Posts by Rich of Observationz
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Hard News: The not-so-Evil Empire, in reply to Russell Brown,
the fact that he can't just write new device drivers on a Mac
That's not my issue, really,
My problem is Apple's prominence in gradually turning programming and distributing software into a privileged activity.
They could step back from this - for instance, they could enable iOS devices to run open source applications (which have never been a significant source of trojans) - but it's part of their model not to.
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Hard News: The not-so-Evil Empire, in reply to Kiwiiano,
Well, 2008 MacBooks had 2G of RAM and 250G max of disk, which would be a bit poor today.
10 years ago, the Powerbook G4 packed 512M of RAM and a 60M hard disk.
I have a 2003 unbranded PC under my desk, but it's had everything swapped except the case.
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Hard News: The not-so-Evil Empire, in reply to Russell Brown,
Russell, I was talking about non-Apple devices, like HP, Dell and ASUS. Like I said upthread, I personally run a MacBook Pro for the reasons stated.
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Hard News: The not-so-Evil Empire, in reply to Peter Graham,
There are plenty of competitors so I don't see this being a problem
Assuming you don't mind your laptop being slow, having the design values of a Christchurch 19-year-old's Subaru, more stickers than my record box and spooling the fan up to 737 levels every time you give it any work to do, then yes, there are competitors.
However, non-Apple hardware / software is going the same way and what Apple do paves a path for others. If Microsoft were the first mover on a walled garden, they'd get nailed. Being second, not so much.
So why haven’t we seen hundreds of thousands of iOS users infected with malware, the way Android users have been?
Out of interest, has there ever been malware distributed through yum/aptitude/macports ?
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Anyways, my real problem with Apple isn't the risk of malware from games, or the fact both I and my employer will need a bloody expensive retina display sidescreen when I upgrade my mac. It isn't even the fact I have to carry a DisplayPort adapter around with me.
It's that the way Apple and others are going, programming a computer is becoming a privilege (granted by the corporate state to its subjects) rather than a right.
A few years ago I could program *anything* on my computers - new device drivers, password crackers, crypto, whatever.
Today I've lost the device driver bit on closed source "computer" OSs (Mac and Windows) but more or less have it on Linux (subject to hardware manufacturers non-disclosures and locks).
On an unrooted Android, I've got a more restricted set. I can't, for instance, set the date from NTP/GPS to compensate for the crappy clock on my Nexus One. On an iOS device, even less - i can only do things that fit with Apple's business model.
That tide of restriction is steadily rising. Mountain Lion will optionally lock users to running only applications from an approved source. iOS is already there, and more and more of the user space will be running iOS/Android rather than a full PC.
I can see Gatekeeper getting extended. Sure, today many Mac users run Perl, Java and bash scripts outside Apple's restrictions. That open space is going to get more and more fenced in. Next release, it'll be an option. Sometime after that, Apple will make users register and pay if they want a 'rooted' Mac. Eventually, it'll be gone, and computer programming will have become a privilege, to be exercised within the limits set by corporate society.
That's my problem with Apple.
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...I didn't agree with the fact that [they] could access my location and identify who I am calling...
I don't have an iPhone (though I do have a MacBook, so I don't fully qualify as a 'hater') so can't look, but I assume that iOS apps are like Android apps in that they list in the app store what they privileges they ask from the operating system. I assume Angry Birds was asking for some of the 'location' and 'telephony' privileges. These are legitimate for a navigation app, or an improved texting app (though Apple ban those, right?).
But there is a tendency for apps to wind up asking for a wide slather of privs, even when they make marginal use of them. It's hard to tell if an app wants 'telephony' for some half baked in-game feature, as a simple error by the coder, or to build some huge, intrusive database back at the mothership.
Anyway, I think the "they" in the quote above refers to Roxio, not Apple - although there is little regulation of what gets shared around one a user grants a privilege.
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Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Tom Semmens,
whether or not a free broadband connection is now a basic requirement and right for all New Zealanders
Well, possibly with many people not being able to afford food, shelter or education they're keen to get those sorted before addressing the horror of seeing a loading icon in Youtube.
(and no, free broadband doesn't equal education. You need these people called 'teachers' do do that face-to-face.)
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Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Russell Brown,
The number one thing NZ On Air needs to fund a show is a broadcast commitment
I wonder how long it will be before having content accessible on the web becomes an acceptable equivalent to 'broadcast'. (And whether NZ On Air might start funding websites that don't stick to the forms of moving images and sound).
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back-catalogue episodes of Horizon ... would be cheap and effective programming
I wonder if they meant before or after the mid-90's where the programme developed a strong lean towards human interest life-science stories. (possibly in support of the Daily Mail's ongoing project to classify all matter into things that either cause or cure cancer).
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where you do a 4-year undergrad, a 2-year MSc is not uncommon, and then a 5-7 year PhD
Isn't that because they spend their 16-18 period getting ready for the prom, and then their first degree learning a diverse mixture of translated Proust, quantum physics for non-mathematicians and history of art?
(unless they're a jock, in which case they do translated Enid Blyton, basic algebra for non-mathematicians and history of baseball. With a tutor to do all their assignments. Allegedly).
(I exaggerate based on novels and TV, but there's a modicum of truth...)