Are things really this bleak for Apple competitors?
I’m late to the thread, but here’s my 2 cents.
(BTW...what the hell happened to the “cents” key on keyboards? I looked for it right now, still thinking I was in my typewriter days. Now I’d have to go all ASCII on the keyboard and look up the code somewhere’s just to get it back. Too much work. Thanks for making life difficult, IBM!)
Windows 8 tablets will be coming out later this year, and when they do, they’ll be the defacto standard for businesses who, for whatever reason, want to move employees to tablets. And there’ll be a lot of businesses doing just that. Apple will lose this market, just like they lost it to windows PCs.
And, oh yeah...I want my function keys back on the left side of the keyboard, please.
I will wait a few weeks, but the IPad is a must-have for me. It may be a niche market, but the music apps available for it are the best out there of any platform and I'm really looking forward to having the ability to control my MIDI network and my APC-40 through the IPad touch interface.
It's at the point now where I buy the hardware to get access to the software. The only place you can get a Fairlight CMI emulation today is as an IPad app. Thirty-some years the hardware version of the Fairlight was in the neighborhood of $100,000 and up in today's dollars. The emulator will set you back the price of an IPad and another $35. Given how cheap all the apps are, I think you can't afford not to pick up a tablet.
I may spring for a Mac Mini just to compliment the IPad. Sometime in the near future I'll be putting together a Linux box and have all the bases covered, (for now,) until I roll a Surface Table or unless I decide to pick up the new Amiga.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
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I was a die-hard Apple hater for years. Built my own PC’s. Literally had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Windows PC’s for business and home.
I bought an MP3 player, but complained that storage was minimal and interface was clunky. Wife bought me an iPod. That opened a chink in the armor.
As computers around the house failed, they were replaced by Macs. Dead MP3 players replaced by iPods. Dead phones replaced by iPhones. Dead laptop replaced by iPad.
Four years ago there was not an Apple product in sight in our home or business. Now we own a Mac Pro, two iMacs, a Macbook Pro, an iPod Touch, an iPad2, an iPod classic, an iPod shuffle, and Apple TV. I spend much less time “tinkering” with my computers and much more time using them.
My wife wanted a laptop for Christmas. I wanted to get her a Macbook Pro, but she was concerned that the learning curve was steep and the price too high. We bought a Lenovo laptop with Microsoft 7 for about $500, that with Office software and anti-virus came out closer to $900. This morning we wasted over an hour trying to install a program. We were not successful and have been Googling to see if it is a known issue. My wife, the last Windows holdout in the family says, “You were right, I should have gotten a Mac...”
They...just...work!
I’ve decided that I’m just going to sign my paycheck over to Apple. In return, all I ask is that they send me each new gadget as it is released and send me enough food so that I can stay alive to keep pushing those buttons and sliding my finger up and down those screens.