I have about had it with Macs, actually computers in general. I don't like Windows because it isn't that great an OS, though I have little experience with XP, and now am beginning to hate my mac, thanks in part to the shrewd business practices of Steve Jobs.
First off, Macs are expensive, but are worth it for the quality design, and smooth running OS and application integration.
When OS 8.6 was first offered they had a service they touted as a perk to owning a mac, a free service called iTools. With a @mac.com email address and a few features, it was woth the 0 price tag. Then, during a Macworld Expo he announced for the same shotty service you had to pay $99 a year for it.
Then there were three costly updates to OS X. First the patetic OS X 10 was introduced, then after a while a $129 update to 'Jaguar', and then only a year later another $129 update to 'Panther'.
A free "perk" to owning OS X was some iLife applications such as iPhoto, to view and manage photos, iTunes to manage your music, among others. They advertised them as part of the Mac experience.
Well, today is was the keynote at the Macworld expo, and Steve Jobs has again showed his contempt for the people who have made Apple profitable again. He announced that although the iLife software will continue to be offered for new computer buyers, those of us who have older computers are out of luck, and will have to pay $49 for the iLife suite, which includes the hugely popular iPhoto.
So I, with my computer which is only 3 months old, can never get the updates to iPhoto (the only iLife program I run other than iTunes) unless I buy the whole suite. I cannot use iMovie or iDVD because I don't have a digital camcorder or DVD writer. They also include some stupid program called GarageBand so I can make my own music, but I have zero desire for that.
So in a page taken out of Bill Gate's playbook, they take a program you like, which was free, bundle it with annother 3 or 4 which you don't want, and charge you for it. One size fits no one.
Why should I pay for programs I don't want, need, or can't run? Why do Apple users put up with it? It is one is a long line of decisions by the bully from Cupertino which will only alienate Mac fans, and if gone too far, will destroy Apple.
It would probably not be dificult to find 49 friends willing to share the expense. Even just to ply with Garage Band for half an hour is probably worth a buck!
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at January 7, 2004 04:32 PMThank you, Tom; those are precisely my sentiments. I've spent just under $5000.00 for this fancy box, and I now understand why some companies are migrating to 100% open source on PC. I will do the same when I start a company; no need to give back-stabbing thieves my money.
It only cost me $291.00 to build my Girlfriend a gaming PC with 2.5x the total CPU and memory of my dual-1Ghz G4, and my G4 doesn't have DDR, though the PC does. We have them in the same room, and the PC is obviously more powerful.
You can experience the same thing; go ahead: buy a dual-G5 today and you'll see the same effect over the next 2 years. Macintosh is not a wise investment.
Software & solutions available for Mac today are no better than they have been in the past: the vast majority of software and hardware is made for PC. I feel even dumber for buying virtual PC as it has not solved any problems.
Apparently my decision to buy apple was not very well thought out, despite years of naively being faithful to the macintosh platform. As a long-time linux user at work, I can tell you that nothing I do with my Mac cannot be done the same or better with a PC.
Hindsight is 20/20 -- Don't let this be you.
Posted by: Unhappy Mac Buyer at March 2, 2004 08:02 PMApple is the worst company ever!!! I once made the mistake of buying an imac and now i feel ripped off!!
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