Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Opinion: Apple -- Here to Stay
MacCentral ^ | March 08, 2005 | Don Tennant

Posted on 03/08/2005 12:06:04 PM PST by r5boston

Nearly a decade ago, just a few months after Microsoft shipped Windows 95, I asked Bill Gates if it was a conscious decision in the development of that product to give Windows more of a Mac look and feel. Of course I knew he'd say it wasn't, but I couldn't resist asking. "There was no goal even to compete with Macintosh," Gates proclaimed. "We don't even think of Macintosh as a competitor."

That was a crock, so I pressed the issue a little. I asked him how he accounted for the widespread perception that Windows 95 looked a lot like Mac 88, and whether the similarity was just a coincidence. I didn't expect a sobbing confession of mimicry, but I thought it would be cool to see how he'd respond. Surprisingly enough, Gates shifted gears and became more forthcoming.

(Excerpt) Read more at macworld.com ...


TOPICS: Technical
KEYWORDS: apple; bendover4macs; billgatesisaborg; billgatesknowsyourip; bluescreenofdeath; dosindisguise; downgradetoxp; gays4macs; mac; macandpcssuckequally; maccult; macmoonies; macs4bigots; macsr4gays; macuser; macvspcwhocares; microcrap; microsoft; onyourkneesforbillg; patchmypcsystemdaily; pccrap; pcvirusmagnet; pencilneckpcgeeks; resistanceisfutile; slowdownmypcwithxp; usb2isajoke; winblows; xpbloatware; youwillbeasimilated
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 441-460461-480481-500 ... 1,041-1,049 next last
To: Last Visible Dog
Nothing I said about the Ipod is incorrect. Apple states the battery is not to be replaced by the user (thus hard-wired). The Ipod is very much over-priced.

As has been pointed out numerous times in this thread... almost everything you have posted about the iPod is factually incorrect. You cannot back down from your erroneous position.

Apple states the battery is not to be replaced by the user(thus hard-wired).

The actual quote from Apple's iPod FAQ is "The iPod battery was not designed to be replaced by the user." That is quite different from your "IS NOT to be replaced by the user." In fact, immediately after Apple's statement, Apple links to several 3rd party companies that replace the battery AND links to a page with instructions on how to do it yourself. That makes your statement wrong.

The iPod battery is not "hard-wired"... it has a plug. The case is openable with a tool... a knife edge.

... overpriced...

Ridiculous. The price of any consumer good is determined by a willing seller and a willing buyer, They agree if the price is right or not. Over 14,000,000 willing buyers have voted and disagreed with you... and that was before Apple introduced three lower priced models.

And you can't read . . . your nonsensical statements

Again the insults...

You have effectively called every iPod user who posted the actual facts to you "liars", anyone who disagrees with you is insulted and slurred, and you continue to throw out erroneous information.

I stand by my interpretation of your post on your owning a Mac. I think most other readers of this thread would agree with me.

461 posted on 03/11/2005 9:24:05 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 440 | View Replies]

To: Bush2000
Gee, I don't know how the hundreds of millions of computer-inept people can possibly use Windows. I guess they're not able to run games, browse the Web, and read email ... /SARCASM

I know of at least five or six people who's Windows computers are gathering dust because they are bogged down in malware and the owners don't want to put any more money into them and are too frustrated to try and fix it themselves.

I spoke to a woman just today who uses Windows XP in her office... who is going to take her Compaq XP computer back to Costco to exchange it for the THIRD time in less than four months so she can start over again and not have to worry about installing all the extra stuff just so she can get email. This last time was when the SBC global tech installed DSL for her... as soon as her computer finished booting, it was covered with pop-up ads. The tech's response was "I don't know how to stop that." and he left.

I gave her a list of what to install... but she is still going to return her computer to Costco and start over. She is not alone. I am sure Costco really appreciates all these returns.... they get a lot of them... of computers with nothing physically wrong with them but infestation with spyware and adware.

I told her to install my list as soon as she got it - before she connected it to the internet - and burned a disk with the SW on it for her.

462 posted on 03/11/2005 9:34:15 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 444 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker
At a MacWorld Expo back in the Eighties, I tried a Xerox Star for a few minutes. My impression was that the user interface was rather crude compared to the Mac GUI, despite the superficial resemblance.

The Xerox Alto and Star were inspirational starting points for Apple, but the original Mac GUI was far better than the Xerox or Englebart designs.

463 posted on 03/11/2005 9:39:54 PM PST by HAL9000 (Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 459 | View Replies]

To: Last Visible Dog
Just because people buy it - does not mean it is correctly priced. Millions of people bought pet rocks and Ashley Simpson CD's

Obviously you slept through your course in microeconomics... or the class in business administration where they discussed price points.

If the iPod were overpriced, millions of people would not be buying it and Apple would be stuck with warehouses full of unsold iPods. Apple is hard pressed to meet the demand. iPod Shuffles are sold out at Apple stores within an hour of shipment arrival. iPod minis had the same problem when they were first introduced. Apple is selling every iPod they can make... and HP and other companies are getting on the band wagon with "branded" iPods selling at either the same or higher prices.

464 posted on 03/11/2005 9:41:39 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 449 | View Replies]

To: antiRepublicrat
When I said you could start getting freaky semantic, I didn't expect you to accept the offer.

I did... it was inevitable.

465 posted on 03/11/2005 9:43:53 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 453 | View Replies]

To: Bush2000
It was obvious to everyone on this thread (except you and AntiRepublicrat) that he was referring to the latter.

Sorry, no. Dog's posting are replete with inaccuracies for which he is depending on others to make leaps of logic to understand what he REALLY means. In logic, stating the syllogism correctly is the FIRST step... and assumptions are not allowed.

466 posted on 03/11/2005 9:47:06 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 455 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
Are you old enough to remember when kids established pecking order by how many transistors their transistor radio had?

4 was good... but 9 was better... I remember some kid who came in with a 17 transistor radio!

Pity the poor kid who had only a 1 transistor radio.

I remember listening to the World Series with an earphone (what they call an "earbud" these days) connected to a red rocket shaped crystal radio that had a wire with an alligator clip that you attached to a ground... a true no-transistor radio.

467 posted on 03/11/2005 9:51:29 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 457 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker

I'm not quite that old. I think I just missed it. I know I begged my parents for a transistor radio and couldn't get enough of it once it was mine. But I was the only kid I knew who actually knew what a transistor was. Pop was an electrical engineer...he understood. When I was ten, they gave me a great birthday present: a Panasonic AM/FM/SW model that I prized. In a small town, it was my only grasp on civilization (as I saw it). Oh, and that Panasonic served a heavy-duty tour for twenty years before it failed. Those were the days.



You listened to baseball on an actual crystal radio?

Man oh man, you ARE a geek. ;O)


468 posted on 03/11/2005 9:58:57 PM PST by Petronski (If 'Judge' Greer can kill Terri, who will be next?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 467 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
Man oh man, you ARE a geek. ;O)

Nope... it was 1958 and I was 9 years old... it was the only way I could listen in school. I snuck my little rocket radio in my lunchbox. During recess I hooked the ground wire to the chain link fence and listened happily.

I just did a search for Rocket Crystal Radio and found my radio:

Who woulda thunk it... they want $89.50 for it!

469 posted on 03/11/2005 10:08:39 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 468 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker

Oh, well in '58, you were . . . . nope, you were still a geek. And I don't mean that in a bad way.


470 posted on 03/11/2005 10:10:57 PM PST by Petronski (If 'Judge' Greer can kill Terri, who will be next?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 469 | View Replies]

To: MikeinIraq

I'm on an Apple now. My wife got it free because she's a teacher. I wish she hadn't, it's a mess. Can't figure out where stuff is at, and Jobs decided not to to print manuals. What a boob. Next, I'm going back to PC.


471 posted on 03/11/2005 10:15:22 PM PST by cookcounty (LooneyLibLine: "The ONLY reason for Operation Iraqi FREEDOM was WMD!!" ((repeat til brain is numb))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
Oh, well in '58, you were . . . . nope, you were still a geek. And I don't mean that in a bad way.

Well... you've "outed" me. I read Sci Fi ... when I wasn't drooling over the latest Allied or Lafayette Electronincs catalogs... usually under the blankets with a flashlight.

472 posted on 03/11/2005 10:15:58 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 470 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker

I am proudly a geek. I don't consider it to be a pejorative at all. Rock on!


473 posted on 03/11/2005 10:19:08 PM PST by Petronski (If 'Judge' Greer can kill Terri, who will be next?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 472 | View Replies]

To: cookcounty

If you hold down three keys at once, the help pops right up. It's brilliant.


Just don't ask me which three keys. ;O)




j/k


474 posted on 03/11/2005 10:20:24 PM PST by Petronski (If 'Judge' Greer can kill Terri, who will be next?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 471 | View Replies]

To: cookcounty
Jobs decided not to to print manuals. What a boob. Next, I'm going back to PC.

You won't find manuals there either.

Here are few hints:

There is no "Start" button.

Nore is there a "My Computer" Icon... the Mac Desktop equivalent and always available. Every storage device available will appear on the desktop. If it is removable media, an icon will appear when the media is inserted. You can eject a disk by click-dragging to the Dock's Trash icon which will change to an EJECT buttom... or you can highlight and press the EJECT key on your keyboard (upper right of the keypad).

Your docments are in your personal folder inside USERS on your harddrive. If you are working on your wife's computer they may be in her folder.

Applications are in "Applications" folder also on the Hard Drive.

You access the hard drive by clicking on the icon of the Hard Drive in the upper right hand corner of your desktop. Most frequently ued applications are also usually installed on your dock... most people keep it at the bottom of the screen about where the Windows Task bar would be.

Running Apps will also appear on the Dock (if they aren't there when not running) and all running apps will have a little triangle below them.

You can "minimize" windows to the Dock by clicking the Yellow button on the window's drag bar at the top. Close windows by clicking the Red button. The Green will resize to the last set size.

Note that closing a window does NOT exit the application... you generally must QUIT (MENU BAR / FILE / QUIT or press Command (Apple key) - Q to exit an applications. Some utilities like the calculator DO exit on closing their windows.

Control Panels is called "System Preferences" and is found under the blue Apple in the menu bar on the top left.

The menu bar will change according to what ever app you are currently accessing.

Apple has the manuals on line:

Apple OSX manuals

Good luck.

475 posted on 03/11/2005 10:33:04 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 471 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
If you hold down three keys at once, the help pops right up. It's brilliant.

Try "Command - ?" for help.

476 posted on 03/11/2005 10:34:21 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 474 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker
The Truth is Out There



;O)
477 posted on 03/11/2005 10:35:53 PM PST by Petronski (If 'Judge' Greer can kill Terri, who will be next?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 476 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
The Truth is Out There

And the truth shall set you free!


478 posted on 03/11/2005 10:40:22 PM PST by Swordmaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 477 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker

Educate your friends. There are plenty of free automated tools for dealing with those issues, among which MS offers a superb one (Anti-Spyware Beta). The MS tool locks down the registry and prevents unauthorized changes. So you're complaining about a non-issue.


479 posted on 03/11/2005 10:56:10 PM PST by Bush2000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 462 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker
The actual quote from Apple's iPod FAQ is "The iPod battery was not designed to be replaced by the user." That is quite different from your "IS NOT to be replaced by the user." In fact, immediately after Apple's statement, Apple links to several 3rd party companies that replace the battery AND links to a page with instructions on how to do it yourself. That makes your statement wrong.

Except that, when you open the iPod case, yourself, you void the warranty. Talk about ridiculous designs.

Ridiculous. The price of any consumer good is determined by a willing seller and a willing buyer, They agree if the price is right or not. Over 14,000,000 willing buyers have voted and disagreed with you... and that was before Apple introduced three lower priced models.

You misinterpreted what LVD is saying. He's saying that, given the competition, the iPod is overpriced. That is factually accurate -- but it remains to be seen whether price is a significant enough factor to preserve or suppress Apple market share. You may not realize this but Apple knows that it has saturated the MP3 player market, though, and its introduction of lower-priced models is a half-hearted response. Face it: Apple never met a market that it couldn't price itself out of. The same will be true of iPod. And it's a shame.
480 posted on 03/11/2005 11:17:29 PM PST by Bush2000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 461 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 441-460461-480481-500 ... 1,041-1,049 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson