DescentBB

Xamindar wrote:I don't get Foxtrot. It has NEVER made me laugh. It's like the artist lives in a different world.

I guess I live in a different world, too. I find the majority of his cartoons funny, and can also relate to many of them. I liked this one exactly because I like poking fun at Apple & its users.

I showed it to my oldest son (he's 20), mentioned that the iPad doesn't support Adobe Flash ... and he burst out it a fit of laughter.

Poor Flash

The iPad is primarily targeted at iPod/iTouch users as a coffee table/bedside alternative to those choices with a bigger screen. It appeals to me marginally, primarily as an around-the-house on-the-couch or in-bed surfing option and Hulu portal. Those who are Apple app store junkies are also tempted to nab it for the larger screen size, but that's about it. It's not at all the netbook-killer that a lot of folks were expecting it to be, and that's the underlying reason for some of the angst directed towards it from what I've seen thus far. The Flash issue however, I admit, is pretty silly. One the one hand, you protect your users from certain exploits and set yourself up as a primary supporter of the HTML5 alternative once it goes mainstream... but on the other hand, you lose out on access to a lot of quality content that really destroys some of the ROI.

For those hating on OSX, I sympathize with you and was one of you a few years back... but things have changed. With all the improvements done to the OS combined with the BSD-based back-end, a lot of tech-savvy folks (and especially the developer crowd) are looking at Snow Leopard as a very polished and shiny environment for them to work from. When I attended a Ruby developers conference in Austin last year, I and one other person that I saw out of the 200+ devs in attendance were running something OTHER than OSX. There are more than a few where I work that are already running it as well, and I know more would be if given the choice of a new machine right now.

In addition to other improvements, one of the biggest struggles for Macs in the workplace was MS Office support, but that's no longer an issue. At the same time Windows 7 was released, they released Office for OSX. The MS reps I've asked through vendor relations and in their store on-site have both stated that it's selling like hotcakes. Aside from MS Office, OSX has gained a huge leg up on Windows compatibility with the VMWare Fusion product which takes all the best bits of Virtual Machine technology and integrates them so tightly into OSX that you can't tell when you're running a Windows app through VMWare versus a native app (unless the trappings are blatantly obvious).

It should also be noted that, on the 22nd of this month, it was officially announced by Valve that Steam for Mac would be released to the masses for public consumption - with the guarantee that all games available through Steam would work on Mac. That laundry list of games, indie or otherwise, has grown immensely in the past couple of years. This is a huge deal for Mac users in general, but also greatly increases the possibility for OS-agnostic mainstream games in the future (for Linux as well as OSX). Apple has become, for those \"on the outside looking in\", a perfect example of \"you get what you pay for.\" You pay premium prices for a premium experience, and must sacrifice a portion of your freedom to get there because they must enforce standards upon developers that code for their platform to maintain the smooth look and feel.

The greatest hurdle for widespread adoption of OSX is not the cost of the software (because it's insanely cheap compared to Windows 7 - you can get a pack of 5 licenses for $20), it's the hardware. Apple tries hard to make sure that they make their money off the hardware purchase required to run their optimized environment. Taking the Hackintosh route circumvents this problem but is fraught with peril, and you have to be willing to build your own system that can meet the Snow Leopard HCL.

For those not aware of the difference between OSX and Windows, I invite you to pick up just about any other smartphone and compare your usability experience with that of an iPhone. While you may have differing opinions on ease of use or available apps and their usefulness (AT&T network arguments aside), pay close attention to the smoothness of navigation through the various apps (including the browser). You'll find that, with rare exception, the iPhone doesn't stutter at all and the other smartphones have noticeable hiccups. I would compare it to playing a game at 20fps versus 75+ - you can get past it and overlook the frustration, but you can bet your beans that a vid card or CPU upgrade is in the forefront of your mind every time you notice it. The experience of using apps on my iPod compared to my Storm or even the Nexus/Droid/HTC variants is, dare I say it, orgasmic by comparison. Such is the difference with the operating systems.

Am I running OSX anywhere currently? Nope... none of my current hardware can run it without going the hackintosh route and making some usability sacrifices, and I can't currently afford to buy Apple hardware. But when my current gaming rig or dev box are in need of upgrades, I'm definitely going to make sure that future hardware purchases allow me to steer myself in that direction.

Insightful post, though there are a couple points I wanted to make...

Sllik wrote:In addition to other improvements, one of the biggest struggles for Macs in the workplace was MS Office support, but that's no longer an issue. At the same time Windows 7 was released, they released Office for OSX.

There have been Mac-capable versions of Office long before then (I think the suite, or at least some of its programs, might have started on the Mac - even if not it was definitely around well before OS X). Whether they were particularly good or not is another matter, and not one I'm well-qualified to comment on - but Microsoft does seem to be pretty serious about the office:mac thing.

It should also be noted that, on the 22nd of this month, it was officially announced by Valve that Steam for Mac would be released to the masses for public consumption - with the guarantee that all games available through Steam would work on Mac.

I doubt that - I'm pretty sure it's just Valve games (current/future and maybe past) that will be included in that list. Just because a game is on Steam doesn't mean it will work on any OS that Steam supports - and there are a lot of older titles that are unlikely to be touched any further, never mind ported to the Mac. For instance, X-COM barely works on modern versions of Windows; I don't think Mac-capable versions are ever going to happen.

What I do agree with is that this increases the odds that developers will pay attention to the Mac, if its (gradually) increasing market share weren't enough cause. It's not a given considering you still have the lack of DirectX or a critical mass of existing gamers on the platform to deal with, but for sufficiently popular titles those problems won't be insurmountable.

Here's my take on Apple:

People who use macs are like people that wear designer clothes; they do it to try to make a statement about how cool & hip they are.

That's exactly why I don't. I like having control over my computer. I also don't use microsoft crap.

LOL this thread is a stretch

I only wish \"being stupid\" was really painful..... unfortunately it's not, that's why they say \"Ignorance is bliss\" I have noticed a huge influx of moronic topics.... yeah you know who you are

not much of a topic to get back to, Ipad (save your money) MAC's buy them for work if you are sure that it will add profit to your bottom line, and if you bring it back to the apple store out of warranty for a repair you should be shot and buried with your paperweight

snoopy wrote:People who use macs are like people that wear designer clothes; they do it to try to make a statement about how cool & hip they are.

So the US Army wants to be 'cool'?
http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/03/22/36 ... -soldiers/

"Apple technologies offer unique and proven solutions with intuitive designs that allow users to learn quickly without a training manual," said Ron Szymanski, CERDEC's lead computer scientist on the project. "The Army would like to leverage Apple's experience when designing military applications."

Pandora wrote:

snoopy wrote:People who use macs are like people that wear designer clothes; they do it to try to make a statement about how cool & hip they are.

So the US Army wants to be 'cool'?
http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/03/22/36 ... -soldiers/

"Apple technologies offer unique and proven solutions with intuitive designs that allow users to learn quickly without a training manual," said Ron Szymanski, CERDEC's lead computer scientist on the project. "The Army would like to leverage Apple's experience when designing military applications."

"Sarge! How do I load a map while using a spread at the same time!?!?!"
"Here's a second IPad!"

i wonder if the military version can be dropped without damage or fit in tight bags without cracked displays. maybe if they made it ultra strong with 2cm security glass

Pandora wrote:So the US Army wants to be 'cool'?

totally.

The US military is totally excessive, way bigger than it needs to be (significantly more than every other nation's military budget COMBINED), especially given it's safe geographical location and plentiful economic (ie: diplomaticly friendly) ties.

Also USA's military budget is an integral part of the outof control military industrial complex that lobbys for it's own continued existence.
Apart from that, there's an image to maintain for all the canned beer drinking wifebeating mouthbreathers - USA ★■◆● YEAH.

Apple fits perfectly into their image.
Like a smooth and shiny new hummer with spinnaz, with a $600 claw hammer hanging from the rear vision mirror.