What's so fantastic about Apple?

[OCaptain]

Some of their decisions are exactly the opposite of user-friendly. When I got an iPod I almost had a heart attack when I realized I had to go through iTunes in order to download some music onto it. That was many years ago and it's still at the top of the most moronic computer-related things I can think of.

I'm new to this thread and forgive me if you've answered this question - why was iTunes bad?

 

[OCaptain]

Apple did a two things very well:

1) Apple basically cornered the "hipster" market.
2) Its products are very nicely designed, excellent user experience.

On the first point, a big part of their marketing played on the view that PCs are stuffy and geeky, Macs are cool and made for everyone else. Apple really pushes on the idea that their devices are made for movies, music, games, books, web. Software related to those purposes are beautifully designed, you actually do feel cool using their software.

On the second point, Apple markets "beauty" as a feature. I was really impressed with its movie editor, even the webcam software is beautifully designed, I prefer the iTunes interface over all other music organizers (and I can't tell you how much I love that trippy iTunes visualizer), MacOS is gorgeous from end to end. More than anything else, the iPod evolved very gracefully, from this ugly thing with bulky buttons and LCD display like a graphing calculator, to gradually integrating the buttons to the circular touchpad, to full color high resolution dispays, to a family of touch-screen devices supporting a whole mass of apps. Very nice nice design, looks very modern, does a lot more than a vanilla MP3 player.

Apple products generally stand out with one or two "killer features". Circular touchpads set early-generation iPod's apart from other MP3 players, MacBook Air's weighs about 3 lbs, touch screen iPhones were a radically departure from traditional phone design and set the standard for user experience on all other touch screen phones.

All Apple products compliment each other fairly well, which makes it easy for people to buy one Apple product then another and another, all of their products integrate nicely with iTunes, all of them have a very consistent user experience across all of their devices.


As many good things as I have to say about Apple, their products aren't for me. I like to tinker under the hood, I'd like to use my iPad like a computer, I stopped using iTunes because it keeps adding QuickTime and Safari under my nose. I really love the iPhone, but decided to whore myself for Android instead.

Why not build a Hackintosh? Then you can have the best of both worlds.

 

[OCaptain]

Apple is like jewellery to the devout. Not only for using, but also for admiring the design, and showing off as a status symbol. Everyone knows that they are expensive, having one is a symbol of prosperity.

I don´t like Apple, because I am used to Windows and have a hard time finding things in Apple OS.

Really? Then why are Apple products selling more than ever, despite the poor economy? Has Apple conned everyone into thinking they MUST go into debt to buy one?

 

[Stomatopoda]

Why not build a Hackintosh? Then you can have the best of both worlds.

Probably because, if you're computer-literate enough to get a Hackintosh running, you won't need or want to use it.

 

[OCaptain]

What's good about Apple you ask - nothing that's what good about Apple*.



*(May be a tad biased today as I spent yesterday trying to get my old OSX Mac and iTouch in a fit state to sell, talk about annoying and the sheer arrogance of the company - I can't use my Mac to sync with my iTouch as it requires a version of iTunes that is not available for my "old" Mac unless I spend money to upgrade the OS on the Mac. Never mind the problems getting the Mac Mini to work on the home network.......)

You're so justified in being at this incompatibility. After all, no other computer OS maker ever sunsets OS support, leaving ancillary device owners high and dry.

<sarcasm mode deactivated>

 

[John Albert]

You're so justified in being at this incompatibility. After all, no other computer OS maker ever sunsets OS support, leaving ancillary device owners high and dry.

<sarcasm mode deactivated>

Especially when bloated, commercialized middleware like iTunes is absolutely critical for the function of transferring files from a computer to an mp3 player.

<sarcasm-on-your-sarcasm mode deactivated>

I'm new to this thread and forgive me if you've answered this question - why was iTunes bad?

Maybe you should go back and actually read the thread before jumping in with comments that have already been addressed.

 

[OCaptain]

Neither did I when the ads first aired. However, one character was funny, smart, personable and had the best lines, and the other was a hipster jerkbag.

EDIT: this might also be a problem I have with negative ads. Don't tell me your opponent makes a bad product, or is expensive, or (as is increasingly common) is a big fat nerdy dummy. Tell me why your product is GOOD. The Alltel ads of a few years ago were the worst offenders at this with their "look at our competitors, they're fat nerds while our guy is Ty Pennington's body double" ads.

Like em or not, negative ads work.

 

[OCaptain]

Especially when bloated, commercialized middleware like iTunes is absolutely critical for the function of transferring files from a computer to an mp3 player.

<sarcasm-on-your-sarcasm mode deactivated>





Maybe you should go back and actually read the thread before jumping in with comments that have already been addressed.

All I heard was anger over the fact that Apple had the audacity to do things differently from other mp3 players. Do people STILL really hold onto this anger??

Seriously.

 

[El Greco]

Seriously, are you wondering why iTunes is bad ? How about ease of use ? Speed ? Portability ? Why should I have to go through an Apple application in order to download music to my player, what's wrong with plain old file manager ? Why should the song titles on the player be encrypted so that I can't see them with a simple file manager ? Why shouldn't I transfer music between my device and PCs that don't have iTunes installed ? What's the advantage of making this THE ONLY way (not even an option) of transfering songs other than busting my balls ?

 

[Sam.I.Am]

All I heard was anger over the fact that Apple had the audacity to do things differently from other mp3 players. Do people STILL really hold onto this anger??

Seriously.

Apple doesn't do things a little differently, they do things a lot differently. Enough so to break the functionality of other non-apple devices.

That is why many people don't like iTunes and by extension Apple products in general. They have a "My way or the highway" attitude that extends well beyond iTunes and a lot of people don't like being told what they can't do with something that they paid good, hard earned money for. Especially when it starts to extend into non-Apple products the way iTunes does.

 

[Brian-M]

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.

You're conflating two different issues. If you find Apple computers to be a more effective tool for your work and better suited to your personal preferences, that's fine. I've got no grounds to argue about that.

The "throwing away" money argument was in response to your claim that being tax deductible made the difference in price irrelevant, which is almost certainly not correct. (I say almost because I'm not sure exactly how tax law over there differs from tax law over here.)

The fact that you consider the Mac to be a better tool for your work might make the price difference irrelevant. But tax deductibility wouldn't.

 

[WildCat]

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.

They are servicing products they know are stolen, that is a crime. I don't expect them to hand it over to anyone, I do expect them not to service stolen merchandise.

 

[bit_pattern]

Seriously, are you wondering why iTunes is bad ? How about ease of use ? Speed ? Portability ? Why should I have to go through an Apple application in order to download music to my player, what's wrong with plain old file manager ? Why should the song titles on the player be encrypted so that I can't see them with a simple file manager ? Why shouldn't I transfer music between my device and PCs that don't have iTunes installed ? What's the advantage of making this THE ONLY way (not even an option) of transfering songs other than busting my balls ?

I took one look at iTunes and LMAO at iPod's, went straight out and bought myself an iRiver drag n drop MP3 player

Encapsulates everything I hate about Apple.

 

[Chris L]

I took one look at iTunes and LMAO at iPod's, went straight out and bought myself an iRiver drag n drop MP3 player

Encapsulates everything I hate about Apple.

On the PC, it's a piece of (deliberate?) crap-ware that I'd rather not deal with either. A simple drag and drop system is better for my purposes. I've had however, to deal with iTunes to help family and friends get their music on the their latest iToy. Unless you are looking to put your entire music collection on the thing, it's more of a pain in the a** than hype that surrounds Apple would suggest.

 

[Kid Eager]

My entire music collection is on iTunes because it makes no sense to split it across multiple applications. 90% of it is from CDs. Works fine. End of story.

 

[OCaptain]

Probably because, if you're computer-literate enough to get a Hackintosh running, you won't need or want to use it.

She wants the Mac OS, but she wants to tinker.

How does building a Hackintosh not give her that?

 

[John Albert]

All I heard was anger over the fact that Apple had the audacity to do things differently from other mp3 players. Do people STILL really hold onto this anger??

Seriously.

You still obviously haven't read the thread. Nobody ever said that.

 

[Chris L]

My entire music collection is on iTunes because it makes no sense to split it across multiple applications. 90% of it is from CDs. Works fine. End of story.

That's fine for you, but not everyone wants to do that. The owner of the device sometimes has this odd idea that they should be able to use it the way they want to. Apple does not serve such people well.

 

[This is The End]

<snip>

It's like we read completely different articles.

This was the point of the article:

any phone under warranty can get serviced because it's the phone that's tied to the warranty, not the owner.

So you don't have to show up in person at an Apple store to get your phone fixed, which allows the common scenario of the boss sending his or her assistant to get repairs. Similarly, someone who bought their phone from someone else can get a repair without a hassle.

This approach thrills many Apple owners, who have boasted on message boards of how generous some stores have been in replacing broken iPhones. But that same approach has apparently rewarded a lot of thieves. The ease of trading in stolen iPhones and selling their replacements makes them nearly as tempting as grabbing cash.

Other stores, such as Alltell, AT&T, and Verizon require the owner or someone on the account to bring the phone in. Apparently with Apple you just need to have the phone.

Even if this next bolded part is completely made up as you suggest, that still doesn't mean the above isn't true as well.

But that same approach has apparently rewarded a lot of thieves. The ease of trading in stolen iPhones and selling their replacements makes them nearly as tempting as grabbing cash.

In cities from coast-to-coast, reports of iPhone thefts are common. While some thieves sell the phones through the traditional channels of fencing stolen goods, examples abound of stolen iPhones being brought back to Apple, as if broken, for either replacement or a discount on a new unit.

"Apple seems to have not considered stolen devices and instead is relying on the honor system," says Robert Siciliano, a consultant for Intel Corp's (INTC.O) technology security unit McAfee and an identity theft expert. "The honor system is devised with the mindset that we are all sheep and there are no wolves."

 

[bit_pattern]

I'm watching the Daily Show on my phone that I downloaded with a torrent straight to the phone, or alternatively I can stream torrents from my PC to my phone. Can iPhones do that, just out of interest?