actually related to the cheap 3rd party ram I was using. They simply took it out, put it in a static bag, shipped everything back, and told me to re-install the original ram that shipped with the unit. No attempt was made to bill me for work not covered under the ACPP.
I disagree with the point you are trying to make. I think referring to everyone in both North and South America as Americans is akin to calling everyone on the Iberian Peninsula Spanish. American, to my way of thinking, is used to describe citizens of the US because it is the only country in the western hemisphere to have the word America in the title.
I don't consider myself to be an American because I was born in the Western Hemisphere, but because I'm a legal Citizen of the United States of America. National citizenship is independent of continent of birth/residence. Children of US military personal born overseas are considered US citizens, even if they've never actually set foot on either of the American Continents.
I don't know if the line about a limited perspective on knowing US citizens or Christians is supposed to be a jab or I'm reading it wrong, but I have a fair amount of experience with both. (it can be hard to tell the tone of a comment as text only)
You and I just disagree about the appropriateness of naming schemes for people based on continent of origin as well as classification of members of the christian faithful based on their self identification as "Born Again." I don't disagree that many more christians fit the definition for born again, than self identify as being born again. To my mind however, the point I was making was in reference to those who make it a point of self identifying as born again.
What you consider to be characteristics that define yourself are probably more important to you than those that other choose to focus on.
Since I am neither a practicing Christian, or a religious scholar, all I have to go on is my personal experience. This thread started because I related an opinion based on those experiences (and made the comment "for what it's worth" concerning my experience in the initial post).
Most of that experience comes from my Mother experimenting with various churches during my formative years, my Grandmother having a revelation and becoming a Born Again Evangelical after my Grandfather stopped drinking and being abusive, and an ex-GF who's mother became a Born Again Evangelical for about 2 years and then became a Wiccan. The end result is a lot of mostly superficial exposure to a lot of different faiths and very little of my own.
My Grandmother and most of her congregation (I attended with her for about a year and a half in middle school) happen to fall into both the Born Again Evangelical and Literalist camps simultaneously. That's why in my experience (for what it's worth) both seem to be ridding in the same car to the voting booth.
P.S. I'm not trying to be combative, but I don't understand your Canadian/American example. People from Canada are Canadians, People from the USA are Americans, People from Mexico are Mexicans, and all 3 are examples of North Americans (As opposed to Central Americans, South Americans, Europeans, Africans, Asians, etc.)
I use the word "group" as opposed to "denomination" or "sect" because the term "Born Again" does not denote specific dogma like catholic, or baptist or other denominations.
In my experience the title "Born Again" is in most cases, self applied. I think that the difference between lapsed christians who return to practicing and Born Again christians is individual choosing to label themselves out of some belief that they've made a significant spiritual revelation.
As with any spiritual revelation, their is often an accompanying radicalization, where the doctrines of the faith become much more important to that individual than the general population of the faithful. In my experience, this is often accompanied with a less critical assessment of the Word and a tendency toward more literal translation of spiritual readings.
Slashdot Mirror
but Pystar is modifying that code in order to get it to run on non-Apple hardware. that is a basic violation of IP rights.
I don't agree with the majority of what I believe I understand concerning IP rights, but this does appear to be a violation of their rights and tantamount to theft.
If Apple is forced to let them distribute modified code that's forcing them to give away IP.
Hopefully this'll be more for improving the OS experience, and less for countering douchebags like Pystar. No one wants to pay for custom hardware that doesn't actually bring a benefit to the user. That being said, I can understand why Apple would do that just to prevent this sort of thing that they are doing and it would probably be in the best interest of the company and it's customers in the long run.
the price will go up to cover the lost $ from hardware sales. This is the fundamental issue concerning apples business model vs. that of Microsoft/Dell/HP/etc. Apple sells one total unit. It gets a little more for major OS updates, but those actually help keep the owners happy so that when they upgrade they stay with Apples hardware. If they start (or are forced by Pystar) to sell the OS to anyone, to run on any hardware, they'll need to increase the cost of the OS to cover the lost revenue from people buying 3rd party hardware to run the $130 OS on. MS charges a shit ton for it's OS because Software development is their only way to make money. Apple infamous markup on hardware subsidizes it's OS development.
Antitrust was not instituted to make companies give their IP away, it was designed to prevent them from using it to strangle innovation. Their is nothing innovative about what pystar is doing.
... and I don't appreciate this cretin endangering the one popular and successful cohesive computing experience out there because he has an undeserved sense of entitlement to someone elses work.
However, it's good that you mentioned these two because they run a free OS with no restrictions. It's not like the Mac OS is the only alternative to windows out there. He could have come up with is own Linux based machine, based on an OS that the authors actually want installed on as much hardware as possible.
Instead he decided to try and rip off the work of the one company that doesn't want their OS installed on random hardware so that he can benefit from their good name.
In my person opinion (for what it's worth) I put this up their with identity theft. And my good name isn't worth anywhere near what Apples is, monetarily speaking.
I'm a user of Apples products. I feel that the trade offs are worth the price. However, if Pystar wins it's suit, Apple will be forced to increase the cost of OS upgrades to be a realistic reflection of the development costs of the OS.
Apple sells the OS upgrades but that in no way actually covers the cost of developing the OS. I expect that we'd see a doubling, or possibly trippling of the OS upgrade cost. It would be perceived by the "IP Bad - Stealing Good!" crowd as Apple trying to penalyze Pystar, but in actuallity it would be absolutly necessary to keep being able to invest in improving the OS at the expense of Hardware sales.
Anecdotal as it is, I view my computer as a single device. The Hardware and the software together are "The Computer," and I don't appreciate this cretin endangering the one cohesive computing experience out there because he has an undeserved sense of entitlement to someone elses work. Anyone that actually purchases his computers is contributing to the "Windows-ification" of the Mac ecosystem.
Apple doesn't compete in the bargain basement, already obsolete hardware market. Dell does. The base mac is equivalent, hardware wise (size, processor, HD, etc), to the mid range Dell laptop. So compare prices where they are relevant, not cheapest model to cheapest model.
What was the last version of Mac OS you used? early OS X was more crash prone (10.0-10.2) than recent versions, just like the initial release of XP was more crash prone than SP2. The only crashes I have to deal with on a regular basis these days are office '08 apps. They may have gotten native code but it is as buggy as they come IMHO.
I actually switched to Mac in the last year or so of OS 9, so I remember installing OS 10 on a separate partition and finding it too unstable for everyday use until late in the 10.2 cycle.
Buying applications
No one will argue with you that Image is very important to Apple.
No one will argue with you that Image is important to ANY company marketing to consumer.
The point where you'll get nasty responses is when you claim that Apple is Only, or Mostly image. I was a Windows fanboy in HS because of the Image of Apple products (overpriced, underpowered, niche, etc.). When I finally gave them a try is when I realized that the Image I had of Apple was actually being espoused by people who hadn't used a Mac in years, if ever. I made the switch because I don't have to fight with the OS.
You want to argue that the Windows OS's are easier to use, more stable, more intuitive/consistent? Fine, you can argue that point if you don't like looking silly.
You want to argue that PC's are cheaper than Mac's? You've got a more valid point here, Macs usually do come at a ~10% premium. I think the increase in usability and not having to spend that money on virus/spyware prevention makes up for the difference, but I can see the other point of view.
You want to argue that the iPhone does nothing special? Fine, I can concede that point as long as we ignore the whole "usability" issue. I currently have a phone that has most of the features that everyone raves about on the iPhone, but I've never used them. It doesn't even occur to me to use them because I feel like I need a PhD in computer science with a specialization in programing for imbedded devices to figure out how to use the damn features. You don't have that problem? Good for you but the general public shares my frustrations and seem to have been able to figure out the iPhone without so much as having to by an "iPhone for Idiot's" book.
If you insist that everyone with a different set of priorities and judgement calls is being bamboozled by
the bling-bling
, then you're just showing yourself to be myopic and condescending to those around you. Maybe you need to consider that the reason people aren't listening to your advise is that their priorities differ from yours and not that they are slaves to Apples marketing material.
Unless it's different in wherever you are from, the emergency services are also responsible for getting the police to show up when something is in the process of happening (hostage situation, bar fight, drunk ex-bf pounding on the door and threatening people, etc.) So while protecting is not the only reason that they exist, it is one of the primary reasons for services like 999 or 911.
you can now officially pull your foot out of your mouth and try to climb off of the soapbox you pulled out of your ass.
that crank calling the emergency phone number isn't illegal and that violators aren't punished (fines of rapidly increasing value).
These emergency services are set up to protect the public and tying up the line asking stupid questions about the age of the internet or bitching about what your wife is making for dinner could very well mean the difference between life, death, and/or permanent disability for someone not able to get through immediately.
many are still pissed off over the grant of retroactive immunity for spying on American citizens for no good reason
Their was a reason for the spying. You may think it was good, most Slashdot members appear to believe that it was not a good reason, but a reason was given (after the fact). That reason being, they were spying on international calls believed to be involved in terrorism.
I'm not defending the ISP's or the Government, but the original post is misleading IMO.
I'm a graduate student at a major university. I work with a professor (master craftsman) who teaches me how effectively design research projects, pursue funding, analyze the results, write them up, and ultimately publish my findings in peer reviewed journals (the Trade). I've spent the last 6 years leaning my trade and have a least another 18mo before I'm ready to have my master work (Ph.D thesis) judged.
Most people didn't have apprenticeships, even in the heyday of the master craftsman. Most jobs don't need that kind of long-term training. I agree that the education system tries to hard to fit everyone into a cookie cutter mold and that it could benefit from a some revision, but I don't believe it's as broken as those on this board are making it out to be.
The town I grew up in had something on the order of 16 elementary schools, and the one I attended was ranked dead last every year. The student body consisted of 2/3 english as a second language (1/3 Puerto Rican, 1/3 Russian/Ukrainian/etc., 1/3 blue collar) and because of rapid changes in districting, money, and educational plan, I switched schools 5 times in 5 years. For many of the same reasons our HS lost it's accreditation the year before I started there and didn't get it back until the year before I graduated.
I still received my Asoc, BS, and MS with 3.9, 3.7, and 3.6, respectively and was eligible to get my BS a whole year early. I'm no genius (I've taken the tests and always come up short). I just benefited from a combination of greater than average intelligence (like 50% of the population), parents that wouldn't accept C's unless they were satisfied that it was truly the best I could do, and a desire to be able to put "Dr." in front of my name.
My wife is a Choral teacher and she was burned by this. In order to work closer to home, she took a job in the middle of a school year to cover for a teacher on maternity leave. EVERYONE loved the mother to be, in part because she let EVERYONE walk all over her (Band teacher, drama director, students, parents, etc.)
When the original teacher decided not to come back at the end of her leave, the position became open again, but now for the permanent position. The administration interviewed half a dozen candidates and decided that my wife had impressed them and deserved to keep the job. They even told her that the job was hers, but it turns out that a bunch of the middle school students that were expecting choir to be a cakewalk were pissed and told their parents that my wife was a horrible teacher. Their parents vetoed the administration and they were forced to hire someone else.
I recently found out that they were forced to fire the man they hired to replace my wife in the middle of the year. He was showing up +1hr late occasionally, and would at least once every 2 weeks pull a no show. That makes 4 teachers in this class in less than 2 years. How's that for stability (and karma IMO)!
The program their had been awesome under the original conductor, my wife had maintained that momentum, and because the parents decided that the students should get the final word on school system hiring they ended up with a program that's half the size it used to be.
It's good for Video_TS folders in general. In fact, a handful of DVD's can't be ripped directly from the disk using handbrake and need to be copied to HD via something like MacTheRipper before being transcoded by Handbrake. I don't know what format the guy is trying to transcode from, but most people only need to transcode DVD's.
No
No one has ever been so stupid as to say that without being obviously sarcastic.
Are you repeating what someone else said or did you just make that up on the spot.
I think the vast majority of the gains Apple is making is in the Personal part of the PC market.
Most purchasing departments will not even consider Mac's unless its for a specific reason. Either, someone important demands it (how important this person needs to be depends on the company), or the application it'll be used for doesn't allow for an obvious Windows alternative.
Purchases made by individuals for their Personal (at home) use are not necessarily constrained as much by raw horsepower/$. They can look at the nuanced differences between windows/PC experience and the Leopard/Mac experience and decide if a change might be good for them. The Intel/Dual-boot situation just means that if they decide they don't like it, or need a specific app they aren't up shit's creek without a paddle.
I think that the degradation of the windows monoculture will help make developers keep non-windows OS's in the back of their mind. It has already helped with the use of non-standards based protocols on the web.
As recently as 6 years ago, my bank and credit card sites didn't support any browser outside of internet explorer. Some of the CC sites worked on a mac, but I had to set my browser to tell the site it was IE.
I don't believe that more macs will lead to more cross platform apps or anything, but PC builders loosing market share b/c the only OS they offer is one people don't want may cause them to open their eyes and start offering alternatives to windows.
Unless you've had direct contact with the company over this issue, I fail to see how you can tell me that my experiences have been an aberration.
I'm sorry but Apple isn't competing with Linux. It's competing for the attention of people that want to buy everything in one purchase and have it work, straight out of the box. Windows claims that's how it works, Apple actually delivers, and only recently has Linux really even made a legitimate attempt.
As far as the whole, "Cool, but expensive" line. Apple only sells a handful of models, if you want more or less than they offer, you don't have to buy from them. If they offer a model that does what you're looking for you'll find they are competitively priced. Especially if you discount the "Build your own" option which Apple isn't targeting.
I also fail to see how they've bastardized the Unix environment. They are the single biggest distro of Unix now. They offer alot of extra layers between the raw Unix and the user, but that's because they are targeting a different audience.
If you don't like their complete package, you don't have to buy it. You also don't need to come up with essentially unnecessary arguments for why it's a rip off if anyone else decides that the package they offer is worth the money when you consider the trade offs that need to be made.
Upgrading ram and HD do NOT void your warranty!
I've done it on machines that later were serviced under my AppleCare Protection Plan. Even though the person in the call center noticed my specs didn't match what they were at time of purchase they didn't try to weasel out by claiming a warranty violation.
The last time I sent my Powerbook G4 in for service, the problem was actually related to the cheap 3rd party ram I was using. They simply took it out, put it in a static bag, shipped everything back, and told me to re-install the original ram that shipped with the unit. No attempt was made to bill me for work not covered under the ACPP.
I disagree with the point you are trying to make. I think referring to everyone in both North and South America as Americans is akin to calling everyone on the Iberian Peninsula Spanish. American, to my way of thinking, is used to describe citizens of the US because it is the only country in the western hemisphere to have the word America in the title.
I don't consider myself to be an American because I was born in the Western Hemisphere, but because I'm a legal Citizen of the United States of America. National citizenship is independent of continent of birth/residence. Children of US military personal born overseas are considered US citizens, even if they've never actually set foot on either of the American Continents.
I don't know if the line about a limited perspective on knowing US citizens or Christians is supposed to be a jab or I'm reading it wrong, but I have a fair amount of experience with both. (it can be hard to tell the tone of a comment as text only)
You and I just disagree about the appropriateness of naming schemes for people based on continent of origin as well as classification of members of the christian faithful based on their self identification as "Born Again." I don't disagree that many more christians fit the definition for born again, than self identify as being born again. To my mind however, the point I was making was in reference to those who make it a point of self identifying as born again.
What you consider to be characteristics that define yourself are probably more important to you than those that other choose to focus on.
Since I am neither a practicing Christian, or a religious scholar, all I have to go on is my personal experience. This thread started because I related an opinion based on those experiences (and made the comment "for what it's worth" concerning my experience in the initial post).
Most of that experience comes from my Mother experimenting with various churches during my formative years, my Grandmother having a revelation and becoming a Born Again Evangelical after my Grandfather stopped drinking and being abusive, and an ex-GF who's mother became a Born Again Evangelical for about 2 years and then became a Wiccan. The end result is a lot of mostly superficial exposure to a lot of different faiths and very little of my own.
My Grandmother and most of her congregation (I attended with her for about a year and a half in middle school) happen to fall into both the Born Again Evangelical and Literalist camps simultaneously. That's why in my experience (for what it's worth) both seem to be ridding in the same car to the voting booth.
P.S. I'm not trying to be combative, but I don't understand your Canadian/American example. People from Canada are Canadians, People from the USA are Americans, People from Mexico are Mexicans, and all 3 are examples of North Americans (As opposed to Central Americans, South Americans, Europeans, Africans, Asians, etc.)
I use the word "group" as opposed to "denomination" or "sect" because the term "Born Again" does not denote specific dogma like catholic, or baptist or other denominations.
In my experience the title "Born Again" is in most cases, self applied. I think that the difference between lapsed christians who return to practicing and Born Again christians is individual choosing to label themselves out of some belief that they've made a significant spiritual revelation.
As with any spiritual revelation, their is often an accompanying radicalization, where the doctrines of the faith become much more important to that individual than the general population of the faithful. In my experience, this is often accompanied with a less critical assessment of the Word and a tendency toward more literal translation of spiritual readings.
I think that ID may have appeal for followers of Raelism, but members of the Church believe that God created man, not extraterrestrials.