Short-lived Mac Experience

There are things about Apple's MO I don't like, but removing an app which violates the terms of the GPL sounds like a good thing to me.

 

That's quite amazing how that iBook is still running OK. I wonder if my 2009 MacBook will last that long...

 

How many PCs are there from that era that aren't in landfills?

The only locked down platform is the iPhone OS platform. You are welcome to not buy it.

So they violated the GPL licensing agreement and Apple is supposed to let them stay in the App Store? You would rather the App Store be filled with Apps that are violating the agreement from which they took much of their work? And this means they everything Apple is "locked down?" I know that the iPhone platform isn't open for any app to be sold, but this is a poor example.

Last 15" Powerbook G4 starting price: $1999
Today's 15" Macbook Pro starting price: $1799

Last 14" iBook G4 starting price: $1299
Today's 13" Macbook Pro starting price: $1199

Last PowerMac G5 (Quad) starting price: $3299
Today's Mac Pro (Quad) starting price: $2499

Last PPC iMac (20") starting price: $1699
Today's iMac (21.5") starting price: $1199

Last PPC Mac Mini starting price (with superdrive): $699
Today's Intel Mac Mini starting price: $599

Source: http://www.everymac.com

I still think Apple is a good a company as they were then. Good to know you just switch between "monopoly players." Why not be daring and go all open-source?

 

It only took 3-4 years depending on the model. Apple is glacial when it comes to computer hardware updates otherwise.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes

 

I don't get it.

 

That was a lot of nothing in an attempt to prove a point.

 

Who says that you have to use GPL? That has nothing to do with Apple at all.

Note that the article is a depreciated one and no longer applies.

But who says that it will? Steve has already said that is not the case You are making a false argument based on no factual evidence - you are just hypothesizing with only one data point. You cannot use one data-point regarding one platform and extend it to another like that. You assume that Apple can suddenly make such a drastic change to their OS like that - there is no reason to suggest that they even could do that and be successful.

Oh and by the way, monopolies are not illegal in of themselves.

 

I still have a iBook G4 1.33/1.25gb mem and I take it when I travel and sometimes use it around the house. It has Leopard and is fine for what I do with it.

 

Sometimes you have to....

Sorry to see you go. Stop by and tell us how well your rigs are running.

 

Consider getting a used machine if funds are limited.

I got a beautiful 17" macbook pro on ebay for $650. Runs snow leopard very snappily. Runs circles around the old G4...

 

Not me. I've owned Macs since 1991 and several top-of-the-line machines since the early G4 era, as well as maintaining about 20 Macs at work for the past 15 years, and I've seen a substantial decrease in prices, an increase in built-in features, and no significant change in build quality over that time period.

My 1st gen Intel 17" MBP was cheaper than my 1st gen G5 tower, faster, and at least as well built, better if I take into account that it's a portable. Both are still running fine, but the MBP runs better. There were FAR more problems with first and second generation G5 iMacs than with first and second generation Intel iMacs, and the prices were substantially higher. The newer ones are cheaper and better.

The i7 iMac is the first all-in-one computer good enough to convince me to buy it over a dedicated pro tower. In particular, Apple's switch to IPS screens in everything but its laptops (unless you count the now-depreciated iPhone 3GS) shows a continued dedication to quality, even if it increases the price substantially and, frankly, is NOT that much of a marketing bullet point to the average consumer (who frankly has no idea what IPS means, or why it's good, and may not even notice the difference).

I'd also make a strong argument that the iPhone 4 and iPad are the best-designed and built products Apple has ever made; the only competition is the cheese grater towers.

Not saying you aren't justified in making your decision, but blanket statements about build quality or price maintenance aren't necessarily accurate, or universal.

I also completely fail to see why people tar the Mac with the same brush as the iOS and App store. One is not the other. You're allowed to say "I dislike Apple's business practices in area A enough to make me take my business in area B elsewhere." -- That's how I feel about MS's browser war performance and Office/Windows business practices, and why I will never buy an XBox, even were it an appealing game console.

But saying "Apple is too restrictive." as a reason not to use a Mac when, thus far, there has been no actual evidence to support that is just odd. Yes, it's POSSIBLE that this will change some day, with 10.7 or 10.8 (personally I doubt it), but it's also entirely possible that it won't, and until that day there's no particular reason to dislike the MacOS because of the App Store. If MacOS 10.8 requires signed apps that can only be bought through Apple, then you can legitimately say "too closed, I'm switching to Ubuntu." or whatever, but doing so preemptively if there isn't some other good reason for it mystifies me.


Anyway, I honestly do hope that you find your new choice of platform more enjoyable and functional to you than the MacOS and Apple's hardware. I'd be interested, in fact, in hearing your experiences once you've used it for a year or two.

 

How do you guys not understand this? I actually liked this story and think its completely relevant to what this threadstarter said. Basically, he can't afford a mac, so it's easy for him to criticize it because he can't have it.

but on topic, I do find it a little annoying that you need a mac to be an iPhone dev but I don't think its a huge deal. If you want to develop mobile applications try android, they've got a great community, the eclipse sdk plugin runs on everything, and it may eventually have a similar market share to apple's offerings.