I completely sympathize with Mark. I was an Apple hater for years, and was ecstatic when I discovered Linux (Ubuntu 7.04) and could move away from Windows as well.
Then a good friend of mine convinced me to get an iPhone. I was hesitant at first, but after trying one I decided to go for it.
Then I got a job where my choices were a MacBook Pro or a Dell with Vista. Three guesses which one I took (the first two don't count).
I must admit OS X is really nice, and full Unix compatibility is a huge plus. Still... sigh
Full unix compatibility without easy, comprehensive & working BINARY package management (like debian, or archlinux) is still a big pain in the ass. Setting up something like the mysqldb library, mod_python, apache, and django can be a 1 hour production vs. the 5 minute production that it is on linux.
... and Apple will do whatever they can to brick those phones, and in the arms race that follows, it's a coin flip as to whether Apple will win (like DirecTV did) or lose (like Microsoft did with the first Xbox).
I don't think Apple is as pressed to fight this war as DirecTV was.
Also you can jailbreak the thing without additional hardware which wasn't possible in the DirecTV scenario. I doubt that we'll see jailbroken iphones going away anytime soon, the process is becoming effortless even for non-hacker types and the benefits are obvious (even if you've never heard of Freedom 0).
I don't know if Apple feels pressed. It's hard to say if, long term, you'll need hardware to jailbreak an iPod. I'm just pointing out that there is a bit of hubris in the jailbreaker mentality --- it is not, from a CS perspective, an unsolveable problem to make jailbreaking more effort than it's worth. Apple's got a lot of smart people.
I can't modify the firmware image in my Bosch engine ECU, even though doing so could significantly improve the performance of my car. Mark is right. Nobody gives a shit.
well mark has to realize that to other family members, his issues may
not matter. maybe i am using motor oil produced by evil people...i
don't know because motor oil is just something i use.
for him, he should stick to his guns. mac products are typically not exceptional and the
users are consumer sheep...exactly the same hipsters who mock rampant
consumerism elsewhere in society are the ones camping out to buy a
phone.
i do so wish anarchists would start tagging apple stores
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 39.1 ms ] threadAwwwwww
Then a good friend of mine convinced me to get an iPhone. I was hesitant at first, but after trying one I decided to go for it.
Then I got a job where my choices were a MacBook Pro or a Dell with Vista. Three guesses which one I took (the first two don't count).
I must admit OS X is really nice, and full Unix compatibility is a huge plus. Still... sigh
[Edit: missing period]
Also you can jailbreak the thing without additional hardware which wasn't possible in the DirecTV scenario. I doubt that we'll see jailbroken iphones going away anytime soon, the process is becoming effortless even for non-hacker types and the benefits are obvious (even if you've never heard of Freedom 0).
for him, he should stick to his guns. mac products are typically not exceptional and the users are consumer sheep...exactly the same hipsters who mock rampant consumerism elsewhere in society are the ones camping out to buy a phone.
i do so wish anarchists would start tagging apple stores