It *really* doesn't fit in. It's replacing the red awning here (http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.008942~-75.287837&style=o&lvl=2&scene=4048543), and the modern look just doesn't work. If you directly up from there, the I-shaped building is the one I call home.
Couldn't get that map to work, but found it on Google Maps here which suggests my identification of 30 was correct.... Can't find the I-shaped building, though. But I'm guessing it's one of the ones owned by Marks & Co in that neighborhood?
30 is correct. From a N-S perspective, the building is H-shaped (with very short legs and a very long crossbar) due right of the proposed location - figure about 200 yards, max. Not Marks & Co.
They rip you off to no end, and make you feel good about yourself because their stores are so "shiny" and you're so "elite" or "educated" or "sophisticated" to patronize them.
(This is a generic you, as I hope would be obvious.)
Give me a break. Or barring that, tell me what Steve Jobs type stunts will allow me to take your money too?
(I can't wait for the faithful to flame the hell out of me. Always amusing.)
From the non-generic perspective: Money I have spent on iCrap, ever: ~$1500 on a laptop, which I intend to last for-freaking-ever. I switched from Windows machines because I was sick of them just up and dying for no reason after three years. I never break or lose things, so this should be a good investment. ~$60 on an iPod, which was ridiculously discounted since I had a student discount *and* was buying a computer. And assorted cables and other necessities.
That's it. The stores are pretty (as are the computers), if you like good design. I like good design.
And it is true that my Windows machine is, well, wheezing a little after five years. But it's the fan on my one year old video card rather than anything important in the system.
Nevermind that Windows stole the whole graphical user inteface paradigm from Apple to begin with. (Okay, to be fair Apple stole it from the Xerox PARC labs. But they were the first to actually, y'know, be able to implement it.)
I'd hardly call excellent ease of use, increased reliability (my first Apple lasted *eight* years), and better security (though the switch to Intel may compromise that a teensy bit) a ripoff.
I'll grant that you do need to go with Mircrosuck if you're a computer gamer or a corporate drone- they do have the preponderance of those kinds of applications. But I am neither of those things.
The reliability can be a trade-off. I would rather not spend twice as much on a machine that will last twice as long - better to buy a new machine in the middle to take advantage of advances in technology. If the machine lasts twice as long but costs less than twice as much, well, I'm not sure exactly where the line is.
There's inherent security and then there's user intelligence. My current machine has sometimes been protected by a hardware firewall, often been protected by anti-virus software, and never been compromised or infected. Any idiot can avoid security breeches on a Mac, but any non-idiot can avoid them period. Isn't it ironic, that all the real idiots in this respect are Windows users, possibly because they're not idiots about their pocket books?
Windows machines last something like 9 minutes on the open 'net without one.
Exactly my point.
Actually having to worry about your machine's security represents an opportunity cost that you appear to not be factoring into the equation (and one that, for a techno-idiot like me who values his time *far* more than his money, is a rather high cost).
I haven't made claims of virtue based on popularity.
And I suppose that one has to worry about firewalls. All of my machines have gotten them from routers, and now Windows XP has them built in, so I don't really see it as much of an opportunity cost.
Large cost savings up front for Windows machines, yes. After three years of use, I think they've swung just as far to Apple's benefit for many users, in terms of time lost to driver issues, crashes, restarts, and the like. Viruses, for the idiots, make things far worse, but those aside even intelligent PC-users (eg, my father the electrical engineer) have spent at least a week's worth of time in the past few years unable to use their PC. Having never needed a restart or had a driver incompatibility in four years, I'm glad I bought a PowerBook. (Granted, I've taken both sides of the trade-off: I bought a second PowerBook a year ago for the speed, hard drive, etc, advantages. But the first one still works very well. I consider both purchases to be extremely good values in the long run.)
Well, and I just did what I said I wasn't going to do in my previous comment. Sorry, Mark.
And I don't know anyone who has had broken hard drives, cases, screens, and everything else on Macs. Nobody at all. And no one has complain about Apple's service times either.
/sarcasm
Driver incompatabilities...I remember those. No wait, I do still have them! A few of the fancy games that won't run on my system due to it being too slow also won't run due to driver issues. Boo hoo.
There are lots of reasons for restarts, but I have never managed to force Windows 2K Pro into an unrecoverable crash. Lots of *software* has crashed and had to be force quit, but the OS has always recovered. It's a great piece of software.
do you log in with an administrator account? or do you change accounts every time you want to install something?
if you do the first, then compromising your computer is as simple as including a corrupted image in a page you view. you wouldn't know.
though, i think, windows has finally caught that vulnerability. wait for the next one.
this isn't to say OS X (or, to be precise, mach + bsd + a tireiron, as deathbysnusnu would have it) is invulnerable; merely that it has a much better model, that requires users to authenticate before fucking up their system. windows authenticates once (at login) and then you (or things you request from the dangers of the internet) are free to bollix it up. mac at least asks you for a password.
this is without getting into questions of UI and scriptability, which matter to me, but are largely subjective.
also, to follow sinsofthedove's comment, amount i have spent: ~$950 on a laptop ($850 of which was money i had suddenly and unexpectedly received), ~$30 on a new 30GB video iPod.
this doesn't include money my household has spent (airport express for wireless speakers and printing, my parents' laptops), but that's not me. just be smart about how and when you get things.
I agree that Apple's exterior architecture leaves a lot to be desired, and never ever fits in with its surroundings. (Actually the one in Palo Alto does, but that's because its surroundings are equally garish.) But I do like the interior design of their stores. And you've gotta admit that a transparent glass staircase and second floor is pretty cool (once you get past the vertigo)--that's in the Chicago store.
As for their computers, well, we disagree, so any discussion we have on this will just result in our continuing to disagree while annoying Mark in the process since it's in his LJ.
I have an iPod, and I almost never use it except on long car trips. I don't know, I've just never figured out the iPod lifestyle. Maybe it's that I've always got a song in my head (or heart) anyways. I'm excited about the idea of loading Wikipedia onto one, though; I might well do that before taking off for the Netherlands--the closest thing to a real Hitchhiker's Guide I can imagine!
Actually, I suspect he made this post for the express purpose of stoking a PC-Mac flamewar. Demurring from such an argument would only be a dissapointment.
My position is, Apple has a largely undeserved reputation for innovation and customer service that Steve Jobs has brilliantly parleyed into incredible customer loyalty. Jobs has reinvented himself countless times, and brought Apple back from the brink as many times. His business accumen is almost as impressive as that of Bill Gates.
I choose not to give any money to either of them when I can avoid it. Since the latest Apple re-imergence, they've been abusing their customers even more egregiously than Microsoft, which is tough to do. Their hardware is beautiful but fragile, and the otherwise awesome iPod is the single most closed-source, locked, anti-consumer electronic product in history.
In short, Apple is no better than the other guys (though not any worse, either), but their customers typically let them get away with things they'd never tolerate from any other manufacturer or software company.
It looks like a giant Apple computer fell down from the sky and landed in the middle of suburbia, slicing through concrete and obliterating anything that lay beneath it.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 03:56 am (UTC)They rip you off to no end, and make you feel good about yourself because their stores are so "shiny" and you're so "elite" or "educated" or "sophisticated" to patronize them.
(This is a generic you, as I hope would be obvious.)
Give me a break. Or barring that, tell me what Steve Jobs type stunts will allow me to take your money too?
(I can't wait for the faithful to flame the hell out of me. Always amusing.)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:20 am (UTC)Money I have spent on iCrap, ever: ~$1500 on a laptop, which I intend to last for-freaking-ever. I switched from Windows machines because I was sick of them just up and dying for no reason after three years. I never break or lose things, so this should be a good investment. ~$60 on an iPod, which was ridiculously discounted since I had a student discount *and* was buying a computer. And assorted cables and other necessities.
That's it. The stores are pretty (as are the computers), if you like good design. I like good design.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:29 am (UTC)And it is true that my Windows machine is, well, wheezing a little after five years. But it's the fan on my one year old video card rather than anything important in the system.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 01:22 pm (UTC)Nevermind that Windows stole the whole graphical user inteface paradigm from Apple to begin with. (Okay, to be fair Apple stole it from the Xerox PARC labs. But they were the first to actually, y'know, be able to implement it.)
I'd hardly call excellent ease of use, increased reliability (my first Apple lasted *eight* years), and better security (though the switch to Intel may compromise that a teensy bit) a ripoff.
I'll grant that you do need to go with Mircrosuck if you're a computer gamer or a corporate drone- they do have the preponderance of those kinds of applications. But I am neither of those things.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:03 pm (UTC)The reliability can be a trade-off. I would rather not spend twice as much on a machine that will last twice as long - better to buy a new machine in the middle to take advantage of advances in technology. If the machine lasts twice as long but costs less than twice as much, well, I'm not sure exactly where the line is.
There's inherent security and then there's user intelligence. My current machine has sometimes been protected by a hardware firewall, often been protected by anti-virus software, and never been compromised or infected. Any idiot can avoid security breeches on a Mac, but any non-idiot can avoid them period. Isn't it ironic, that all the real idiots in this respect are Windows users, possibly because they're not idiots about their pocket books?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:27 pm (UTC)Exactly my point.
Actually having to worry about your machine's security represents an opportunity cost that you appear to not be factoring into the equation (and one that, for a techno-idiot like me who values his time *far* more than his money, is a rather high cost).
...
"First" doesn't equal "better," Underwood.
Neither does "popular".
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:37 pm (UTC)And I suppose that one has to worry about firewalls. All of my machines have gotten them from routers, and now Windows XP has them built in, so I don't really see it as much of an opportunity cost.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:30 pm (UTC)Well, and I just did what I said I wasn't going to do in my previous comment. Sorry, Mark.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:40 pm (UTC)/sarcasm
Driver incompatabilities...I remember those. No wait, I do still have them! A few of the fancy games that won't run on my system due to it being too slow also won't run due to driver issues. Boo hoo.
There are lots of reasons for restarts, but I have never managed to force Windows 2K Pro into an unrecoverable crash. Lots of *software* has crashed and had to be force quit, but the OS has always recovered. It's a great piece of software.
So, I'm not much convinced.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-20 08:26 pm (UTC)do you log in with an administrator account? or do you change accounts every time you want to install something?
if you do the first, then compromising your computer is as simple as including a corrupted image in a page you view. you wouldn't know.
though, i think, windows has finally caught that vulnerability. wait for the next one.
this isn't to say OS X (or, to be precise, mach + bsd + a tireiron, as
this is without getting into questions of UI and scriptability, which matter to me, but are largely subjective.
also, to follow
this doesn't include money my household has spent (airport express for wireless speakers and printing, my parents' laptops), but that's not me. just be smart about how and when you get things.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:14 pm (UTC)As for their computers, well, we disagree, so any discussion we have on this will just result in our continuing to disagree while annoying Mark in the process since it's in his LJ.
I have an iPod, and I almost never use it except on long car trips. I don't know, I've just never figured out the iPod lifestyle. Maybe it's that I've always got a song in my head (or heart) anyways. I'm excited about the idea of loading Wikipedia onto one, though; I might well do that before taking off for the Netherlands--the closest thing to a real Hitchhiker's Guide I can imagine!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 06:29 pm (UTC)I choose not to give any money to either of them when I can avoid it. Since the latest Apple re-imergence, they've been abusing their customers even more egregiously than Microsoft, which is tough to do. Their hardware is beautiful but fragile, and the otherwise awesome iPod is the single most closed-source, locked, anti-consumer electronic product in history.
In short, Apple is no better than the other guys (though not any worse, either), but their customers typically let them get away with things they'd never tolerate from any other manufacturer or software company.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 02:31 pm (UTC)Or a Borg cube :-)