Would you want to owna product from a company that does buisness like this?

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I couldn't resist wading in

I like my Iphone, my wife likes her Ipod touch, I would go berserk if apple broke it because I did something I wasn't supposed to (jailbreak it). If I paid money for it, it is my RIGHT to alter it as I see fit.

What really offends me about Apple, is the "cult" that Apple users seem to get sucked into. The Mac vs. PC thread of Doug's was a great example and seems to be very typical of every Mac Vs. PC discussion out there. When pressed for a comment on Mac's, most pc users will probably admit to liking something about them be it the interface the sexy styling or whatever and then come up with their reasons why they like their PC's. Mac users however tend to echo the really misleading commercials and come up with statements like "Windows 3.11 was horrible so buy a mac today" or "Windows 7 will cause your hard drive to explode and set your house on fire, but not before Bill Gates shows up as the Anti-Christ and violates your wife". I almost NEVER hear a reasonable, fact based argument for Mac's from Mac owners, they always descend into rhetoric and pull out the strangest "facts", which is a shame because I think there are some pretty decent reasons to buy a Mac. Not good enough for me to switch but to each his own.

Yes, Steve jobs walks surrounded by the sound of harps and a heavenly glow. Rose petals stream through the air behind him, doves circle about, women swoon, children stare in awe...

Seriously though, not sure which threads you were reading but I think Doug's thread had lots of good information from both sides and little rhetoric (and for the record what rhetoric may have shown up came from both Mac and Windows camps). Plenty of real facts and information were discussed. I suggest you go back and read it.

Originally Posted by Crytone

As for the iPad, I see no use for myself for that device since I don't feel it'd be good to use at school (where I'd use it). I have my Touch currently and it has the same functionality that iPad would have for me (light web surfing, email, wasting time with games during spares, etc..), but is obviously more portable. Taking notes would be extremely tedious and frustrating without a stylus (try typing/drawing a schematic/math formula with a finger or touch keyboard..). None, if any, of my textbooks are available for digital download so can't use it for that either... Many textbooks would not be released this way anyways for the simple reason they are easily $100+ textbooks and digital copies are more easily 'pirated' (and someone will crack the encryption eventually).

I think you are jumping to some conclusions without seeing stuff first. Apple may very well release some way to take notes with a stylus, and various third parties already sell iPhone styluses. And apparenty frozen sausages work too Apple actually has a patent for a way to detect your hand holding a virtual pen and do handwriting recognition so it is possible you may only have to pretend to write with a stylus and the iPad could do handwriting recognition. Granted, that may not happen right away but it is an interesting solution.

Just because your textbooks aren't available digitally right now doesn't mean its not coming. Check out the links here and especially the video in the second link to see some really early concepts in interactive books and textbooks which have advantages over a traditional paper book. Bear in mind these are early concepts and things will improve.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/blog/mo...iller-ipad-app

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/03/04/...ractive-media/

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

your first one.. no they ARE the double standard.. Ron apple is being targeted because 50% of the lawsuits they launch are unfounded and are launched only to destroy compatition through lenghty court battles that drain there money.. remember PFO trying to take on what you call the "Bogus" pattent.

your answer to point 5 is ok.. but the issue with jail break was more to take your iphone on "other" networks that don't offer iphones. but it is a mute point anyways as in 2011 I believe that you can take your phone with you to any network. Thanks CRC but if Xerox wins its lawsuits it doesn't matter, you won't be able to get a iphone in NA anymore so the networks will drop support for them and then you will be wishing you could jailbreak it.

Point 3, no he wasn't torchered, but the relentless interagation, firing of him and the lawsuit caused hom to comitt suicide.. still something I wouldn't want on my hands but Steveo is ok with it.

as for the pics from microsoft.. doesn't interest me, I think thoes little things are a waist of time. my storm lets me do all junk I need it to do.

Steve

Steve, I think you are confusing jailbreaking with unlocking. Two different things. My iPhone is unlocked but not jailbroken. Unlocking let's you use your phone with another cell network by changing SIM cards. Jailbreaking is hacking the OS to allow installation of apps from outside the app store. Jailbreaking BTW has also allowed people to pirate apps onto their phones so Apple's blocking non-approved apps is also a form of copy protection for the developers. Unlocking is completely legitimate and in Europe is required to be available to consumers after 12 months or so IIRC. I think things in Canada are headed that way to as I believe that legislation is coming to allow you to take your phone to another company once your contract is up.

With respect to for Xerox, as I mentioned before, there is no reason for Xerox to block sales of iPhones. That's the standard legal threat and what you ask for in the lawsuit but if Xerox actually does win the patent case then what will happen is Apple and Xerox will settle with Apple paying Xerox a licensing fee on its technology. Xerox is not an Apple competitor and has no interest in stopping iPhone sales. They want money out of Apple.

I also think you are unfairly judging things. How do you know Steve Jobs is okay with somebody committing suicide at his supplier? That is an unfair assumption as you don't know the man and I don't think he made any public statements about it being no big deal. The only official comment from Apple was this:

"We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told CNET on Tuesday. "We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect."

As for the main topic of this thread, unless you are a software patent expert or a patent attorney I don't think you can judge whether those lawsuits are frivolous or not. Apple's real target here is Google and its Android operating system. Now given that Google's CEO was likely provided insider details of the iPhone, probably even before it was even publicly announced and then turned around and decided to become a competitor to Apple and the iPhone when Google was not yet an OS or mobile phone company it is quite possible that they did steal ideas from Apple and that they infringe on Apple's patented technology. I think time will tell who is right but the patent suits have to run their course.

So really this boils down to the opinion of Apple haters who think they are wrong to try to enforce their patents and should just magnanimously allow the world to copy their inventions but should submit to the patent lawsuits of everybody else.

[StirCrazy]

hey, I was just reading a consumer report mag today.. apple is 2nd behind toshiba in laptops, and third behind two dells in desktops..

Steve

[lastlight]

Sounds like they're gaining market share if anything. Those are good numbers!

[BlueAbyss]

Hmm. All the same discussions as when I was in high school 13 years ago... back when 'Apple is about to die, blah blah blah...' Of course, in those days, Apple produced a far more stable and ostensibly superior product. I agree that in those days, the system overall was more stable than a comparable PC... I had nothing but headaches with Windows in those days. Even XP has given me problems, though I have had few (if any) issues that I've heard of others having with Vista. Even so, I'm planning on upgrading to 7, because it will speed things up (gotta love that 64 bit code).

Can anyone tell I'm sort of a tech-geek? Okay, back to Apple. They're still around, and indeed gaining market share (and profits are definitely up). My next computer purchase will be a 21 inch iMac, and I'll be loading W7 onto it. I like having that sort of access, and now Windows is almost Mac-like. Almost... and it will extend the life of my current Dell laptop. Not about to toss something that still works.

Note that there are still Macs in use from the 90's. How often do you see a PC from the 90's? Remember those $2K IBM Aptivas? Well, $2K PowerMacs from the time are still serviceable, I know of at least one person that has a 9600 from the late 90's that processes video.

Oh, and FYI, Apple did license out to 'clones'... some notable names that come to mind are Power Computing (who produced the fastest Mac of the day), and Motorola (shouldn't surprise anyone, they were producing the Mac processors of the day). In the end it hurt the bottom line pretty bad (hardware sales dropped precipitously) so it only lasted for about 3 or so years, from what I can remember.

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

Oh, and FYI, Apple did license out to 'clones'... some notable names that come to mind are Power Computing (who produced the fastest Mac of the day), and Motorola (shouldn't surprise anyone, they were producing the Mac processors of the day). In the end it hurt the bottom line pretty bad (hardware sales dropped precipitously) so it only lasted for about 3 or so years, from what I can remember.

Very true. In fact, I owned a Power Computing Powercenter Pro 180. Great computer for the money.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Ron99

Power Computing Powercenter Pro 180

Wow and I felt lame initially telling people I had a macBook Pro. That is a mouthful of silly!

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Wow and I felt lame initially telling people I had a macBook Pro. That is a mouthful of silly!

Yeah, that was the days when they used PowerPC processors and there was lots of "power" in the names

Cue yor best Jeremy Clarkson voice shouting "POOOWEERRRRR!!!!"

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by Ron99

Very true. In fact, I owned a Power Computing Powercenter Pro 180. Great computer for the money.

Indeed... about half the price of the comparable Apple hardware, I believe.

And really, all computers have silly name... when people ask me what I have, I say I have a mid-range Dell laptop that works okay for games.

I should chime in on the Apple Google Xerox HTC thing also... Eventually, this is going to work itself out just like back in the day when Microsoft went for Apple's jugular, and Apple fought back. Stuff like this between tech companies happens, it's just the way it goes (and hopefully, we the consumer eventually benefit). Let's just all try to remember that we are the consumers... spend your cash wisely.

And we'll see if iPad doesn't go the way of Newton. Hope Apple has another use for those newly developed (really?) A4 processors.

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

And we'll see if iPad doesn't go the way of Newton. Hope Apple has another use for those newly developed (really?) A4 processors.

I suspect they will have another success on their hands. Did you ever use a Newton? I had one years ago. It was a great device but also a bit ahead of its time. If a slightly sleeker newton had debuted around the same time as the palm pilot Apple would probably have killed Palm.

Here's an interesting perspective on Apple vs. the critics:

http://www.theweek.com/article/index..._first_reviews

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

just like back in the day when Microsoft went for Apple's jugular, and Apple fought back. Stuff like this between tech companies happens, it's just the way it goes (and hopefully, we the consumer eventually benefit). Let's just all try to remember that we are the consumers... spend your cash wisely.

.

um, that was Apple that went after Microsoft.. microsoft fought back with all of Hells fury and wone. that when apple tried to destroy Microsoft over windows. not xp but version 1 Apple almost was eliminated and lost a lot of there momentum back then over there lawsuit against microsoft. If they never would have launched that they would probably be just as big as MS now.

Steve