That was nothing but FUD that was been corrected by statements Apple has made to correct the misconceptions... statements which I know you've read yet you continue to repeat in an effort to spread FUD.
Where are the statements? I have asked for them multiple times and no one has shown me anything other than statements from third party sites that are quotes from supposed conversations with Apple representatives.
Update: Within an hour of posting the story, and the screenshot we took as evidence, Apple altered the HTML to replace g5 with g4. Don't hang around, do they?
And yet they haven't posted an official statement to their website about the Mac Mini not voiding the warranty when you either A) break the clips holding the case together or B) open the case in the first place.
You would think that if they are able to update their site that fast to quell rumors that they would at least post an official statement about the serviceability of the Mini. Interestingly enough the Mac Mini page still says that memory upgrades (along with other hardware) *must* be upgraded by an authorized person.
BTW - I wasn't aware that this was a Mac rumors site. I thought it was Slashdot (News for Nerds/Stuff that Matters + iPods)?
But to claim that the capabilities of a unit like the Garmin Rino is sufficient coordinating actions of individual soldiers in the achievement of a specific object is to vastly understate the requirements of a useful battlefield computer.
While my example understated the necessary power of a decent battlefield computer it was on purpose. The link you provided, while nice, is nothing more than a press release with pictures of nothing.
My favorite is that it includes "non-battlefield uses" such as MP3 playing. The hardware is an ARM processor with 128MB of RAM and 96MB of flash. It'll take USB, etc, for maps and whatnot (and I assume mp3s) but honestly it's nothing more than a PDA with GPS.
Perhaps I should have said it was like an iQue version of the Rino (iQue is a PocketPC with GPS).
It is unlikely that Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, ever intended this open-source operating system to be put to military use.
You're absolutely right. He wasn't looking to make money off of Linux. If he had, military use would have been the first place he would have brought Linux to.
Called SATHI (short for situational awareness and tactical hand-held information, and Hindi for buddy), the 875-gram device helps soldiers coordinate with one another on the battlefield. It is one of the many spin-offs of a low-cost computer developed indigenously, the basic version of which is available on the market for about US$200.
So a two pound device that has some sort of communication and GPS capabilities? Something like other handheld GPS units like the Garmin Rino which shows your location and the locations of others holding Rinos while having FRS radios attached. Crazy!
While I applaud their efforts in creating these devices (supercomputers, educational computer, inexpensive computers for the masses, etc) this wasn't terribly informative or interesting. More well-known background information that could have been left off the front page.
His point being, Apple have supposedly specifically said that opening the case will not void the warranty. He was asking for a reliable source to confirm this rumour.
I want a valid source (in writing -- not quoted from some phone conversation with an Apple rep) that says that no matter what you do when you open that case (including breaking the clips) you won't void the warranty.
Why would you create something that is so difficult to open?
Firewire and USB2 give the expandability of peripherals, and they're bundling video and sound chipsets that don't suck. RAM and internal drives can be upgraded (although the optical drive would be a trick I'm sure), so that leaves the cpu and mainboard. Non-geeks aren't going to attempt to upgrade those.
Firewire and USB external DVD writers are not supported natively by iDVD and you have to use a third party "patch" to get it to work. Doesn't seem very useful there.
As far as RAM and internal drives being upgraded... Yeah, you can, but you void your warranty and it takes two putty knives and some good luck to open the case. Not exactly what I would call easy.
"What we found was, at least at that time (before HP bought Compaq), that people were still concerned about expandability," Anderson said. "It's been an important feature of the PC for the last 20 years, but as the PC has gone mainstream, it's been something that people liked but that they haven't used."
Will it make a shift to smaller sized desktops? Maybe. Most people never need to open their case for a memory upgrade or some other piece of hardware being added but a lot of people do enjoy the ability to do that. As long as these small form factor machines are still able to be upgraded fairly easily I don't see why they wouldn't be popular... Personally I am rearranging my computer desk to accommodate the Mini. Not because of its size but because I want to show off the fact that I have this sleek, little, quiet, box sitting on my desk (BTW - I took Slashdotter advice from yesterday's article about the Mini and hardware upgrades and went with 512MB. I couldn't justify the $210 for 1GB when 512 was only $80). I am not looking forward to using two thin putty knives to open my brand new machine though. Why couldn't they have just made it user serviceable for RAM?
For the first time since I was 12 I am nervous about opening a computer case and swapping out some stuff inside. To me, that's just wrong.
Most buyers tend to purchase PCs based more on price and quality of technical support than on design, analysts said. Yet executives such as HP's Anderson see a market for unobtrusive desktops that consumers would purchase as second or third computers and use in settings such as kitchens, where large desktops are impractical.
Ok, I'm a geek and I love to have the Internet wherever I am but why in the kitchen? Like I don't have enough shit on my crappy counter space... Why not do something like those failed Motorola wireless AIM clients and have a docking station and wlan? Why do we have to have a small form factor machine in the kitchen? Most people here seem to be using this machine in the media room because it's small, quiet, and has DVI. That makes more sense to me.
Building in 120GB, 160GB or higher capacity drives, for example, will mean miniature PCs able to match larger machines in storing large numbers of MP3 files or even digital photos.
Oh come on. Not many people have enough photos and MP3s to fill even 10GB nevermind 120GB or 160GB. I am still using a 10GB HD in my XP machine. Yeah, my music is stored elsewhere but it's still less than 7GB of MP3s and 10GB more for SHN/FLAC (which most people aren't into). I want to know how many regular computer userse have 100GB of music and photos. Geeks are in the minority when it comes to computer purchases from major vendors that would be hurt by this "gamble". I'm sure it won't be anything for them to worry about.
I didn't get the Mini because it was small, quiet, or good looking. I got it because OS X is not Windows, is built on BSD, is now affordable, and isn't as susceptible to all the bullshit that my Windows machines are. If anything the Mini might open the door to more users for Apple which may or may not be a good thing;)
You've never used a GPS obviously. A GPS is a little gizmo that records tracks of where you have been, has accurate speed information, gives a route of where you are going, and shows maps.
Information any number of people would be thrilled to have.
Using Bluetooth also means that handset manufacturers don't need to build more than one digital interface into their equipment. One of the devices people want to use with their handsets is a cordless headset, so manufacturers have to support that device. Why would they want to build in an entirely separate, wired interface for cars? (And why would you want to pay for them to do that?)
I really don't know what you're talking about as it isn't related. Handsfree cell phone support via bluetooth in the car is one thing. Tying bluetooth to the navigation system is another.
Use bluetooth all you want to keep people from holding their phones and talking while driving and chewing gum. Keep it out of sensitive areas that are built into the car and are basically running whenever the car is on.
It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone connection. It is still unclear whether the cars in question use the Symbian operating system which has recently been under attack from various worms and viruses.
This is a car that is full of wires and is basically a large chunk of metal. Explain to me why we are using Bluetooth instead of a wired solution. I don't see the advantages here. What I do see are large privacy implications and holes for infection... We are worried about RFID tags and readers installed along the highway? Why they don't even need to add the RFID tags to the wheels. Just have all the car's devices communicating through Bluetooth. The car owners think their sweet, overpriced, GPS navigation system is badass and the government gets to see where you were going, how fast you were going, and where you are going to. Perfect.
"I've even seen screenshots of major commercial aeroplanes with Windows 2000-based operating systems," said Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research at Finnish firm F-Secure. "Cars are an obvious target for viruses. It's okay if you don't use the operating system for the engine and the brakes, but when you do..."
While Windows 2000 is adequate for my home computer to surf the web and read email (after proper precautions are taken) it is absolutely NOT adequate for flying an airplane. I am not worried about worms and viruses infected an airplane running Windows 2000 (and I'm not sure why it was mentioned in the article as it really isn't related) but I am worried about the stability of the OS and the implications it may have.
For now I'm sticking to my handheld GPS and windshield mounts. The only way it can be infected is if I sneeze on it and the only way that someone else could read it from 15 feet away would be with binoculars or a telephoto lens.
BTW, Bill Roehl is a known Saturn owner. He traded one in for another in 2002. That information is about as useful as knowing Bill Gates auctioned his 1999 (non BT equipped) Lexus off for charity.
All this did was correct stuff that was already WAY overpriced to begin with. I'm thrilled, and this pretty much seals up that I'll buy a mini, but I don't think it makes a huge difference to most people, maybe just to those on the fence. If they weren't going to buy one before, they probably won't now just because of these incremental price "normalizations."
I have always said "the day a Mac becomes affordable I will own one." The mini brought that to be and mine is on its way (should be here the 27th).
I am getting the 1.42Ghz with 80GB HD. It'll have the bare minimum 256MB of RAM and the regular combo drive but if push comes to shove I'll get an external Firewire DVD writer and might even open the case myself and add some RAM. Who knows. It'll all depend on how well it performs for me.
I always wait too long and am left in the dust by the early adopters. Now with this price drop I got burnt by being one:( I can never win:)
The reality is that almost no other commercial software vendor will provide you with updates if you aren't current on maintenance, let alone pirated the software in the first place.
The reality is that Microsoft Windows is installed on 90% of the machines out there. The reality is that regardless of how the software was aquired it is likely to be vunerable to worms, trojans, etc. The reality is that Microsoft is going to continue to look mighty bad when worms and trojans slam 90% of the computers out there.
After a while the "oh, well, the pirates shouldn't have pirated the OS and then they could have gotten our updates that came 6 months after the worm started" gets old and people don't care anymore.
As I have said before this is the situation that they want to occur as it makes all the more sense to place DRM restrictions on their OS and programs that will run on the OS/hardware.
How many more people would start taking a hard look at FOSS if they couldn't get their 'free' MS products?
They can still get their "free" MS products. They will continue to get their "free" MS products. Those people will just not update their systems through Windows Update. I imagine that plenty of people that paid for Windows in some form or another still don't bother to update their systems because they don't know or don't care to know.
All this is going to do is create an even more dangerous computing environment on the Internet and give more and more backing to "trusted computing".
Oh look, see, everyone pirates and the pirates are causing all the worms to propagate! Look! DRM will stop that!
Mr Dunn said he expected the introduction of real-world physics to be a major part of the new consoles.
"We want to increase that level of immersion and realism in gaming to people can lose themselves in a game."
Microsoft has apparently delivered devel kits to some of the game makers but Sony has not. I really hope that with these "real-world physics" and "more immersion" that the Adult Industry has development kits from all parties RIGHT NOW.
Comcast effectively "killed" Usenet access when it told you that you can get it through a third party (which charges after what 2GB?)
They gave a viable alternative by pointing people to Google Groups. At least they didn't shut off free access then start charging their users for it.
AOL has a large userbase of morons. How many of those morons read Usenet anyway? It's likely that it is a tiny group of their overall base. Why support something that no one uses and that you can get through other sources anyway?
Hence it is Slashdot's problem, and not Firefox's. People always say "It's up to the coder to create valid code" - so lets see that rather than whining about a browser that sticks to the standards just fine.
Yes, sites are coded with IE in mind and thus they are likely not standard compliant and they will break other browsers but this isn't about that at all. It's about how the general computer user will see Firefox when they attempt to use it.
So, the general computer user hears all this Firefox hype and downloads it. Installs it and fires up one of his freshly migrated bookmarks. The page doesn't render correctly.
You think that they are going to give this another try?
Haven't you been paying attention? Go and Google and you will learn that it was fixed in the mainline long ago, and you will also learn why it wasn't rolled in to FireFox 1.0.
My question for you is why do the Slashbot continually claim that Firefox is so superior when it won't even render their favorite site correctly?
If Slashdot doesn't render correctly how the hell can they claim that every site will work "just fine"? Remember, general users who need to switch to IE will only give something so many chances... If their favorite site doesn't render correctly under Firefox do you really think that they are going to believe you when you tell them that it is better?
Last I checked, no one has been forced to buy an HDTV compatible TV yet, but suddenly everyone is getting them...
You have a screw loose. Not "everyone" is getting them. Hell, I have only seen them in stores and on display at the State Fair.
They aren't impressive, they certainly aren't worth the tax money that was spent forcing their creation, and they certainly aren't worth the money we will have to plunk down when we want to watch TV.
But then again I'm not brainwashed by TV marketing...
Slashdot Mirror
Small correction... The iQue is a PocketPC and a PalmOS PDA with GPS not just a PocketPC...
That was nothing but FUD that was been corrected by statements Apple has made to correct the misconceptions... statements which I know you've read yet you continue to repeat in an effort to spread FUD.
Where are the statements? I have asked for them multiple times and no one has shown me anything other than statements from third party sites that are quotes from supposed conversations with Apple representatives.
Update: Within an hour of posting the story, and the screenshot we took as evidence, Apple altered the HTML to replace g5 with g4. Don't hang around, do they?
And yet they haven't posted an official statement to their website about the Mac Mini not voiding the warranty when you either A) break the clips holding the case together or B) open the case in the first place.
You would think that if they are able to update their site that fast to quell rumors that they would at least post an official statement about the serviceability of the Mini. Interestingly enough the Mac Mini page still says that memory upgrades (along with other hardware) *must* be upgraded by an authorized person.
BTW - I wasn't aware that this was a Mac rumors site. I thought it was Slashdot (News for Nerds/Stuff that Matters + iPods)?
But to claim that the capabilities of a unit like the Garmin Rino is sufficient coordinating actions of individual soldiers in the achievement of a specific object is to vastly understate the requirements of a useful battlefield computer.
While my example understated the necessary power of a decent battlefield computer it was on purpose. The link you provided, while nice, is nothing more than a press release with pictures of nothing.
My favorite is that it includes "non-battlefield uses" such as MP3 playing. The hardware is an ARM processor with 128MB of RAM and 96MB of flash. It'll take USB, etc, for maps and whatnot (and I assume mp3s) but honestly it's nothing more than a PDA with GPS.
Perhaps I should have said it was like an iQue version of the Rino (iQue is a PocketPC with GPS).
It is unlikely that Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, ever intended this open-source operating system to be put to military use.
You're absolutely right. He wasn't looking to make money off of Linux. If he had, military use would have been the first place he would have brought Linux to.
Called SATHI (short for situational awareness and tactical hand-held information, and Hindi for buddy), the 875-gram device helps soldiers coordinate with one another on the battlefield. It is one of the many spin-offs of a low-cost computer developed indigenously, the basic version of which is available on the market for about US$200.
So a two pound device that has some sort of communication and GPS capabilities? Something like other handheld GPS units like the Garmin Rino which shows your location and the locations of others holding Rinos while having FRS radios attached. Crazy!
While I applaud their efforts in creating these devices (supercomputers, educational computer, inexpensive computers for the masses, etc) this wasn't terribly informative or interesting. More well-known background information that could have been left off the front page.
If you spent $80 on a DIY RAM kit, why didn't you just buy the machine with 512MB of RAM from the factory? It only costs $75 extra...
Because the item was already shipped and en route to my house when I was told of the necessity of 512MB for OS X.
In addition to that if I got it through Apple I wouldn't be able to make a couple bucks on EBay when I resell the DDR333+ chip.
His point being, Apple have supposedly specifically said that opening the case will not void the warranty. He was asking for a reliable source to confirm this rumour.
I want a valid source (in writing -- not quoted from some phone conversation with an Apple rep) that says that no matter what you do when you open that case (including breaking the clips) you won't void the warranty.
Why would you create something that is so difficult to open?
If I had upgraded the RAM through Apple why would I have to open my case to do so?
Firewire and USB2 give the expandability of peripherals, and they're bundling video and sound chipsets that don't suck. RAM and internal drives can be upgraded (although the optical drive would be a trick I'm sure), so that leaves the cpu and mainboard. Non-geeks aren't going to attempt to upgrade those.
Firewire and USB external DVD writers are not supported natively by iDVD and you have to use a third party "patch" to get it to work. Doesn't seem very useful there.
As far as RAM and internal drives being upgraded... Yeah, you can, but you void your warranty and it takes two putty knives and some good luck to open the case. Not exactly what I would call easy.
"What we found was, at least at that time (before HP bought Compaq), that people were still concerned about expandability," Anderson said. "It's been an important feature of the PC for the last 20 years, but as the PC has gone mainstream, it's been something that people liked but that they haven't used."
;)
Will it make a shift to smaller sized desktops? Maybe. Most people never need to open their case for a memory upgrade or some other piece of hardware being added but a lot of people do enjoy the ability to do that. As long as these small form factor machines are still able to be upgraded fairly easily I don't see why they wouldn't be popular... Personally I am rearranging my computer desk to accommodate the Mini. Not because of its size but because I want to show off the fact that I have this sleek, little, quiet, box sitting on my desk (BTW - I took Slashdotter advice from yesterday's article about the Mini and hardware upgrades and went with 512MB. I couldn't justify the $210 for 1GB when 512 was only $80). I am not looking forward to using two thin putty knives to open my brand new machine though. Why couldn't they have just made it user serviceable for RAM?
For the first time since I was 12 I am nervous about opening a computer case and swapping out some stuff inside. To me, that's just wrong.
Most buyers tend to purchase PCs based more on price and quality of technical support than on design, analysts said. Yet executives such as HP's Anderson see a market for unobtrusive desktops that consumers would purchase as second or third computers and use in settings such as kitchens, where large desktops are impractical.
Ok, I'm a geek and I love to have the Internet wherever I am but why in the kitchen? Like I don't have enough shit on my crappy counter space... Why not do something like those failed Motorola wireless AIM clients and have a docking station and wlan? Why do we have to have a small form factor machine in the kitchen? Most people here seem to be using this machine in the media room because it's small, quiet, and has DVI. That makes more sense to me.
Building in 120GB, 160GB or higher capacity drives, for example, will mean miniature PCs able to match larger machines in storing large numbers of MP3 files or even digital photos.
Oh come on. Not many people have enough photos and MP3s to fill even 10GB nevermind 120GB or 160GB. I am still using a 10GB HD in my XP machine. Yeah, my music is stored elsewhere but it's still less than 7GB of MP3s and 10GB more for SHN/FLAC (which most people aren't into). I want to know how many regular computer userse have 100GB of music and photos. Geeks are in the minority when it comes to computer purchases from major vendors that would be hurt by this "gamble". I'm sure it won't be anything for them to worry about.
I didn't get the Mini because it was small, quiet, or good looking. I got it because OS X is not Windows, is built on BSD, is now affordable, and isn't as susceptible to all the bullshit that my Windows machines are. If anything the Mini might open the door to more users for Apple which may or may not be a good thing
It's a little gizmo that shows you maps.
You've never used a GPS obviously. A GPS is a little gizmo that records tracks of where you have been, has accurate speed information, gives a route of where you are going, and shows maps.
Information any number of people would be thrilled to have.
Uhh, the Bangbus guys who else?
Using Bluetooth also means that handset manufacturers don't need to build more than one digital interface into their equipment. One of the devices people want to use with their handsets is a cordless headset, so manufacturers have to support that device. Why would they want to build in an entirely separate, wired interface for cars? (And why would you want to pay for them to do that?)
I really don't know what you're talking about as it isn't related. Handsfree cell phone support via bluetooth in the car is one thing. Tying bluetooth to the navigation system is another.
Use bluetooth all you want to keep people from holding their phones and talking while driving and chewing gum. Keep it out of sensitive areas that are built into the car and are basically running whenever the car is on.
It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone connection. It is still unclear whether the cars in question use the Symbian operating system which has recently been under attack from various worms and viruses.
This is a car that is full of wires and is basically a large chunk of metal. Explain to me why we are using Bluetooth instead of a wired solution. I don't see the advantages here. What I do see are large privacy implications and holes for infection... We are worried about RFID tags and readers installed along the highway? Why they don't even need to add the RFID tags to the wheels. Just have all the car's devices communicating through Bluetooth. The car owners think their sweet, overpriced, GPS navigation system is badass and the government gets to see where you were going, how fast you were going, and where you are going to. Perfect.
"I've even seen screenshots of major commercial aeroplanes with Windows 2000-based operating systems," said Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research at Finnish firm F-Secure. "Cars are an obvious target for viruses. It's okay if you don't use the operating system for the engine and the brakes, but when you do..."
While Windows 2000 is adequate for my home computer to surf the web and read email (after proper precautions are taken) it is absolutely NOT adequate for flying an airplane. I am not worried about worms and viruses infected an airplane running Windows 2000 (and I'm not sure why it was mentioned in the article as it really isn't related) but I am worried about the stability of the OS and the implications it may have.
For now I'm sticking to my handheld GPS and windshield mounts. The only way it can be infected is if I sneeze on it and the only way that someone else could read it from 15 feet away would be with binoculars or a telephoto lens.
BTW, Bill Roehl is a known Saturn owner. He traded one in for another in 2002. That information is about as useful as knowing Bill Gates auctioned his 1999 (non BT equipped) Lexus off for charity.
You just use Patchburn. I read up on that before making my descision :)
All this did was correct stuff that was already WAY overpriced to begin with. I'm thrilled, and this pretty much seals up that I'll buy a mini, but I don't think it makes a huge difference to most people, maybe just to those on the fence. If they weren't going to buy one before, they probably won't now just because of these incremental price "normalizations."
:( I can never win :)
I have always said "the day a Mac becomes affordable I will own one." The mini brought that to be and mine is on its way (should be here the 27th).
I am getting the 1.42Ghz with 80GB HD. It'll have the bare minimum 256MB of RAM and the regular combo drive but if push comes to shove I'll get an external Firewire DVD writer and might even open the case myself and add some RAM. Who knows. It'll all depend on how well it performs for me.
I always wait too long and am left in the dust by the early adopters. Now with this price drop I got burnt by being one
The reality is that almost no other commercial software vendor will provide you with updates if you aren't current on maintenance, let alone pirated the software in the first place.
The reality is that Microsoft Windows is installed on 90% of the machines out there. The reality is that regardless of how the software was aquired it is likely to be vunerable to worms, trojans, etc. The reality is that Microsoft is going to continue to look mighty bad when worms and trojans slam 90% of the computers out there.
After a while the "oh, well, the pirates shouldn't have pirated the OS and then they could have gotten our updates that came 6 months after the worm started" gets old and people don't care anymore.
As I have said before this is the situation that they want to occur as it makes all the more sense to place DRM restrictions on their OS and programs that will run on the OS/hardware.
How many more people would start taking a hard look at FOSS if they couldn't get their 'free' MS products?
They can still get their "free" MS products. They will continue to get their "free" MS products. Those people will just not update their systems through Windows Update. I imagine that plenty of people that paid for Windows in some form or another still don't bother to update their systems because they don't know or don't care to know.
All this is going to do is create an even more dangerous computing environment on the Internet and give more and more backing to "trusted computing".
Oh look, see, everyone pirates and the pirates are causing all the worms to propagate! Look! DRM will stop that!
Mr Dunn said he expected the introduction of real-world physics to be a major part of the new consoles.
"We want to increase that level of immersion and realism in gaming to people can lose themselves in a game."
Microsoft has apparently delivered devel kits to some of the game makers but Sony has not. I really hope that with these "real-world physics" and "more immersion" that the Adult Industry has development kits from all parties RIGHT NOW.
Comcast effectively "killed" Usenet access when it told you that you can get it through a third party (which charges after what 2GB?)
They gave a viable alternative by pointing people to Google Groups. At least they didn't shut off free access then start charging their users for it.
AOL has a large userbase of morons. How many of those morons read Usenet anyway? It's likely that it is a tiny group of their overall base. Why support something that no one uses and that you can get through other sources anyway?
Hence it is Slashdot's problem, and not Firefox's. People always say "It's up to the coder to create valid code" - so lets see that rather than whining about a browser that sticks to the standards just fine.
Yes, sites are coded with IE in mind and thus they are likely not standard compliant and they will break other browsers but this isn't about that at all. It's about how the general computer user will see Firefox when they attempt to use it.
So, the general computer user hears all this Firefox hype and downloads it. Installs it and fires up one of his freshly migrated bookmarks. The page doesn't render correctly.
You think that they are going to give this another try?
switch FROM IE. Sorry.
Haven't you been paying attention? Go and Google and you will learn that it was fixed in the mainline long ago, and you will also learn why it wasn't rolled in to FireFox 1.0.
My question for you is why do the Slashbot continually claim that Firefox is so superior when it won't even render their favorite site correctly?
If Slashdot doesn't render correctly how the hell can they claim that every site will work "just fine"? Remember, general users who need to switch to IE will only give something so many chances... If their favorite site doesn't render correctly under Firefox do you really think that they are going to believe you when you tell them that it is better?
Do they really need a step by step..
Why shouldn't they? Macs appealed to all different types of users including the lowly n00b that didn't want to know anything about their machines.
A step by step guide (including how to do it all over SSH) is a great way to bring the information to ALL their users.
OS X has been running X11 for quite some time. It's just now that there might be a need for all their users to get access to it.
Last I checked, no one has been forced to buy an HDTV compatible TV yet, but suddenly everyone is getting them...
You have a screw loose. Not "everyone" is getting them. Hell, I have only seen them in stores and on display at the State Fair.
They aren't impressive, they certainly aren't worth the tax money that was spent forcing their creation, and they certainly aren't worth the money we will have to plunk down when we want to watch TV.
But then again I'm not brainwashed by TV marketing...