It’s also this week’s Macworld piece, which looks at MacHeist, variable iTunes pricing and music subscriptions.
Author: The Macalope
No, no, no
Look, let the Macalope show you how this is done.
WRONG: Roger Kay’s Microsoft-sponsored “Apple tax” analysis is out of line! Let me show you a detailed analysis of how he pads and distorts the costs!
RIGHT: Microsoft has boxed itself into a corner of expensive, nonsensical and uncompelling upgrade paths and is behaving like a spoiled child because its customers have started realizing they don’t have to use Windows. They know it and Roger Kay knows it. If they spent half the time they spend filling out fake tax forms and paying actresses to buy their products actually making a good user experience, they might be able to speak about value with an iota of credibility. But probably not.
See the difference?
ADDENDUM: Just to be clear, this is not a rational argument they’re trying to make, so don’t treat it like one. Don’t waste your time refuting horse shit. When someone calls you a name, you don’t say “Am not!” You say “Yeah? That’s not what your mother said while I was…” Etc.
Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.
You get what you pay for
A bit more on the Microsoft ad.
This whole horse has been beaten into a mass of only vaguely horse-like matter by now, but as BusinessWeek’s Arik Hesseldahl points out, Microsoft’s actress paid less for the laptop she got because, dur-hey, it’s worth less.
Fun with headlines
MacNN headline:
Nokia making “quantum leaps” to catch iPhone
Quote from the story:
[Nokia’s new markets executive VP Anssi Vankoji] tells VentureBeat that while Nokia currently has technically superior hardware, the accessibility of its features and the overall ease of the use of the devices still have to take “quantum leaps” to reach Apple’s current level, which relies on simple gestures and icons for control.
[Emphasis the Macalope’s.]
Security sanity
If you’re interested in Mac security issues, the Macalope recommends listening to the Network Security Podcast’s interview with Dino Dai Zovi.
It’s refreshing to hear security people who know what they’re talking about, are proponents of the platform and have a decent relationship with Apple.
Sigh. Microsoft.
Oh, what a tangled web Microsoft weaves.
This week’s piece on Macworld says it’s go time with Microsoft. So take two fingers, point them at your eyes, then point them at Microsoft.
Go on.
No, no, you’re not really doing it. Do it.
Some people are never happy
This week’s piece at Macworld looks at some usual suspects who aren’t satisfied with the iPhone 3.0 announcement. Go figure!
Baseball analogies gone wild!
The Macalope just loves a title with “gone wild” in it. Like this week’s piece at Macworld.
Pinch the Macalope
He actually agrees with ZDNet’s Larry Dignan is about the Mac mini.
Not completely, of course (there’s no real comparison between the mini and a netbook, for example), but at the price point the mini is at — even with nine gajillion ports in the back — it just doesn’t seem to cut it. OK, if you find yourself a cheap monitor and already have a mouse and keyboard you can get into the Mac market for $700 or so, but the Macalope was really hoping for more here. Or less, as the case may be.
The iMac, on the other hand, is a terrific value.
UPDATE: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes comes to the mini’s defense!
Has anyone checked the warp field? This is starting to get alternate-universe-ish.
The tab wars
This week’s piece at Macworld looks at Mac mini rumors, the Safari 4 tab controversy and, sigh, netbooks. AGAIN.