What's so fantastic about Apple?

[joobie]

Also, I am safe in the knowledge that my Samsung phone wasn't made by suicidal Foxxcon workers

are you sure? foxconn builds stuff for samsung, too.

this should hardly be surprising, as they have their hand in 40% of the world's consumer electronics.

 

[Stray Cat]

I think you're wrong about non-Macs being incapable of performing the same tasks your Macs can do.

I didn't say that non Macs can't do the same tasks.

I said I've got exactly what I want, it does exactly what I want and in 20 plus years, all my Macs have been 100% reliable. If that changes, I'll start looking at alternatives.

 

[bit_pattern]

are you sure? foxconn builds stuff for samsung, too.

this should hardly be surprising, as they have their hand in 40% of the world's consumer electronics.

Damn. There goes my moral high horse bolting off into the sunset without me. Hi ho, Silver!

 

[applecorped]

What's so fantastic about Apple?

I'm cuddly.

 

[Brian-M]

The point is that I end up with something that actually does exactly what I want it to do and it reduces my tax liability. The more I spend purchasing it, the less income tax I have to pay.

The tax liability argument makes no sense. Would you really throw away $100, just to get back $30 at tax time? Or throw away $300 to get back $90 at tax time?

Yes I could buy a PC for much less, but then (in theory*) I'd have more income tax to pay and be left with a computer that didn't do exactly what I wanted it to do.

If a PC can't do exactly what you want to do, then that's a different matter. But for people who can do exactly what they want to do just as easily on a PC as they can on a Mac, why spend the extra money on a Mac?

Just out of curiosity, what can your Mac do, that you can't do just as easily on a PC?

 

[Darat]

The tax liability argument makes no sense. Would you really throw away $100, just to get back $30 at tax time? Or throw away $300 to get back $90 at tax time?



If a PC can't do exactly what you want to do, then that's a different matter. But for people who can do exactly what they want to do just as easily on a PC as they can on a Mac, why spend the extra money on a Mac?

Just out of curiosity, what can your Mac do,that you can't do just as easily on a PC?

Going from what Stray Cat has said about his computing background it would be pretty much everything.

He has years invested in learning to work the "Apple way", it would take him quite some time to reach the same productivity level if he switched to the "Windows way". Obviously he could become just as proficient on an equivalent Windows based PC but when you are a professional the productive time you would lose learning the "Windows way" has a real cost implication. I can't think of any compelling argument for why he should even think of moving from the "Apple way" since he can do everything he needs to do.

 

[Lamuella]

$100 is over-spent so much ?

$100 will just be upfront costs to the phone. The rest of the cost will be amortized over the length of the phone contract they have just signed.


EDIT: wait, you already addressed this.

 

[Kid Eager]

Apples are for people who don't want to know how their device works and just want it to look pretty and be simple.

I grew up on Apples, from the iie to the fist Mac. The OS GUI was truly revolutionary but after iMac came out I'd discovered PC's and gaming and never looked back. Hate Windoze but its the best for games. For work give me Ubuntu any day of the week

This of course begs the question of why anybody *needs* to know why it works - they bought the *whatever* device to do a job.

 

[This is The End]

In that case, I'd just do the same thing I did when I managed to track down some stolen items of mine in a pawn shop, a few years back. Stray Cat already hit on it.

I believe we are to assume from the article as written that Apple already erased all data from the returned phone (or destroyed it) and they don't [want to] believe that she is even the original owner.

 

[Stray Cat]

The tax liability argument makes no sense. Would you really throw away $100, just to get back $30 at tax time? Or throw away $300 to get back $90 at tax time?

You're looking at it all wrong.
I don't see it as "throwing" any amount of money "away" to get some back.
And why someone would even question my personal choice of what tool I use to do my job when I've been successfully doing my job for over 20 years with that tool is beyond silly.

If a PC can't do exactly what you want to do, then that's a different matter. But for people who can do exactly what they want to do just as easily on a PC as they can on a Mac, why spend the extra money on a Mac?

If people can do that, it's great. I really don't give a tinkers.
I'm not involved in a ******* contest between operating systems.

Just out of curiosity, what can your Mac do, that you can't do just as easily on a PC?

The operative phrase is "as easily"
Like I said to John, A PC probably can do everything a Mac can nowadays.
However in an industry that is entirely dominated by Macs which has grown itself around Mac because they have always been able to do what PCs can now do. I need 100% compatibility. This means I'd have to jump through extra hoops to ensure that the work I regularly send to printers etc. was not going to cause any production problems.
I can live without those sorts of issues.
Plus as Darat says, after 20 plus years of using, owning and knowing the Mac OS, why would I even want to learn a different OS when I'm 100% happy with the one I use.

 

[Stray Cat]

I believe we are to assume from the article as written that Apple already erased all data from the returned phone (or destroyed it) and they don't [want to] believe that she is even the original owner.

But they still had the rightful owners details because that's who they sent the email to. The article fails to tell what the final outcome was, it is a non story.

 

[This is The End]

But they still had the rightful owners details because that's who they sent the email to. The article fails to tell what the final outcome was, it is a non story.

I think it is fairly clear. The email (from the account information) was sent letting the girl know that the phone was repaired. "Repaired" to Apple means wiped clean, and restored to working order. It is now a refurbished Apple phone. They probably don't even know which one it is anymore.

Also, the story was just an example of the topic of the article, which is that anyone can bring an iPhone in with no relation to the owner at all.

The girl is an "MIT graduate student", I'm pretty sure she has checked with the authorities or at least looked into it. Even if she has and it is currently unresolved, I could see why you would say there could be more to the story, but a "non-story", I'm not buying it.

 

[Stray Cat]

I think it is fairly clear. The email (from the account information) was sent letting the girl know that the phone was repaired. "Repaired" to Apple means wiped clean, and restored to working order. It is now a refurbished Apple phone. They probably don't even know which one it is anymore.

Well I don't know about iPhones because I'm not a fan of mobile phones at all, but don't they have serial numbers on them?
Won't the "account information" Apple used lead back to her being the rightful owner?
Wouldn't the police be able to confirm these details if the crime has been reported?

Also, the story was just an example of the topic of the article, which is that anyone can bring an iPhone in with no relation to the owner at all.

Yes, but in reality anyone can take anything into anywhere with no relation to the owner. The important part is can they get away with it?
And that is the part the article fails to state.

The girl is an "MIT graduate student", I'm pretty sure she has checked with the authorities or at least looked into it.

Then it's even stranger that no mention of that part of the story is given.

Even if she has and it is currently unresolved, I could see why you would say there could be more to the story, but a "non-story", I'm not buying it.

If you could find an example that clearly states a negative outcome for the rightful owner (as opposed to an unresolved one), then that'd be a story and I would quickly join in criticising an Apple Store employee for their stupidity.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

And from what I can tell from the sample given none of them are using the features that you say make them better than a non-Apple format. In fact they appear to be ports from the written textbooks already printed.

The claim was: it will not draw in people who actually make textbooks.
It clearly has drawn in the bulk of the industry.

Also, can you point out where I said anything this format being better than some 'non-apple' format ?

I was just pointing out that 10% is closer to the norm than 30% is.

Well, I suppose if you want to do average, you shoot for the average.

And this all comes back to why Apple can get away with charging 30% of sales. It's because people are enamored with Apple even when it is overpriced and overly restrictive in how it does business.

Right. waves hands. It's all a jedi mind trick. That's how apple got all the major textbook publishers on board with this.

<derail> I guess this is why I am an apple fanboy. Because I think it's silly all the haters get to handwave and claim 'marketing' as the reason for Apple having the best quarter ever in the tech industry.
I know though - all their gear is overpriced - millions of people are just too stupid to realize they are paying too much and they would be better off with something else, all because of marketing.
</derail>

I was only pointing out why I wouldn't want to use them. For other people? Well P.T. Barnum put it better than I. There is a sucker born every minute.

Really ?
It seemed to me you were trying to make a case why nobody should use Apple products, rather than just pointing out why you wouldn't want to. Implying that people are suckers for using Apple seems to back that up.

 

[WildCat]

Well, it seems pickpockets have discovered what's so fantastic about apple!

iPhone thieves find Apple support helpful to them, too





Apparently, the thief can just take your iPhone and get a new one from Apple to sell. So even if you write down the serial number, you would be out of luck.

How is that Apple Store not charged with fencing stolen goods?

 

[Darat]

How is that Apple Store not charged with fencing stolen goods?

I think you've come at that question from the wrong angle, the question that needs asking is "How come there are laws on the books that go against Apple's policies!!??"

 

[John Albert]

But they still had the rightful owners details because that's who they sent the email to. The article fails to tell what the final outcome was, it is a non story.

Yeah, it's like the story about the "hipster" stickup men in Brooklyn who robbed people of their iPhones, but would not accept any Android smartphones. The story goes that if the victim was carrying any other phone besides the Apple one, they would just hand it back and move along to the next mark.

It doesn't really indicate anything good or bad about the iPhone, or Android phones for that matter. It's just a story that is being repeated because it appears to play into public perceptions about which device is superior, or more desirable, over the others.

 

[John Albert]

I know though - all their gear is overpriced - millions of people are just too stupid to realize they are paying too much and they would be better off with something else, all because of marketing.

Argumentum ad populum.

Are you denying that millions of people really are unable or unwilling to realize when they are paying too much for something and would be better off with some less expensive thing, just because of marketing?

So you think Nike shoes and clothing really are that much better than any other running shoes and sweat pants, to justify their brand recognition and market share?

You really think that a bar of soap from The Body Shop really makes your skin cleaner and more healthy than any soap you can buy at the supermarket for half or one-third the price?

So you really think "pre-worn" jeans and ripped t-shirts from Hollister and Abecrombie and Fitch are really so much better than Levi's, Hanes, or any other brand?

You really think that Starbucks is the finest coffee in the world?

 

[WildCat]

I think you've come at that question from the wrong angle, the question that needs asking is "How come there are laws on the books that go against Apple's policies!!??"

lol, but in all seriousness a pawn shop would be out of business and their owners arrested for doing that.

Any follow-up on this story?

 

[John Albert]

lol, but in all seriousness a pawn shop would be out of business and their owners arrested for doing that.

Any follow-up on this story?

Would they? I don't think so.

My own experience, when I found my own stolen electronics devices in a pawn shop, was that they don't simply hand the merchandise over to anyone who walks in claiming it's theirs, email or no email.

What I did was speak with the manager of the shop, who told me to contact the police. I phoned them and waited in the shop until they arrived, at which point the manager gave them the name and information of the guy who brought the stuff in. Turned out the perpetrator was a friend of my then-roommate. I knew where the guy worked, so I told the cops, and they went straight to his place of employment and arrested him in front of his boss and co-workers. He ended up losing his job as a result. About a month later, both the pawn shop manager and I attended his court appearance, wherein he pled "guilty" to theft and signed an agreement to repay the pawn loan he'd acquired on my possessions. He was then sentenced to probation.

That happened over 10 years ago, and the pawn shop is still in operation to this day (or at least it was last weekend, when I drove past the place).