Comments on: Enough with Smart-Mouthed Mac Advocates on Vista! What We Really Want to Know…

By: Ryan Grace

Ryan Grace — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:23:44 +0000

to me the real monopolistic moves have been made by apple… the worst example being Logic Audio.
the userbase was 75% pc users and they just gave them a big “f$%# you, buy a mac…”
its funny because logic was probably the least appealing of all the audio software at the time. the only thing it had going for it were its built in effects. cubase/nuendo probably just wouldnt sell out so they had to settle for logic.
now with ableton live 6, logic is looking like a real dog turd.
the worst part is that before apple bought logic the development pace was fierce and there were many updates and new features.. then after the buyout.. it just fizzled away.. did some of the developers quit? how did apple drop the ball so completely on that?
then there is the whole final cut pro thang.. but who cares now that premiere pro 2 integrates so well with photoshop and after effects there is one less reason to “but a mac”
if apple really wanted to penetrate the market they would release OSX to all pc hardware and fight Vista head on. now that they are on intel they dont have much of an excuse not to. they just need to get off their a$$e$ and write some drivers.. hackers have already done alot of the work for them…
but we all know they would never do that.. for whatever stupid reason.

By: velocipede

velocipede — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:27:48 +0000

“how is dominating the market with ipods in a sea of ipod clones anyway similar to microsoft’s past buy-out the competition monopolistic practices?”

It’s admittedly a much smaller issue, but Apple has actively prevented using downloads from other services with iPods. This was just an example.

Apple also hold their users at arms length. The secrecy stuff is great for some things, but others, like the impending Logic update, are really causing a lot of heartache. Some people actually do need to know what features are planned so that they can plan other software purchases, etc. I’m not one of them…

Anyway, I don’t think Apple is that bad, but they are not all goodness and light, either.

By: VooD

VooD — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 01:34:32 +0000

I completly agree with every point. But there´s also something I can´t stand about Vista…Logic 5.5.1 doesn´t work (at least for me)

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:53:07 +0000

Paul, I’m sure you could address this issue far better than I could. My concern is the opposition of some kernel developers to any non-free code, even if it’s needed to support hardware, and groups like the zealot-like Free Software Foundation supporting only free software efforts on the platform. I think this scares away some proprietary development, and (in many cases) makes it unnecessarily difficult for some desktop distros to be turnkey. This is far too complex an issue for me to gloss over it like that, so forgive me. It should really be a separate discussion. And I’m not even saying all-free distros are a bad idea; I understand the philosophy behind them and support the concept. I do think, though, that some of the efforts from the ubuntu and SUSE communities (and many others) to make the desktop OS friendlier to newcomers and those migrating from other platforms are a step in the right direction.

Anyway, all that said, I certainly see three viable OS alternatives. Linux isn’t necessarily the answer for everyone — but neither is Windows or Mac. It’s absolutely worth considering. And I’d be even more curious to see how virtualized music software is running under Linux, particularly apps that lack copy protection like Cakewalk’s stuff. Yes, I know, there are open source alternatives … but many of us already live in a mixed open source / proprietary environment on Mac and Windows and love it, so why not Linux, as well? (And previous comments aside, there’s really nothing stopping you from doing that on Linux now. Most of the ambivalence I’ve heard from PC/Mac devs is just about market size / cost.)

By: Paul Davis

Paul Davis — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:33:40 +0000

Peter - what’s the hard line from the Linux community on proprietary software?

By: bliss

bliss — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 18:00:46 +0000

I’ll say this from the perspective of a Mac advocate who lives with a Windows advocate. The Windows advocate in my home doesn’t even know why she is a Windows advocate, all she knows is that’s what’s on her computer at work. Neither is she tech saavy or computer literate, she just uses Word and browses to CNN for news. Now, it didn’t matter that before she purchased the PC that I wanted to show her an easier to maintain alternative because I know that she cannot be bother to check for spyware and viruses, not to mention configure the PC to her liking. She doesn’t even know what she likes, she just knows what she is familiar with. Anyway, the only thing that has to happen for Vista to become widely adopted quickly is for businesses to adopt it quickly, the rest will take care of itself, regardless of critical opinion or worthy alternatives.

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:48:58 +0000

Well, there are ways to advocate the Mac platform — and do it on its own merits, whatever the feelings might be on past OSes. I actually thought David Pogue might prove Vista wasn’t copying Mac OS X by showing Vista features that don’t quite live up to Mac features, and there are quite a few examples of that (though there are other Vista features I do like). Anyway, I’m going to focus on being a music technology advocate rather than Mac advocate or Windows advocate. That’s where my heart is.

Oh, and if you want a third option, there is some really great stuff on Linux, and you could easily build a custom performance setup that you can boot alongside both Windows and Mac. I just wish Linux didn’t require quite so much configuration work, and that the Linux community would take a softer line on proprietary software — much of which could really benefit the platform.

By: Wonder Dog

Wonder Dog — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:38:04 +0000

Brilliant article, Peter! I only wish more bloggers and computer-media types could be so logical and clear. The whole Mac vs. PC thing is stupid. (I admit, though, that Apple basing an entire ad campagin on bashing the PC is really retarded - do they really gain new customers with that? Or just make their current customers feel smug?)

By: octatone

octatone — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:14:14 +0000

how is dominating the market with ipods in a sea of ipod clones anyway similar to microsoft’s past buy-out the competition monopolistic practices?

By: velocipede

velocipede — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:41:48 +0000

I’m a Mac user and advocate, but I agree that Pogue’s recent video and even past Mac Expo banners have been over the top. However, I understand the psychology. I have many friends and family members who disparage Macs, or at best, just refuse to consider trying a Mac. The same people (usually not tech savvy) complain about issues that are non-issues on the Mac. It’s like people choosing to always buy Fords because that’s what they know how to drive… (Of course, the only other choice is Toyota in this analogy.)
I want to like Vista and plan to buy it when I get a Mac Book Pro for work purposes, but the reason some of us feel so much antagonism towards Windows is because of Microsoft’s monopolistic practices, which are hopefully mostly in the past. Sadly, Apple has followed the same road in recent years as it has dominated the market with its iPods. Public corporations are driven to behave like this by their shareholders and the law.
What we really need is more viable OS alternatives. I wish I had the time/energy for Linux. At one point there was talk of an Asian OS. I look forward to a future where we have more choices and they are all good.