[clug] Vaguely off topic: iPeds and other Android tablets - availability and comparisons to that Apple one

Neill Cox neill.cox at ingenious.com.au
Thu Aug 5 18:45:24 MDT 2010


On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:16 AM, Robert Edwards <bob at cs.anu.edu.au> wrote:

> On 06/08/10 08:10, Neill Cox wrote:
>
<stuff that you have already read>


>>
> I too, have a pile of current and old Apple devices both at home and
> in my office (total of 13 dead Apple laptops, QuickCams, three Newton
> MessagePads, a working iPod Video (5G), a still-used 12" Powerbook
> G4 running Gentoo, a still-used MacBook Air running Ubuntu sometimes...
> and many old Macs including two original 128k Macs (both seriously
> modded), an SE/30, and an Apple II, a IIe, a IIc and various home-made
> knock-off clones etc.).
>
>
Now if Apple would start selling the Newton again, I might be tempted back
in to the fold.  I miss my Newton.


> My main beefs with the whole iPod/iPhone/iPad marketing blitz are:
>
> 1) they are not as original/innovative as their marketing wants us all
> to believe - so it is not fair to claim that other devices are "clones";
>

I think it's fair to call the iPed a clone.  It's an obvious knockoff an
iPad.  Generally what the cloners are copying is not Apple's engineering,
but their form factor/product look

>
> 2) they are not, in any way, "free" (as in beer or speech or whatever);
>
>
True - there's a reason Apple went with BSD licensed projects :)


> 3) (the biggy) - every time anyone buys one (esp. a FOSS developer),
> they are sending a message to Apple's _competitors_ that the Apple iPod
> Touch/iPhone/iPad model of software control and distribution is the one
> that is now winning the marketing. If Apple's competitors decide to
> follow Apple's lead, it cannot be good for the future of consumer
> computing.
>
>
Absolutley true, which is why I will not buy another iPhone/iPad/iPod and
will do my best to avoid other pieces of Apple gear.  I'm not happy about my
dollars bening used to promote walled gardens.


> What can people concerned about the freedom of their consumer devices
> do? People like FOSS users and developers? We need to keep sending
> Apple and other companies trying on the same tactics the message that
> we don't approve of this level of control over our consumer devices.
> We do want to be able to put our own software onto the metal (not just
> some glorified scripts). We want to be able to replace, if necessary,
> the O/S of these devices with something that is, for example, less
> likely to be spying on us.
>
> Also, it is a myth that Apple laptops etc. are better made. They are
> made in the same factories etc. as most other similar devices - maybe
> with a slightly higher level of quality control than _some_ other
> products. But having supported Apple h/w for over 20 years alongside
> other similar hardware (laptops, desktops, laser printers etc.) I can
> say that they fail just as frequently and often take a lot longer to
> get repaired and sometimes cost significantly more for repairs. Some
> Apple laptop models have a significantly higher failure rate. (cue
> for the accolytes to pipe up and claim "yeah, but Apple are pushing
> the performance envelope much further than other manufacturers" - OK,
> whatever...).
>

Not so sure about this one.  They're not perfect, but on the whole I've had
proportionally less trouble with Apple hardware (with a few notable
exceptions) than with Compaq/Dell/Toshiba/IBM (ie Lenovo) hardware.  It's
certainly true that Apple have outsourced the actual manufacturing now, but
their quality control and design still seem to be slightly better.  All the
same my current laptop is an Asus, and I will avoid buying Apple hardware as
much as I can in future.  Not sure I will convince Jenny to give up Mac OS X
and Adobe though.

Repairs can certainly be frustrating though.  I blame the local resellers.

Cheers,
Neill


>
> Cheers,
>
> Bob Edwards.
>
>
>  On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:42 PM, Jim Croft<jim.croft at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>
>>  the same is true in the biodiversity informatics field.  there is a
>>> quantifiable trend to portable mac things that can be seen at
>>> conferences, etc.
>>>
>>> the ratio often hit and exceeds 50%. the argument is that they are
>>> basically linux inside, you can install what you need, and all the
>>> systems and network connectivity look after themselves, and you can
>>> concentrate on the work.
>>>
>>> they have a point, but ideological loathing of the big end of town
>>> prevents me following them...
>>>
>>> but it is not just marketing. the apple industrial design package is
>>> very smooth.
>>>
>>> jim
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 9:25 PM, Mike Carden<mike.carden at gmail.com>
>>>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 9:10 PM, David Austin<david at d-austin.net>
>>>>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  However if you know a little more than the average about
>>>>> technology then Apple is not for you.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> That's an innocent and simplistic view that I won't leave
>>>> unchallenged. While I sympathise with the idea that Apple's target
>>>> market is people who will pay for form over function and who love the
>>>> fact that (most of) function just follows... it's a bit silly to
>>>> suggest that Apple users are not tech savvy.
>>>>
>>>> Have you been to a FOSS conf in the last 5 years? Count the MacBooks.
>>>> FOSS devs *love* Apple. Look at the 'core Apple devs. These people are
>>>> not writing Hello World. Their philosophy may not match yours, but
>>>> they aren't stupid.
>>>>
>>>> It happens that I soldered up an Apple IIe when doing so was True Hard
>>>> Core. I own an iPod and a (dead) G3 Powerbook. I respect Apple. Apple
>>>> do some good stuff and some not so good stuff. To suggest that Apple
>>>> is not for the technically savvy is very very funny indeed.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> MC
>>>> --
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> _________________
>>> Jim Croft ~ jim.croft at gmail.com ~ +61-2-62509499 ~
>>> http://www.google.com/profiles/jim.croft
>>> 'A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point
>>> of doubtful sanity.'
>>>  - Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963)
>>>
>>> Please send URIs, not attachments:
>>> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
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>>>
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