iPad

[ijstokes-/2FeUQLD3jedFdvTe/nMLpVzexx5G7lz at public.gmane.org (Ian Stokes-Rees)]

On 4/12/10 8:32 PM, Mark J Dulcey wrote:
> Personally I won't go as far as Martin's position of wanting to make the 
> iPad illegal. But I won't be buying one, and won't recommend buying one 
> to anybody; I'm simply not interested in owning a computer where 
> somebody has veto power over the applications I can run. If a comparable 

I really really was trying to stay out of this, but the comments here
have drawn me in.

My first computer was an Apple ][ clone, and I cut my teeth programming
in Logo at the age of 7, and, as the author of one of the referenced
blog posts points out, swapping out my own keyboards and power supplies
when they died using the supplied schematics.  I was away from Apple
until 2 years ago, and, to use a tired but apt cliche, found OS X to be
a breath of fresh air, and was thoroughly impressed with my Mac Book Pro*.

When my parents' Dell had an unrecoverable BSOD (and I recommended the
Dell to them -- unlike many, I had had very good luck with my 2002
Latitude), I immediately insisted that they shell out the extra $$$ and
get a Mac Book.  Apple has an idea about creating a product that just
works, and they deliver on that.  I don't need to access the spark plugs
on my engine if the spark plugs don't need to be changed in the normal
operating life time of my vehicle.  I'm not happy that Apple isn't
putting a standard JVM or Flash or user-selectable browser into their
"compact" products, but I'm not so idealistic that I'll black list them
for it.  I agree that it smacks of MS all over again, but at the end of
the day, computers are, much too much of the time, a real bitch to work
with, and if a company can produce something that reduces the pain of
using a computer, and actually make a more enjoyable, comfortable,
intuitive experience, then we should all applaud them for it.  That
doesn't mean not to advocate for more openness, but when companies like
RIM, Palm, MS, Symbian etc. who have had years "leading" the market with
compact interactive mobile devices still can't figure out ease of use,
reliability, maintainability, etc. what options do I have but to
recommend Apple products to people?

Ian


* I should note that the hardware has not lived up to 60+ hours of use a
week, which perhaps isn't surprising given that they aren't billed as
"enterprise" grade, but is surprising given how much design effort (and
consequent cost) goes into Apple hardware.  I've had the optical drive
die on me, the screen has lost a vertical column, and tomorrow I get my
third logic board, plus new power supply, plus apparently both my
batteries are mal functionioning ...