Apple is The Sharper Image of computers. They sell shiny stuff that is easy to operate. It doesn't mean that the product does much or is cheap or reliable or versatile or it comes with on-site service. It's mostly shiny. Apple took all the sharp tools from users of i{Phone,Pod,Pad} and made sure they can't get them. So if someone wants to take up residence in an "assisted living" house of computers and walk in a straitjacket, more power to them.
I believe Apple will lose their market if the country tightens its belt further. Already Apple has to limit itself to people with disposable income, people who can afford to buy a $500 gadget that they don't really need, people who then will be nickel-and-dimed for primitive software that often doesn't do anything useful. iPad doesn't even have a filesystem, and conversions from Apple's own wordprocessor are lossy. In contrast, there is plenty of absolutely free software for Windows and Linux, and often that software is excellent. Try Paint.Net, GIMP, GnuPG, Dia, OpenOffice, Firefox and many other programs - they are free and they are very functional. But happy owners of iPads, after they go through the honeymoon, will discover that iPad software is not free.
Apple makes luxury products, just like Toyota makes some luxury cars. Lexus doesn't do anything much differently than Corolla; there are just improvements, accessories and overall polish. But if you need to get from A to B then any car will do. Apple's market is the market of luxury computers - not just functional computers, but computers that are more of status symbol than a processor of machine instructions. Versatility is sacrificed for simplicity; less is more. Apple will be OK as long as there are people with cash to burn and with desire to own fashionable stuff. But if you need performance, versatility or low cost, look elsewhere. Carpenters don't walk around with golden hammers. I have several computers and I made some myself, I have a board next to me that I'm writing firmware for. For me Apple boxes offer no value whatsoever.
Absolutely very well said! Yes, it is a younger generation luxury item. Too bad that most Apple users won’t figure that out until it’s too late.
Heh, you do sound like a fellow programmer/hardware engineer. I have never tried to write bios for a PC (have written low level firmware for telecommunications equipment). That sound like fun!
Have never purchased a PC intact... All have been from scratch (probably due to my H8 experience). Can’t imagine buying an Apple (already put together - and limited upgrades).
If I might inquire - what are you writing firmware for? What languages are you using?
You’re correct about Apple’s iPads and such, but you’re not right regarding their Mac Pros.
Mac Pros and their operating system handle large files much better than PC’s, they also handle fonts, color spaces and .eps/tiff/.PSD/.ai files much better.
Their workflow for creating designs in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesgin are much better for handling files from beginning to end, from the local computer to a service bureau.
Now, admittedly, not many people design files that use numerous fonts, eps. images with alpha channels and duotones/tritones plus tiffs with clipping paths, all exported in CMYK to a service provider, but for those of us that DO such work, the Mac is far, far superior to PC’s.
I have many Macs but don’t own any iStuff...no Touches, iPads, iPhones, etc., and I’ve been using Macs for design work for almost twenty years now.
Ed
Correct me if I’m wrong, but won’t all of the apps you mentioned run on a Mac? You have to load Windows for Paint.net, but the rest will run in OS X.
And a good portion of iPad apps are probably free. There are a ton of free iPhone apps. I don’t know how the ratio would breakdown and how it would compare to the ratio of paid vs free for desktop OSes, but there are a good number of free apps out there.
You are aware that the Apple Mac is one of the four fully licensed and fully compliant UNIX™ platforms? Further, are you aware that the Apple Mac can run ALL Windows 95, 98, XP, ME, 2000, MS-DOS, LINUX, UNIX, and Mac OS X software simulataneously????
I believe Apple will lose their market if the country tightens its belt further. Already Apple has to limit itself to people with disposable income, people who can afford to buy a $500 gadget that they don't really need, people who then will be nickel-and-dimed for primitive software that often doesn't do anything useful.
Were you further aware that during this "belt tightening period" that Apple was the only computer company that CONSISTENTLY gained market share AND increased its profits in its computer sales????
But happy owners of iPads, after they go through the honeymoon, will discover that iPad software is not free.
Are you further aware that the majority of iPhone and iPad software is FREE???
Apple will be OK as long as there are people with cash to burn and with desire to own fashionable stuff. But if you need performance, versatility or low cost, look elsewhere.
Finally, Apple computers have consistently been shown to have a lower TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP than Windows PCs on independent surveys over the life of the machines... repeatedly. It's amazing how much you got wrong...