I like my Apple TV. It's the only way I watch TV any more. But maybe I'm weird. I really like my cable company too (now you've heard someone say it). I really do.
Microsoft has a conquer-the-world and dominate-the-market mentality. The result is obvious.
Steve Jobs said that for Apple to win, Microsoft does not have to lose. That is a very keen insight. It's not necessary for Apple to make every product, saturate every market, and eliminate all competition. If they tried, quality and profitability would suffer and regulatory agencies would be on their backs about monopolistic practices.
The day that Apple goes into conquer-the-world mode is the day that Apple dies.
A physical keyboard is not going to happen. It would require one SKU for every keyboard layout--a nightmare. With the software keyboard, they have one SKU for markets as diverse as Punjab, Iceland, and Nunavut. The software keyboard also allows access to characters that would otherwise not be available.
Old folks like you and me get crotchety and inflexible with age. We have trouble adapting to newfangled gadgets like this, but if you can get used to an electric icebox, a horseless carriage, and ball point pens, you can use the software keyboard. It's just fine.
You spelled its wrong. Here's an easy way to remember whether to write < its > or < it's >.
He's in his place
It's in its place
The usage is exactly parallel. Just determine whether you'd replace it with he's or his, and that is how to spell it. You would never say, "I met he's girlfriend," so you will always get it right.
On topic: I think that iTunes does too much and ought to be broken up. It does everything but cook dinner. Its directory structure is a little messed up, too. Why are my movies in:
/users/name/music/itunes/itunes music/movies ?
Why aren't they in
/users/name/movies/itunes movies ?
I/wish/people/would/stop/using/the/slash/as/a/universal/punctuation/mark/or/to/separate/synonyms/as/if/to/say/"I/don't/know/what/I/mean/pick/a/word."
The only thing wor(s)e i(s) putting (s) in parenthe(s)e(s), which is unnece(s)(s)ary, can't be pronounced, and amount(s) to li(s)ping in print.
NO PHYSICAL KEYBOARD
It makes no business sense. If they have a physical keyboard, they have different SKUs for each layout: US English, UK English, Swiss German, Icelandic, and so forth. They would have to plan what to do with the surplus stock if sales in Nunavut don't take off. With the software keyboard, they have one SKU for the whole world.
It is illegal. OS X exists to sell Macs and to keep current customers happy. It is obviously worth far more than $129; it's effectively a loss leader. In the aggregate, hackinoshes deprive Apple of sales, and at the very least, it causes Apple to sell at a loss. Even if it were legal, it would be killing the goose that laid the golden egg. All the good things we enjoy from Apple come from their business model. If you destroy that, you ruin it for everyone.
Microsoft is not a good example of anything, remember? OEM versions of Office and Windows are tied to the hardware. Microsoft has draconian licensing. If Apple starts selling OS X as a separate product, we'll end up with license codes, validation problems, constant updates to support HP, Dell, Hamilton Beach, and whatever else; and it will bring about an Apple equivalent of Windows Genuine Disadvantage. What a dandy world your hackintosh will create for us.
If you want to put a Unixy operating system on an Intel computer, or you'd like to build your own dream machine, use Linux. If Linux is such the paragon you make it out to be, it should be your first choice anyway.
Don't rape OS X and ruin it for the rest of us.
This really has nothing to do with the Mac vs the PC. It's all about budget constraints for the initial acquisition, in terms of what a person is willing or able to spend.
You might say that there are three price ranges for PCs: low, middle, and high. In comparison, there are only two price ranges for the Mac: middle and high. Macs are missing the lower price range. If a person has a budget constraint that places them in the low price range, then the Mac (middle) is more expensive than the PC (low). Of course that also means that the PC (middle) is too expensive for them too. If a person can afford the middle or high price range, then the Mac is a viable choice.
I have a coworker who indulges himself by owning a BMW. He also has a visceral yearning to get a Mac. The problem is after the BMW, he doesn't have enough money for it. On the other hand, I don't make enough money for a three-letter German car (BMW), so I own a two-letter German car (VW). The money I would spend on that third letter goes to purchasing a Mac with all the trimmings.
We have about the same income. For his priorities, the BMW is affordable and the Mac is too expensive. For my priorities, the BMW is too expensive and the Mac is affordable.
So if someone says the Mac is more expensive, they are right. And if someone else says that Macs aren't more expensive, they are right, too.
Apple sometimes makes products that don't catch the world on fire, but they all have these two factors in common: they have a large potential market, and they can be sold at high margins. The Apple TV is an example. It didn't catch the world on fire, but it does have a large potential market (everyone who owns a television set) and it can be sold at high margins.
It would be very easy to put out a very successful niche product that has such a low return that it doesn't pay for its own development and manufacturing. Apple spends a lot of money on making their products beautiful, because that increases sales--but it also increases development costs. So Apple's strategy is wise.
What you are describing is a product with a limited market that must be sold at low margins, and on top of that, the potential customer base is price-sensitive. Apple won't go there until they determine that it isn't a niche product and they find a way to develop and sell it profitably. No matter how much you crave it.
For many people, Apple is a religion, but to its executives and shareholders, it's a business that's supposed to give them a return on their investment.
I only had a permissions problem on one computer that had nothing to do with MobileMe but had the side-effect of disabling sync. It turned out to be my fault and it was easy to fix.
The downtime wasn't a problem for me, because I had anticipated that there would be a surge the first few days after the transition.
The purpose of discontinuing IE for the Mac was to slow Apple's entry into the enterprise market
Internet Explorer goes into quirks mode if the DOCTYPE is not correctly and precisely specified, and on the first line of the code, as seen by the browser. Microsoft's web-development tools put white space before the DOCTYPE. That means that if you use Microsoft tools, you can create all the standard code you like, and it will still trigger quirks mode. The result is that the web pages don't look right in any browser other than IE. Everyone thinks it's the non-Microsoft's browser's inadequacy. That ties enterprise users to IE.
Mac users, not having IE, could access or use any of the internal web applications in the enterprise. Microsoft was tried to shut the door for Apple to invade the enterprise.
Since then the EU has pressured Microsoft to be standards compliant.
I have the same problem with sleep on my MacBook Pro. It was broken in 10.5, they fixed it in 10.5.1, and it's broken again in 10.5.2. Before anyone suggests going back to 10.5.1, let me say that 10.5.2 fixes too much other stuff.
When I am working in closed-lid mode and disconnect the keyboard and power supply, I get an ominous gray screen crash instead of sleep.
On my iMac, I notice that right before a system sound, the system appears to be suspended. I say "appears" because the only thing I can see is that my typing goes into a buffer instead of onto the screen. After the system sound is finished, the typing appears. It seems to me that Leopard ought to be able to play system sounds in the background. It's not the speed of my computer; it's an aluminum 24" Core 2 Extreme.
I'd settle for a universal remote that I could actually understand and use.
Maybe they could form a subsidiary, say "UI Unlimited," that would design user interfaces for client companies in areas that Apple is not planning to enter. For example, automobile dashboards, sewing machines, kitchen appliance, thermostats; anything that now has confusing controls. Which is to say, just about anything.
I'd say, You have a keen instinct for not making products I think I need, but don't, and for inventing products I need, but would never think of. So whatever you are doing, keep doing it.
Dismissing the Apple TV Objections
Google Chrome OS Could Be The Mac Steve Always Wanted to Release
Mac 2.0 or How Apple Could Win the Desktop Wars
iPhone nano and New Macbooks - Two Certainties for WWDC 2009?
What I'd Like to See in the New iPhone
Apple, Please Clean Up the Clutter
What To Expect from WWDC
Are Hackintoshes Illegal?
Are Macs More Expensive?
Apple's iWeb Multimedia Computer?
MobileMe Pushes Back Everything
June 13, 2003: Microsoft Halts Development of Internet Explorer for the Mac
Leopard: Not Quite Right
What Should Apple's Next Product Be?
What Would You Talk to Steve Jobs About?