posted
Originally I wanted to write "Damn funny Mr Card, did you ever consider a second career as a comedian? - You really know how to push buttons."
but then I read your posting again, and now want to make some observations: - read http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/5790/ some really worthwhile arguments there (and, admittedly, more stupid, biased rants)
- funny that you don´t allow email feedback to your inbox, neither through this site nor through the original article
- I guess Mr Card doesn´t have much personal experience with the Apple iPod. Why do I think that? Because he compares the Rio Riot with the Apple iPod, which is basically dumb. before diggin deeper, remember this: http://www.reelwavs.com/movies/good_will_hunting/ quote from the movie "You're not perfect sport. And let me save you the suspense this girl you met, she's isn't perfect either, but the question is, whether or not you're perfect for each other. That's the whole deal. That's what intimacy is all about. Now you can know everything in the world sport, but the only way you're finding that one out is by giving it a shot." /endquote (In my opinion, if you´re talking perfect match, it doesn´t make much of a difference if you´re talking gadgets or human beings)
- regarding that powerbook toshiba comparison: duh! - That movie producer obviously was incredibly dumb. - Anyway, Mac laptops "usually" compare quite favorably to its Wintel counterparts. It always depends what you want/need. - If you´re looking for a cheap Desktop replacement (therefore battery life & weight being not an issue to you) you can get a iBook / Powerbook or a PC laptop that costs several hundred $$ less. (Why, yes, there are a hundred PC manufacturers vs Apple; easy to see that they offer more options/flavours/models of portable computers) If you´re in the market for a lightweight fullfeatured laptop, the current crops of Powerbooks should compare favourably to each and every Wintel laptop that´s out there (i.e. - if you find a considerably cheaper PC laptop its either heavier, or weaker processor, or less features etc - if you find a much lighter PC laptop, it usually lacks features or is more expensive - if you find a PC laptop with more battery life, it is usually weaker, or heavier etc. - You get the idea) Something which in those comparisons usually isn´t factored in: You have to install and maintain Spybot S&D and some Antivirus package on every Wintel PC
"... but which PC users have had for years, and it all makes me vaguely sad." Flame-bait (i.e., so you had built-right-into-the-OS online dictionary lookup and flight search for years? - Where? etc etc etc)
"What Macs don’t have is any competition. Once you’ve bought into the hype and forked over your money, they’ve got you and you can’t get free without completely replacing everything." more flame-baits (right now I can´t think of a hardware accesory I couldn´t continue to use when changing to Windows - but changing from Windows to Mac or Linux, I can think of quite some that´d stop to work. As for software: Same applies for almost each platform change - often you can get crossgrades, though)
So, lets compare the Rio Riot with the then current iPod 10GB (first half of 2002) - more than twice a as big (volume) - twice as heavy (both due to larger, cheaper 2.5" HD (iPod 1.8") - twice the capacity - fm tuner - SLOW in loading with music (as in, roughly 20 to 30 times slower, comparing USB 1.1 to FW) --> that´s like some 30 minutes for the iPods 10GB compared to some 10 (!) hours or more for 10GB to put on the Riot - Cheaper (at least per GB, probably abs. as well) - Much more difficult to sync music - iPod can serve as a bootvolume, in case the Macs internal HD fails, afaik th Riot can´t - I don´t comment on design, that´s in the eye of the beholder
So who wins? - That´s up to your personal preferences, but implying that the iPod did nothing as good or even better as other HD based players on the market is either a lie or just uninformed/ misinforming babble.
"Then the iPod comes out and it doesn’t do anything that I needed and didn’t already have" Exactly. As I said before "perfect for each other" or in other words: YMMV - your mileage may vary
"Not only that, but it was deeply ugly, a plain ivory-colored box with pathetic controls that looked like it should hold generic earswabs. Compared to my Rio Riot, it was a piece of junk and looked like a piece of junk." :-) This says more about you than about the iPod
"And now it seems to have taken over the world. Everything is geared toward iPods. I still have MP3 players with more capacity and better interface than the iPod, ..." better interface? - YOU ARE FUNNY!
" ... and people talk and write as if the iPod had invented the whole class of machine, and all the others were just imitations." look at the - rio carbon - rio nitrus - iriver h10, h320 - creative zen micro - creative muvo - rca lyra - toshiba gigabeat
I´d say Apple didn´t invent this class of machines. - According to all those iPod-wannabees, Apple simply redefined it.
"And I have about a hundred times as much software to choose from, ... " probably ten times as much, so what? - there´s some 15.000 software titles for the Mac available right now, much more than I´ll ever be able to try out. Do you really think I fall for this kind of rhetoric? (but my *** is 2" longer than yours)
"... and can customize my own machine (despite the best efforts of Microsoft) a thousand times more than you can, ..." (again; but my *** is 2" longer than yours) what, if I don´t need to do any customization?
" ... and I’m paying less for it, ..." I guess you had it with funny, I seriously have to doubt your mental health. Ever heard of TCO - Total Cost of Ownership
" ... and it looks like I actually intend to do serious work with it." Darn! - You got me there. My white eMac looks like a toy, therefor I can´t possibly be using it for serious work, therefore I am not using it for serious work, thus my inferiority complex. Thanks for enlightening me. You finally gave new meaning to my life.
Sheesh, boy, you are a nutcase. Rgrds Matt
Posts: 2 | Registered: May 2005
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Wow. You registered to rant about what was clearly just a rant itself (and coming on the heels of a calculated insult to Star Wars fans, quite possibly a deliberately provocative rant) -- and, mind you, didn't actually provide any real counter-examples, but just threw around some badly-formatted insults and aspersions of your own -- and you're calling Scott a nutcase? *laugh*
Hey, far be it for me to defend the guy, but let's face it: computers ARE to some extent like women. Clearly, Macs don't appeal to Card, and he's mystified by the quasi-religious fervor that some Macheads feel for the devices; along the same line, you seem to sincerely feel that the iPod has a good interface.
In other words, you're both bathing in your preconceptions.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote: there´s some 15.000 software titles for the Mac available right now, much more than I´ll ever be able to try out.
Obviously, but if Windows has say 100x more the amount of software for a specific task then mac, then thers more likely a chance that you can get exactly the product you're looking for.
quote: what, if I don´t need to do any customization?
Uh. Then you're obviously one of the Macheads that OSC is talking about.
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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