Why I am not cool with Apple ...
There was one link 'flying high' in the morning that prompted this post - you can take a look at:
Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection: iTunes, One Billion Suckers Served
(and you can also see some even more direct critics here).
While the links above are generally right they do not express a very important point - the reason why I raise my voice against Apple (and the MacIdiots that support them) has little to do with how popular iTunes can be (and to be honest that success is not entirely without merit) - the main reason is that Apple and RIAA are the single worst combination to make the choices for our future digital life - NO OTHER combination could be worse, even the 'eternal villain' Micro$oft looks good when compared with those two !!! I will not insist on RIAA but Apple has the longest record of anti-competitive behaviour and their ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL is based on LOCKING consumers into their stuff !!! (and if you believe that's only 'good american business model' then you are probably not aware it's the same business model as a heroin dealer).
The major problem right now is that the market is structured in such a monopolistic way that only very few alternatives can survive at the same time - so instead of some people having a choice to go with iTunes while others choosing a more open alternative (like mindawn.com - their legal FLAC downloads are AMAZING, only problem is that in order to survive on the long term they would need to have at least 1000 times more titles) - in a (very) few years there will be either only two alternatives (probably Apple and M$) or just one and no choice at all :(
So yes, in the end I would very much like that the choices for my digital future will NOT be made by people TOO DUMB TO USE A MOUSE WITH TWO BUTTONS!!!
Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection: iTunes, One Billion Suckers Served
(and you can also see some even more direct critics here).
While the links above are generally right they do not express a very important point - the reason why I raise my voice against Apple (and the MacIdiots that support them) has little to do with how popular iTunes can be (and to be honest that success is not entirely without merit) - the main reason is that Apple and RIAA are the single worst combination to make the choices for our future digital life - NO OTHER combination could be worse, even the 'eternal villain' Micro$oft looks good when compared with those two !!! I will not insist on RIAA but Apple has the longest record of anti-competitive behaviour and their ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL is based on LOCKING consumers into their stuff !!! (and if you believe that's only 'good american business model' then you are probably not aware it's the same business model as a heroin dealer).
The major problem right now is that the market is structured in such a monopolistic way that only very few alternatives can survive at the same time - so instead of some people having a choice to go with iTunes while others choosing a more open alternative (like mindawn.com - their legal FLAC downloads are AMAZING, only problem is that in order to survive on the long term they would need to have at least 1000 times more titles) - in a (very) few years there will be either only two alternatives (probably Apple and M$) or just one and no choice at all :(
So yes, in the end I would very much like that the choices for my digital future will NOT be made by people TOO DUMB TO USE A MOUSE WITH TWO BUTTONS!!!
posted by cool_stuff_or_not at 01:30
3 Comments:
Apple has the longest record of anti-competitive behaviour and their ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL is based on LOCKING consumers into their stuff !!!
Bullshit.
You want to talk about long records of anti-competitive behavior and an entire business model based on lockin-in?
Did you ever hear of Dr. DOS? Stacker? The infamous DOS error messages when running Lotus 1-2-3? The VMS code in NT? Office file formats? The "Windows Tax" on OEMs? Cutting off Netscape's "air supply"? The "Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish" strategy exemplified by Java++? A trial in Federal Court upheld by the Federal Court of Appeals finding that Microsoft (a) had a monopoly and (more importantly) (b) used that power to extend its monopoly into other markets?
Or how about Microsoft's _own_ DRM strategy of trying to seduce content providers to insist on nothing but proprietary Windows multi-media formats by offering them more control to impose draconian restrictions in return for locking in consumers to Windows data formats the same way they've locked in the Office market?
Adding lots of exclamation marks at the end of a sentence doesn't help one make a point. It makes you look immature. When the point is howler, it makes you look ignorant as well, and self-satisfied to boot. You'd do much better if you were to replace exclamation points with examples and/or reasons.
We were all young once. Live and learn -- all it takes to start is a commitment to take some time and make an effort. If you don't surprise yourself, you're not working hard enough.
Of course that Apple 'anonymous' fanboys would rather debate if M$ is a bigger evil :)
Well michael:
a) I am well aware of the mouse details mentioned by you - what you have not been able to quite grasp was that Apple is an entire platform built for people that on average are too dumb to use a two-button mouse - and precisely those users should NOT make any decisions about the 'digital future' :)
b) the anonymous comments were stopped when too many Apple fanboys were making comments that had very little with my actual point - like the first comment above trying to somehow prove that M$ is ALSO evil (like you can find somebody that needs to be convinced of that) or even your comment with the mouse buttons - technically close (even if I can easily pick on every statement that you made) but totally not related to the actual idea of the post...
Post a Comment
<< Home