Spurred by another quarter of strong Mac and iPod sales, Apple Computer reported on Wednesday earnings that surged past Wall Street estimates.
Apple earnings continue to hum along
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Eugenia Loli
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Before people start bitching, I’d just like to say that this is good news. Any company who actually cares about quality rather than just shafting broken wares out the door for the sake of a quick buck, is all good to me.
The more Apple’s market share increases, the more need for companies to embrace web-standards, open source and other standards in order to reach all their customers, that is also a good thing.
Now onwards to the iPod bashing…
A year ago, I probably would have had some glib remark to make to df, however, I purchased a Mac Mini a month or so ago and have to say he/she is right.
I still use and enjoy Linux, but more and more I find myself using my Apple machine.
Really strong quarter except for PowerMac sales which I can understand.
Apple is going to have to look at new price points for their high end stuff.
Their high end G5s need to be truly high end gear rather than a machine with just two processors. AMD and Intel are entering the dual core business with hardware that will really smoke G5s even further.
Everything else is up from over a year ago which is great. I guess Apple won’t be dying this year, maybe next year. The funboys can only hope.
I guess it’s safe to say that Apple’s market share (and certainly install base) seems to be growing. Finally! I imagine that after Tiger’s been out for a while, that growth rate will accelerate even further. Selling over a million Macs in the three months AFTER Christmas is pretty astonishing, you must admit. If Apple start marketing Mac OS X for real instead of just relying on halo effects and word of mouth, then we might see some really souped up action.
I can easily envision that within the next couple of years, Apple will have 6% marketshare in the US, 3% worldwide, with Linux at 5-10% worldwide (desktop obviously, I’m not talking about servers) and MS below 90%. That seems pretty comfortable to me, whad’y’all think?
Jared
No offense to Yellow Dog but when they get a big Linux player like Suse, Ubuntu, or Fedora Core (RH) on the new mini you’ll see sales of Mini’s really take off as well.
Also, I think the iPod (along with spyware) has done as much for Apple ‘puter sales as Napster did for broadband not so very long ago…
Solitare still dominates the #1 spot for computer use amoungst the average joe’s I know.. How sad..cards cost about $1.75..
MrX
I’m a very, very happy mac os x user and i will not switch back to linux, but this week i have tried the last live version of Ubuntu Linux and all works good on my powerbook G4 1,5GHz except the Airport Card. Linux now is in the “Good Way” but still have a lot of work to be good as mac os x.
I guess it’s safe to say that Apple’s market share (and certainly install base) seems to be growing. Finally! I imagine that after Tiger’s been out for a while, that growth rate will accelerate even further.
Well you would be wrong. Apple’s installbase is growing but its marketshare is still dropping like a rock since the rest of the PC market is growing much faster than Apple.
“Have fun spending two hours getting your wireless network and soundcards working, Linux users.”
Thanks! We always do. After all, its half the fun!
Gotta love it…
Apple: Going out of business since 1984
Remind me again why I should care about Linux when we now have a great UNIX OS that just works?
A few reasons:
1) A diversity of choice often is a very good thing.
2) Over in x86 land they don’t have a great *nix OS that just works. (Walk a mile in the other fella’s shoes and all that.)
3) An education (self inflicted or not) is something that can never be taken away from you.
I’ve always been interested in switching over to apple. My fear 6 months ago, that apple wouldn’t be able to maintain this level of innovation and quality, has been diminishing since then. My Dad has to buy me a computer for when I go away to college, in a few months I will have to choose between a Mac and continuing with my x86 arch linux which I’ve come to love. I’m pretty sure I’ll buy an Imac if they release an update by then with something more reasonable than a GeforceFX 5200 Ultra, god did that piss me off when they released that.
Yellow dog works fine on my IBook (Airport card and all) And it didn’t take me 2 hours to get it running including the install.
Now lets see you get that Mac OS running on a Dell, IBM or Toshiba?
Woops, forgot it don’t work on any of those.
Almost forgot that with emulation you can get it working (On top of Windows) in about 2 days. LOL!
Is anyone saying *you* should care about Linux? OS X is a great OS for those to whom it’s useful and can afford it.
But don’t diss it for people who want/need it. Like me. I cannot afford a Mac, mini or otherwise. All I can physically afford to buy after paying rent, food, and bills, is old cheap commodity hardware. Linux makes this hardware useful to me.
And bear in mind that I’m a poor person in a rich country. Macs will be totally out of reach for most people in poor countries – that is, the great majority of people on our planet – for decades to come. Fact.
2) Over in x86 land they don’t have a great *nix OS that just works. (Walk a mile in the other fella’s shoes and all that.)
Of course, one might point out that there’s no rule saying that x86 has to continue to dominate.
“Well you would be wrong. Apple’s installbase is growing but its marketshare is still dropping like a rock since the rest of the PC market is growing much faster than Apple.”
faster than 40%?
I’m a huge Apple Fan, and I have to say that when everthing almost doubles of what it was last year, your doing somthing right. I cant remember the last time I saw a Mac spot on TV. (They play enough of the iPod one’s) And for it to grow like this is awsome.
Good work all at apple, keep the great products comming!
Well, I still love Linux, but I’m also still going to buy an iBook this summer to use as my main system. Why? I’m tired of obscure bugs, focus creep, developer infighting, etc. Plus, it’ll be nice to have a very portable, well-built, and fully supported computer. And, it’s time for something new. I haven’t touched a Mac since OS 7.5; I’m looking forward to the experience of it. I was actually thinking of building an AMD-based box with the latest and greatest hardware at first, but I’m not a gamer (anymore), and I really need the portability of a laptop at this stage in my life and career. If I’m going to get the best I can on my limited budget, it just makes sense to get an iBook.
I’ll probably put Ubuntu PPC on it alongside OSX; I’ve already ordered a couple of Hoary PPC disk sets from Canonical. For all of its faults, Linux is still the most versatile and geek-friendly OS out there, at least in my opinion, and I have a feeling I’ll want to keep it around for a while yet.
“Apple’s installbase is growing but its marketshare is still dropping like a rock since the rest of the PC market is growing much faster than Apple.”
Actually, you are the wrong one. While it is true that Apple’s install base has been continually growing… the market share is also growing.. partially because people are adopting the Macintosh in much greater numbers but because the PC market has remained stagnant. Apple has been growing faster than the rest of the industry for the past 3 quarters.
They key is choices with all the platforms getting closer in percentage. Of course that would mean M$ losing a bunch of share and money. I certainly wouldn’t cry for them.
“Now lets see you get that Mac OS running on a Dell, IBM or Toshiba?”
Personally most of us don’t care if you can’t install on Dell, IBM, or Toshiba. If we wanted that hardware we’d get Linux. We don’t, and didn’t.
My main thing though is, well, choices. My second thing is, –anything– but Microsoft. Zero microsoft everywhere and all the time.
PS: I love my iMac and PowerBook and iPod photo.
I have an ibook that i must say me , my wife and daughter both love.. it is a great os and hardware combo. I like it so much so that i will have to seriously consider upgrading to tiger( i use quickserlver and it is the shiznat!!) On the other hand , I just wiped the hd on my linux box, did a fresh install of ubuntu hoary and installed the ubuntu xfce4 package from os-cillation and..um DAMN! its just too freekin kewl. Personally from the gui osx is it.. but i still love using linux from the cli.. Feel the Power!
“No offense to Yellow Dog but when they get a big Linux player like Suse, Ubuntu, or Fedora Core (RH) on the new mini you’ll see sales of Mini’s really take off as well. ”
Yellowdog is built and works with Fedora Core updates. It is quite a solid distro and is the best for PPC systems. It is also the ONLY COMPANY to be allowed to ship a non-Mac OS installed by default outside of Apple. This is the only company in the world that is allowed to sell non-mac Macintosh computers as allowed by Steve Jobs. I think they have the market cornered.
Ubuntu’s Hoary Hedgehog is ported to the PPC (testing it tonight) and Fedora Core 4 will have a PPC port as well.
Complete Tiger feature list, on one page, is here:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatures/newfeatures.html
Some of these things are quite impressive indeed.
Long live linux and OS X…
Why 90% of the computer users continue to do business with a convicted felon, I don’t know. Most people won’t even hire one.
Don’t confuse things… just because Windows “market share” is 90% don’t think that its install base is this.
Windows install base is approximately 82%
I was a long time PC/Linux user until the first iBook G4’s (800) came out when I got serious gear lust – a cheap laptop, with a UNIX-y OS that fully supports all the hardware. I’ve been a happy little monkey since – and even happier when I receive Tiger :o)
“Yellow dog works fine on my IBook (Airport card and all) And it didn’t take me 2 hours to get it running including the install.
Now lets see you get that Mac OS running on a Dell, IBM or Toshiba?”
Uh, why would I WANT to see it running on a Dell, IBM, or Toshiba? Besides that, they have an x86 port of Darwin for free. Oh, what’s that? The sound of your argument falling apart?
“Woops, forgot it don’t work on any of those.
Almost forgot that with emulation you can get it working (On top of Windows) in about 2 days. LOL!”
Are you seriously saying that your only retort is to say “Well, uh, OS X doesn’t run on x86! That makes Linux better!” You act as though I would ever, ever WANT to run it on x86, much less spend two days doing so, when we already have the PowerPC architecture.
I mean, seriously? That’s your argument? It doesn’t run on x86? Wow.
Meanwhile, you still didn’t offer any counterargument regarding my point–why bother with Linux when we’ve already got a working UNIX?
umm… OS X on the CLI is indistinguishable from Linux on the CLI.. same shell.. same tools.
“Uh, why would I WANT to see it running on a Dell, IBM, or Toshiba?”
Because you might want to play games on it, or not pay a fortune for slower hardware?
“Besides that, they have an x86 port of Darwin for free. Oh, what’s that? The sound of your argument falling apart?”
Get real. Nobody cares about Darwin – he was talking about OSX. The good bits of OSX – ie. the GUI, and the app integration etc – are not open source. Darwin is just another BSD and hence little different to running Free, Net or OpenBSD.
“Meanwhile, you still didn’t offer any counterargument regarding my point–why bother with Linux when we’ve already got a working UNIX?”
Because it’s not free. That’s reason enough for many people.
The price differential between Linux on x86 and OSX on PPC is pretty enormous too.
“2) Over in x86 land they don’t have a great *nix OS that just works. (Walk a mile in the other fella’s shoes and all that.) ”
Over in “x86 land”, we actually have a UNIX(tm) as well as “Unix-like” OSes. It “just works” too. We also have *commercial* UNIX software support. Regardless, Mac OS X is just about as much a “*nix” as Windows running SFU.
” when we already have the PowerPC architecture. ”
Not one for actual performance and hardware options, are you?
“why bother with Linux when we’ve already got a working UNIX?”
You don’t. Mac OS X is no more a UNIX than Linux. Just what UNIX-heritage does a hybrid microkernel have? IOKit? Just being able to support a Unix-like userland isn’t particularly special.
“I guess it’s safe to say that Apple’s market share (and certainly install base) seems to be growing. Finally! I imagine that after Tiger’s been out for a while, that growth rate will accelerate even further.”
Well you would be wrong. Apple’s installbase is growing but its marketshare is still dropping like a rock since the rest of the PC market is growing much faster than Apple.
True, but who are buying these PC’s? the same people who complain about paying $300 for a machine, whine they have to pay for software – so instead they “borrow a copy off their friend”. The people being added to the PC base today are of low value – who cares if you have 200 users, if only 20% can be a) bothered and/or b) afford purchasing the software.
Stick to selling high quality products, because eventually those who bought the $300 will eventually go upmarket and start demanding more from their computer – something that Apple is good at delivering.
And bear in mind that I’m a poor person in a rich country. Macs will be totally out of reach for most people in poor countries – that is, the great majority of people on our planet – for decades to come. Fact.
Good lord, play me a violine concerto in e-minor!
I’m classified as “low income” and funny enough, living on a shoe string budget, and being wise with my pennies and pounds, I’m able to afford a high end iMac along with an iPod.
Its all about priorities; some decide that they would rather spend their money going out partying, others would rather invest it, whilst others would rather fritter it away each week buying lunch at work, and other piddly unneeded crap.
Don’t confuse things… just because Windows “market share” is 90% don’t think that its install base is this.
Windows install base is approximately 82%
I think the bigger question is, is Windows XP used – beyond loading up and running a terminal session to a mainframe?
My work, for example, has 35,000 employees, at my place of employment alone, there are 10 computers running Windows, and yet, not one employee touches Windows the whole time they’re at work – everything is done via Terminal session too good old IBM 390.
Another example, ATO (Australia Tax Office) – uses a cobination of terminal, winframe and metaframe. ANZ, same scenario.
When given stats on PCs, ask, how many of them are used as thin clients (as a *VERY* low end PC from Dell works out cheaper than a thin client from SUN).
The fact that you think that mentioning that I am poor is some kind of complaint says something about your values! All I said was that, being relatively poor, I can’t afford a Mac, therefore Linux is a godsend to me. I’m quite happy with my financial status.
Also, as it happens, it’s not ‘all about priorities’ for a couple of reasons: (1) as a matter of fact, there’s no reordering I could do of my outgoings that would enable me to be able to buy an Apple. You don’t know my budget, and have no information with which to contradict me. Just trust me. (2) According to http://www.globalrichlist.com, about 77% of the world’s population are poorer than I am. So if I can’t afford a Mac, most people can’t.
Methinks you’re a tad out of touch with the real world if you really believe that most people could afford Macs with a budget readjustment.
Linux has real value for the world’s poor. You can hardly deny that.
The fact that you think that mentioning that I am poor is some kind of complaint says something about your values! All I said was that, being relatively poor, I can’t afford a Mac, therefore Linux is a godsend to me. I’m quite happy with my financial status.
Yes, but at the same time, you can pick up a cheap Mac for $1500, heck, why not jump onto the local ebay or second hand trader, and pick up an iLamp off a “must upgrade now” fanboy for a few hundred – thats how I got my laptop.
Heck, I can’t afford a brand new laptop, so I go second hand. 9/10 times, you can almost guarantee that the fanboys will be wanting to selling computer as fast as possible when the new edition of something comes out.
Also, as it happens, it’s not ‘all about priorities’ for a couple of reasons: (1) as a matter of fact, there’s no reordering I could do of my outgoings that would enable me to be able to buy an Apple. You don’t know my budget, and have no information with which to contradict me. Just trust me. (2) According to http://www.globalrichlist.com, about 77% of the world’s population are poorer than I am. So if I can’t afford a Mac, most people can’t.
Methinks you’re a tad out of touch with the real world if you really believe that most people could afford Macs with a budget readjustment.
No, my issue is with people in rich countries like Australia and New Zealand screaming bloody murder that they can’t afford to purchase a Mac, and yet, they’re happy to spend money on:
1) Upgrading their car.
2) Booze
3) Eating out
4) Buying lunch at work
5) Purchasing trendy clothes
6) Smoking
7) Gambling
I’m sure people here can add to that list in their spare time.
Linux has real value for the world’s poor. You can hardly deny that.
Those who can afford a computer, generally can afford a copy of Windows, as it comes standard with a PC – out of the box. 9/10, the company is only being charged $20 per-OEM license anyway.
hey, thats a nifty sight.. im the 49,505,965th richest person in the world (give or take) though i bought my first mac when i had the income of the 134,782,609th richest person.. hmm, that means at least 134,782,609 people could afford them.. not too shabby
“whilst others would rather fritter it away each week buying lunch at work, and other piddly unneeded crap.”
I find that if you do not eat, you tend to waste away and die. God has yet to fix this bug, despite literally having had all the time in the world to do so.
if we were to assume that only the 25 million richest people had macs (which i know we’re not saying, i was just having more fun on that sight).. that would mean youd need an income of at least US$108,875 a year
I think there’s a communication problem here. The point I was making was in response to a comment implying that it’s somehow irrational to use Linux because OS X is apparently so much better. I am just countering that not everyone has the choice, so even if you accepted the premise, Linux is still useful. That’s a plain fact.
my issue is with people in rich countries like Australia and New Zealand screaming bloody murder that they can’t afford to purchase a Mac
Where is this happening? Not in this thread, that I’ve seen.
Those who can afford a computer, generally can afford a copy of Windows, as it comes standard with a PC – out of the box. 9/10, the company is only being charged $20 per-OEM license anyway
As I said, you’re out of touch. The majority of projects helping the poor (in the developed and developing world) get access to computers are doing so by running Linux on old, cheap, commodity hardware. New computers with legally licensed Windows don’t generally come into it except where Microsoft funds the projects (which it sometimes does, and good on them). Linux makes these machines useful to many people including me. That’s all.
“Methinks you’re a tad out of touch with the real world if you really believe that most people could afford Macs with a budget readjustment.
Linux has real value for the world’s poor. You can hardly deny that.”
100% true. Here in Argentina, a Mac is totally out of reach even for a mid-class person (MacMini+monitor US$750). A PC with Linux is pretty accesible (US$300 monitor included).
Linux helps A LOT.
< Almost forgot that with emulation you can
< get it working (On top of Windows)
< in about 2 days. LOL!
Uh?
1) PearPC run under Linux & Win32.
2) It is about as fast as a G3 133 on a P4 2GHz.
2.1) Yeah, it emulation, o/c it is slower.
2.2) Windows on PPC is slow too.
2.2.1) Maybe a little faster, thanks to
2.2.1.1) a better proc (the PPC)
2.2.1.2) muture software.
3) I like number lists.
< 100% true. Here in Argentina, a Mac is
< totally out of reach even for a mid-class
< person (MacMini+monitor US$750).
BEEEP! You can use a VGA monitor. So thats <$100 for a cheapo monitor (like you get with the $300 PC) + $500 for the MacMini.
100% true. Here in Argentina, a Mac is totally out of reach even for a mid-class person (MacMini+monitor US$750). A PC with Linux is pretty accesible (US$300 monitor included).
Interesting, for a while there, Argentinas middle class could afford it (mind you, the whole ‘economic boom’ was based on borrow and hope).
Regarding to the first person; Microsoft gives away copies of Windows for non-profit projects. I’m not pro-Microsoft or pro-Windows, but lets he honest about the situation. It isn’t as though Microsoft or Apple are telling poor people to piss off.
which many smokers do, then just quitting would get them a 20 inch iMac G5 (at least in Michigan and many other states in the US it would.. ($5.00 for a pack of cigarettes yowch).
1 pack a day in Michigan costs 5 dollars. that is $1825 a year.
a cartoon a week costs 50 dollars. that is 2600 dollars!!!!
Microsoft gives away copies of Windows for non-profit projects. I’m not pro-Microsoft or pro-Windows, but lets he honest about the situation. It isn’t as though Microsoft or Apple are telling poor people to piss off.
Hey, it was me that pointed out that MS is pretty helpful to a lot of non-profit groups. They often do better than just supplying software, adding free hardware into the mix. The Gates Foundation also does this.
I don’t know if Apple do similar.
On the other hand, the %age population coverage of these schemes is absolutely miniscule.
Interesting, for a while there, Argentinas middle class could afford it (mind you, the whole ‘economic boom’ was based on borrow and hope).
Nearly all so-called economic booms are. The Great White Hopes (US and Australia) are hocked up to their necks.
There are things I respect about apple, but come on. They are not the incredibly innovative company everyone says they are.
UNIX needs to die. As does win32.
96.34% of the population make less than 90 dollars a year!!!!
that is 5,780,400,000 people!
219,600,000 make more than 90 dollars a year 🙁 that is really really really really really sad.
why exactly does Unix need to die? it is powerful… stable… fast… flexible… secure…
what is there inherently wrong with Unix and its derivatives?
win32.. yes, it is a steaming pile of dung that just happens to be used a lot….
but UNIX? I think you are one of those guys who leases their car, aren’t you.
“There are things I respect about apple, but come on. They are not the incredibly innovative company everyone says they are.”
And yet I can’t think of a single computer company that is more innovative than Apple
96.34% of the population make less than 90 dollars a year!!!!
that is 5,780,400,000 people!
219,600,000 make more than 90 dollars a year 🙁 that is really really really really really sad.
umm… you got that backwards, 219,600,000 make LESS than 90 dollars a year.
I haven’t touched a Mac since OS 7.5;
Boy, are you going to be surprised when you run Tiger
.
I started with 7.5.1 and although I loved working with a Mac a whole bunch, stability was not its strong suit.
I’ve done all the systems inbetween 7.5.1 to 10.3.8 and have seen the performance and quality increase tremendously.
The very first release of X was not impressive because it lacked some crucial components which made me wait until they were implemented.
But the way Panther works… wow
.
I hope to see better performance still in Tiger, with some nifty features on top of it.
I don’t really care about Apple marketshare anymore. As a hardware vendor they’re doing good business, they’re selling tons of software and their mindshare is something most companies can only ever lust for. With the latest financials just released, the people who predicted that “Apple will fold in two quarters” should be at least revising it to three quarters
.
They’ve got plenty of dead presidents in the bank, they’ve got the hardware, the system, the software [yes, yes, the system is software too, go suck on a Windows install disk] and they’re now a serious option for business/government and higher education users [up to and including super computing nodes
].
It’s their game to lose. From anemic, ailing and on the cusp of being wiped out/taken over they’ve turned into a veritable power house. Thank you Mac faithful for believing (you’re welcome), welcome to all the new members of the flock (will go down really well with the non-believers
) and thanks to Apple for a user experience people can actually thrive in.
To all the analysts who were kvetching because of the share dilution because of lots of Apple employees exercising stock options: die of an interesting disease in a public place so we can tape it and play back the movie on parties. These people made you all that money, they’ve more than earned their share of the spoils.
“UNIX needs to die. As does win32.”
Why?
It boots fast on Pear PC but networking sucks, file sharing is no where, sound sucks and wireless is a pipe dream. (Even with 2 hours of tinkering like the guy said about Linux)
X86 may not be the tops forever but PowerPC will not be what kills it being that the P4’s now kill G5’s and AMD’s 64 bits (like you have) really kill them.
:cough: do they really!
you got it wrong pal.
being in the 96.34 percentile means that 96.34 percent of the population is below you.
that would be why the site says when you put less than 90 dollars that there are BILLIONS of people who make less than 90 dollars a year.
you need to brush u on your math. Given the number though I think the calculations are off…. I would expect at least 1 billion people to make 90 dollars a year or more.
oh… it did not say percentile did it…….
ok.. Im wrong.
now I do not feel so bad. but if everyone donated 1 hour of their wages to help the 200 million then we would be able to bring those people up to at least 90 dollars a year.
Macs aren’t the cheapest but to call spending $300 bucks more (approx, on average) a FORTUNE is just flaunting your bias. If you have the time to post to OS News, you have $300bucks or you have serious motivational issues.
To say there are only 216 million people in the world who make 90 bucks a year or more is pure stupidity. Think before you post crap.
Linux definitely has serious value. Its an awesome OS, and although not for everyone, its becoming more Joe-user friendly every year.
I love Mac OS X, and <<I THINK>> it will take a long time for anything to catch up in common sense usability and aesthetic appeal.
If make more than $12 a month of disposable income, then you can afford a mac. believe it.
You’re exactly right. I can’t believe people don’t actually read.
If you mess with the site you’ll see things much more clearly. It says right at the bottom of the summary that if you make $90 that two hundred and some million people are poorer than you. It has nothing to with percentiles or anything like that. Just read.
A better example is this. When I enter $875, this comes up:
“You are in the top 49.72% richest people in the world.
There are 3,016,558,603 people poorer than you.
How do you feel about that? A bit richer we hope. Please consider donating just a small amount to help some of the poorest people in the world. Many of their lives could be improved dramatically or even saved if you donate just one hour’s salary (approx $0.6)
Oh, and in case you�re interested you are the 2,983,441,397 richest person in the world.”
In other words, half the worlds population or around 3 billion make $875 or less a year.
As for Macs… if you want one, buy one. I buy them because of the software. I could care less about the rest. Apps like Quicksilver and Motion and subethaedit make my pc a much less attractive workstation.
Hear hear.
There is no denying that Apple hardware is comparatively more expensive than PC boxes [and then it depends on which boxes you mean], but to insist that they are so stellarly expensive as to only be accessible by us happy few is just ridiculous.
There has been a time when Apple hardware was so expensive that I honestly thought: “who are they selling this stuff to?”, but that hasn’t been the case for years.
The high end is still not cheap but I would definitely not call it out of reach anymore. And for very affordable prices you can get a machine that rocks. Most people just don’t need all that raw horse power, and even the gamers are talking more about the GPU than the CPU these days.
If it really comes down to $300 bucks or starvation [and I hope it doesn’t], you’ve got other worries than what computer suits you best.
You can buy a lot worse for a lot more money than a good Mac today. Just go and pick one up, you know you want to.
There has been much discussion about having a computer that meets the needs of the “rich” and the “poor”. It is my personal opinion that both sides have valid points but are missing the main idea/point. That is, we scrimp and save for the things which we really want (unless you have large resources). This is a personal decision. Your variety of needs are unique to you and do not necessarily apply to others.
Let me comment on the “poor” side and I am not putting anyone down. I have been there myself and live on a relatively low fixed income. It took me seven years to save up enough money to buy the computer that I really wanted (I was not interested in building one for various good reasons). That computer is now 4 years old and I am still saving a little each week to buy my new one in the next few years. (My wants are photography/video and is not centered upon games or business and I do have a good computer background of programming, etc.)
Anyone who really wants something that is within their financial grasp has to be willing to give up something else in order to obtain it (like a pack of cigarettes per day or the daily coke or latte. If you can sacrifice a little more you can either reach your monetary goal earlier or buy a higher priced computer system. It is your choice. That does not make your choice the one that all should follow. If you are also the Do-It-Yourself type then more power to you. That does not make your decisions superior to those who purchase more expensive systems.
We are not discussing the someone who makes $15,000/year wanting to buy a $12,000,000 yacht. I do not put down the individual that can afford a yacht and pay cash (I may envy them the luxury of having that much money) or decry that the yacht makers charge outrageous prices when compared to the row boat that I bought. Neither should you.
Now, the middle income folks who can save the necessary money for the computer system they want in much shorter periods of time. Congratulations. You are doing exactly what we do but in a much shorter time. That is not because you are brilliant and know what everyone else should use.
In closing, it is great to read the wonderful attributes of the various operating systems. However, trying to point out the superiority of a particular OS, or yourself, is quite juvenile and really does not belong in a supposedly intelligent discussion.
Thank you.
Look at this…a bunch of angry Linux people mad that Apple has become the new movement.
OS X makes your awful GNOME/KDE monsters look like mud. My dual PowerMac G5 runs circles around your “fast” AMD64.
Why bother with unstable Linux when I already have the biggest-selling UNIX in the world?
While I agree that the Linuxtards are angry that OS X is taking over, I highly doubt your “dual PowerMac G5 runs circles around my fast AMD64”. Get a fucking clue.
Oh, and for the person who said “a cheap Mac for $1500” — umm, $1500 is cheap? I can build an awesome AMD64 system for $650 USD. $500 USD would still get me a pretty decent computer. How much did you pay for that dual PowerMac G5? Hah.
Congratulations. I would assume from your statement that all computer manufacturers/suppliers are ripping you off since you can build one cheaper than the price they would charge to do it for you. My conclusion is that you should diss all computer suppliers rather than singling out one (eg. Apple). At least be intellectually honest.
Oh, by the way, did you know that I can do my own plumbing cheaper than having a plumber do it for me. Now aren’t i smart.
My apologies, Anon. The previous statement was not really meant to be directed to you. I typed in the wrong subject for the comment.