Posts by Ted Treen 1738 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Apr 2007
"...nearly picked up a October revision base 15in i7 Macbook Pro for an excellent price a few weeks ago..."
So why didn't you, if it answers your needs?
Is it a matter of life-and-death to have the latest spec? If Firewire is omitted from new systems, does it mean the Firewire on older systems suddenly stops working?
Yes, I'm a Mac user, but I use what I need, rather than chase every new development...
@AC 16:52
Nicely put.
Amazing how much worse kids' behaviour has become since the fluffy touchy-feely brigade were allowed to hold sway.
Kids today are told (and believe) they have a plethora of "rights" but absolutely no responsibilities.
When my son (now 26) was a nipper, he had no "rights" other than the most basic and fundamental. Anything else was a privilege which was earned by obeying the rules, and as he got older, shouldering responsibilities (small at first, but increasing with age).
Result? He's a thoughtful, responsible and caring adult now. I'm as proud of him as much as I love him, and we have a great relationship.
@deadlockvictim:- "...There aren't that many more macs around than before (or so it seems, at any rate)..."
Probably not in the room(s) where you live & work.
Many homes have eschewed Windows machines for iMacs - iMac sales show this.
Many executives now use a MacBook - look in any First Class lounge, Starbucks etc. Again, reported MacBook sales would indicate this.
MacPro machines DO sell well: sure it might be a lower percentage of a greatly increased sales volume, but they're still selling - even if overdue for an upgrade to new Xeons.
The fact that ever-increasing sums are spent on iPhones and iPads appears to overshadow Mac sales shouldn't detract from the fact that Macs are selling increasingly well. There will inevitably be an increase due to the halo effect of iDevice sales, but these can often lag a year or so behind, but they will happen.
Apple have just made sure they have a few more baskets into which they can put their eggs.
@veti
"Personally I don't get the Apple hate"
At one time, Apple was very much the underdog, loved by some and appreciated by a few more. Most of the PC world, then having fun with bright green command lines on a black screen, were even unaware of Apple and if they vaguely remembered the name, didn't know anything about them.
Now for a variety of reasons (I'm not going to get into any spats about these) Apple is the Wunderkind of the mainstream media, and few companies have a higher public profile.
It does seem to be that one of the less pleasant aspects of human nature is the desire to see an underdog really built up, then to take a perverse pleasure in knocking them down again.
Then there is the willy-waving (generally by those with metaphorical shortcomings in the appendage department) who cannot see ANYTHING becoming popular, without showering it with contemptuous disdain proclaiming that "If it's popular, it must be because it appeals to sheep and I hate it 'cos I'm too cool & special for all that".
Then again, like with cars, there are those who will knock any car which is different to the one they've bought, as they have to justify what they are tied into, and in denial that they might have made the wrong choice.
The again there's also simple jealousy & sour grapes...
No doubt I'll be buried with down votes for sussing out some commentaries whose denial runs deeper than I thought.
@Asgard
It never ceases to amaze me - the number of people whose incisive insight is so vastly superior to that of those who run these companies. Are these commenters very high-up in the IT world, and therefore have knowledge AND experience to validate their claims?
There is an awful lot of cars in the world right now. Only a very small percentage of them are Ferraris, BMWs, Jaguars. Don't see those companies wearing sackcloth & ashes and wailing "We're all doomed".
It's telling that the commenter states "...smug bastards who want to wave their new shiny shiny in everyones faces to say hey look at me, I have it and you don't type of people.."
Would that be as opposed to smug bastards who want to forcibly grab my attention and say "Hey! Look at me. I'm far too cool and intelligent to fall for any marketing crap - I'm one of the élite über-techies who's way too superior for all that"?
And everyone is just accepting the cost of 5 coders, at £30k pa each. So the biggest overhead is £150k in pay.
Are you seriously asking me to believe that some of the £0.69p apps I have (and enjoy) took five man years of development?
Were they ALL products of Redmond?
Couldn't agree more. I don't use or visit Facebook - or photo sharing sites. I do however, accept that other people have a right to a different view, and a different course of action.
I'm not arrogant enough to castigate others for not thinking my way.
One man's meat etc...
...then you haven't come across very many Mac users then, have you?
Every Mac user I know (including me) has AV installed - if only to avoid inadvertently forwarding a Windows virus to a windows-using friend.
Shock! Horror!
Some of us Mac users DO have friends who use Windows - and we STILL talk to each other and remain friends...
Not just that, but these arseholes do need reminding that in this country, sovereignty remains with the people.
The assorted denizens of Whitehall and the Palace of Westminster need to be reminded** that their position is that of public servant.
**Reminded by something with a pointy end, if necessary!
...and one 'strategic commentard" (me) said: "It would take a remarkable display of discipline [for KAE] to resist" moving into fortune telling & seances. The survey concludes that they would "massively disrupt" either industry she got involved in.
As Powney SHOULD have explaIned -
This uncommissioned spurious research tells us prospective customers (might) perceive a fit where at first glance we would assume our brand could not travel [on the grounds they've never heard of us] This makes us a truly dangerous animal to a startling array of sectors.,
Read the article again.
"David Rankin, boss of the research consultancy behind the study KAE, believes banking is an obvious next step for the computer makers:"
(David Rankin - who he? - ed)
Does anyone at Apple believe this? Has anyone at Apple even considered this? If so, has it even been mooted?
I'm sure that, knowing Apple's very high public profile, a research consultancy would not implement some totally spurious survey just to wallow in the resulting publicity...
...anyone wouldn't have "Howard the duck" high up in their list...
Also the Stallone version of "Get Carter" was so execrable I watched (in disbelief) only the first 8 or 10 minutes, and then turned it off.
However, not all remakes are bad:- the Bruce Willis film "Last Man Standing" was actually a pretty good remake of "For a fistful of dollars"
I work in the railway industry. Our random booze/dope test policy applies to all - even desk-bound Mac artists like me. This is because :-
a) Can you imagine the conniptions saintly Brother Crow would have, if Drivers/Conductors/Platform staff were tested, but admin/management weren't?
b) In times of need or emergency, any office-dweller can be temporarily re-assigned to 'the front line' - obviously not where specific training is required - so booze-free & dope-free brains throughout the working day are essential.
It ain't no hardship, honest.
(I'm sure I'll get voted down just for that alone)
One of the biggest problems I've come across in assisting the technologically-challenged has been the user himself/herself.
Even though I'm a Mac user myself, I help friends & relatives who have Windows PCs, too. I have recommended anti-nasty software to users on both platforms, and attempted to drum into their little heads the importance of good backup - preferably cloning their hard drive then executing an incremental backup at regular intervals.
With recommendations for AV software, I attempt to (metaphorically, of course) engrave upon their brains "UPDATE YOUR AV SOFTWARE" but do they do it?
Rarely.
I've just spent some time tidying up an XP system - assisted by my son - and the user asked me in a peeved voice "I installed the AV software you advised - so why is my PC infected?" My reply of course was "Have you kept the virus/trojan defs updated" and was advised "I shouldn't have to do that, should I?"
I thought I'd almost conditioned him to do it when I advised about the AV - BACK IN SEPTEMBER 2010. Apparently, some people think that software produced in 2010 should - by a process of osmosis - be fully conversant with ALL nasties produced since, without they themselves having to do anything about it.
Maybe you should have to have a computer licence, and three endorsements gets it suspended...
Yup, I'm a Mac man - but I still need a Windows machine at work - Industry specific software written way back in the '90's. Suspicion has it it was the 1890's.
Prior to installing WMWare on my office Mac, I had a Pentium 4 running XP Pro on my desk. I was one of the better equipped staff - Win2000 and lesser Pentiums abound - but so they do in many large organisations who might have their own esoteric S/W - which, if a relic of pre-2k days, is probably not that demanding on resources. Add that to Lotus Notes, a bit of Word/Excel and there really isn't any great need or incentive to upgrade.
With companies still using Win200/XP on a regular basis, I just don't see the huge mass of commercial users rushing out to upgrade.
And you will find your experience echoed in a multitude of companies - large and small - across the UK and elsewhere.
So many IT managers seem to think that installing Macs is a threat to their own little empire, and anyway it's a similar outlook to the one I met so often in the early 1980's - "No-one ever got fired for buying IBM".
Not at all - we might point out that Dell etc., etc., also use Foxconn and others, where terms, conditions, pay rates & margins are ALL going to be much of a muchness.
We also point out that at least Apple are doing something - whether it's enough is a subjective matter, not an objective point - to deal with this issue, whereas the actions of pretty well every other manufacturer/assembler are conspicuous by their complete absence.
The right to bear arms is enshrined in the US constitution to protect the freedom of the people.
I accept that the Dep't of Homeland Security is eroding that freedom rather too much, but over-ambitious rulers are kept in check by the thought of an armed populace.
Why do you think our ruling elite here in the UK are so vehemently opposed to any kind of arming of the electorate?
Concern for our well-being? - If so, it would be the first time ever!
To save us from ourselves? - see comment above!
To ensure that armed bad guys can't hurt us? - ask any cop involved in Trident how effective that is.
To prevent a serious rising by a pissed-off electorate? - getting warmer!
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