What do you think to Apple?

[jambo]

I'm happy to live in an age where we've got genuine choices in our operating systems, none of which cause too many major issues. Microsoft's Windows is genuinely better than it's ever been. Mac's OSX continues to develop well and there's a huge range of well supported Linux distributions if you feel that way inclined.

Yes Apple hardware is dear, but so are sony vaio laptops (of which I have 2) and the Mac's I've looked at lately are much, much tougher than the vaio's which are a git for breaking screens if you're not careful.

Horses for courses, if your choice of hardware and software causes you to claim everyone else's choices, if different to yours, are wrong regardless of their requirements. Then this thread will be full of things to anger you, as it contains valid and differing opinions.

Jambo

Originally Posted by barwel1992

the only thing i will ever buy from apple is a ipod, hate the i mac's mac books and now that new crappy Ipad(panty liner)

imac/books are ALL over priced and under specked and if i wanted OSX then i would just run snow lepard on a far supeior mashine that costs half as much and is twice as good ....

In all fairness, while Apple products are generally very expensive, they are usually built with very tough and high quality components. Of course, things can fail on anything, but if you specced out a home made or pre-made non apple system to the same standard, you probably wouldn't see that much difference in price.

I have been a Mac fan for years. I currently have an XP machine indoors and a G4 running OS X. I far prefer OS X- once you set it up for yourself, it's far more useable than the PC and glitches less often than the PCs at work. Sadly, the Mac is so old (and therefore slow), that it's no longer useful as a music workstation- so I'm stuck with Windows for a while until I can afford a new mac...

But I can see why Apple products wind some people right up.

The only problem i have with apple is itunes, its seems a pain in the @rse and very unstable other than that i'm more than pleased with the iphone.

Im not actually bothered either way...why do you have such a dislike of them? Just wondered out of curiosity!

Maria

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

The only problem i have with apple is itunes, its seems a pain in the @rse and very unstable other than that i'm more than pleased with the iphone.

Me too, itunes is awful, there are alternatives though.

I think they make nice looking devices, I dislike touch screens, though, and the way they launched the iphone with a terrible camera just smacks of intentional holding back of features that people will want to upgrade for. They're overpriced too imo.

The iPad (not that funny a name, notebook - iBook, notepad - iPad. Helipad? Teehee) seems like a money spinner. Not my cup of tea.

Originally Posted by Kalessin

Such as...?

Any local independent PC shop will build you a far superior machine for much less than the cost of any Mac. We have Power Computing here in Bedford who do some stupid cheap deals on new PCs and upgrades. When there is a shop like that handy there's no way I would even consider buying anything with an Apple logo on it.

I still can't abide the smugness associated with Apple products. It seems to me Apple could market the iTurd, which is just a dog poo rolled in glitter, and all those sad saps would be queuing up to buy it and proclaiming it to the the best turd in existence.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Lozzo

It's not so much the flashy geeky products that have a limited number of applications and versatility, but more the smug "look at my new flashyApple product" the owners have.

Normal people like me and most of my friends say "I have to use the phone, be back in a sec", an Apple user will always say "I have to use my iphone, be back in a sec". They just simply have to tell you they have an Apple product. Like they won't just mention their laptop, they have to give you the exact model number and colour.

It's the general smug-**** attitude they have about their inferior choice that gets to me

Well as so many people were wondering what I had to say...

Lozzo sums it up quite well.

Initially (and I am talking around the time of the original iPod launch, I looked at the player, thought it was quite good, had some very nice features around managing music actually on the player.

I refused, however to get another player (had been bitten by both Creative and Sony) that I could not just plug into a USB port on a computer and put music on/off it using the file handling tools on that computer.

So the iPod is a non-starter for me.

Back to the iSmugness, it seemed that there was another design fault in those original iPods in that despte being quite small and compact, they only seemed to work if you held them in your hand.

I have a friend who is a HUGE Apple fan AND a HUGE geek, so I regularly see the cool things that you can do with Apple kit, especially when its interacting with other Apple kit - he can move his mouse pointer off the screen on his laptop - and it appears on the LCD TV he has on his wall - which is connected to a iMac Mini - so he is now in control of a completely different machine - which is really cool.

So I know, just as well as anyone else how good Apple stuff can be, but to me the cost is just too much.

Now I am not talking about cost as in cash, but in the restrictions on how I can use that expensive equipment.

iTunes is a major decider in that - I mean who would put up with a bit of software that without warning or asking for consent WILL delete all the music on a player if you plug it into another machine than the one it is used to?

People keep saying that you dont need to use iTunes, but most of the reasons for having an iPod (apart from the "oh shiney" factor) are negated, plus it usually involves a stupid circumvention, such as if you want to move music from your iPod to another player, having to burn the AAC files as a CD then re-rip them...

So basically as I see it, Apple bring out good kit, but each item is flawed in some way where Apple try and maintain control of it after you have spent your cash and own the product.

And then there is the over-riding iSmugness...

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

he can move his mouse pointer off the screen on his laptop - and it appears on the LCD TV he has on his wall - which is connected to a iMac Mini - so he is now in control of a completely different machine - which is really cool.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in this sort of functionality then synergy is what you want:

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

Lets you do exactly what has been described, and works with any combination of Windows/Linux/OS X machines. Been using it for years between my Windows box and Linux box at work

Oh, it's free too.

[Kalessin]

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

The only problem i have with apple is itunes, its seems a pain in the @rse

+1. iTunes is a horrendously bloated, lumbering behemoth of an application, like Acrobat and Outlook (so much for Apple superiority).

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Any local independent PC shop will build you a far superior machine for much less than the cost of any Mac.

You may be right about a superior spec for less cash, but I doubt the build quality on an unbranded machine with miscellaneous components is going to be close to what you get from Apple. I would imagine it would take up more space, be noisier and look rather uglier in my lounge, too.

For a comparison, I matched an iMac with an equivalent spec Dell machine, as listed on their respective websites. Whilst the Apple machine was a little more expensive, it was tens of pounds difference, not hundreds. When you're looking at over a grand's worth of machine, I don't mind paying a little extra for more pleasing aesthetics and superior build quality.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

I refused, however to get another player [...] that I could not just plug into a USB port on a computer and put music on/off it using the file handling tools on that computer.

Until a couple of years ago, that was the only way you would copy any music that you purchased digitally. WMVs required Windows Media Player to sync to compatible players, even USB players like the Creative MuVo.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

iTunes is a major decider in that - I mean who would put up with a bit of software that without warning or asking for consent WILL delete all the music on a player if you plug it into another machine than the one it is used to?

That's incorrect. iTunes will warn you that the iPod is synced with another machine, and give you an "Are you sure?"

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

if you want to move music from your iPod to another player, having to burn the AAC files as a CD then re-rip them...

Surely you'd move the files from the source computer, rather than directly from your iPod? Unless that's what you meant. In which case, this only applies to older, DRM protected music purchased digitally, and is not unique to Apple or iTunes DRM.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Any local independent PC shop will build you a far superior machine for much less than the cost of any Mac. We have Power Computing here in Bedford who do some stupid cheap deals on new PCs and upgrades. When there is a shop like that handy there's no way I would even consider buying anything with an Apple logo on it.

Sure you can buy a cheap no-name PC from a small shop. Keep it two years, then try to sell it. You probably won't be able to, as it will have depreciated to pretty much zero. I'll buy a Mac, keep it for two years and get back a significant percentage of the purchase price when I sell it on.

I've gone both routes. I used to buy parts and build my own PCs with Windows and/or Linux, now I buy Macs. Over two years, the total cost of ownership of the Mac is actually lower than even the cheapest PC.