I'd never touch an iMac anyway. The only Mac I could be tempted into ever buying is a Macbook. I couldn't stand to be without a desktop I couldn't open up, upgrade, or customize myself. With a laptop though it's not really limited to Macs in that respect.
Last I checked all you can change is the RAM and the HDD, hardly "all those things". Hell if you have an iMac you can't even change your monitor because the damn thing is integrated.
Macs still offer incredibly poor hardware variety and upgrade options compared to a desktop PC.
@Odin: "You can't even change your monitor." No, you can't change the monitor on an iMac, just as you can't do this on a notebook. Congratulations on highlighting one of the defining features of an all-in-one computer as a Mac flaw. That might be the weakest argument against the iMac I have ever heard.
The rest is correct, however. I agree that for people who want to upgrade their computers Macs in generally are not for them, but really if you are buying a Mac then why do you need to upgrade? The base hardware will do just fine browsing the web, word processing, emailing, photoshopping, etc. If you want to change your graphics card for games, then why are you buying a Mac in the first place?
That may as well be the weakest counter argument I have ever heard. I've got a little piece of information you might not have heard before. It may be shocking I know but bear with me.
Desktop =/= Notebook
Apple are the only (if not the only, then one of very few) hardware manufacturers that produce an all-in-one computer as a desktop still. So yes, it's still a flaw specific to the iMac. Built in screens are a defining feature of portable computing because such integration offers portability. With the iMac it just offers a minor space reduction. Congratulations on trying to compare two different kettles of fish.
@Odin: You'd never touch an iMac, but you feel compelled to read and comment on articles about them?
The fact that iMacs are not right for some people does not mean there's no legitimate market for them, in spite of some people's need to cast themselves as the universal user.
I had a Dell PC on which I never changed monitors or graphics cards over its 6 years of use before moving to a new PC. I had an iMac that was the same way. So I had no fear that my new iMac would be limiting the way that I use my computer.
@Odin: Please save your wrath for Ragnarok. As I said, I agree completely with all your arguments save that one small sentence about the build-in monitor being an iMac flaw. Don't worry, your tidbit of information was neither new nor shocking. A desktop is not an notebook. Well said! However, the integration of the iMac does make for a small footprint and few wires (one, to own the truth). Also, many manufacturers make all-in-ones: HP, Sony, MSI, Dell etc.
That said, I must take argument with your claim that I was comparing "two different kettles of fish". Upon review, I find nowhere in my comment where I drew any comparisons. All I said was the iMac is an all-in-one and thus has the monitor built-in.
Now let us bury any bad blood bought with misunderstanding. C'mon, you know you have the coolest name on the entire forums! :)
They're still quite uncommon and to be fair most of them tout touch screens which I'd consider to be fair game for computer integration (could still probably do it without though) whereas the iMac is just a regular monitor bolted to a computer.
@Odin: Everything else about the iMac aside (I like what they are as it's great for consumers, but not me) have you ever actually used a touchscreen desktop for an extended period of time? 30 minutes even and it gets uncomfortable. It's an usual position mainly.
If it were Minority report style it would be a bit different, but touch screen desktops are still a novelty and obviously aren't as successful as touchpads.
@RadcliffeByblis: I also read the paper in the morning and read about people I'll never meet and countries I'll never go to. Hell I may even comment on those stories to a colleague.
=P
That said I never made the claim there's no market for them or that they're all bad. I just expressed my opinion that they don't suit me and listed a few reasons why I don't personally like them.
Those reasons might not apply to everyone but I never claimed they should.
@madog: I haven't personally but I imagine the ones that are styled like oversized tablet PCs are good for art. I agree that trying to use a monitor as a touchscreen wouldn't be practical or comfortable. I think the intent with most of them is that you can lie them flat and use them as a tablet or stand it up and use it as a computer monitor.
Sorry if I was a bit snappy. I must have been in a ratty mood this morning.
Even so you did make a comparison between an iMac and a notebook, ie drawing the similarity that you can't replace the screen on either. I think I was right to point out that it's a stretch to compare desktops to portables.
It would have been better to draw a comparison between other desktop all-in-one computers.
At any rate I was merely trying to rebuke iheartpies so very wrong comment that you have the same level of hardware customization available with a desktop Mac (the iMac specifically) as you do with a desktop PC.
iPhone will be the first to fall, there is so much research being done into exploiting it just to open the phone up it'll be first. Only chance it's got is if it's running 3.0 beta.
Android is a wild card, it's either going to fall shortly after the iPhone or it'll fall last, if at all. The double edged sword of an open OS, all the vulnerabilities are there to see, but since there are no restrictions on what you can do there isn't as much incentive to try and break it.
Symbian, due to it's global market share dominance, will fall second or third, depending on where Android drops.
I'm not sure which will get broken next, WinMo or BB. There's a reason WinMo is the OS on the only NSA approved smartphone, but at the same time BB would not be the success it is in the corporate world if it wasn't secure.
That's kind of embarrassing for Safari. Considering the fact that most of here won't even touch IE with a ten foot pole, and is hated by web developers such as myself to a certain extent. I can't believe it still takes a couple of hours to crack IE & Firefox.
I'm not hating on Apple, but their security by obscurity is catching up to them real fast, and they need to do something about it before they get caught with their pants down.
@GotMex?: In other words, nobody cares enough to try the exploits on the whole six people who use Safari or a Mac. It's secure because the hackers aim for the bigger fish.
@the new face of racial america: You almost hacked me? You never hacked me - you never hacked your cpu... Vista crackin' not Linux crackin' like you should. You're lucky that 3gb shot of RAM didn't blow the welds on the heat sync! You almost hacked me?
Ask any leeter. Any real leeter. It don't matter if you win by an kb or a Gb. Winning's winning.
@mrzippy: Well, the exploit ran in under 10 seconds. This is important because some exploits may take longer, or require more user interaction. This under 10 secs thing means to me that as soon as you visit a compromised site, you're screwed
@mrzippy: Not only did they probably spend months learning about the exploits, but they spent years of their lives learning computers and getting various training. You could argue that it took this person twenty some years to hack into this thing, and the hack of IE took twenty some years plus an hour. Not certain that is going to change the perception, however.
@Troy Stockton: Yeah, all you have to do is tell you that you love her and boom. Too bad that while she's riding you she'll slit your throat and pump nitrous down the hole so that while you laugh you cry, and while she laughs you die.
@the_sidewinder: When I think of "Symbian", I picture in my mind a Sybian. It is truly an unfortunate association, or fortunate, depending on what mood I'm in.
@klaybc: "My new Nigerian friend says I have nothing to worry about."
And why should you? Even if your computer does get hacked, you can buy as many replacements as you'd like using your soon-to-be acquired $126,000,000.00 windfall.
I love my 3g, but I am jealous of those 1st gen users. I really wish I could retrofit an aluminum back to the 3g. That would be the shiz. You would have the ULTIMATE status phone, with all the capabilities of the newer version.
@ubercaff: I love my 1st generation iPhone. I was having some issues with it and got a brand new one the other day. It is so lovely. I'm near wi-fi 99% of the time, so who needs 3G (which sucks most of the time anyway)? Not me. I'm so glad I didn't "upgrade" to the 3G phone.
Then there's law. Federal warranty law and plenty of cases since the '70s to define a company's (and the user's) responsibilities. Things like fitness for use, reasonable use (iPhone makes a terrible hammer) and failure to perform. A manufacturer's obligation to repair, replace or compensate. But, let's forget all that. Everybody seems to.
Anybody can sue for anything. They find some sucker with a Bar ticket, willing to tell them how righteous they are (hey, the Bimmer payment's due) and it's game on. Name in the paper, suing APPLE, the whole deal.
Fucked up the jack areas, Apple? Fix 'em, add reinforcement, change the resin mix, whatever; probably long since done. Then give this idiot a new case. Finis.
But, that doesn't fix the problem, does it?
Egotistical, narcissistic aholes who believe they deserve a McMansion, 7 Series and a perfect, seamless life finding themselves in pain because the world just doesn't work the way it looks through their macro lens. Thanks Ayn, Dr. Ginott, etc. We got what we wished for.
For the rest of us (anybody left?) if it doesn't bleed, it doesn't lead. Wouldn't trade that for progress-sucking perfection, anyday, iPhone lawsuit boy. But, that's just me.
The "way too hot McDonalds Coffee," was a legitmate case. Why can't this be too? I'm playing Devil's Advicate here, but while on the surface this lawsuit may seem superficial, it may actually hold substance when looked at from a different angle. My iPhone is cracking too... I wouldn't sue, but still from others that I know, I believe it maybe a problem. In any case there is no reason to hate on the lawsuit bringers... even if they deserve it. That McDonalds coffee that spilled was over boiling point. Coffee is suppossed to be served well before boiling point. That makes that case reasonable. Imagine spilling liquid above 125 degrees on your lap... and you bitch about people bitching about their iPhone, tsk tsk.
Let's play where's the tort. Putting a cup of boiling coffee between your legs (BTW, boiling point on my planet: 212f) implies at least a little contributory negligence, no? Even so, if harm was caused, there's the potential of liability. Fair enough.
That said, but for a an ego of epic proportion, disabled by the inability to be seen in public with iPhone micro-cracks, I'm not sure this rises to the test of harm.
This is about the warranty. Go to Apple, ask for a fix, give them reasonable time to repair, replace or refund (that sticky, required-by-law stuff, again) and get on with your life. If they fail to perform, then sue for the value of the phone, plus any damages from the failure (pain and suffering don't count) and buy something, anything else. I've got a Western Electric bakelite number that's guaranteed to remain intact through the next ice age, if you're shopping.
@HKLV: I love when people extrapolate from stereotypes and scant information how they think the world works.
First off, let's take this out of the world of iPhones. Let's say you buy a car. After 6 months, you notice that the interior trim is cracking and little bits of foam padding are coming from the cracks. Do you sue?
Bear in mind - interior trim in no way affects the functioning of the car and the car is still driveable. It is purely cosmetic. Nonetheless, you bought the car, in no small part, because you like the aesthetics. You thought the layout looked nice. The dealer won't pay to fix the trim and the manufacturer put a clause in the warranty disclaiming coverage for it. You had no chance to read that warranty before purchase though. Even if you had, you had no chance to negotiate terms.
Now what if the car also occasionally stalled out as well. Nothing dangerous but what if every so often, when at a stop light, your car (in addition to having cracked interior trim) stalled out 5% of the time when at a stop light. And what if about once a day, while listening to music, the car stereo would shut itself off. What if the mileage advertised was nowhere near real-world performance too?
Without the court system, you'd have no recourse.
The iPhone drops calls, has a crashy browser, is prone to lagginess, and appears to be have poor QC implementation as evinced by the cracking problem.
As to the McDonald's case, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
In that case, McDonald's was serving coffee at 190* to people that it knew, or should have known, would be drinking it in a moving vehicle. This was 20* hotter than other restaurants. McDonald's knew its coffee sometimes caused serious injuries but took no action to change their conduct. The jury held that it was unreasonable to serve coffee at near-boiling temperatures.
A little perspective is needed. The jury award was the equivalent of less than 2 days of sales from coffee. And if that doesn't put things in perspective, consider that following post-trial motions, the judge lowered the punitive damages assessed by over $2 million to $480,000.
Moreover, it's not like the plaintiff ran to the courthouse. She wasn't looking for a handout. She was looking for payment for medical bills caused by McDonald's negligence.
The plaintiff initially asked McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical costs, which were $11,000, but the company offered only $800. During discovery, McDonald's refused Morgan's offer to settle for $90,000.
And at the close of discovery, plaintiff's attorney demanded $300,000, and a mediator suggested $225,000 just before trial, but McDonald's refused to increase its offer. (BTW: "demand" and "offer" are actual legal terms used in settlement negotiations)
A world without lawyers is a world without safety.
Oh, and "one more thing" - tort law is common law and varies by State. The only way you get into federal court in a negligence action is through diversity of jurisdiction.
What a crybaby. If you don't like your cellular phone then you unload it on Craigslist or Kijiji and buy a competitor's product. Cry me a river, tech-pussy.
@General Halfshaftery: Agreed, this is stupid. Since when is it OK to sue a company just because you a product didn't live up to your expectations.
If Apple has been selling iPhones pre-cracked, then they should do something about it. But that's not grounds for a lawsuit. By the looks of those pictures that is not a brand new iPhone, it's pretty scratched up. I've dropped my iPhone 3G a couple times and it's not nearly as scratched as those pics.
If you don't like the iPhone go buy a Nokia N95, G1, or a Blackberry Bold and STFU.
@Gregnog: It's been okay to sue for that for a while.
It's called "breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose" and "breach of warranty of merchantability". Granted, on the first count, there's not much there, but the second one is a colorable claim.
Moreover, at the end of the day, Apple is a company that manufactures things and one thing that companies that manufacture things don't do is risk taking verdicts.
Give this a few years and it'll settle. Consider the settlement as a method of adjusting the price point of a product that appears to have been either not well-designed or rushed to market.
And I can't say I disagree with the plaintiff on this one.
@infiniteloop: Threats of violence and profanity - nice social skills. The anonymity of the internet makes you a big man. Too bad it doesn't make you an intelligent one.
11/24/09
11/24/09
Who gave this man a star?
11/24/09
Last I checked all you can change is the RAM and the HDD, hardly "all those things". Hell if you have an iMac you can't even change your monitor because the damn thing is integrated.
Macs still offer incredibly poor hardware variety and upgrade options compared to a desktop PC.
11/24/09
The rest is correct, however. I agree that for people who want to upgrade their computers Macs in generally are not for them, but really if you are buying a Mac then why do you need to upgrade? The base hardware will do just fine browsing the web, word processing, emailing, photoshopping, etc. If you want to change your graphics card for games, then why are you buying a Mac in the first place?
11/24/09
Also do you get any support from Apple on faulty parts if you crack open the box? Or does that void everything?
11/24/09
That may as well be the weakest counter argument I have ever heard. I've got a little piece of information you might not have heard before. It may be shocking I know but bear with me.
Desktop =/= Notebook
Apple are the only (if not the only, then one of very few) hardware manufacturers that produce an all-in-one computer as a desktop still. So yes, it's still a flaw specific to the iMac. Built in screens are a defining feature of portable computing because such integration offers portability. With the iMac it just offers a minor space reduction. Congratulations on trying to compare two different kettles of fish.
11/24/09
Depends on what you do in there I think. Certain parts are just off limits from what I recall though.
11/24/09
The fact that iMacs are not right for some people does not mean there's no legitimate market for them, in spite of some people's need to cast themselves as the universal user.
I had a Dell PC on which I never changed monitors or graphics cards over its 6 years of use before moving to a new PC. I had an iMac that was the same way. So I had no fear that my new iMac would be limiting the way that I use my computer.
11/24/09
Um.. what?
Dell Studio One
Dell XPS One
HP Pavilion All-in-One
HP TouchSmart
Lenovo C series
I'm not a fan of the all-in-one computers, but just about everyone makes them!
11/24/09
That said, I must take argument with your claim that I was comparing "two different kettles of fish". Upon review, I find nowhere in my comment where I drew any comparisons. All I said was the iMac is an all-in-one and thus has the monitor built-in.
Now let us bury any bad blood bought with misunderstanding. C'mon, you know you have the coolest name on the entire forums! :)
11/24/09
They're still quite uncommon and to be fair most of them tout touch screens which I'd consider to be fair game for computer integration (could still probably do it without though) whereas the iMac is just a regular monitor bolted to a computer.
11/24/09
If it were Minority report style it would be a bit different, but touch screen desktops are still a novelty and obviously aren't as successful as touchpads.
11/24/09
=P
That said I never made the claim there's no market for them or that they're all bad. I just expressed my opinion that they don't suit me and listed a few reasons why I don't personally like them.
Those reasons might not apply to everyone but I never claimed they should.
11/24/09
11/24/09
Sorry if I was a bit snappy. I must have been in a ratty mood this morning.
Even so you did make a comparison between an iMac and a notebook, ie drawing the similarity that you can't replace the screen on either. I think I was right to point out that it's a stretch to compare desktops to portables.
It would have been better to draw a comparison between other desktop all-in-one computers.
At any rate I was merely trying to rebuke iheartpies so very wrong comment that you have the same level of hardware customization available with a desktop Mac (the iMac specifically) as you do with a desktop PC.
At any rate no hard feelings.
11/24/09
Whew. I think I need a nap.
#speakup
11/24/09
03/19/09
Android is a wild card, it's either going to fall shortly after the iPhone or it'll fall last, if at all. The double edged sword of an open OS, all the vulnerabilities are there to see, but since there are no restrictions on what you can do there isn't as much incentive to try and break it.
Symbian, due to it's global market share dominance, will fall second or third, depending on where Android drops.
I'm not sure which will get broken next, WinMo or BB. There's a reason WinMo is the OS on the only NSA approved smartphone, but at the same time BB would not be the success it is in the corporate world if it wasn't secure.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
I'm not hating on Apple, but their security by obscurity is catching up to them real fast, and they need to do something about it before they get caught with their pants down.
03/19/09
Frankly, that describes some of my happiest moments.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
Wow! Lucky for you then, Groz, that they aim for bigger fish, not bigger asshats.
And, no, I don't disparage you just because of this one slightly-trollish comment. I disparage you based on your history of trollish-commenting.
03/19/09
03/19/09
Ask any leeter. Any real leeter. It don't matter if you win by an kb or a Gb. Winning's winning.
03/19/09
I guess I'll move back to Lynx for my web reading then....
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
All he did was load a website with the exploit in 10 seconds.
03/19/09
03/19/09
That's pretty much what would happen if I ever met Natalie Portman. 10 seconds after we meet...BOOM...I've been morally compromised.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
Of course it always reminds me of this song about the Headless Cowboy Monkey.
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
03/19/09
And why should you? Even if your computer does get hacked, you can buy as many replacements as you'd like using your soon-to-be acquired $126,000,000.00 windfall.
11/16/08
11/17/08
11/16/08
Anybody can sue for anything. They find some sucker with a Bar ticket, willing to tell them how righteous they are (hey, the Bimmer payment's due) and it's game on. Name in the paper, suing APPLE, the whole deal.
Fucked up the jack areas, Apple? Fix 'em, add reinforcement, change the resin mix, whatever; probably long since done. Then give this idiot a new case. Finis.
But, that doesn't fix the problem, does it?
Egotistical, narcissistic aholes who believe they deserve a McMansion, 7 Series and a perfect, seamless life finding themselves in pain because the world just doesn't work the way it looks through their macro lens. Thanks Ayn, Dr. Ginott, etc. We got what we wished for.
For the rest of us (anybody left?) if it doesn't bleed, it doesn't lead. Wouldn't trade that for progress-sucking perfection, anyday, iPhone lawsuit boy. But, that's just me.
11/16/08
The "way too hot McDonalds Coffee," was a legitmate case. Why can't this be too? I'm playing Devil's Advicate here, but while on the surface this lawsuit may seem superficial, it may actually hold substance when looked at from a different angle. My iPhone is cracking too... I wouldn't sue, but still from others that I know, I believe it maybe a problem. In any case there is no reason to hate on the lawsuit bringers... even if they deserve it. That McDonalds coffee that spilled was over boiling point. Coffee is suppossed to be served well before boiling point. That makes that case reasonable. Imagine spilling liquid above 125 degrees on your lap... and you bitch about people bitching about their iPhone, tsk tsk.
11/16/08
Let's play where's the tort. Putting a cup of boiling coffee between your legs (BTW, boiling point on my planet: 212f) implies at least a little contributory negligence, no? Even so, if harm was caused, there's the potential of liability. Fair enough.
That said, but for a an ego of epic proportion, disabled by the inability to be seen in public with iPhone micro-cracks, I'm not sure this rises to the test of harm.
This is about the warranty. Go to Apple, ask for a fix, give them reasonable time to repair, replace or refund (that sticky, required-by-law stuff, again) and get on with your life. If they fail to perform, then sue for the value of the phone, plus any damages from the failure (pain and suffering don't count) and buy something, anything else. I've got a Western Electric bakelite number that's guaranteed to remain intact through the next ice age, if you're shopping.
11/16/08
First off, let's take this out of the world of iPhones. Let's say you buy a car. After 6 months, you notice that the interior trim is cracking and little bits of foam padding are coming from the cracks. Do you sue?
Bear in mind - interior trim in no way affects the functioning of the car and the car is still driveable. It is purely cosmetic. Nonetheless, you bought the car, in no small part, because you like the aesthetics. You thought the layout looked nice. The dealer won't pay to fix the trim and the manufacturer put a clause in the warranty disclaiming coverage for it. You had no chance to read that warranty before purchase though. Even if you had, you had no chance to negotiate terms.
Now what if the car also occasionally stalled out as well. Nothing dangerous but what if every so often, when at a stop light, your car (in addition to having cracked interior trim) stalled out 5% of the time when at a stop light. And what if about once a day, while listening to music, the car stereo would shut itself off. What if the mileage advertised was nowhere near real-world performance too?
Without the court system, you'd have no recourse.
The iPhone drops calls, has a crashy browser, is prone to lagginess, and appears to be have poor QC implementation as evinced by the cracking problem.
As to the McDonald's case, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
In that case, McDonald's was serving coffee at 190* to people that it knew, or should have known, would be drinking it in a moving vehicle. This was 20* hotter than other restaurants. McDonald's knew its coffee sometimes caused serious injuries but took no action to change their conduct. The jury held that it was unreasonable to serve coffee at near-boiling temperatures.
A little perspective is needed. The jury award was the equivalent of less than 2 days of sales from coffee. And if that doesn't put things in perspective, consider that following post-trial motions, the judge lowered the punitive damages assessed by over $2 million to $480,000.
Moreover, it's not like the plaintiff ran to the courthouse. She wasn't looking for a handout. She was looking for payment for medical bills caused by McDonald's negligence.
The plaintiff initially asked McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical costs, which were $11,000, but the company offered only $800. During discovery, McDonald's refused Morgan's offer to settle for $90,000.
And at the close of discovery, plaintiff's attorney demanded $300,000, and a mediator suggested $225,000 just before trial, but McDonald's refused to increase its offer. (BTW: "demand" and "offer" are actual legal terms used in settlement negotiations)
A world without lawyers is a world without safety.
Oh, and "one more thing" - tort law is common law and varies by State. The only way you get into federal court in a negligence action is through diversity of jurisdiction.
11/15/08
11/15/08
If Apple has been selling iPhones pre-cracked, then they should do something about it. But that's not grounds for a lawsuit. By the looks of those pictures that is not a brand new iPhone, it's pretty scratched up. I've dropped my iPhone 3G a couple times and it's not nearly as scratched as those pics.
If you don't like the iPhone go buy a Nokia N95, G1, or a Blackberry Bold and STFU.
11/15/08
Since when is it OK to sue a company just because you bought a product that didn't live up to your expectations.
11/16/08
It's called "breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose" and "breach of warranty of merchantability". Granted, on the first count, there's not much there, but the second one is a colorable claim.
Moreover, at the end of the day, Apple is a company that manufactures things and one thing that companies that manufacture things don't do is risk taking verdicts.
Give this a few years and it'll settle. Consider the settlement as a method of adjusting the price point of a product that appears to have been either not well-designed or rushed to market.
And I can't say I disagree with the plaintiff on this one.
@infiniteloop: Threats of violence and profanity - nice social skills. The anonymity of the internet makes you a big man. Too bad it doesn't make you an intelligent one.