Opinion: Apple -- Here to Stay

MacCentral ^ | March 08, 2005 | Don Tennant

[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.

[antiRepublicrat]

Let's sum up your position: The Ipod supports the WMA file format as long as the file is coded in the AAC format.

The problem is that your summations are always wrong. No one claimed direct iPod WMA support, but you did claim that those who had WMA files were "SOL," which is false.

[antiRepublicrat]

Now you are just getting silly.

No, the silly thing is to call an EPROM a ROM just because it's sitting in a computer case. BTW, you didn't answer. If I break out the superglue, is my USB key EEPROM now a ROM?

[Last Visible Dog]

Pick one It seems that this has been a problem with various Creative players for a long time.

Did you actually read any of those links. The first page is all for the same model - Creative Nomad MuVo - which is not a hard disk MP3 player - it is a cheap flash MP3 player.

You clearly don't understand what you are talking about.

Try again

[Last Visible Dog]

The problem is that your summations are always wrong. No one claimed direct iPod WMA support, but you did claim that those who had WMA files were "SOL," which is false.

The problem is you don't know what you are talking about. The only way an Ipod supports WMA encoded files is if they are encoded with AAC.

If you have WMA files and you wish to keep them WMA files you are SOL if you buy an Ipod. Spin all you want, you can't spin your way out of that

[antiRepublicrat]

You clearly don't understand what you are talking about.

Keep reading to see the Zen mentioned.

[Last Visible Dog]

It's only funny when you do it often. I actually overlooked it in the beginning.

Well. Judging by your knowledge of computer technology, I assume you are an unemployed programmer. I actually have a job and - surprise - I am actually working right now - because of that, I don't have much time to proof read. Lots of people on Freerepublic do this - take my advice, you will just alienate yourself if you think it is funny to make fun of typos.

[antiRepublicrat]

If you have WMA files and you wish to keep them WMA files you are SOL if you buy an Ipod.

That sentence, with the qualifier, is true. But it is not what you said in the first place.

How about I attribute that to lazy typing, and you attribute the Compaq reverse-engineering comment to lazy typing, and we drop both.

[antiRepublicrat]

Well. Judging by your knowledge of computer technology, I assume you are an unemployed programmer.

Coming from a guy who doesn't understand non-volatile solid-state memory technology or object-oriented inheritance? This is rich!

[Last Visible Dog]

Keep reading to see the Zen mentioned.

I think you are confused - I asked you to find some supporting evidence. So far all you have done is ask me to find supporting evidence for your claims. There is a problem that is common with Zen Xtra. I am not going to tell you what it is - you will have to figure it out for yourself.

HINT: it has nothing to do with the battery cover.

BTW: There were two references to the Zen in the link you provided and neither one has anything to do with a broken battery cover.

[Last Visible Dog]

Coming from a guy who doesn't understand non-volatile solid-state memory technology or object-oriented inheritance? This is rich!

yadda, yadda, yadda

[Last Visible Dog]

You're well aware of this too. Those with non-DRM WMVs are not SOL, iTunes will convert them to AAC.

You posted a typo where you used WMV instead of WMA (that is not a quote from me) and later you state:

He's got me repeating his mistakes. It's WMAs, not WMVs, obviously.

You are such a little weasel. You make a typo all by yourself and then you pathetically try to blame me.

In the realm of trolls - you are special.

[Last Visible Dog]

That sentence, with the qualifier, is true. But it is not what you said in the first place.

I said if you have WMA files you are SOL with the Ipod. It is true. The Ipod DOES NOT PLAY WMA FILES

For your position to be true you must add a major qualifier

If you have WMA files and you don't mind converting them to another format, then you are not SOL.

I feel like I am trying to debate with a child.

I will type slowly for you:

The Ipod does not support the WMA format.

You can not listen to WMA format files on an IPOD.

If you have WMA files you are SOL if you buy an Ipod because the Ipod WILL NOT PLAY WMA FILES

Now if you want to convert your files to Apple's format, the Ipod will play them although the conversion will degrade the file and once your convert them you will no longer have any WMA files.

I can sum your position up this way: The Ipod supports WMA files are long as they are AAC files.

This debate has reached the absolute absurd phase - it is well pasted its freshness date.

Remember, based antiRepublicrat's logic:

all your BETA tapes are supported by VHS VCR's - just as long as you convert them to the VHS format

And

all your WMA files are supported by the Ipod - just as long as you convert them to the AAC format.

[antiRepublicrat]

BTW: There were two references to the Zen in the link you provided and neither one has anything to do with a broken battery cover.

True, many don't, but now that you've got me reading:

It's not only the fact that the Zen broke so quickly, but the fact that Creative does not back it's product for very long (60 days!) shows that they don't trust their own products to work. Don't buy it!!!

Pretty damning (60-day vs. 1-year warranty, another iPod plus). And then there's this:

It's not well-suited for athletic activity, and don't even think about what happens when you drop it. I broke my first one when it fell out of my purse, and I've managed to scramble the disk drive one other time. Fortunately, it was still within warranty.

The iPod has technology that prevents hard drive damage in case of sudden acceleration (e.g., dropped), and this is a common cause of battery cover breakage on any device (this from someone who's broken the battery cover on many phones and Walkmans). But let's keep going: Most battery cover complaints are about the Muvo, another Creative Nomad. But back to you point of the Zen. How about a CNet review.

When i got hone and opened the pakage for the new player its battery cover poped off and would not go back on. I was pissed so i retured that one too and got my money back.

Or from Amazon

I got this Christmas 2003 and after the warranty had expired in July, a circuit blew and the screen stopped working. The cover ALWAYS pops off.

The upper right hand corner was coming off, for some reason, I think it started when I lifted the cover to put in the battery, and it didn't attach.

Problems with covers, in addition to other fun stuff I saw indicating shoddy construction, poor design, and bad tonal quality. Why do you waste my time?

BTW, a lot of other brands, including Samsung, have battery cover complaints. All solved by simply not having one in the first place.

[antiRepublicrat]

I said if you have WMA files you are SOL with the Ipod. It is true.

It is not true without the qualifier "and want to keep them WMA." A user is most definitely not "SOL" since WMA files will be converted on the fly.

I can sum your position up this way: The Ipod supports WMA files are long as they are AAC files.

As usual, your summation is incorrect, showing that you have a serious reading comprehension disability in addition to writing. I made no such claim of native iPod WMA support with any qualifiers. I stated that users with WMA files are not, as you say, "SOL" by buying an iPod, just as Nomad buyers with AAC files are not "SOL" (although iTunes makes it much easier to convert to AAC).

[antiRepublicrat]

yadda, yadda, yadda

Seriously, you showed a complete lack of understanding of the concept of inheritance. My example was the way inheritance, among other OO concepts, is taught, by taking real-world objects and showing how they would be represented in an OO setting. You seemed to not understand something that is taught in beginner object-oriented design, and I mean like the first week of class. You cannot be an OO programmer.

[Last Visible Dog]

Pretty damning (60-day vs. 1-year warranty, another iPod plus). And then there's this:

You are a funny person. I went to the same site and look what I found written about the Ipod:

That being said, it is a great product until it no longer works. I would recommend that anyone considering purchasing this product go to take a look at Apple's site, in particular the support section. It details many of the issues that frequently occur with this product, offers several lengthy steps to take to correct the problems (none of which worked for me), all of which result in a headache, an expensive repair bill, and the ever existing question of when it is going to break (of freeze up) again.

I owned an IPOD 20 GB player for 6 months. During this time the mp3 player froze on me numerous times. Several times this issue could be resolved by letting the battery die down completely (which takes about a day) or by resetting the IPOD which unfortunately causes you to lose all of the files you have downloaded on it. What a pain! Not a reliable piece of equipment at all.

Pretty damning, the Ipod cost so much more but it breaks all the time

There is no reason in the world why you would want to buy such a substandard project. I hate these stupid things so much. I have owned and used five of them, and five out of five times they broke, and Apple would not repair them, for any fee. How did they break, you might ask? Beats me. Sure, I might have dropped them once or twice, as would be expected with anything that you're out and about with, but even before that, they would freeze up randomly, be glitchy, mess up, slow down for no reason and a bunch of other annoying crap.

My GOSH! This person has owned 5 and all of them broke. How can Apple sell this device for so much if is so substandard. Clearly Apple will be going out of business in the next few months

I just want everyone to know that if anything happens to your Ipod that is not a manufacturers defect Apple will not repair it at any price.

Good Golly - a substandard and terrible support

If your hard-drive breaks just like mine after one year, you will get to hear this for the first time. Two of the apple reps told me "You'd better buy our protection plan for your new one!" On top of that they said "Or you can REPLACE yours by another "refurbished" unit for $250!" After all an iPod is a circuitry with a hard-drive. By having NO repair service after the warranty, does it mean that their fancy circuitry has no value at all?

You spend way more for an Ipod and it only lasts a year and all Apple can say is go pound sand.

No, I don't believe all the conclusion I just made. I was just pointing out how nonsensical it is to base your opinion on a few strategically chosen Internet reviews. You can find a bad review on the Internet for nearly every product ever created.

[Last Visible Dog]

It is not true without the qualifier "and want to keep them WMA." A user is most definitely not "SOL" since WMA files will be converted on the fly.

You are pretty funny. The Ipod supports WMA files just as long as they are not WMA files.

LOL

You have some really wacked logic - it goes something like this:

I say: I have very small garage. My 1965 Ford Mustang is not supported by my garage because it will not fit.

You would say: That is not true. If you put your 1965 Ford Mustang in a car crusher, it will be smashed down to the size of a 4' x 4' block and it will fit easily in the garage. The only way your statement is true is if you add the qualifier "and your don't want to destroy the car by putting it in a car crusher"

[Last Visible Dog]

As usual, your summation is incorrect, showing that you have a serious reading comprehension disability in addition to writing. I made no such claim of native iPod WMA support with any qualifiers. I stated that users with WMA files are not, as you say, "SOL" by buying an iPod, just as Nomad buyers with AAC files are not "SOL" (although iTunes makes it much easier to convert to AAC).

Question: Can an Ipod play a WMA file?

Answer: NO!

Game over

[Last Visible Dog]

Seriously, you showed a complete lack of understanding of the concept of inheritance.

You are a funny person. At no time was I debating inheritance or even discussing it. The comments I made in regards to your attempt at an OO example were it does not work in the real world. Your example was nonsense. OO abstraction does not convey into the real-world. There is no such thing as a vehicle class in the real-world. OO is a conceptual abstraction.

[Last Visible Dog]

I said if you have WMA files you are SOL with the Ipod. It is true.

And remember all your Photoshop files are compatible with Microsoft Paint, as long as you convert them to bitmaps.