Maybe we need a Safire Nattering Nabob of Negativism Award for Tech Writers.

Let’s not confuse jockeying for power with how people live their lives (effectively).

ChuckO { 09.27.09 at 8:53 pm }

pa,

Yes Windows (OS,Server OS, Exchange) are the same but you can buy the hardware from multiple vendors therefore you can shop between vendors. It’s my understanding that’s important to “the enterprise”.

Consider the Linux/BD/Solaris distributions, there’s a lot of different ones, including some really neat specialized ones. There are 301 distributions listed on Distrowatch. That’s a lot of choice, which will run on damned near any hardware you through at it, even stuff like MIPS or Itanic.

The reason they “like” Windows because it can be used on alternative hardware, is because they have to get three quotes before they can place an order. Apple could do the same thing, all it would take is the local Apple Store and two Apple Distributors quoting, and in fact this is probably happening in some cases, Apple’s do get used in the Enterprise far more than most people realize.

TechCrunch’s attitude towards Apple is a pose. partly it is a reaction to Apple’s arrogance and secrecy which many, naturally enough, do not like. mainly though it lets them carve out a niche in the blogsphere, get attention, and pretend to be intellectually superior, or hip, whatever gets them off. and like so much of the blogsphere, facts don’t really matter, BS is more than good enough for their purposes.

Apple isn’t arrogant. The definition of Arrogant is:
making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud
Apple doesn’t match that description. The only one that comes close is pride, and Apple has a right to be proud of the product that they make.
Secrecy is another issue. Apple has always preferred to deliver surprises, and it has been a very effective way for them to introduce new product. It has also been an effective way for Apple to avoid the accusations of vaporware that Microsoft has to deal with all the time.

that said, the post RDM linked to isn’t all BS. it raises the good and honest question of whether the current huge success of the App Store compared to the competition is just a temporary transition event, Apple benefitting now by (just) being the first. after all, they note, after a few years the competition will all finally get their acts together and provide an equal range of comparable apps and stores and smart hardware too. given the ongoing balkanization of the smartphone OS’s, tho, i don’t know how they see any one platform emerging as the ‘open’ standard that will supplant Apple as the leader (of course Ballmer thinks it will be WinMobile!).

Apple’s app store wasn’t the first. It is however the best at present, and I don’t think that Microsloth will be able to match it. Microsloth is pretty incompetent when it comes to customer satisfaction.

but they are missing the bigger picture. whether you call it “ecosystem” or “convergence,” what consumers are looking for is drop-dead easy integration of all the digital aspects of their life into simple to use products that work together without tech fiddling by the consumer – because most can’t fiddle good.

Actually most of the non-geeks I know are quite capable of “fiddling” when they have too, as long as they have directions. What they don’t have is time, and that’s why they like someone like Apple to make it easy for them, because they can be more productive.

but for the foreseeable future, pulling that off requires a proprietary system, at least as the skeleton. getting all the many dozens of major parts and services to work together smoothly is just too complicated otherwise for a consumer – you’d have to be a techie.

No, it doesn’t. The first software stores were put together by the Free Software communities, check out what Ubuntu, Fedora and Mandriva offer.

Apple is not the only company working at this. telcos are bundling services into fairly comprehensive digital packages, like AT&T’s U-Verse. hardware makers keep trying to link all their AV equipment into your home LAN with a range of services, like Sony’s Bravia features. but none can provide both first class hardware and first class software for the whole thing, like Apple is within reach of achieving.

The Telcos? Wow. They are even less competent at customer satisfaction than Microsloth is.

in this light, the iPhone’s apps are customized extensions of your own personal Apple ecosystem that link anyplace to whatever you need or are in to. Apple provides the skeleton, and third party app developers provide the specialized body parts you can add to it. and it’s simple to do.

really, only Microsoft has the platform now that might match this. but beyond the fact the hardware is missing, MS has proved by now they simply cannot pull it all together into a simple cohesive package. their fatal flaw is being stuck with two different 1990’s OS’s – Win CE/Mobile and NT/Windows – they cannot truly integrate. plus their greed keeps getting in the way.

Pardon, but Microsloth is so far behind on this, that they’ll never catch up. The Free Software community on the other hand, is actually far ahead of Apple.

This also explains Google’s Android computer OS plans. that is the piece they are missing to create a cloud version of it. there still has to be at least one conventional computer in any ecosystem setup to tie all its tech together. its the central nervous system the skeleton also needs.

Heh. Tell Apple and RIM that. At present both provide phones that DON”T require a PC to sync to.

(and the telcos provide the arteries for info flow? warning: runaway metaphor!)

Ah, but the good phones have 802.11G or better, and don’t need a phone connection for most functions (install Skype, and you don’t need a phone connection for anything).

anyhoo, point is, if Apple keeps innovating and expanding its ecosystem like this, the impact of the App store is not temporary, and no matter how many apps they finally have, the competition will not be able to match its significance.

Let’s face it. Apple’s hold on the “App Store” isn’t permanent. By the nature of the beast, it can’t be (read “The Innovators Dilemma). The question is, what will Apple come up with to replace the App Store when the time has come to retire it?

that said, the post RDM linked to isn’t all BS. it raises the good and honest question of whether the current huge success of the App Store compared to the competition is just a temporary transition event, Apple benefitting now by (just) being the first. after all, they note, after a few years the competition will all finally get their acts together and provide an equal range of comparable apps and stores and smart hardware too. given the ongoing balkanization of the smartphone OS’s, tho, i don’t know how they see any one platform emerging as the ‘open’ standard that will supplant Apple as the leader (of course Ballmer thinks it will be WinMobile!).

but they are missing the bigger picture. whether you call it “ecosystem” or “convergence,” what consumers are looking for is drop-dead easy integration of all the digital aspects of their life into simple to use products that work together without tech fiddling by the consumer – because most can’t fiddle good.

but for the foreseeable future, pulling that off requires a proprietary system, at least as the skeleton. getting all the many dozens of major parts and services to work together smoothly is just too complicated otherwise for a consumer – you’d have to be a techie.

Apple is not the only company working at this. telcos are bundling services into fairly comprehensive digital packages, like AT&T’s U-Verse. hardware makers keep trying to link all their AV equipment into your home LAN with a range of services, like Sony’s Bravia features. but none can provide both first class hardware and first class software for the whole thing, like Apple is within reach of achieving.

in this light, the iPhone’s apps are customized extensions of your own personal Apple ecosystem that link anyplace to whatever you need or are in to. Apple provides the skeleton, and third party app developers provide the specialized body parts you can add to it. and it’s simple to do.

really, only Microsoft has the platform now that might match this. but beyond the fact the hardware is missing, MS has proved by now they simply cannot pull it all together into a simple cohesive package. their fatal flaw is being stuck with two different 1990’s OS’s – Win CE/Mobile and NT/Windows – they cannot truly integrate. plus their greed keeps getting in the way.

This also explains Google’s Android computer OS plans. that is the piece they are missing to create a cloud version of it. there still has to be at least one conventional computer in any ecosystem setup to tie all its tech together. its the central nervous system the skeleton also needs.

(and the telcos provide the arteries for info flow? warning: runaway metaphor!)

anyhoo, point is, if Apple keeps innovating and expanding its ecosystem like this, the impact of the App store is not temporary, and no matter how many apps they finally have, the competition will not be able to match its significance.

Hatter, he didn’t say competitive, he said “commercially viable desktop operating system.” Big, big difference.

How?

And they haven’t. Companies have tried selling Linux destops into the consumer marketplace, and the consumers just bring them back. Why? Because they don’t run Word and Excel and Photoshop, and they don’t run all of the other programs and games they already have.

Really? I’d love to see your data on this. Dell say that their return rates on Linux laptops are no higher than their return rates on Windows laptops.

It’s a “me too” windows and menus and mouse product that from the outside seems to offer few advantages while harboring severe disadvantages.

Like Windows is a clone of Mac OS? Or doesn’t that count?

Linux has two thing going for it: it’s free and it’s open. Daniel just trash “open” above. Consumer’s don’t care. And free isn’t it worth it when their general-purpose computer can’t run Word and Excel and Photoshop and common games.

Actually Daniel didn’t trash open. He pointed out how important Open is to Apple. As to running Word, do you know anyone who uses it who PAID for it? I don’t. Everyone pirates it. I point them to Open Office when I can. It’s not likely that a home user is going to get caught, but I don’t believe in theft.

The ONLY success Linux has had in the general-purpose computer market lies in powering the cheapest of netbooks, and only then by reducing consumer expectations to the point where they consider it to be an oversized Blackberry, good for email and browsing a few web sites.

Actually I know a lot of people who are using it, since they’d gotten so pissed off at Windows.

Like Apple’s iPhone competitors, Linux lacks an ecosystem of hardware people and software developers and a consumer marketplace where ordinary people can buy what they want and need.

Why would they buy it, when it’s free? And Linux has better hardware support than any other operating system. Unlike with Windows you can just plug things in and have them work, without worrying about chasing after drivers. Linux and OSX are both pretty good at that sort of thing, Windows absolutely stinks.

You mean like Microsoft?