As far as I can see, Apple is if anything even more tyrannical and monopolistic than Microsoft, the main difference being that Apple is sexier. Apple wants the computer to become like a household appliance, closed to outside modification.
Looking at how they've run iTunes, the restrictive iPhone SDK, etc ... M$ wanted to control all your software but they at least gave you some choice on hardware. If Apple becomes the new monopoly we won't even have any say on that.
That is a bit worrying, but at least it will be a monopoly they've earned one user at a time, like Google, rather than an existing monopoly they took over from the previous owner, like Microsoft.
That will tend to limit their misdeeds, because to do that a company has to have a different type of employee. If Google wanted to start being evil, they'd face an internal revolt. And Apple too, to some extent.
"Apple wants the computer to become like a household appliance, closed to outside modification:" i think you're putting the cart before the horse, there.
i'm not sure where i read it, might have been in one of pg's essays. the author pointed out that, in the early days of the car, you had to be a car expert to own and operate one. they would break down all the time, your only hope was to know what to do when that happened. eventually cars were refined to the point where any and everybody can have one.
I think it will be interesting to see how many of them are willing to put their money where their mouth is and plunk down $1000-2000 for an email/Internet research/word processing machine.
Are we in fact entering circumstances where it's believed you need a Core 2 Duo machine with 1-2 GB RAM to run Word, Excel, and a web browser? (I'm assuming most students aren't running or writing finite element codes, simulations, and other computationally intensive programs where more cores and more clock speed gives you huge gains.)
We've already been at that point. No one really needs more than a 300Mhz for email, word processing, etc. The OLPC is 433Mhz and it's good enough for that. My god, you could use a 5Mhz computer to do spreadsheet stuff. A graphing calculator has more power than some of the older computers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Texas_Instruments...
The whole software industry is really messed up when we're forcing people to upgrade to do the same things they've always been doing.
I'm assuming most students aren't running or writing finite element codes, simulations, and other computationally intensive programs where more cores and more clock speed gives you huge gains
That's what quad Opteron servers and screen sessions are for, anyhow. An iPhone would provide all the power I need for statistical methodology development (for genome-wide association studies) if I could use effectively use vim on it.
I'm thinking of moving up to an EC2 instance or 20 when the Opteron box gets too slow and I figure out how to use the parallel MLEM approach to missing data more effectively. Again, if I could just get a decent keyboard for an iPhone, I'd probably sell my ThinkPad and just use Putty from the windoze boxes at work, and my wife's iPhone (or buy one of my own, since she's always pecking on it now) at home.
(Aside: if you're looking to turn a mild-mannered, fashion-conscious, professional woman into a hardcore Internet addict, buy her an iPhone. Now she's complaining that she can't make videos on it and post them to YouTube)
The client-side OS is really kind of irrelevant, I don't care whether I'm in Linux or OS X or... well, I do hate Windows, but that's mostly because it gets in the way.
The customer pain for college students isn't just that they need a machine to crunch numbers or browse the Web... they also have the pain of wanting to be cool, hip, and trendy.
I kinda get why people would like mac notebooks, they seem to be pretty nice, but I just can't get why techies/geeks/hackers like the iPhone. Yes the hardware is pretty, but due to Apple's political decisions, it is one of the most closed systems out there - restrictive API, restrictive distribution, remote bricking, no unlocking. Hackers buying iPhones seems a bit like Greenpeace donating money for Japanese whale "research" to me.
Maybe that's why hackers would buy an iPhone due to its "restrictiveness". That's the fun in being hacker isn't it? Breaking into the system and playing around with it.
I'm not saying closed architecture is a good thing and am not a fan of Apple.
But unlocking is easy if you're a hacker. It's the non-hackers that apple is screwing the most.
The point of knowing how to hack stuff in this way is to get the most out of your soft/hardware, not to support the most hacker-friendly company with your completely insignificant amount of funds.
This figure doesn't surprise me. Every day I see signs to suggest Apple will soon be leaving Microsoft in the dust. Yesterday, a professional acquaintance suddenly announced he was buying an iMac. If you knew this guy, who has praised PCs and MS for years, you would know how big a deal this is. I was almost speechless. Time to go long on Apple, Inc.
The solution to your will power problem is that Apple should start just selling subscriptions. You sign up for an iBuy subscription and send in $300 a month. Apple randomly sends you cool stuff.
Surveys where people say what they will do in the future, and an empty sack, are worth about the same as a sack.
Come on, you measure what people do, not what they claim they'll do. And if somebody came to YC with a piece like this in her quiver, you'd probably be the first one to grill them about it...
So we are in trouble... I like a lot Macs, and it is what I suggest to computer agnostic guys, but unless you plan to install a unix-like operating system there it is very hard to think that an hacker can use this kind if user interface.
Hackers are much smarter than the people apple have in mind when designing the user interface, so the mac user interface is an obstacle between the computer and the hacker.
Over here in Holland, Macs are definitely becoming more and more popular. Not sure about the rest of europe though, but my guess is that it's the same all over europe...
I've seen the most growth in Apple uptake among casual users, e.g. non-tech-savvy middle-aged or retired people, and recent graduates that suddenly have disposable income. The usability is a huge factor for the former demographic, cost not quite so much. The latter definitely the chic, although iLife is not to be underestimated.
Students here tend to be poor, so few have Apple gear and just have some worn-out 7-year-old grey box PC. The only people I knew at university who had macs were international students who were already paying 10x as much in tuition as EU students.
This is from anecdotal observation in the UK and Austria.
Just wondering - is anyone else seeing this as an entrepreneur opportunity?
This seems to me to be more of a sense of dissatisfaction with the current (aesthetic, quality, speed, you-name-it) of the PC/laptop. The current mindset of the Windows laptop industry (cutting quality of parts and shoving tons of unneeded software on you to cut costs and improve short term sales) is killing the industry from the inside out, and Macs, although much more costly than an average PC laptop, values the satisfaction of the customer more than the price point.
in my case i just don't like vista. its DRM crap, plus the interface that looks like it was designed by a committee of people checking things off a list rather than a single artist who actually knows how it must be done
it's not enough for me to get a mac though. i'll stick with my XP Media Center edition for the time being
As a college student I estimate that 3 of 10 students use Macs. When I walk through the cafeteria I like to see how many Macbooks there are, to see if PGs 10 year prediction will come true.
I grab a cup of coffee every morning from a local indy coffee shop who offers free Wifi, and, over the past two years I have certainly noticed there are more and more little glowing apple icons to go along with all the white ear-bud cords.
I wish I could find the source where I read a comment about the ergonomics of apple products. It was something along the line of a cross between a kitchen appliance and a dildo. I still smile when I think of that.
I am probably going to get an Apple in a few days. I absolutely abhor windows and am comfortable in Linux. Any advice? Is the pro worth it/necessary for developing web apps? (I am comfortable using a smaller size laptop)
I hear a lot of people saying that the Macbook Pro isn't worth it, but I think it is.
I bought a Macbook and ended up upgrading to the Pro within a week. The Macbook felt sluggish for me. My typical usage pattern is several browser windows open with about 15 tabs open apiece, plus an IRC client, iTunes/VLC, a shell window, and Textmate (a text editor).
Upgrading to the Pro made things feel a lot faster for me.
Macs are known as gorgeous pieces of hardware and that seems to be their main functionality. As Neal Stephenson stated, they are polished and nice to look at, hence why the prices are jacked up but that is all that they have going for them. Nowadays, most things that are exuberantly expensive must be worth something and are therefore sought out and it becomes a trend.
If your best friend has a $3000 Mac monitor, why shouldn't you have one?
In my opinion, Dells are pretty sturdy machines though a bit hefty. I would like to get my hands on an HP computer though. That is a beaut.
Run Linux, OSX & XP on a single machine, without rebooting. That's bliss for web dev like me. Sure, those college students may be lured by the 'ooo, shiny ...' factor but they stay for the power & ease of use.
One of the keys to Apple's success is the marriage of open and closed systems: *NIX at the bottom with a well thought-out and (closed) UI on top. Good design (& designers) tend to be dictatorial because difficult decisions need to be made (which features to leave out). Hence the closed GUI system.
I know 5 students who bought new laptops in the last 2 years, 3 of them chose a Mac. Also, most laptops at a local Starbucks popular with students are Macs. PG was right.
[+] [-] dusklight|18 years ago|reply
As far as I can see, Apple is if anything even more tyrannical and monopolistic than Microsoft, the main difference being that Apple is sexier. Apple wants the computer to become like a household appliance, closed to outside modification.
Looking at how they've run iTunes, the restrictive iPhone SDK, etc ... M$ wanted to control all your software but they at least gave you some choice on hardware. If Apple becomes the new monopoly we won't even have any say on that.
[+] [-] pg|18 years ago|reply
That will tend to limit their misdeeds, because to do that a company has to have a different type of employee. If Google wanted to start being evil, they'd face an internal revolt. And Apple too, to some extent.
[+] [-] allenbrunson|18 years ago|reply
i'm not sure where i read it, might have been in one of pg's essays. the author pointed out that, in the early days of the car, you had to be a car expert to own and operate one. they would break down all the time, your only hope was to know what to do when that happened. eventually cars were refined to the point where any and everybody can have one.
computers are on that same trajectory.
[+] [-] pjf|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] moog|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jeroen|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] henning|18 years ago|reply
Are we in fact entering circumstances where it's believed you need a Core 2 Duo machine with 1-2 GB RAM to run Word, Excel, and a web browser? (I'm assuming most students aren't running or writing finite element codes, simulations, and other computationally intensive programs where more cores and more clock speed gives you huge gains.)
[+] [-] omouse|18 years ago|reply
The whole software industry is really messed up when we're forcing people to upgrade to do the same things they've always been doing.
[+] [-] jgrahamc|18 years ago|reply
So, for $1,000 to $2,000 I get a really cool computer and an increased chance of getting laid. I'd like to see Dell fight that value proposition.
[+] [-] apathy|18 years ago|reply
That's what quad Opteron servers and screen sessions are for, anyhow. An iPhone would provide all the power I need for statistical methodology development (for genome-wide association studies) if I could use effectively use vim on it.
I'm thinking of moving up to an EC2 instance or 20 when the Opteron box gets too slow and I figure out how to use the parallel MLEM approach to missing data more effectively. Again, if I could just get a decent keyboard for an iPhone, I'd probably sell my ThinkPad and just use Putty from the windoze boxes at work, and my wife's iPhone (or buy one of my own, since she's always pecking on it now) at home.
(Aside: if you're looking to turn a mild-mannered, fashion-conscious, professional woman into a hardcore Internet addict, buy her an iPhone. Now she's complaining that she can't make videos on it and post them to YouTube)
The client-side OS is really kind of irrelevant, I don't care whether I'm in Linux or OS X or... well, I do hate Windows, but that's mostly because it gets in the way.
[+] [-] trekker7|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stcredzero|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] martythemaniak|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thevictor|18 years ago|reply
I'm not saying closed architecture is a good thing and am not a fan of Apple.
[+] [-] attack|18 years ago|reply
The point of knowing how to hack stuff in this way is to get the most out of your soft/hardware, not to support the most hacker-friendly company with your completely insignificant amount of funds.
[+] [-] moog|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrtron|18 years ago|reply
3 of my friends have made the jump after playing with my Macbook.
It is taking a lot of willpower to not get an Air or MBP.
[+] [-] jgrahamc|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] handelaar|18 years ago|reply
Come on, you measure what people do, not what they claim they'll do. And if somebody came to YC with a piece like this in her quiver, you'd probably be the first one to grill them about it...
[+] [-] antirez|18 years ago|reply
Hackers are much smarter than the people apple have in mind when designing the user interface, so the mac user interface is an obstacle between the computer and the hacker.
[+] [-] eru|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] randomhack|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gumbah|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmjordan|18 years ago|reply
Students here tend to be poor, so few have Apple gear and just have some worn-out 7-year-old grey box PC. The only people I knew at university who had macs were international students who were already paying 10x as much in tuition as EU students.
This is from anecdotal observation in the UK and Austria.
[+] [-] Spyckie|18 years ago|reply
This seems to me to be more of a sense of dissatisfaction with the current (aesthetic, quality, speed, you-name-it) of the PC/laptop. The current mindset of the Windows laptop industry (cutting quality of parts and shoving tons of unneeded software on you to cut costs and improve short term sales) is killing the industry from the inside out, and Macs, although much more costly than an average PC laptop, values the satisfaction of the customer more than the price point.
[+] [-] tokipin|18 years ago|reply
it's not enough for me to get a mac though. i'll stick with my XP Media Center edition for the time being
[+] [-] cadalac|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mixmax|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] introitus|18 years ago|reply
I wish I could find the source where I read a comment about the ergonomics of apple products. It was something along the line of a cross between a kitchen appliance and a dildo. I still smile when I think of that.
[+] [-] gregwebs|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pius|18 years ago|reply
I bought a Macbook and ended up upgrading to the Pro within a week. The Macbook felt sluggish for me. My typical usage pattern is several browser windows open with about 15 tabs open apiece, plus an IRC client, iTunes/VLC, a shell window, and Textmate (a text editor).
Upgrading to the Pro made things feel a lot faster for me.
[+] [-] falsestprophet|18 years ago|reply
Running Ubuntu on it is a nightmare, so I am beginning to regret my decision. Now, I just do all of my work over ssh on my server or my labs' boxes.
And a pro definitely is not nearly worth it (and doesn't look nearly as cool).
[+] [-] crisachow14|18 years ago|reply
If your best friend has a $3000 Mac monitor, why shouldn't you have one?
In my opinion, Dells are pretty sturdy machines though a bit hefty. I would like to get my hands on an HP computer though. That is a beaut.
[+] [-] c1sc0|18 years ago|reply
One of the keys to Apple's success is the marriage of open and closed systems: *NIX at the bottom with a well thought-out and (closed) UI on top. Good design (& designers) tend to be dictatorial because difficult decisions need to be made (which features to leave out). Hence the closed GUI system.
[+] [-] hassy|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wumi|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Maven911|18 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hello_moto|18 years ago|reply
People's taste always change once in a while. We've been living in the world of Windows for 10-15 years. People got bored with Windows and Dell.
Mac gives them a new "toy" (not literally, but gadget wise).
[+] [-] run4yourlives|18 years ago|reply