Don’t worry, Alec. We love you, and we’ll keep loving you even after you do switch. Until then, here’s some tough love that made me wet my pants. I had to recreate this on my MacBook to see if it were really true - and apparently it is.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/leopard-bsod-ic.html

Regards, Alec.

Nice way to treat your readers. Much love to you. I won’t be back.

And, of course, you’re right on the vendor junk issue. I routinely build my own PCs, not because they’re cheaper, but because I control what’s in them.

Thanks for dropping by, and dredging up the past. You made my day!

I switched several years ago to a Mac laptop and I have never looked back. I do not believe that you can compare the attention of detail that Apple puts in their products compared to the competition… From packaging to the entire out of the box experience, switching to the Mac was like a breath of fresh air.

Not everything is perfect however in Apple-land. Their products have their own personalities and quirks but compared to the competition, I would still strongly recommend their computers for personal use, especially when you couple it with other Apple products, e.g. iPod. They just work out-of-the-box.

As for gouging on the battery replacement. I agree, it should be cheaper and faster… But I’ve also had to dispose of many bluetooth headsets because they either did not offer a replaceable battery or the cost was equivalent to a new unit, so I don’t think Apple is alone in this field. As Peter said, there is a trade off - make it small and sexy or boxy and user-replaceable. Most people want sexy as is shown by the iPod sales numbers.

re: bricking the phone
Definitely a slap in the face but I think they are trying to protect their bottom line which is getting their share of the revenue from the carriers. I think Steve Jobs does not like to relinquish control and he’ll try to exert his power to that extend.

re: iTunes and QuickTime
I doubt that I would be using iTunes on Windows as well. Windows has a lot of great options for media management and while I understand that QuickTime is required for the video media management, I think it should also be optional as not everyone needs or wants to transfer videos to their iPod.

On the flip side, you’ve got to admit though that Window users have let the vendors get away with far too much in that respect as well. When you buy a new Windows computer it comes pre-loaded with so many demos and junk that you literally need to reinstall the operating system from clean Microsoft CDs in order to regain some sanity.

1. don’t jam products I don’t want onto my computer
2. don’t gouge me on replacing a battery
3. don’t brick my phone after I’ve spent hundreds of dollars with you

And most of all… don’t patronize me by telling me that because I’m a “Windows type” I don’t understand “where Apple comes from”.

Fanboy!

My how times have changed. We now have to argue that Apple is TOO arrogant and doing TOO well.

That’s sort of the “good thing/bad thing” with Apple’s designs.

They’re sleek. They’re sexy. You look at them and say, “Oh my god! I gotta have that!” You compare them with other devices and you laugh at how boxy and ugly those other devices are.

But, there’s an engineering trade-off to cramming that much stuff into such a small space. That means that the battery is built into the device so that Apple can get a battery that is just the size that they need, they don’t have to put in extra-strong housings in and around a user-accessable battery area, etc.

All those other boxy and ugly devices don’t require $70 and days away from home to get a new battery.

Which would you rather have? Sleek, Sexy, and non-user-replaceable batteries? Or boxy, ugly, and user-replaceable batteries?

“Either make iTunes work with my music player, or stop sending it to me.”

Agreed. iTunes on the Mac used to work with various brands of music players before the iPod came out. Now it seems to only work with the iPod.

“The FCC says that carriers must unlock phones if requested. Why does Apple think they’re different?”

Because Apple is not a carrier.

That is an interesting question: If I get my iPhone, sign up with AT&T, cancel my contract (paying whatever penalties are involved), and tell AT&T to unlock my phone, what happens?

Even if you prefer Vista over OSX, you can’t ignore PC World selecting the MacBook as the fastest Windows noetbook! http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html

I will agree with you Alec that Apple takes its customers for granted. They got away with it because few Mac users would go back to Microsoft. But now people have a choice of operating systems. If I was The Jobs, I wouldn’t be so arrogant!