Posts by Jeremy Chappell

Taken away?!

Err, his is escaped your notice that Apple still make MacBook Pros that have an optical drive, ethernet port, Firewire 800, Audio In etc... ? Nobody is "taking it away". You can still buy that, IF you need it. You want the new "thin, light, Retina Display"? Fine, then you've got to lose something. Where will the optical drive go? How will the ports attach? (If you take a look inside the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display you'll see that most of the space it taken up by battery, and there just isn't room on the board for more ports)

You want to "have your cake, and eat it". There is no space to put the things you're asking for. So you have to have a bigger, heavier system and you don't want to add the Retina Display to that because it'll need a bigger battery to drive it and the thing will be really heavy and bulky.

So you have a choice, thin/light with Retina Display or larger/heavier with optical drive and legacy ports.

Now shut your potty-mouth, grow up and make a choice like an adult.

Don't be evil

Their "Don't be evil" doesn't count for much does it?

Sad

This is really pathetic all round isn't it? Seriously, don't want to be FB Friends with Mom? Don't fix her computer then - problem solved.

Err...

If the number has been withdrawn then it isn't a valid plate... So it IS an offence to display it. Why is that hard for BO11 LUX brain to understand?

Reality bites

Not quite ready to kill the iPad then?

Hardly surprising

As Android users (according to the studies) don't actually buy apps very much (certainly compared to users of iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch). The number of units sold isn't what developers are interested in, they are interested in £'s spent - there Android lags.

I could characterise it thus: "People who buy Android devices are too 'frugal' to buy iOS devices". Hardly rich pickings for developers is it?

Epic

They have the hopes and dreams of the entire company pinned to this thing. I'd not want to be holding RIM stock or working for RIM.

This thing is an utter disaster. What exactly is working? The Android stuff isn't (and that looks so "part baked" anyway it's an embarrassment). Who outside RIM thinks this is a good idea?

Scalpers!

Scalpers! Oh that's amazingly low - I imagine someone at Nintendo will go absolutely ballistic with the representative of Game.

Oh no...

Jar Jar in 3D... Haven't we suffered enough?

Oh no...

Oh dear God, Jar Jar in 3D and you still can't punch him...

The bigger problem.

But the elephant in the room is "trust".

Open Source, if it is to be really successful (in ideology terms, rather than units shipped) will come from "the little guy", someone you've probably not heard of. The "bug guy" always has an agenda; he has to, he's answerable to shareholders and they want to see effort (investment) turned into profit.

The "little guy" often builds software because he needs it, his motivation is simple; "I need this, I can build it, if I share it then people will help me".

The problem is you don't know the little guy. There is always someone who wants to break this covenant for profit.

So "the bad guy" can take the little guy's effort, add something undesirable (malware), then make it available.

How does the end consumer tell? Is this written by "the little guy" or "the bad guy"?

I don't see a technical solution. Until this is properly addressed (if that's even possible) then paying "the big guy" seems preferable for consumers.

Which brings us into Apple's App Store. While some won't like it, it is probably the best thing consumers have. A store with a gatekeeper, checking products, rejecting products, distributing products. It isn't perfect, bad stuff can slip through, but Apple do seem to make this a rare event. Good for consumers, bad for open source. But now we've seen how much malware there is in Android Marketplace, and how damaging that can be, our choice is clear.

I for one, welcome our fruity overlords; the alternative is too dangerous.

Security?

Isn't security of Flash the elephant in the room here? Flash has a lousy reputation for security, something you completely fail to address, do we really want a big hole on the security model of our mobile devices?

I'm not at all sure it's "better to have Flash"... You've failed to convince me.

Why

Err... Why?

When was the last time anyone thought "you know what this half pint needs is another third of a pint"? Honestly? Anyone?

Now I can remember the last time I thought "you what this pint needs is another one". Actually, no I'm not so sure I can...

Standard?

FaceTime is based on existing standards, and Apple have made the implementation open (not open source, BUT the spec is open - it should be relatively easy to create a "FaceTime compatible" system, especially as most of it is indeed based off existing standards.

Skype is not open.

Seems pretty simple really, I know the facts here don't agree with the general perception of Apple, but there it is.

Grandad knows best

The Omega is so much nicer it simply isn't even funny. I'm sure this new e-ink thingy won't last as long. Weird it looks dated, and naff while it's still new - the Omega still looks fine, more than fine in fact.

Nonsense

Quote: "And, of course, the last thing Apple would want is for every every Tom, Dick or Harry to be walking around clutching its fondle slabs."

Nonsense. Apple have always wanted to sell product, what they haven't wanted is to sell product that the buyer won't have a good experience with - because Apple want them to repeat this (that is buy another one). Where many vendors just want to sell you a widget, Apple want to sell you a succession of widget (this widget should be so good that no "non-Apple" widget will do in the future). There are plenty of examples of where Apple have tried to broaden the appeal of their product, the iPod Shuffle is one example, and you could argue the iPad itself is another. Apple would be very happy for every "Tom Dick or Harry" to have one, as long as they were intending to buy another (even if they didn't know that yet).

Mac demographic

One factor that might be significant is if the owner also has a Mac or not. The iPad (rather unsurprisingly) fits very well into a Mac ecosystem, with much of the users information (calendar, address book, email) being replicated. Additionally if the Mac owning user favours iWork over Office then versions of the iWork applications are available on the iPad. There are plenty of applications that have the same exclusivity from other venders (Cultured Code's "Things", which is excellent by the way, is one such example).

It's hardly surprising that Mac owners would respond so positively, even before you consider any "fanboi jingoism".