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plan obsolescence

C

Cinch

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 18, 2005
479
2
I own the 1st generation MacBook, purchased in June of 2006, and I'm using Tiger OSX 10.4.11. I went and spec out the new nano on apple.com today, and to my surprise OSX 10.5.8 a.k.a Leopard is required. I don't use my computer for much other than surfing the web and watching TV shows on Hulu etc. Listening to iTunes and using the web for news and tv constitute about 99% of my computer usage at home, so there is no need to upgrade IMHO. My MacBook works well as is, granted the battery only last a few minutes now, but I never unplugged.

It turns out I can't purchase any of the current iPods except for the Classic unless I upgrade which cost $169 for the OSX Box Set. To further insult my "old" MacBook, I can't buy an iPad nor an iPhone, current model of course. An one more thing, I can't use iTunes 10 because it requires 10.5 or later.

I am not alone here, because I believe there are a significant albeit minority of us still using OSX Tiger. I take pride in keeping my MacBook running, thank you very much. I don't want to "recycle" my MacBook nor sell it, because it works fine!

GM (General Motors) invented plan obsolescence, but Apple took this idea to new heights! Shame on you Apple!!
 
Unfortunately this is called the business model. Apple are there to make money, thus they need customers to buy/upgrade their machines.
 
It's unreasonable for you to expect new technology to be compatible with old. And for what it's worth, your computer is very old considering how quickly technology advances.
 
Cinch said:
GM (General Motors) invented plan obsolescence, but Apple took this idea to new heights! Shame on you Apple!!
Click to expand...
LOL!
I can't run a horse and buggy on the freeway because it can't meet the minimum speed limit.
I can't use phone menus with a rotary-dial phone.
I can't watch HDTV with a tube-type TV with rabbit ears, with or without tinfoil.
I can't use my old cellular "bag phone" with today's cellular networks.
I can't run Microsoft Office 2007 on Windows 3.1.
Etc., etc., etc.

Times change. Technology changes. You have to keep up. It's not planned obsolescence; it's progress. 10 years in the auto business is like 5 months in the computer world.

It's not reasonable to expect hardware and software makers to ensure their products are backwards compatible forever.
 
Window XP

New iPods support Window XP, and Window Xp is certainly older than OSX Tiger, but who cares.

I appreciate all of your inputs. Thank you very much.:)

There is one last question I want to pose.

In this "Great Recession" that we are experiencing (personally i think it is a start of a depression), how many of you here think you can continue to upgrade/purchase a new computer every couple of years? Renew your iPhone contract with $100+ per month? Yes, it is easy if you have a job, but what happen if your job is threaten or you get layoff? What then?

I'm thinking ahead to a time where money is tight and in limited supply. IMHO, ipods and iPhones will be the last thing on our collective minds in the coming years.

Last laugh?
 
I can only answer for me; not for others.
Cinch said:
how many of you here think you can continue to upgrade/purchase a new computer every couple of years?
Click to expand...
I only replace/upgrade as needed. I'm still enjoying my Early 2008 MBP with a matte screen and replaceable battery on Leopard. There's nothing in the unibodies or Snow Leopard or iTunes 10 that makes me want to change what I have just yet.
Cinch said:
Renew your iPhone contract with $100+ per month?
Click to expand...
I don't have or want an iPhone, iPod or iPad. It's too hard to read those tiny screens and I can't imagine trying to surf the web with them! That's what I use a computer for! I don't need or want internet access on my cellphone, and even set up my account to disable text messaging. I use a cell phone for phone calls. (Bizarre concept, I know!)
Cinch said:
Yes, it is easy if you have a job, but what happen if your job is threaten or you get layoff? What then?
Click to expand...
I can't recall how long it's been since I've had a job, since I've been self-employed most of my business life. As long as I kiss up to the boss, I won't fire me! :D
Cinch said:
I'm thinking ahead to a time where money is tight and in limited supply. IMHO, ipods and iPhones will be the last thing on our collective minds in the coming years.?
Click to expand...
As long as I can still buy Harleys and put gas in 'em, I'm happy! :cool:
Cinch said:
Last laugh?
Click to expand...
Still laughing, so far, but who knows what tomorrow holds?
 
3 simple steps to make it work:

1) Stand up and go to the Mall.
2) Purchase a $29 Snow Leopard-DVD and go home
3) Insert the DVD, hold the "C" key while powering on the MacBook, Choose your language, choose your hard drive and install.

You may want to 4) install more RAM, which I'd suggest you anyways, if you didn't already do so.

Boom, iPod Nano working on a MacBook.

Cinch said:
I am not alone here, because I believe there are a significant albeit minority of us still using OSX Tiger.
Click to expand...
10.4: 0.55%
10.5: 1.73%
10.6: 2.59%

If you remove all Macs that have <867MHz PPC processors, you'll see <0.1% for 10.4.
 
Giuly said:
3 simple steps to make it work:

1) Stand up and go to the Mall.
2) Purchase a $29 Snow Leopard-DVD and go home
3) Insert the DVD, hold the "C" key while powering on the MacBook, Choose your language, choose your hard drive and install.

You may want to 4) install more RAM, which I'd suggest you anyways, if you didn't already do so.

Boom, iPod Nano working on a MacBook.
Click to expand...

Bingo. OP, your computer isn't obsolete, and it can run the latest OS. It's kind of ridiculous it took THIS many posts to point out that a 30$ upgrade will solve your problem. Instead of jumping down your throat they should have offered useful information.
 
THX1139 said:
It's unreasonable for you to expect new technology to be compatible with old. And for what it's worth, your computer is very old considering how quickly technology advances.
Click to expand...

Am I alone in thinking 5 years is not long at all? Especially when I am highly doubtful that Ipods and Mac OS are so different today than 5 years ago that supporting it would be a horrible burden. It's got to be an artificial limitation, as opposed to changes in architecture that would make it cost prohibitive to support.
 
I agree with you. They havn't changed the hardware much, and making drivers is not difficult, especially when they basically have only a few laptops and desktops to support every year. It's artificial because there's too many fanboys who buy a new mac every year or two.

DraziGuy said:
Am I alone in thinking 5 years is not long at all? Especially when I am highly doubtful that Ipods and Mac OS are so different today than 5 years ago that supporting it would be a horrible burden. It's got to be an artificial limitation, as opposed to changes in architecture that would make it cost prohibitive to support.
Click to expand...
 
green86 said:
I'll admit I missed that, however it would have been more convenient to post a sentence. And the whole thread is littered with chatter not relevant/helpful in anyway.
Click to expand...

I agree, a direct sentence would have been more helpful, but as I just posted that information in that other thread though, I found it easier to link.
And in any way I din't think someone was unable to read six sentences, even the ones that don't involve chatter, which I still can't find.

chatter |ˈ ch atər|
...
noun
incessant trivial talk : a stream of idle chatter.
• a series of quick high-pitched sounds : the chatter of a typewriter.
• undesirable vibration in a mechanism : the wipers should operate without chatter.
Click to expand...
 
I’m using a late-2006 MacBook (the model right after the OP’s) and it runs Snow Leopard just fine. Leopard, the version the new iPods require, is now nearly three years old and runs on Macs from as early as 2001. Quit whining about “planned obsolescence” and upgrade your damn software. $29 for Snow Leopard is a deal.
 
spinnerlys said:
I agree, a direct sentence would have been more helpful, but as I just posted that information in that other thread though, I found it easier to link.
And in any way I din't think someone was unable to read six sentences, even the ones that don't involve chatter, which I still can't find.
Click to expand...

Really, you can't find trivial talk? There is plenty of posts in this thread that have nothing to do with helping the OP.

trivial |ˈtrivēəl|
adjective
of little value or importance

The posts hold little value to the OP, you can slice it anyway you want.
 
green86 said:
Really, you can't find trivial talk? There is plenty of posts in this thread that have nothing to do with helping the OP.

trivial |ˈtrivēəl|
adjective
of little value or importance

The posts hold little value to the OP, you can slice it anyway you want.
Click to expand...

My reply holds value, at least I think that. But you're right, one should never have to read more than two sentences to get to a point.

Screenshot of that long and chattery thread I linked to.
6i8rb7.png

Anyway, let's not get off topic, the OP hasn't even responded to the SL Upgrade DVD recommendation yet.
 
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