Next in our series will be our piece on the Apple Corporation in general.
Apple is generally considered very innovative and user friendly. And they are. They innovated the first PC user interface, for the most part. And that interface was very user friendly. But what Apple left out was the usefulness. While Unix computers were involved in UUCP and early popular TCP/IP networking, Apple computers were doing something called hyper cards or something. While powerful unix editors such as VI and EMACS were being perfected, Apple had, er, well, I don't know what they had until Microsoft came out with Word, but I'm sure they must have had something, and I'm sure it was useable. When Microsoft started catching on to the whole Internet thing, providing crude and barely functional TCP/IP networking, Apple provided even cruder and even less functional networking capability.
In fact, by the time Apple caught on firmly to the whole networking thing, they were already an also-ran. This is when they became obsessed with lawsuits and this silly, Albert Einstein, pot-smoking, "different" image that was supposed to somehow elevate them above functional computer systems.
Move ahead a few dull years, and we come to Mac OSX.
Now Apple decides, understandabley, to scrap their, useless, Mac OS in favor of something that works and that is free and that they can integrate with a bunch of pretty icons and sell for lots of money.
This was a good thing for Apple users who were already used to spending lots of money on pretty icons but weren't used to an OS that actually did anything. Now Apple fanatics had an OS with pretty icons and a functional operating system. But in the spirit of previous Apple OSs, Apple locked this thing up and prevented developers from easily developing Apple applications. They also neglected to contribute back to the community from which they took (the open source community) and refused to contribute their own software (itunes, the apple gui, etc.) back to the community).
I hear from folks that OSX is very pretty and has lots of nice wallpapers. I've seen it. Yes, it's very shiny and sparkling. Folks claim it's very stable, and I have to agree; FreeBSD has always been a very solid OS. But is Apple now much different than M$? They take other peoples technology and re-package it. It doesn't work very well, but it's "more stable" than the previous version. It's locked up like a drum, but should somehow magically be comatible with stuff that shows up a year or two from now.
Apple/Mac is no better than Microsoft, they just smoke more pot and spend more on fancy billboards on the 101.
Next installment: Why I hate Redhat
Comments
Look folks, Apple made a wise decision in going with FreeBSD. FreeBSD is an excellent OS. The only problem with it is that it's not Open Source. So it cannot benefit from the many advantages OSS has. It is good and stable, but it will not be able to keep up with Linux in the coming years.
Apple has taken a free OS and made it proprietary. They are betting the farm on their relatively minor software contributions which they do not release to the community from which FreeBSD and OSS are derived.
Well, eventually the OSS community will direct its attention to pretty icons and equivalents of ITunes. Then those things will become free and Apple will have even less to sustain their dying business.
What Apple would need to do to survive is as follows:
sorry for the lack of elaboration on the "enterprise" crap, but that is a pointy hair problem to figure out, not mine :)
my point is to create an OS (linux + gnu apps + Mac prettiness) that is so widely adopted that companies will be forced to take interest in Apple's "enterprise" crap, just as they have heretofore been forced to buy into M$ "solutions".
(can i get an amen!)
First Couple of lines:
First Couple of lines: FreeBSD IS Open Source and Linux is a pile of sh*t glued together with bubble gum
Linux is not glued together,
Linux is not glued together, Linux is a kernel: one solid block.
There are hundreds of Linux operating systems, but none of them ARE Linux, they HAVE Linux. You probably only used Linux five years ago (when hat you described was true) or only tried one single, shitty distribution. Please give OpenSuse (the KDE4.4 version) a try. Then we'll talk about that "glued together" shit.
What I meant to say was
What I meant to say was MacOS X is not open source. I still tend to call OSX FreeBSD since OSX is simply FreeBSD with a lot of really expensive icons (half kiddig).
Harry, you are too funny. I was surfing and typed in "The Slaughter Family" (seeing as Slaughter is my maiden name) and clicked on your site. I'm not much of a computer geek so that stuff kind of goes over my head but I think that you ramble much the way I do when I type an email. Anyhow, thanks for making me laugh today!
Lori =-)
Yes, Mac Os X is very sparkling and delightful. I know some PC users will always hate the mac and so forth. Apple is giving back in some ways... For example the rendering engine of Safari (apples browser) uses KHTML from konquerer and they have fixed a lot of bugs and are giving back the source. Also, they are making iTunes for windows and you will see it "before the end of the year." I've been using windows since windows 95 and mac since Mac Os 7.5 and with X they have come a long way. OSX is more than a bunch of pretty icons it is very stable and useful. Everything you'de expect when you totally rewrite a new OS in a new language. As far as windows its still crap using the same codeing it has since 95. and when apple does something new windows comes out with something to copy it. for example mac os x is 10 but windows had to have the XP. after mac os jaguar now you'll be seeing windows longhorn. I am not putting down PC's im putting down windows. Infact i plan on buying a Pc very soon.
A properly designed pIV machine can run 95% of software applications ever written and runs faster per chip than any mac in the world. A g5 with system 10.2 might be fast, but it is impractical because of:
1. wtf are you going to need 8gb ram for?
2. there are not many applications that take advantage of the g5 architecture or the system 10.2 memory protection.
3. system 10.2 is bsd UNIX (why pay for something that can be legally downloaded for free without the pretty face?)
4. Why pay for a g5 when you can get a pIV system that runs faster for 1/2 the price?
5. that f*cking apple logo has got to go
6. Steve jobbs is an asshole
7. those slot loading dvd drives suck ass and can get jammed if you stick a copy protected disc into one
8. Try running a webserver on a mac (doesn't work too well)
9. Overheating problems anyone? a dual processor system with 3 hard drives is not something you want to leave running all the time.
10. macs suck ass at multitasking
i love this comment, i love
i love this comment, i love you :D
Anyone who says that Windows is like an Apple Mac is either stupid or blind.
What is 'Special' about switching a Mac off?
Why can a Mac only run one application at a time- try running Vectorworks and any other application you care to name and the Mac G4 dies, even though my Mac G4 has masses of memory?
Has anyone tried placing a new folder within a folder- what a nightmare the folder just disappears from the screen to god knows where?
I wonder how many people have lost files because the copying of files from one folder to another is bizzare?
Why can I not see an internet etc., window when I activate it in the finder? Why do the windows in Mac get so cluttered and lost- in a windows machine they are are beautifully lined up on the bottom to click and run.
Why does my Mac freeze at least once every couple days when I can expect a Windows machine to go for a month without problems?
Why are Macs so slow compared to a Windows machine?
Why do I feel I have gone back 10 years when I use a Mac?
My home machine is an old windows 98 machine that can thrash my Mac G4- fortunately I did not pay for my G4?
How have Mac got away with selling these absolutely crap machines. As a user I am sorry MacHeads but I am looking at the emporer and he aint wearing any cloths. I would take a pay drop to use a Windows machine rather than as Mac.
Microsoft should be told off for making Mac Office less user friendly then Windows Office.
I confirm to all the redaers of this that I have never received money etc from Microsoft (I am an Architect if that helps) but I can guarentee that I will continue to buy Microsoft products with my own money.
Lori,
Thank you so much for your positive feedback.
The staff and I here at Burnt Taters!(tm) Strive to present our readers with cutting edge insight into the world of technology, life, the Internet, as well as the life of Harry Slaughter, not only bringing to bear the wisdom of the Internet Blogger but also the humor inherent in our shared overweight, under-socialized, balding, 30-something lifestyle.
So to you I say, Keep On Truckin'! Be proud of who you are (or maybe of someone whom you wish you were). Stand tall (or at least out of the way). And never let someone tell you it can't be done (unless he makes more money than you)!
HLS