F. J. Taylor

Is an iPhone Air Hybrid in the Works?

Mr. mlambert890 and Mr. Webster obviously are not fans of Apple. One assumes they are die-hard Windows users and / or investors. My sincere commiseration.

While they have raised a few interesting points, they have missed the mark widely.

Sony VAIO TZ is indeed a nice little book, but it has one major failing - it runs Windows Vista, or for those able to reload it, XP (or Linux - which would be a vast improvement over either).

Vista, as is now widely known, is the worst OS that MS (who have always made poor OSs) ever dumped on a heretofore largely helpless public. Now, however, the long-suffering public has had enough of buggy, unstable, and bloated software, and are decamping in droves to Mac and Linux (despite Mr. Webster's figures - which seem to me to fall under the same onus as most statistics used with a bias or agenda, i.e.; "...lies, damned lies, and statistics.").

As a former DOS / Windows user (from DOS 3.0 through XP) who has also run Novell networks, and a former sys admin for both Windows and Mac networks, I think I can state with some authority that Mac is a far superior system in every respect.

Having made the change from Windows completely some years ago, I can heartily echo the statement of an engineer friend who recently made the switch - "I only wish I had done this 20 years ago!" This seems to be the general opinion among those who have made the switch - and it is a growing one, whether the gentlemen above like it or not. In fact, many of the converts now are former Windows die-hard techs. One said of Vista recently; "I waited six years for THIS???" He has since completely converted to Mac.

As for the UK and EU iPhone sales - I don't know which UK he is referring to, but all over the EU (which I recently returned from after a year and a half sojourn) the iPhone was in great demand even before its official release - the only problem they had afterwards has been keeping them on the shelves! Some of my colleagues even flew to NYC to get theirs, and brought back others for friends. (I was asked to send some over on my return, but declined due to the legal issues.)

As for iPod, it continues, with iTunes, to dominate the digital download market, and draw thousands to the Mac platform by their elegance and ease of use.

In addition to the outstanding OS X, Apple has the best customer service, the best design and style, and the all-around fastest and best computers.

Mr. Webster also goes on at great length about Apple's lack of innovation - while in fact, their second machine, the Apple II (1977), has been credited with creating the home computer market. In 1983, the Lisa, the first commercially available computer using GUI was introduced. (Yes, the innovation was based on the original XPARC design, as so many other things we associate with computing today - but Xerox foolishly decided not to develop this technology.)

Mr. Jobs' NeXT computer, running on the Unix kernel that would become OS X, though not strictly speaking an Apple, introduced important concepts and served as the initial platform for Tim Berners-Lee, while he was developing the Web concept. The Apple PowerBook (1991) prototyped the form and layout of the modern laptop. The Newton PDA, though a commercial failure due to some early shortcomings that were widely satirized (most notably in the popular Doonesbury cartoon by Gary Trudeau), was the prototype of the later Palm Pilot and other PDAs. Apple had true "plug and play" years ago - while Windows is still often "plug and pray."

As to the charge of "never manufacturing their own computers" etc., he is also obviously blissfully unaware that all Apple products were made by Apple in the US from the first Apple I (assembled in Apple co-founder Mr. Wozniak's garage) until rising production costs and heavy competition from other firms in the 1990s forced them (as almost everyone else in the industry) to begin off-shoring.

As to labor conditions, companies in almost every field now use off-shore labor, and conditions and pay in every sector are pretty poor compared to the US. (At least until recent times - now we're in a race to the bottom.) However, they are often far better than the usually few alternatives the people in these exploited countries have. For that matter, even the Japanese have been "outsourcing" in recent years, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn Sony is among them.

All this is a factor of investors (perhaps like you, sir?), driving businesses to cut more and more costs so they (and the investor) can make more and more profit - i.e.; the "greed factor" - but as I understand capitalism, that is always what it's been all about. "Greed is good" according to Gordon Gecko and capitalist conservatives, right? So what is an investor doing complaining about exploiting labor? That's what capitalism is all about.

(That said, I, for one, disagree with that philosophy, and use my small investment platform to agitate for improvements in labor and working conditions, pay, and social and environmental responsibility. If the company doesn't respond, I yank my investment and take my business elsewhere. I don't care if my own profits are diminished thereby. Better I make less - or nothing - than that people or the planet should suffer to make me rich. I don't know how effective my campaigning is, but I hope that as others see the light, they will join me in doing the same. Together we can effect change - individually, it is harder.)

As to the exploding and burning batteries - Mr. Webster seems to have forgotten that Dell, Sony, and a number of others had the same problem - because they all used the same suppliers. In fact, in the case of the Osaka, Japan, couple whose Mac burst into flames, the battery had been manufactured by Sony. Apple and Sony promptly recalled all defective batteries, and paid all damages. (One hopes Dell and the others did as well, in the case of their batteries.) The story is here:

news.softpedia.com/new...

However, I suspect that Mr. Webster (and perhaps Mr. mlambert890), whatever the source of their dislike of Apple are unlikely to be convinced by anything that disagrees with their pre-ordained world-view. In fact, Mr. Webster's antipathy seems to border on some sort of serious disorder. Perhaps he should seek some form of counseling. It would appear he has been the one to "drink the Kool Aid," rather than those of us who can clearly see a better system and investment.

I suggest that they just continue to suffer along with their Windows machines, if they so choose, and any MS investments they might have - and watch as Apple once again sets the standards as the herd tries vainly to catch up. Though they might sway a small percentage of the people who have never used Mac, they will certainly never convert a Mac user to Windows - at least not one who has seriously used both platforms.

Under The Radar News - Friday

Eli, you always have things of interest, are a compendium of information and (mostly!) good ideas, and I love your columns. That said, you are way off the mark on iPhone vs. Google.

First, as Miner himself said; "That's for a device that doesn't even exist yet." He's right - it doesn't - and it may never exist. (Though I tend to think it will emerge eventually.)

I am a big believer in the Open Source movement - it has some remarkable people doing remarkable things that need to be done.

However, I don't see Android (if and when it emerges) as being even a match for iPhone, let alone a killer. The iPhone already has generated some self-proclaimed "iPhone killers" a la the iPod - but we see how far they went. (What's a "Zune" again...?)

Put simply, a hodge-podge of Open Source software for a mobile device is simply no match for the smooth, slick, well-integrated iPhone. This is all the more relevant because the Apple OS and Mac is once more a growing market share, thanks to iPod, iTunes - and especially thanks to Microsoft's Vista, which is driving even die-hard MS users away in droves - and into the arms of Apple. (I just helped yet another life-long Windows tech convert the other day!)

It's like the difference between Linux and OS X - both are Unix based, and have safer, faster, and more secure operation than Windows ever did or ever will. Both have nice GUIs (now that the interfaces on Linux have been substantially improved). But if you want to run a Unix based machine with the best GUI out there - you want a Mac!

Likewise, if you want a great mobile device designed for web-based work, and that also has a lot of terrific native software supported by the best support team out there, and that will seamlessly interface with the growing number of Macs - you get iPhone - this a no-brainer.

That said, I believe there will be a market for Android, and that it fills a much-needed gap. I also hope it spurs Apple into some much-needed reforms of the iPhone and their business model (such as being locked to one provider).

However, when I buy, it will be iPhone. (BTW, my stepson [another die-hard Windows convert!] just did - and he loves it!!!)