Whats it like to own an Apple product.....

[keith_correa]

Its interesting to read about people's take on iTunes the player. Have a question for you - have you ever used the earlier version of iTunes which did not have the market store feature integrated with it?

I've been using [forced to use because of my pod] iTunes right from it's early days. Was a lousy piece of s/w then and is lousy even now.

 

[keith_correa]

Anyone remember the Apple Newton? A flop because it was waaaaaaaay ahead of it's time.

 

[keith_correa]

What MS does is to hack into every corporate network and get the IP address of every machine you use. They then search each machine for software installed. These software is then checked against their license database. If there is a mismatch, they get in touch with you through their dealers to make you buy all the licenses. If there is a delay, they call your directly and threaten you. If even that does not work, they put pressure on you through NASSCOM and local industry associations. Oracle also follows a similar methodology and between them they have even shut down a few companies. This was really bad during the days of Dewang Mehta, but I am not sure how it is nowadays.

Fascinating conspiracy theory.

 

[unleash_me]

What MS does is to hack into every corporate network and get the IP address of every machine you use.

Hack? Really?! I believe the authenticity is checked while installing automatic updates using a piece of built in code - probably the WGA Notifications.

 

[thevortex]

I've been using [forced to use because of my pod] iTunes right from it's early days. Was a lousy piece of s/w then and is lousy even now.

Lets agree to disagree, Keith. Back - 8 years or so - then it was the player boasting an absolutely revolutionary interface. The split viewing of Artist, Album and Genre was an iTunes first. Now every player worth its salt is using it. And the interface fit and finish had to be appreciated. No bugs, no irritating problems. And back then it was among the very few players which had the feature of burning your playlists directly - even MP3. I distinctly remember rooting around with various options.

From then on, iTunes has just not improved its main issue - which is memory consumption. And now with the online store features integrated it has gone to the dogs.

But to give credit where credit is due, it had a revolutionary interface. No denying that.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

That would be around about the time our department was coping with its effects on PCs

 

[venkatcr]

Hack, or installed software sending information, if you are connected to the Net, MS knows what is installed on your machine.

Bala, sometime ago when Apple was struggling with a not growing market for their machines, the management realized that MS-Office was a key point to improve sales. That was the time that Apple was very seriously attempting to move away from their dependence on Motorola processors. Since Apple was porting their OS to both AMD and Intel processors, MS feared they would release their OS as a product to be installed on any CPU/Motherboard combination. As part of agreeing to port MS Office to the Apple OS, MS is supposed to have wrested an agreement from Apple that they will not make the Apple OS a competitor for Windows.

Cheers

 

[BLASTO]

Irrespective of whether you hate or love Apple products you have to agree to one thing. The sheer genius of Steve Jobs as a ideas and marketing man. From a guy who was thrown out, to a company that was nearly bankrupt, Steve took an existing idea, realized success depended upon content availability and created the iTunes Library and easy access at ridiculous rates for millions of songs. That, more than any thing else, made the iPod succeed.

For all practical purposes, iPod should have been the end of the road for Apple. A hugely successful product riding the market. But then he went and took another existing idea that many others did not know what to do with - a touch screen. Thus the iTouch was born. The issue is even if any other company such as Nokia, LG, or others bring better products they will all look like copy cats.

The next step was to encroach on one of the largest markets in the world - mobile phones. This market was monopolized by two companies - Nokia and Blackberry. A bit of working with software and hardware and presto - the iPhone was born! All the features of the best Nokia and Blackberry phones, and the familiarity of the iTouch.

A few weeks ago, this nearly bankrupt company overtook Microsoft in valuation to become one of the largest companies in the world. This is no mean achievement.

Microsoft has whittled away it's position by trying to exert it's strength as a monopoly. Legal cases, pressure on users and millions of dollars and time spent on pressurizing existing and potential clients. I have personally received hundreds of threatening calls from MS.

I am sure if Apple decides to open Tiger X into the market, it has the potential to kill Microsoft. Of course, MS saw this coming, and has signed a non-compete agreement with Apple.

You can crib and rant as much as you want. At the end of the day, these guys are too huge and will decide the course of the market. The only option you have is to buy or not to buy. Companies such as Sun and DEC did make an attempt to break this grip, but were finally just bought out and shut down. A few billion dollars is a small price to pay against a potential loss market control.

For the brave, there are a large number of product and software made by smaller companies that will do exactly what you want. But, you have to be knowledgeable to use these product and software. Then you can thumb your nose at Apple and Microsoft.

Cheers

Your timelines are all wrong.

1) IPod came before iTunes,
2) Iphone came before IPod Touch
3) Tiger X is Mac 10.4. That is not yet to be released.After that the Leopard and snow Leopard are already released. Nothing killed microsoft in fact.

And what is this non-compete agreement? If microsoft asks apple to sign such an agreement because Tiger X can kill it, Why would Apple sign it?

 

[BLASTO]

What MS does is to hack into every corporate network and get the IP address of every machine you use. They then search each machine for software installed. These software is then checked against their license database. If there is a mismatch, they get in touch with you through their dealers to make you buy all the licenses. If there is a delay, they call your directly and threaten you. If even that does not work, they put pressure on you through NASSCOM and local industry associations. Oracle also follows a similar methodology and between them they have even shut down a few companies. This was really bad during the days of Dewang Mehta, but I am not sure how it is nowadays.

Not sure about oracle but microsoft does not do anything close to this.
Unlicened software are traced when you download upgrades and stuff.

BTW, Why do you think asking people to buy licence for the products they use is a bad thing? Is it not piracy to use unlicenced software. Even for the argument if we assume if this was done why is it wrong?

One company I worked with had a 400 machine network with not a single MS software and was running completely on Unix/Linux combination. Even then we used to get calls from MS regularly. I had to get my IT head to scan every machine regularly every week to ensure that there was no MS software inadvertently installed by an employee.

Just Curious, What MS software can be installed on Unix/Linux?

In terms of the Apple OS, what I meant was to make the OS as a product that could be purchased and installed on any machine. Of course Apple cannot do it any more because of the agreement they have with MS.

So any reason why Apple agreed to that agreement if Tiger X when released as a OS product can kill Microsoft? It is only logical that they kill microsoft instead.

Apple does not believe in building open eco systems. They believe in closed eco-systems with OS tied to their hardware.

 

[venkatcr]

Blasto, the sequence and OS numbers does not matter. I was just trying to highlight what Apple did over 2 decades. My apologies if I did not get the sequence and numbers right.

Not sure about oracle but microsoft does not do anything close to this. Unlicened software are traced when you download upgrades and stuff. BTW, Why do you think asking people to buy licence for the products they use is a bad thing? Is it not piracy to use unlicenced software. Even for the argument if we assume if this was done why is it wrong?

The amount of information that MS reps had about machines that were there in our office could only have come by hacking into the machines, or somehow getting information from it. When I enquired through friends of mine in the US, I was told that this was the method employed. I never support or supported piracy. All I said was MS uses strong arm methods. As much as piracy is wrong, force twisting someone's arm is incorrect.

Just Curious, What MS software can be installed on Unix/Linux?

I re-read my post and I don't seem to have said this at all. What I said was when we had MS OS installed, we were ensuring no MS software in installed by an employee. Of course when we changed to Unix/Linus, we had no issues.

So any reason why Apple agreed to that agreement if Tiger X when released as a OS product can kill Microsoft? It is only logical that they kill microsoft instead. Apple does not believe in building open eco systems. They believe in closed eco-systems with OS tied to their hardware.

I have explained this in a previous post. Though Apple follows a close eco system, they did face tremendous pressure from the market to open their systems. When they were using Motorola processors this was physically impossible. But when they ported to Intel, the game was different.

Cheers

 

[gobble]

IMHO TigerX or OSX will have a tough time if it is opened. Apple is successful in keeping it usable because it only runs on ONE type of hardware and they do not have to deal with multiplicity of vendors and their component architectures. Even so for a single platform hardware , the number of bug fixes and security holes combined is no less than Vista and certainly not less than Linux which tries to run on "everything under the sun".

It will certainly be a boon for Linux users if many of the OSX apps are cross ported to Linux

Cheers

 

[gobble]

OK guys .... :clapping:

After a post in this thread calling me an idiot and dumb to boot I was in a tizzy and had to prove to myself and the rest of the HiFiVision world that I was actually verrrry smaaart and cool dude!! hyeah: Something had to be done before my image came tumbling and crashing down like Saddam's statue. (Question: when is an idiot not dumb? Duh! )

So I sat up till 3am fiddling with my ......... iPod Touch 3G (Relax!! ) and this is how I Climaxed last night!!! hyeah: :licklips:

1. I can copy videos from PC to iPod using file manager and play them locally using an app called AVPlayer . Used ifuse utility to mount iPod filesystem on Ubuntu
2. I can download videos from Youtube ONLY and save them locally for playback with (Edit: Note corrected name of app) an app called aTube (Edit: for other Internet sources use PC and copy after transcoding the video to ipod format - h.264 with AAC audio)
3. I can manage photos using GwenView and transfer them to iPod for viewing. It translates the photos into an ipod compatible format and size
4. I can transfer FLAC files to iPod. GTKPod automatically transcodes them on the fly to AAC during transfer
5. I used a tether-free jailbreak called Spirit. Hopefully I will never need iTunes again. :yahoo:

So Music, Videos, Photos are taken care of!! I also use google calender and mail, the default notepad and voice memo is much wanted app feature. So I think I finally have something like a really personal mobile computer to carry around. :yahoo:

Next Step is to sync iPod wirelessly with my desktop PC everytime its in range and backup. Now I have tons of podcasts on opensource, technology, TED talks etc that I can just leave for downloading and save to my ipod to use while travelling in bus, train etc. Make the travel educational instead of staring out of the window all the time!!

The only draw back is files saved directly on my iPod from youtube etc have silly names like "-234returewu4353453245534rdfa425r234r.mp4" which I have to manually rename and this will be a pain for 100s of file. Guess I will write a script for it - if filename longer than 24 chars then rename ... etc. (Imagine naming your child tf432teoyfdffweifhknscvn495792374y5thdfgkjhsdgh937.child)

@Thad - this may be the liberation you are looking for in the iPhone. I use 3.1.3. You only have to get used to having to use three seperate apps on Ubuntu.

I think I am very close to being iTunes and Windows Free - I only need to check what happens when I press the buttons for recovery mode - Will it require iTunes? I have postponed testing this until I boot up my office laptop and XP.

Edit: FYI IpoD and iPhone will supposedly work non-jailbroken with original firmware on Ubuntu . You will have to search for same app names from the Cydia jailbroken apps in the original iPod App Store - if you are lucky, you will find them posted there and the need to jailbreak can be avoided. But Spirit jailbreak is so easy it takes a single mouse click and 3 seconds to jailbreak!!

HTH
Cheers

 

[thevortex]

Hack, or installed software sending information, if you are connected to the Net, MS knows what is installed on your machine.

Bala, sometime ago when Apple was struggling with a not growing market for their machines, the management realized that MS-Office was a key point to improve sales. That was the time that Apple was very seriously attempting to move away from their dependence on Motorola processors. Since Apple was porting their OS to both AMD and Intel processors, MS feared they would release their OS as a product to be installed on any CPU/Motherboard combination. As part of agreeing to port MS Office to the Apple OS, MS is supposed to have wrested an agreement from Apple that they will not make the Apple OS a competitor for Windows.

Cheers

Thanks for that information, Venkat. That is most interesting to say the least.

I still find it very puzzling that Apple would have seen it fit to sign on the dotted line for such an agreement.

But Apple is still available as an OS throughout the world, is it not? Or are we talking about OEM bundling as in links with Intel and AMD and the rest?

 

[BLASTO]

(Question: when is an idiot not dumb? Duh! )

Lol..
When he does not open his mouth.. hyeah:

 

[venkatcr]

But Apple is still available as an OS throughout the world, is it not? Or are we talking about OEM bundling as in links with Intel and AMD and the rest?

Apple OS is available but for use on Apple machines only. You cannot, for example, purchase an Apple OS, and install it in a motherboard from Asus or Gigabyte.

Whether this is good or bad in terms of stability and reliability is a different point. My point was if Apple deemed it fit to ship the Apple OS as a open OS that can be installed on any Intel or AMD motherboard, they would made serious inroads into MS's market control.

I have heard that some DIY's have installed Apple OS on third party Intel motherboards. I am not sure about this.

Cheers

 

[teky]

I have heard that some DIY's have installed Apple OS on third party Intel motherboards. I am not sure about this.

Cheers

That is called hackintosh, But it's not legal to run that. You could have it dual boot with Windows OS as well.

 

[gobble]

That is called hackintosh, But it's not legal to run that. You could have it dual boot with Windows OS as well.

There is a opensource boot rom flash that is required and in the end it only runs on very limited intel hardware.

Just FYI OS X PROVEN hacked and running on an ordinary PC

Cheers

 

[asliarun]

(Imagine naming your child tf432teoyfdffweifhknscvn495792374y5thdfgkjhsdgh937.child)

HTH
Cheers

Or Bobby Tables

Thanks for posting this! I will try this as well on one of my free days.

 

[KonfuSed]

Ok guys, tell me one thing, how do I convert FLAC to mp3 to upload in the iPod? Any very easy to use, one touch and go software? Can lame do it?

 

[keith_correa]

Ok guys, tell me one thing, how do I convert FLAC to mp3 to upload in the iPod? Any very easy to use, one touch and go software? Can lame do it?

Use >>>this<<<