Apple Computer


The 6 Top Reasons Not To Buy An Iphone

No, I’m not going to do much Apple bashing here.
My MacBook Pro has been running continuously for 9 days and 23 hours including multiple bus commutes where it is a treat to be online immediately on opening the lid while my traveling companions, using various Windoze machines (generally shiny Dell Computers), are tapping their fingers for 2-3 minutes…
The Free Software Foundation, though, thinks that you should buy their phone instead of an iPhone 3G. Here are their 5 real reasons to avoid iPhone 3G:

  • iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can’t be on everyone’s phones.
  • Ed: Well this is not exactly a tax-you won’t go to jail if you don’t pay it. This is not to say I think Apple’s closed model is a good thing.
  • iPhone endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology.
  • Ed: A good point.

  • iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.
  • Ed: How is this is different from any other cell phone?
  • iPhone won’t play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora.
  • Ed: This might be a reason to choose something else but, really, how many folks are using anything besides ACC and MP3 on their players?
  • iPhone is not the only option. There are better alternatives on the horizon that respect your freedom, don’t spy on you, play free media formats, and let you use free software — like the FreeRunner.
  • Ed: Yep, lot’s of choices out there. For my purposes the little Sanyo works just fine.

The sixth, and number one reason not to buy an iPhone in the US:

  • You will be supporting a criminal organization: AT&T.
  • It is clear that AT&T committed illegal acts prior to being granted immunity by a cowardly congress and it is clear that AT&T continues to commit immoral and unconstitutional acts to this day. We do not need to quietly accept the behavior of war criminals or the illegal and immoral acts of corporations.
    The iPhone may be cool and, yes I want one, but I’m not buying anytime soon. Why are you supporting AT&T?
    Both a boycott and picketing are reasonable first steps to reestablishing justice in the US. If enough join in perhaps even congress will mend its ways.
    Via Just Well Mixed.


    Economists Weep With Joy Over the Discovery of the Cause of Inflation

    Here is the headline:

    Apple Licensing May Contribute to Inflation

    and here is the meat:

    If it seems prices of the latest iPod and iPhone accessories are rising, you may have Apple’s licensing department to thank, according to a story in Popular Mechanics. Though the company is typically reticent to discuss the details of arrangements such as the one that allows some electronics manufacturers to place a “Made for iPod” designation on their products, managers and decision makers for both retailers and manufacturers indicate Apple’s licensing fees and specially made chips that allow gadgets to work with Apple gear can add 10% or more to the price consumers pay for an item.

    Yep, licensing agreements may indeed drive up the price of these accessories.
    But, contribute to inflation? Naw, not unless these accessories are part of your price index and people actually bought them at the higher prices while also buying the rest of the goods in the index at the same or higher quantities and prices.
    Which would mean that people had more money than they had before which suggests that the real cause of the inflation was most likely an increase in the money supply.
    All of which is to say that I thought that headline was really broken.
    NB: The headline in the Popular Mechanics article linked in the above quote is much more accurate:

    How the “Apple Tax” Boosts Prices on iPod & iPhone Accessories


    Air Pogue

    David Pogue has an interesting review of the MacBook Air in which he says:

    Otherwise, though, I’ve lived and flown with this machine for a month, presented nine talks on it, and have not missed its missing features one iota. It’s plenty fast and capacious as a second machine.
    Meanwhile, when your laptop has the thickness and feel of a legal pad and starts up with the speed of a PalmPilot, it ceases to be a traditional laptop. It becomes something you whip open and shut for quick lookups, something you check while you’re standing in line or at the airline counter, something you can use in places where hauling open a regular laptop (and waiting for it) would just be too much hassle.

    What he does not say is that while regular MacBooks and MacBook Pros may be bulkier they also “start up with the speed of a PalmPilot”. I regularly pull out my 15″ MacBook Pro for these quick lookups, etc.