Apple are pretty lax in their upgrade policy, compared to Windows. There's an assumption that you're doing the right thing (in their opinion) and so they don't require strange codes to be entered or a hard drive with an existing OS.
No-one is going to care about your hacking an OS to install on whatever hardware you like.
You're using it outside the terms of use, but who cares? If you hack the installer to avoid the EULA being presented to you (which is hard to do unless you're very familiar with the OS) then you're outside the terms of use anyway. But who cares?
If you try to sell altered copies, expect trouble. Since that's not what you're doing, you're flying well under the radar.
Do what you like, but don't expect support for any hardware that's not manufactured by Apple. Sure, your particular set-up may work, but who knows if it will next update?
If you prefer certainty, use an OS that supports your hardware. If you disagree with the ethics of Apple's tactics, then don't support them by using their OS. Even pirating the OS is tacit support for the company.
Apple has done very well with the iPhone, but if history is our guide, they did very well with the original Macintosh.
Not any version of history I've seen. The Mac struggled for a while before finding a niche in desktop publishing, where it languished while PC-compatible machines caught up, overtook it and took over the world. The desktop metaphor took over the computing world, but mostly through Windows.
History is no guide, unless you believe the players have learnt nothing from it.
Steve Jobs is too obsessed with removing buttons from mice
Like many commentators, you've missed the point. He is focused on quality, and the vision he has for Apple seems to include removing anything that detracts from that goal. I can't say if he's 'obsessed' as I don't personally know the man.
Back on topic - competition is great. Now that Apple have pushed back the limits on music purchasing and pushed DRM off the table (aided greatly by Amazon), players like Google can step up and provide a music ecosystem similar to iTunes. Hopefully Google will include new features that draw users towards their product, stimulating Apple to work harder to compete.
If I lost all my data again due to an Apple bug, I'd be furious.
I know, it's happened to me before. Back in the day I had the all-in-one black PowerMac 5500/250 (PPC 603e machine) and there was a system software version that caused the entire hard drive to become unreadable.
The only solution was to reformat and start again.
The first time taught me all about backing up. The second time made me seriously consider other hardware vendors. It didn't happen a third time (yay) and the years since have been so trouble-free that I'm happy to write those experiences off now.
Apple's phone support line had no better advice than 'we're working on a system patch so keep backing up!' Worst and most useless advice ever, couldn't tell me what triggers the failure or when it would be fixed, and back then system patches came every few years in the form of major system updates.
The belief that Apple users are unthinking drones who lap up everything they're presented with and thank Apple for the opportunity is exactly as accurate as the belief that Windows users are socially retarded geeks who believe anything from Redmond is great, or that Linux users are uber hackers who can't imagine aesthetics, let alone implement them.
You're pandering to one of those stereotypes, but it's weak and unrealistic, and I'm fairly sure you know that.
"Do the attorneys for free?" Ha! I'd give a discount. I can see the invoice now
+$500M = cost to neutralise senior leadership team -$200M = discount for allowing us to neutralise the legal team ---------- +$300M = total amount owing on this invoice, contact our payments dep't for easy terms
Realistically, few care about syncing changes back to iTunes. You can do it, but the real usefulness is getting the songs onto the music device.
If you want to sync contacts, addresses, etc from your device, there is a set of APIs from Apple to do this. iTunes is a bit muddier, but still possible to sync in both directions on a Mac, and most likely on a PC.
Palm are making themselves dependant upon another vendor, a competitor no less, which is poor business sense. It's completely unnecessary, and others are doing this without fuss (see RIM).
BSD specifically allows the use that NeXT and then Apple put their operating system to. You say "stolen" but that is nothing whatsoever like the truth.
You say Apple give nothing back unless threatened. I point to Darwin, which was open sourced right from the day the public beta was released, and ever since.
You're strong on rhetoric, but very short on substance. That you were modded insightful saddens me, as Slashdot used to be a little more accurate than this.
The iTunes library includes an XML file that lists and organises everything, and Apple provide various APIs to interact with XML files.
It may not be directly true that Apple provide a way for third parties to use this XML file, but it is true that they can do this simply by using a few components together.
As an outsider looking in, your system seemed to make it illegal to discriminate based only on ethnic lines or location. It was always (and still is) perfectly legal to discriminate based on ability to repay the loan, so no "poor minorities" were ever loaned money due to that law.
They were loaned money because the bankers became stupid and greedy, and their punishment was that a tiny fraction lost their jobs, but the majority got away with their stupidity.
You're defining such a narrow market, and I'd be a bit surprised if a court agreed with that (but courts do weird things, so I'm often surprised).
Any general-purpose computer can do physics calculations in software.
Any GPU can accelerate physics calculations through hardware using OpenCL or some other high-level language that runs on the GPU.
Given those two points, we can see a sliding scale of using hardware to calculate physics interactions. At one end you're on the CPU, at the other you're on the GPU. PhysX is at one end of the scale, but OpenCL is almost in that same space. I reckon that's muddy enough to ensure that nVidia cannot be ruled to hold a monopoly over hardware-based physics calculations.
Sure, *we* might argue it, but I feel the courts would rule that it's no monopoly.
I wouldn't sign anything until I see their consitution.
If they advocate a real, workable solution that provides benefit to content creators while strengthening the rights of content consumers, then I'm interested.
If it's just "we should get stuff for free" then I hope they're consigned to the political oblivion they would so richly deserve.
So far, I'm feeling it's going to be closer to the latter than the former. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised though.
It's the thrill of swimming against a perceived tide.
"Look at me! I'm not like the majority! I'm cool and different. I'm completely unafraid to speak out against the polarising thing that also polarises me (but in the opposite direction, and don't think about that for too long or you'll realise I'm essentially the same as everyone else)."
A lot of forum moderators are suckers for that sort of rubbish.
How many free passes does Apple get before you start to question their infallibility?
Has Apple ever received a free pass around here? I know they've had some nice press, but there are plenty of people ready and willing to jump into the fray.
Infallibility... Ha, anyone who remembers the 90s will argue against that, whether they like Apple products or not.
Ah, I see. When you say Apple was "born" like that, you didn't mean Apple, but the Mac. Apple itself was "born" with the Apple-I, which was about the most open computer of its time.
But calling you on that meant I get modded down as a troll, while your incorrect trolling is modded up as insightful.
Would it not follow that FreeBSD should tell Apple that their OSx has "duplicated functionality" to gnome/KDE and ask them to remove it from the BSD OS they so graciously borrowed?
The good people at BSD wanted this sort of thing, and chose a licence that allows it.
It's not borrowing, it's exactly what should happen.
Or perhaps the PC industry can politely ask Apple to quit putting their off white boxes around their damn hardware and slapping Apple stickers on them, because they are just "duplicated functionality" of a PC.
This one's harder to understand, given that there is no central body in the "PC industry," Apple design their own hardware within the specs (ie they're not just reference boards from Intel) and Apple predated just about everyone else in the personal computing world, reversing your point.
Yes, it'd be nice if Apple played well with Google but since they don't, potential customers can just get another competing phone that does.
I can't see that this is a big issue. It's just a company deciding what apps run on their closed platform. People who care about such things can make informed choices. Everyone else just gets on with life.
As for "lunatic fanatics" I see quite a few on Slashdot are taking the fanatical anti-Apple position lately. Perhaps they've crossed the line beyond which they lose a handful of FOSS users while gaining a few million 'normal' people.
Slashdot Mirror
"Stole" my ass! I'm not sure where all the Apple FanBoys came up with the myth that the $29 Snow Leopard disc is an "upgrade."
I reckon they get it from Apple.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MAC_OS_X_SNGL
Snow Leopard is an upgrade for Leopard users and requires a Mac with an Intel processor.
Apple are pretty lax in their upgrade policy, compared to Windows. There's an assumption that you're doing the right thing (in their opinion) and so they don't require strange codes to be entered or a hard drive with an existing OS.
No-one is going to care about your hacking an OS to install on whatever hardware you like.
You're using it outside the terms of use, but who cares? If you hack the installer to avoid the EULA being presented to you (which is hard to do unless you're very familiar with the OS) then you're outside the terms of use anyway. But who cares?
If you try to sell altered copies, expect trouble. Since that's not what you're doing, you're flying well under the radar.
Do what you like, but don't expect support for any hardware that's not manufactured by Apple. Sure, your particular set-up may work, but who knows if it will next update?
If you prefer certainty, use an OS that supports your hardware. If you disagree with the ethics of Apple's tactics, then don't support them by using their OS. Even pirating the OS is tacit support for the company.
Apple of the past, on the other hand, would've been better off just selling licenses to clone makers.
That'd be a good point, if only the facts of history didn't disagree with you.
Apple has done very well with the iPhone, but if history is our guide, they did very well with the original Macintosh.
Not any version of history I've seen. The Mac struggled for a while before finding a niche in desktop publishing, where it languished while PC-compatible machines caught up, overtook it and took over the world. The desktop metaphor took over the computing world, but mostly through Windows.
History is no guide, unless you believe the players have learnt nothing from it.
Steve Jobs is too obsessed with removing buttons from mice
Like many commentators, you've missed the point. He is focused on quality, and the vision he has for Apple seems to include removing anything that detracts from that goal. I can't say if he's 'obsessed' as I don't personally know the man.
Back on topic - competition is great. Now that Apple have pushed back the limits on music purchasing and pushed DRM off the table (aided greatly by Amazon), players like Google can step up and provide a music ecosystem similar to iTunes. Hopefully Google will include new features that draw users towards their product, stimulating Apple to work harder to compete.
I hope Google produce something amazing.
Sod that for a joke.
If I lost all my data again due to an Apple bug, I'd be furious.
I know, it's happened to me before. Back in the day I had the all-in-one black PowerMac 5500/250 (PPC 603e machine) and there was a system software version that caused the entire hard drive to become unreadable.
The only solution was to reformat and start again.
The first time taught me all about backing up. The second time made me seriously consider other hardware vendors. It didn't happen a third time (yay) and the years since have been so trouble-free that I'm happy to write those experiences off now.
Apple's phone support line had no better advice than 'we're working on a system patch so keep backing up!' Worst and most useless advice ever, couldn't tell me what triggers the failure or when it would be fixed, and back then system patches came every few years in the form of major system updates.
The belief that Apple users are unthinking drones who lap up everything they're presented with and thank Apple for the opportunity is exactly as accurate as the belief that Windows users are socially retarded geeks who believe anything from Redmond is great, or that Linux users are uber hackers who can't imagine aesthetics, let alone implement them.
You're pandering to one of those stereotypes, but it's weak and unrealistic, and I'm fairly sure you know that.
Murdoch is not an Australian - he gave up his citizenship as soon as it hindered his US interests.
He's as American as any other immigrant.
On behalf of Australians everywhere, I'm sorry that he's your problem now.
The BBC call it "Doctor Who 2008" (etc). That seems pretty straightforward, and gives a bit more information with only one more ASCII character.
"Do the attorneys for free?" Ha! I'd give a discount. I can see the invoice now
+$500M = cost to neutralise senior leadership team
-$200M = discount for allowing us to neutralise the legal team
----------
+$300M = total amount owing on this invoice, contact our payments dep't for easy terms
By definition 50% of the world is below average intelligence.
No, 50% of the world is below the mean not the average.
Hmm... (looks suspiciously at Ghaoth)
Al Qaeda?
They're nothing on this stage.
Look to your trading partners for the real threat.
If you want to read the iTunes library, with playlists and all other useful details, use the XML file.
On a Mac: If you want to make changes to the iTunes library, use AppleScript to send the changes to iTunes.
On a PC, there is a COM interface to iTunes (see http://developer.apple.com/sdk/)
Realistically, few care about syncing changes back to iTunes. You can do it, but the real usefulness is getting the songs onto the music device.
If you want to sync contacts, addresses, etc from your device, there is a set of APIs from Apple to do this. iTunes is a bit muddier, but still possible to sync in both directions on a Mac, and most likely on a PC.
Palm are making themselves dependant upon another vendor, a competitor no less, which is poor business sense. It's completely unnecessary, and others are doing this without fuss (see RIM).
BSD specifically allows the use that NeXT and then Apple put their operating system to. You say "stolen" but that is nothing whatsoever like the truth.
You say Apple give nothing back unless threatened. I point to Darwin, which was open sourced right from the day the public beta was released, and ever since.
You're strong on rhetoric, but very short on substance. That you were modded insightful saddens me, as Slashdot used to be a little more accurate than this.
The iTunes library includes an XML file that lists and organises everything, and Apple provide various APIs to interact with XML files.
It may not be directly true that Apple provide a way for third parties to use this XML file, but it is true that they can do this simply by using a few components together.
You can get software for the Blackberry that does all of this and more - link.
Spoofing USB vendor codes is bad because it's unnecessary and it creates a dependancy on another vendor over which you have no control.
Customers would be well advised to avoid the Palm product, because it has features that are just not reliable.
As an outsider looking in, your system seemed to make it illegal to discriminate based only on ethnic lines or location. It was always (and still is) perfectly legal to discriminate based on ability to repay the loan, so no "poor minorities" were ever loaned money due to that law.
They were loaned money because the bankers became stupid and greedy, and their punishment was that a tiny fraction lost their jobs, but the majority got away with their stupidity.
You're defining such a narrow market, and I'd be a bit surprised if a court agreed with that (but courts do weird things, so I'm often surprised).
Any general-purpose computer can do physics calculations in software.
Any GPU can accelerate physics calculations through hardware using OpenCL or some other high-level language that runs on the GPU.
Given those two points, we can see a sliding scale of using hardware to calculate physics interactions. At one end you're on the CPU, at the other you're on the GPU. PhysX is at one end of the scale, but OpenCL is almost in that same space. I reckon that's muddy enough to ensure that nVidia cannot be ruled to hold a monopoly over hardware-based physics calculations.
Sure, *we* might argue it, but I feel the courts would rule that it's no monopoly.
It's a valid question, and one that will be asked by every voter. Surely you have an answer?
I wouldn't sign anything until I see their consitution.
If they advocate a real, workable solution that provides benefit to content creators while strengthening the rights of content consumers, then I'm interested.
If it's just "we should get stuff for free" then I hope they're consigned to the political oblivion they would so richly deserve.
So far, I'm feeling it's going to be closer to the latter than the former. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised though.
You're over-reacting and flaming the wrong person.
*You* may not believe in IP, but it has some legal standing and thta's enough to make it real.
All the poster before you was doing was pointing this out. Belief is immaterial, morals and freedoms are irrelevant here - it exists regardless.
Point your ire towards the lawmakers, not the people who bring the message.
So ninjas are visible and easily disabled in your world, eh?
If you don't want it, turn the checkbox off.
If you don't understand what it is, read the text that shows when you select it.
Apple shouldn't enable it by default, but no-one is "ninjaing" software onto your computer. You had to click a button to start this process.
But that's not good hyperbole, so I understand why you pointlessly nerd-rage.
It's the thrill of swimming against a perceived tide.
"Look at me! I'm not like the majority! I'm cool and different. I'm completely unafraid to speak out against the polarising thing that also polarises me (but in the opposite direction, and don't think about that for too long or you'll realise I'm essentially the same as everyone else)."
A lot of forum moderators are suckers for that sort of rubbish.
How many free passes does Apple get before you start to question their infallibility?
Has Apple ever received a free pass around here? I know they've had some nice press, but there are plenty of people ready and willing to jump into the fray.
Infallibility... Ha, anyone who remembers the 90s will argue against that, whether they like Apple products or not.
Slashdot groupthink has announced Apple equals doubleplus bad. Apple is bad now. Apple has always been bad.
Slashdot has spoken. Opinions to the contrary require re-education.
Ah, I see. When you say Apple was "born" like that, you didn't mean Apple, but the Mac. Apple itself was "born" with the Apple-I, which was about the most open computer of its time.
But calling you on that meant I get modded down as a troll, while your incorrect trolling is modded up as insightful.
The winds of Slashdot are fickle.
Analogy fail!
Would it not follow that FreeBSD should tell Apple that their OSx has "duplicated functionality" to gnome/KDE and ask them to remove it from the BSD OS they so graciously borrowed?
The good people at BSD wanted this sort of thing, and chose a licence that allows it.
It's not borrowing, it's exactly what should happen.
Or perhaps the PC industry can politely ask Apple to quit putting their off white boxes around their damn hardware and slapping Apple stickers on them, because they are just "duplicated functionality" of a PC.
This one's harder to understand, given that there is no central body in the "PC industry," Apple design their own hardware within the specs (ie they're not just reference boards from Intel) and Apple predated just about everyone else in the personal computing world, reversing your point.
Yes, it'd be nice if Apple played well with Google but since they don't, potential customers can just get another competing phone that does.
I can't see that this is a big issue. It's just a company deciding what apps run on their closed platform. People who care about such things can make informed choices. Everyone else just gets on with life.
As for "lunatic fanatics" I see quite a few on Slashdot are taking the fanatical anti-Apple position lately. Perhaps they've crossed the line beyond which they lose a handful of FOSS users while gaining a few million 'normal' people.