Apple making efforts to dissuade switchers.

Philip Littlewood, potential switcher writes a blog post about his second thoughts about switching to the Mac. His reasons are below but ca be summed up as Apple having lost it’s soul. I must say I agree (which, if you know me, is a bit deal). His criticisms: Overcharge for the iPhone Is it an … Continue reading “Apple making efforts to dissuade switchers.”

Philip Littlewood, potential switcher writes a blog post about his second thoughts about switching to the Mac.

His reasons are below but ca be summed up as Apple having lost it’s soul. I must say I agree (which, if you know me, is a bit deal).

His criticisms:

Overcharge for the iPhone

Is it an overcharging? The Nokia N800 doesn’t have a phone component and yet cost the same (UK pricing). The smartphones out there are not cheap either. What are we comparing it with? I don’t think it’s too expensive for what it is.

Reduce the iPhone bye $200 after only 2 months

It seems sudden but don’t think the rebate for early adopters was not previously thought of. Apple seldom is caught by surprise. They’ll have had measures in place. Technology will always get cheaper. It seems sudden but you’re talking about some of the fastest moving technology areas.

Charges an extra 99 cents for a ringtone

I hear you but we get charged £3.50 for a ringtone whether or not we have previously purchased the song over here in the UK. That said – I think it’s criminal that we can’t just use GarageBand to whip our own ringtones. But this is like other things – Apple is working with the two most consumer-hostile markets – telecoms and the music business. You can be sure that Jobs both checks for his wallet and for the blood in his veins after negotiating with these people.

Putting a chip in the new iPods that renders nearly all 3rd party video accessories useless.

There’s a lot of fluff here. It’s not quite as cut and dried here. Any why worry about it? I’m not particularly upset about the accessories I’ve bought over the years for my various mobile phones. Sure, I’d love to be able to re-use some of them but it’s not the end of the world by any means. Note – not ALL video products are disabled (as you say “nearly all”) so it can’t just be due to “a chip” and may be more to do with cost-cutting on the part of the manufacturer of the video cable (maybe they’re not using the right pin-outs).

Releasing an update for the iPhone to deliberately break 3rd party apps.

I disagree strongly here. Especially the reason you give. It’s a limited, first generation device with a whole new API. You want to hack it, fine, you change essential system files and voila you have access to the system and can do neat things. Apple releases a software update and expressly says they will not be testing to see if their update breaks applications but will not be deliberately trying to break third party apps. Some apps break. Sometimes they just need rehacked.

I don’t believe Apple is doing this deliberately. They’re just not willing or able to put the time and effort into certifying their software updates with every hack out there.

His main criticism seems to be:

attitude of the sales staff in the Apple Stores, now I don’t know if this just applies to the Netherlands and Belgium, the staff just do not seem interested in whether you buy something or not.

Philip – these people are NOT employees of Apple. They’re employees of small businesses which sell or repair Apple products. You should really take your criticism to the owner of the business and make it known. I own a Apple-Authorised Service Provider and I’m always interested to hear when my employees are not acting in the best interests of our customers. I’m happy to say that the guys will often put themselves out and even lose a sale if it serves the customer best. But then we come from a lineage of people who love the Mac and love to see people making the best of it.

Now he admits he has only tried Mac OS in a hacked X86 version on a third party laptop but seems underwhelmed at how it looks so basic and sees unsure about the everpresent menu bar at the top. And resizing only from one corner – yes, Philip, Apple could make it so you could resize from any edge or corner. It’s not for techical reasons that the Mac OS has always resized from the same corner.

Philip – either you get it or you don’t. Not everyone is going to love the Mac just like not everyone is going to be happy with Windows.

Who’s in your Monkeysphere?

Someone mentioned “the Blogosphere” and it hit home with me when I read this article about the Monekysphere. Maybe it’s because we were all thinking about a couple of posts Damien Mulley posted about people being killed in Burma and also the use of expletives in blog posts. From the article on the Monkeysphere (which … Continue reading “Who’s in your Monkeysphere?”

Someone mentioned “the Blogosphere” and it hit home with me when I read this article about the Monekysphere. Maybe it’s because we were all thinking about a couple of posts Damien Mulley posted about people being killed in Burma and also the use of expletives in blog posts.

From the article on the Monkeysphere (which you should read):

They’re all humans and they are all equally dead. But the closer to our Monkeysphere they are, the more it means to us. Just as your death won’t mean anything to the Chinese or, for that matter, hardly anyone else more than 100 feet or so from where you’re sitting right now.

This is why we cry our eyes out at the death of our dog but thousands dead in some other country, yup, sad…now sports….

and again:

Think about this the next time you get really pissed off in traffic, when you start throwing finger gestures and wedging your head out of the window to scream, “LEARN TO ****ING DRIVE, ****ER!!” Try to imagine acting like that in a smaller group. Like if you’re standing in an elevator with two friends and a coworker, and the friend goes to hit a button and accidentally punches the wrong one. Would you lean over, your mouth two inches from her ear, and scream “LEARN TO OPERATE THE ****ING ELEVATOR BUTTONS, ****CAMEL!!”

It’s true. People go crazy on the Internet. You se it on the social networking sites all the time. People becoming Crazy Stalker People, people deleting their profiles and then…re-adding them….then deleting again. (If you assume people on the Internet are crazy, then it all starts to make a little more sense)

The Internet has the possibility of expanding your Monkeysphere outside of your immediate friends and family (this is the way I feel after 15 years on the ‘net). That’s because most of the people you meet on the net are outside of your Monkeysphere. You care about them in the rational way but really…do you know these people? It will take time for you to assimilate these people into your life.

And it has deeper implications when you consider religion:

There’s this concept that God is a person and is our friend. They’re trying to make this nebulous entity part of our Monkeysphere and us, pat of his. His is, of course, massive, but yours would consist of God plus a small section of the congregation. By “sinning” (lying, killing and giving equal rights to Muslims), you’re hurting this “entity” which is in your Monkeysphere.

Do you feel manipulated?

Starting, Stopping, Re-starting

This article documents the startup and stopping and restart of a web-app-based startup. There’s some good lessons in there for anyone who would consider releasing a web app in the near future. Related posts: The Games Market is about to have a significant and violent rebalancing. Look out. The Broadband Blueprint (re DETI Telecoms Consultation) … Continue reading “Starting, Stopping, Re-starting”

This article documents the startup and stopping and restart of a web-app-based startup.

There’s some good lessons in there for anyone who would consider releasing a web app in the near future.

Belfast Municipal Wireless

Physorg.com reports: Ambitious plans for big Wi-Fi networks to provide free or low-cost wireless Internet access are being abandoned or scaled back by US cities as the economics of the deals turn out to be more challenging than expected. In Belfast, there were two efforts I was aware of, going back a few years now. … Continue reading “Belfast Municipal Wireless”

Physorg.com reports:

Ambitious plans for big Wi-Fi networks to provide free or low-cost wireless Internet access are being abandoned or scaled back by US cities as the economics of the deals turn out to be more challenging than expected.

In Belfast, there were two efforts I was aware of, going back a few years now.

One was spearheaded by BT. They had the money and the locations for the access points (inside the BT telephone boxes. I mean – does anyone use them for making telephone calls these days???). They wined and dined the City Council and went head with their proposal which is why Belfast is blanketed with BTOpenzone at £6 an hour (yes, you can subscribe and get it cheaper…)

The second was from a much smaller outfit. They proposed a mesh network, almost grassroots in it’s uncommon simplicity and solicited information from the City Council as to obtaining their assistance. As a startup providing their own equipment, there wasn’t enough money in the pot to wine and dine and so their pleas went unheeded.

So, we’re left currently with BT. Brilliant.

“Too many municipalities continue to focus on large, ambitious public wireless projects that have no clear path to profitability.”

I don’t think that government bodies should get into this sector at all. They certainly have no understanding of the complexities of technology and even less understanding of commerce.

I know the second group is still working behind the scenes, having secured some funding from a local company to help them buy more equipment. When I asked them about their business model this time they said:

This isn’t about money. It’s about creating a wireless network in our local city that will better enable people to use online services like those provided by Google, Facebook and other companies. It’s our opinion that the current offering is not only a monopoly but one that is dedicated to squeezing every last penny out of the mobile consumer.

IT Support. Why I did it

A friend wrote: Warning: this is more of a rant than anything else. I wish people would laugh more. Seriously, go outside, and go to any random place you want. I dare you to find someone that’s laughing, or even smiling. Step into your car, drive around, and look for a happy face. All you’ll … Continue reading “IT Support. Why I did it”

A friend wrote:

Warning: this is more of a rant than anything else. I wish people would laugh more. Seriously, go outside, and go to any random place you want. I dare you to find someone that’s laughing, or even smiling. Step into your car, drive around, and look for a happy face. All you’ll find is people crammed into their individualistic cars, with an angry/sad face. It’s really depressing.

To be fair, driving doesn’t make me happy (unless I’m listening to Henry Rollins or Billy Connolly or Bill Bailey through the iPod hookup) and even then they’re making me laugh as opposed to happy. Now, sit me beside people I love and it’s a different thing altogether.

I think a lot of people are actually unhappy. It’s not even whether they are smiling, it’s in their eyes, the way they talk to their kids or spouse, it’s in the food they place into their basket at the supermarket and the TV they watch at home.

I like my job in IT support because I was helping people. People are so overjoyed to find they haven’t lost the infant pictures of their now-grown-up sons and daughters because of a hard drive cockup. I like reducing the stress level for under-pressure people because I figure in some karmic sense they’ll be ever so slightly nicer to the drivers on the way home, the kids before they go to bed and their lover as they cuddle in the darkness.

Leopard: will it run on my Mac Classic?

AppleInsider is speculating that Apple may drop support for PowerPC in Mac OS X 10.6 (estimated to come out sometime in 2009/2010). Looking ahead, those people familiar with Apple development cycles speculate that Mac OS X 10.6 will exclude support for PowerPC-based Macs entirely, requiring that users have one of the company’s Intel-based systems which … Continue reading “Leopard: will it run on my Mac Classic?”

AppleInsider is speculating that Apple may drop support for PowerPC in Mac OS X 10.6 (estimated to come out sometime in 2009/2010).

Looking ahead, those people familiar with Apple development cycles speculate that Mac OS X 10.6 will exclude support for PowerPC-based Macs entirely, requiring that users have one of the company’s Intel-based systems which first began making their way to market in early 2006.

One thing we knew – the life of the G3 was at an end in terms of software support as it had been a long time since Apple had shipped a G3-based machine. I’m not basing this on speculation, I’m basing this on the Release Notes which were leaked months and months ago.

I’m not keen on speculation with regards to this sort of thing. We have no way of knowing really what Apple will or won’t support. I would be surprised if they were going to drop everything slower than 867 MHz because it’s such an arbitrary number and there were a lot of machines just slightly slower than that which would obviously be fine. It’s a reasonable assumption however that the option-Install method will still be available to allow installation on unsupported hardware.

The presence of absence of a decent graphics card would be a much better indicator.

Adding value

From part of O’Reilly’s series Women In Technology: Startups are—and to succeed, must be—meritocratic. Limited funding, time, and even office space restrictions don’t allow for hiring anyone who doesn’t add real value. Larger companies and firms have internal diversity goals whereas startups don’t have such goals in their early stages. This is absolutely true. When … Continue reading “Adding value”

From part of O’Reilly’s series Women In Technology:

Startups are—and to succeed, must be—meritocratic. Limited funding, time, and even office space restrictions don’t allow for hiring anyone who doesn’t add real value. Larger companies and firms have internal diversity goals whereas startups don’t have such goals in their early stages.

This is absolutely true.

When I started Mac-Sys Ltd back in June 2003, I made some mistakes – worse, I allowed friendship to define my hiring criteria – I was saving jobs and using my own savings as collateral.

Be honest with yourself and your business.

And, most importantly, if you are not adding value, it may be time for you to try something else.

Drive your own vision

86-year-old James Sorenson, the largest shareholder in Abbott Laboratories (worth about $4.5 billion) and a junk-food enthusiast, perhaps best captured the fundamental spirit of entrepreneurship. Asked for the hardest lesson he had to learn, he replied: “To spend my energy and resources investing in my own ideas, rather than those of other people. I need … Continue reading “Drive your own vision”

86-year-old James Sorenson, the largest shareholder in Abbott Laboratories (worth about $4.5 billion) and a junk-food enthusiast, perhaps best captured the fundamental spirit of entrepreneurship. Asked for the hardest lesson he had to learn, he replied: “To spend my energy and resources investing in my own ideas, rather than those of other people. I need to drive my own vision.”

This is exactly how I feel right now.

Sling it over here…

Her-Indoors has been a bit sick recently and I’ve finally plugged in the slingplayer that I bought four months ago. She loves it. It works with the Sky+ box allowing her to pause the live TV while sitting in bed convalescing. I’ve not enabled the remote viewing aspect because, frankly, I’d never use it and … Continue reading “Sling it over here…”

Her-Indoors has been a bit sick recently and I’ve finally plugged in the slingplayer that I bought four months ago.

She loves it.

It works with the Sky+ box allowing her to pause the live TV while sitting in bed convalescing.

I’ve not enabled the remote viewing aspect because, frankly, I’d never use it and despite the fact she has a SlingPlayer app on her Nokia E65 phone, neither would she (I may be proved wrong sometime she asks to watch Easties when we’re out on the town…)

This is the BBC: Integrity for Hire

Sometimes when you read an article on the BBC News web site you have to wonder if their journalists get gifts from Microsoft every week or if they just live in 5-star hotels at the expense of the Redmond giant. RoughlyDrafted tears BBC Columnist a new rectum regarding his recent article comparing Apple to Microsoft. … Continue reading “This is the BBC: Integrity for Hire”

Sometimes when you read an article on the BBC News web site you have to wonder if their journalists get gifts from Microsoft every week or if they just live in 5-star hotels at the expense of the Redmond giant.

RoughlyDrafted tears BBC Columnist a new rectum regarding his recent article comparing Apple to Microsoft.

It’s bad enough that the BBC needs to bend facts to support fear, uncertainty and doubt about the iPhone. Now consider that the BBC–as a public corporation funded by British TV license taxes–is building its web video strategy on failed, proprietary technology propped up by an internationally convicted monopolist. At the same time, its publishing a uninformed rant based on speculation and conjecture that accuses Apple of doing things that approach the gravity of its own activities.

This hypocrisy slows from the words of Bill Thompson, who followed the crowd in reporting that Microsoft’s failed appeal in its EU monopoly case says less about Microsoft’s established, anticompetitive practices spanning the last thirty years than it does about Apple’s iPod popularity over the last five.

Thompson weeps for Microsoft because “its every move is examined for evidence that it might be making life difficult for its rivals,” while noting that “some of its competitors seem to get a very easy ride.” One might expect the BBC to make excuses for the crimes of its iPlayer partner as it giggly walks lockstep with Microsoft in using the company’s proprietary and Windows-only DRM for video distribution of its publicly funded content.

Read RoughlyDrafted and don’t bother going to the BBC web site. If they’re not making up facts to help the Government justify a war then they’re doing infomercials about their business partners.

Twunts.