OK I get the fondness for some of the design. Well the hardware anyway. Great stuff. The software not so much. But what I really don\u2019t get is why people like the company itself. Twice they have allowed companies to make Apple clones to run their software and then shut them down completely. Twice! The government took IDM to court for ten years and set the industry back years for doing pretty much the same thing only once. And yet people give Apple a complete pass. Apple is as closed a system as it gets \u2013 listen to all the restrictions they place on apps for the iPhone store. People would jump all over Microsoft for less \u2013 far less. They limit iPhones to just one vendor and people are more upset at the vendor than Apple for being so closed. Its all but incomprehensible to me.<\/p>\n
And then there is the fuss over the iPad. Tablet with no keyboard. Been done for years for Windows devices. Years. And people don\u2019t like them but when Apple does it it is magic? Oh but there is multi-touch. Big whoop! There have been multi-touch laptops, even netbooks, for months with Windows 7. Clearly Apple is a latecomer. Wi-fi and 3G? Also been available for Windows systems for years.<\/p>\n
How about development? I want to write some apps. Can I use a language like Visual Basic or C#? How about standard C++? Ah, no, I have to use Objective C. Not even Java? Crazy!<\/p>\n
Oh I can read books on it! Impressive if I hadn\u2019t been able to do that for years on Windows PCs and laptops. I run Kindle for the PC on my systems now for example. Works great. <\/p>\n
But surely the iPad can do all the things I do most right? Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook? Ah, no, they don\u2018t run. But I can get a web browser \u2013 really impressive. If only I could get one for a Windows system. Oh, wait, I think there are some available for Windows.<\/p>\n
My netbook has a removable battery, USB ports, a web cam, a microphone, and I can mark up things with handwriting recognition. The iPad can do those things right? Whoops! Not it can\u2019t. Wait, can that be? The iPad is magic.<\/p>\n
You know what it feels like? It feels like the iPad is the new wardrobe for the Emperor. If you are a true cool geek you can see the magic of the iPad and few want to admit that they are not real cool geeks. Sigh.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n