For $600 plus the price of an ExpressCard, you can get a cheap Dell laptop with FireWire support. With Apple, you'll have to pay $1999 for this (yes, I know the old MacBooks are still available for now - but that won't last).
If MacBooks had any kind of expansion, the removal of FireWire would be a non-issue. But they don't. Why do Macs have to have hardware that's exponentially less useful than PCs that are less than half the price?
There's definitely a valid point here, but again, this is nothing that people don't already know. I think this can be explained as one of the main differences between MS and Apple:
MS has always tried to provide a foundation for a platform that has the possiblilty to work for every situation. You can configure a machine to do exactly what you want. This way MS can reach all the people under the sun and meet everybody's needs. They actually end up ruining lots of their software (arguably) by trying to reach every type of user (packing software with tons functionality which usually ends up being poorly organized/designed).
Apple has always provided a single solution that people either use and love, or have no use for. This is their niche. This obviously doesn't reach everybody under the sun, but it does provide a perfect solution for those that are looking to use a machine for exactly the reasons they intended.
Microsoft also lambasted Apple for withholding a slew of hardware features from its Mac line that have been available on Windows PCs "for years," such as HDMI, Blu-Ray, eSATA, MediaCard Readers, built-in 3G, Fingerprint readers, and TV Tuners.
Awww, MS is concern for us....Apple just states why there is no blu-ray, besides HOW MANY notebooks out there came with BLU RAY without having to pay a TON!.
eSATA? who cares? FW S3200 will blow it away, that's more future proof then eSATA in my book.
Media card readers is nice, but hey, I rarely use it and I wont mind plugging in an external media card reader. Besides having an internal media card reader will make the notebook ugly, clearly MSoft dont have the art perspective mind.
Finger print reader? Yea right and increase the chances of getting your fingerprint cutted of and to smudge the notebook design, no thanks!. Again, no art perspective.
TV Tuners. - well not sure if I will use this, but some might.
MS Marketing Team "Fuhh, Apple did not enter the sub 1k market, thank goodness"
It's pure FUD. They know people (particularly Americans) hate tax. In this case how stupid do they think people are? Microsoft is much more likely to be labelled a taxation agent through its licencing agreements.
Apple has always provided a single solution that people either use and love, or have no use for. This is their niche. This obviously doesn't reach everybody under the sun, but it does provide a perfect solution for those that are looking to use a machine for exactly the reasons they intended.
Yes, but if you turn out to need to do something they didn't anticipate, you're either screwed or you have to pay $2000 when a $600 Dell probably would have done the job just as well.
Having a FireWire port on the side of the machine does not make anything more complicated for the average user. They just ignore it if they're not using it (until their machine quits booting and they bring it to me, at which time FireWire port ends up helping them out big-time, because if their files are recoverable I can do it in minutes thanks to target mode). Having an ExpressCard slot on the side of a machine would not make anything more complicated for the average user. It would just make the machine more versatile, and add to its useful life. Let's be honest - the reason Apple doesn't include these ports isn't to make anything simpler for the user. It's to make the case prettier. I wouldn't mind if I were able to make the choice between pretty case and useful hardware, but unfortunately we're stuck with "pretty case" whether we like it or not if we want to use OS X legally.
For $600 plus the price of an ExpressCard, you can get a cheap Dell laptop with FireWire support. With Apple, you'll have to pay $1999 for this (yes, I know the old MacBooks are still available for now - but that won't last).
If MacBooks had any kind of expansion, the removal of FireWire would be a non-issue. But they don't. Why do Macs have to have hardware that's exponentially less useful than PCs that are less than half the price?
Because Steve wants to herd all of us into buying $2000+ MacBook Pros.
It's silly. I love the software (OS X and the included apps), but I do get soooo very tired of looking over my shoulder at expandable, affordable PC notebooks with 15" screens. Like these features are oh-so-special and near-unobtainable that I should have to put two grand down to get them.
Steve's just really lucky that Vista blows, and that PC makers wouldn't know attractive notebook design if it bit them in the privates.
There's still a few hours to go before Apple takes the wraps off its new notebook line, but that hasn't stopped its rival to the north from scrambling into a defensive stance, firing off emails to its employs that bill the new systems as overpriced, underspec'd and locked down.
Gizmodo, which published excerpts from the Microsoft email, says the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant included charts comparing the feature sets of similarly priced Windows and Mac notebooks, and made repeated (eight) accusations of an "Apple Tax."
"The email is interesting: nothing they say is incorrect, but none of it is new. Most importantly, all of it misses the point completely," the gadget blog wrote. "Most Apple buyers are fully aware that they could purchase cheaper computers from another manufacturer -- after all, Apple's hardware specifications aren't exactly closely guarded secrets."
Microsoft referenced a Morgan Stanley research note from last month in which the firm cited a bruised global economy as an indicator that growth in the high-end PC would fall, leaving much of the industry's growth prospects to " the sub-$1,000 market where Apple does not play."
"Even if Apple were to drop pricing, the Apple Tax still prices Macs well outside of the sub-$1000 range," Microsoft said. "You can get a PC laptop with a bigger hard drive, more RAM, a media-card reader, more USB ports, and a bigger screen, for much less than a Mac."
The software maker simply charged Apple with offering consumers only one "significantly upgradeable Mac," the Mac Pro priced at $2799. It said consumers can "upgrade just about any Windows desktop PC" without having to drop loads of cash on new software that would be required when making the switch to Apple's computer line.
"Repurchasing software to make your Mac do all the things your PC does will cost you hundreds of dollars," the company said. "Buying a Mac means scrapping your software and buying new applications (for up to $1,100) that run on Mac, just to do what you can still easily do on a new PC with the applications you already have."
Microsoft also lambasted Apple for withholding a slew of hardware features from its Mac line that have been available on Windows PCs "for years," such as HDMI, Blu-Ray, eSATA, MediaCard Readers, built-in 3G, Fingerprint readers, and TV Tuners.
"Not only does this mean you get to use the latest and greatest now, but since it?s so easy to upgrade PCs, it also means that your computer is more future-ready?you can get today?s technology now, and tomorrow?s technology the minute its available," the company said.
Microsoft is presently enthralled in a $300 million advertising campaign aimed at cleaning up the image of Windows Vista-based PCs, which have been tarnished at the hands of Apple and its own "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" international advertising blitz.
Please mac zealots, give the rest of the world a break.
Saints preserve us, another bleeding heart liberal that thinks it's his job to tell everyone else what to do with THEIR money. Give the rest of US a break!
Comments
They've got a point.
For $600 plus the price of an ExpressCard, you can get a cheap Dell laptop with FireWire support. With Apple, you'll have to pay $1999 for this (yes, I know the old MacBooks are still available for now - but that won't last).
If MacBooks had any kind of expansion, the removal of FireWire would be a non-issue. But they don't. Why do Macs have to have hardware that's exponentially less useful than PCs that are less than half the price?
There's definitely a valid point here, but again, this is nothing that people don't already know. I think this can be explained as one of the main differences between MS and Apple:
MS has always tried to provide a foundation for a platform that has the possiblilty to work for every situation. You can configure a machine to do exactly what you want. This way MS can reach all the people under the sun and meet everybody's needs. They actually end up ruining lots of their software (arguably) by trying to reach every type of user (packing software with tons functionality which usually ends up being poorly organized/designed).
Apple has always provided a single solution that people either use and love, or have no use for. This is their niche. This obviously doesn't reach everybody under the sun, but it does provide a perfect solution for those that are looking to use a machine for exactly the reasons they intended.
It's another "To each his own" scenario I think.
"Microsoft is presently enthralled in a $300 million advertising campaign"
I think the writer needs to look up the word "enthralled" in the dictionary.
NO!!!, M$ is definitely 'enslaved' by their 300 gazillion dollar ad program...
Microsoft also lambasted Apple for withholding a slew of hardware features from its Mac line that have been available on Windows PCs "for years," such as HDMI, Blu-Ray, eSATA, MediaCard Readers, built-in 3G, Fingerprint readers, and TV Tuners.
Awww, MS is concern for us....Apple just states why there is no blu-ray, besides HOW MANY notebooks out there came with BLU RAY without having to pay a TON!.
eSATA? who cares? FW S3200 will blow it away, that's more future proof then eSATA in my book.
Media card readers is nice, but hey, I rarely use it and I wont mind plugging in an external media card reader. Besides having an internal media card reader will make the notebook ugly, clearly MSoft dont have the art perspective mind.
Finger print reader? Yea right and increase the chances of getting your fingerprint cutted of and to smudge the notebook design, no thanks!. Again, no art perspective.
TV Tuners. - well not sure if I will use this, but some might.
MS Marketing Team "Fuhh, Apple did not enter the sub 1k market, thank goodness"
Apple has always provided a single solution that people either use and love, or have no use for. This is their niche. This obviously doesn't reach everybody under the sun, but it does provide a perfect solution for those that are looking to use a machine for exactly the reasons they intended.
Yes, but if you turn out to need to do something they didn't anticipate, you're either screwed or you have to pay $2000 when a $600 Dell probably would have done the job just as well.
Having a FireWire port on the side of the machine does not make anything more complicated for the average user. They just ignore it if they're not using it (until their machine quits booting and they bring it to me, at which time FireWire port ends up helping them out big-time, because if their files are recoverable I can do it in minutes thanks to target mode). Having an ExpressCard slot on the side of a machine would not make anything more complicated for the average user. It would just make the machine more versatile, and add to its useful life. Let's be honest - the reason Apple doesn't include these ports isn't to make anything simpler for the user. It's to make the case prettier. I wouldn't mind if I were able to make the choice between pretty case and useful hardware, but unfortunately we're stuck with "pretty case" whether we like it or not if we want to use OS X legally.
They've got a point.
For $600 plus the price of an ExpressCard, you can get a cheap Dell laptop with FireWire support. With Apple, you'll have to pay $1999 for this (yes, I know the old MacBooks are still available for now - but that won't last).
If MacBooks had any kind of expansion, the removal of FireWire would be a non-issue. But they don't. Why do Macs have to have hardware that's exponentially less useful than PCs that are less than half the price?
Because Steve wants to herd all of us into buying $2000+ MacBook Pros.
It's silly. I love the software (OS X and the included apps), but I do get soooo very tired of looking over my shoulder at expandable, affordable PC notebooks with 15" screens. Like these features are oh-so-special and near-unobtainable that I should have to put two grand down to get them.
Steve's just really lucky that Vista blows, and that PC makers wouldn't know attractive notebook design if it bit them in the privates.
-
There's still a few hours to go before Apple takes the wraps off its new notebook line, but that hasn't stopped its rival to the north from scrambling into a defensive stance, firing off emails to its employs that bill the new systems as overpriced, underspec'd and locked down.
Gizmodo, which published excerpts from the Microsoft email, says the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant included charts comparing the feature sets of similarly priced Windows and Mac notebooks, and made repeated (eight) accusations of an "Apple Tax."
"The email is interesting: nothing they say is incorrect, but none of it is new. Most importantly, all of it misses the point completely," the gadget blog wrote. "Most Apple buyers are fully aware that they could purchase cheaper computers from another manufacturer -- after all, Apple's hardware specifications aren't exactly closely guarded secrets."
Microsoft referenced a Morgan Stanley research note from last month in which the firm cited a bruised global economy as an indicator that growth in the high-end PC would fall, leaving much of the industry's growth prospects to " the sub-$1,000 market where Apple does not play."
"Even if Apple were to drop pricing, the Apple Tax still prices Macs well outside of the sub-$1000 range," Microsoft said. "You can get a PC laptop with a bigger hard drive, more RAM, a media-card reader, more USB ports, and a bigger screen, for much less than a Mac."
The software maker simply charged Apple with offering consumers only one "significantly upgradeable Mac," the Mac Pro priced at $2799. It said consumers can "upgrade just about any Windows desktop PC" without having to drop loads of cash on new software that would be required when making the switch to Apple's computer line.
"Repurchasing software to make your Mac do all the things your PC does will cost you hundreds of dollars," the company said. "Buying a Mac means scrapping your software and buying new applications (for up to $1,100) that run on Mac, just to do what you can still easily do on a new PC with the applications you already have."
Microsoft also lambasted Apple for withholding a slew of hardware features from its Mac line that have been available on Windows PCs "for years," such as HDMI, Blu-Ray, eSATA, MediaCard Readers, built-in 3G, Fingerprint readers, and TV Tuners.
"Not only does this mean you get to use the latest and greatest now, but since it?s so easy to upgrade PCs, it also means that your computer is more future-ready?you can get today?s technology now, and tomorrow?s technology the minute its available," the company said.
Microsoft is presently enthralled in a $300 million advertising campaign aimed at cleaning up the image of Windows Vista-based PCs, which have been tarnished at the hands of Apple and its own "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" international advertising blitz.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
They should of done this with seinfeld with the soup nazi saying NO MAC OS TO YOU.
Please mac zealots, give the rest of the world a break.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/com.../2006/01/70072
Please mac zealots, give the rest of the world a break.
Saints preserve us, another bleeding heart liberal that thinks it's his job to tell everyone else what to do with THEIR money. Give the rest of US a break!