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Apple Con Their Customers Again

 

i700

I saw this article linked on Facebook today, and my immediate thoughts were that this has got to be the cherry on the top of the Apple rip-off cake. For years Apple have been ripping off their customers, and this tops it all!

I used to be very disapproving of Apple under Steve Jobs, or “Jobsweh – the god of all things Apple.” as I referred to him in the past. I assumed that it was Jobsweh ’s greed that caused Apple to charge extortionate amounts for their products.

I do admit that Apple’s products are extremely well-made; which accounts for some of the extra cost. – That’s a fair point. But they seemed to be taking the real retail value of their products and doubling it before arriving at the actual RRP.

That was back in Jobsweh ‘s heyday. Eventually I came to the conclusion that if people were willing to pay a fortune for the Apple logo then that was their problem. I even considered buying a secondhand iPhone myself in time.

(I never did though. I still have my Samsung z750i, and I’ll be having it unlocked and transferred to Vodafone soon. Reason: 1) I can tweet on Vodafone in the UK. 2) 3 Networks, who I’m about to end contract with, are in short, crap. What’s more they operate a call-centre in India. – I’m not racial-prejudiced, but if I wanted to have a hard time in communicating with Indians over a bad-quality line then I’d invest in shares in the Bombay Telephone Exchange. Besides, I get enough of that bad shit with BT and their Indian call centre, who I spend hours in hell with getting nowhere every time I have a BT-related problem. I want to be able to escape from it using my mobile phone if need be, not have more of it!)

Back to Apple. I quote from the aforementioned article:

“Apple said today that the iPhone 3G S costs $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB). But that’s the price only for new AT&T customers. The price if you’re already an AT&T customer and/or are upgrading from an iPhone 3G? Try $699 (32GB), $599 (16GB), and $499 (8GB). To quote Peter Ha: “HOLY SHIT.””

Yes; HOLY SHIT just about sums it up. I think Apple have shot themselves in the foot and blown their lower leg off. I now in a way look forward to watching Apple topple over. – And they thoroughly deserve it too. – Yes it might be the phone companies’ greed as much as Apple’s; but this is still inexcusable.

Can you imagine the conversation the phone companies and Apple people might have had in the recent past?

“Look we’re Apple Inc: We can charge as much as we like for our products, to a point, and some mug will still buy them. We’re giving you the chance to cash in along with us. – You scratch our backs and we’ll scratch yours.”

“I’m starting to like the sound of this: We cash in with you on the massive rip-off under the Apple logo; both of us make a fortune, and as a thank-you gesture we reduce the cost of iPhone calls at some point in the future. We’re still vastly in profit thanks to you guys, who have by then made enough to buy a small county. – OK count me in. We have a deal.”

Nothing would surprise me.

I can see them trying to pull something like that in the UK also; and after a week’s outcry the sheep will all follow the leader and start paying out for it too; before complaining about how they’ve been ripped off: .

“…But it’s Apple, so it must be worth it.”

Must it f—k! If I hear anyone say that, or I see it written anywhere, I will instantly start writing my criticisms and pour vitriol upon them. If anyone is gullible enough to believe that then they don’t deserve to have any money. – Sorry; but if I hereby step on anyone’s toes in saying that then tough. – ‘Live with it.

Apple have been conning their customers by using this cult image thing for years. – This time they’ve gone too far. It’s time people woke up and started boycotting them. – End of story.

If you have something to add then please comment.

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Security Apps for Mac Users

 

“Untouchable” Apple are becoming security-conscious it appears:

Despite the “I’m a Mac” guy sneezing the word Vista at the “I’m a PC” guy in their adverts; Apple have found it not below their demeanour to publish the following page on their website: –

ScreenHunter_01 Jan. 16 09.09

Does the great Jobsweh suddenly feel that his invulnerability is threatened – or is it just the paranoid manifestation of the symptoms of hormone imbalance? Whatever the case, it appears that Apple have woken up to the fact that just because a rival operating system is more targeted, it doesn’t make theirs immune to attack.

It’s in every Mac user’s interests to ensure that your Mac doesn’t become infected with something called “malware”: That’s the nasty malefic mini-programs that only a few months ago the Apple advertising campaigns were insinuating only affect PCs. You might like to click upon this link to be taken from here to a place created by your own kind from whence you might gain the protection that you’ve hitherto been told you don’t need.

The Mac-attack is coming: Prevention is better than cure. Immunity is a myth.

Read This. Don’t end up with a rotten Apple.

There’s an RSS feed to the Apple Networking and Security Downloads page by which you can get notified when new tools are put on the list.

 

Question: Are Steve Jobs’ kids known as “applets”?

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Jobs IS Unwell

Steve Jobs

Yesterday I opened the post "Dwindling Economy Hits US Trade Shows" with the words:-

"Steve Jobs has not had a heart-attack; indeed Steve Jobs [aka "Jobsweh"] is not in poor health, nor is he dying."

My timing was impeccable considering the announcement today by Jobs himself. My information sources may not be quite right though:

According to Scientific American website:

"Apple co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs posted an open letter to customers on his company’s Web site today in which he says that he’s being treated for an unspecified "hormone imbalance" that has caused severe weight loss and kept him out of the public eye."  http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=apples-jobs-hormone-imbalance 

Jobs - Stick Insect

‘Maybe not quite as much  weight loss as suggested in the illustration left; but it is nevertheless apparent that Jobs is suffering from a bit too much lean-ness.

INTERLUDE

At this point during writing this article the power went out. Fortunately I have 2 UPS’s looking after my entire system; so I was able to finish the line I was on and shut down everything without data loss or damage of any kind to my systems. For further reading see http://www.pcmech.com/article/avert-disasters-with-a-ups/ .

 

Is that the way to lose weight without trying? Hormone imbalance? If so then perhaps I should find hormones to start taking at random? I’ll just have to be careful I don’t start speaking in a gruff voice, or grow wings, or something. – Not that I’m particularly overweight; but I could do with a little weight-loss nevertheless.

When I used to keep rodents as a child I remember that a brother and sister pair who I’d sexed wrongly produced a litter of male babies, all of which turned out to have a hormone imbalance. Most didn’t live that long, and the others had to be put down due to aggressive behaviour and abnormal medical conditions.

Ok; that cartoon was a bit naughty;                          –>

- but what the heck?  :-)

moansand
Whore Moans

Perhaps the hormone imbalance explains Jobs’ overly aggressive marketing, combined with his control-freak style? Whatever the case; I didn’t get it quite right:

I stated the information that I’d heard from Robert Scoble on Twitter. – This was largely accurate; but not 100% so.

Anyway that’s cleared up the misunderstanding; so now onwards and upwards: I have another article which I’m intending to get written and published; hopefully today.

Do please comment on this article.

 

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Dwindling Economy Hits US Trade Shows


No Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has not had a heart-attack; indeed Steve Jobs is not in poor health, nor is he dying:

In fact, according to @Scobleizer on the microblogging service Twitter last week, after visiting a shop frequented by Jobs, Scoble says that staff there report that Jobs is in the best of health.


Robert Scoble – "Scobleizer" 

The stories of Jobs’ health problems are simply malicious rumours, possibly aimed at affecting the Apple share-prices.

So why will there be no Steve Jobs at Macworld this year? Probably for the same reason that there will be no Macworld after this year: Cost. Macworld,  put on by IDG World Expo, costs Apple somewhere around $25 million to stage each year. This money would be better spent elsewhere in the light of the current economic climate.

image

Filling the role of Jobs at this year’s Macworld will be Senior Vice President Phil Schiller. Although Apple are continuing to be on a roll, despite the current conditions, tech analysts expect there to be less in the way of stirring innovations from them this year.

*See also this BBC report.

- But it’s not Macworld alone that’s been hit: This week’s CES in Vegas is showing a decline in exhibitors this year, with figures down by 10% on last year: Some exhibitors even pulling out at the last minute, while others are making cutbacks in their showing.

Personally I take the David Risley line on this, and I think that, if anything, companies should be increasing their advertising budgets rather than cutting them in an economic downturn. – Each to their own though: Some will survive, some will fall by the wayside regardless.

Some companies, such as Cisco, are taking meeting room suites rather than exhibiting, in an effort to cut costs.

               

Analysts are now questioning the viability of trade-shows in the light of today’s climate: On the other side of the coin; Jason Oxman, senior vice president at the Consumer Electronics Association, disagrees:

"Trade shows take on renewed importance in a down economy. Every major consumer electronics manufacturer, buyer, installer and retailer is there. It’s the most efficient travel saver imaginable."

Will this type of opinion retain validity in the light of experience though? Could we see a considerable cutting-back of trade shows? Will we see many going the way of Macworld in the light of experience and reality? It’s certainly a possibility. Time will tell.

 

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Invulnerability Updates

It would appear that the image of invulnerability that Apple attempt to portray in their advertising is becoming threatened. This is now concurrent with a Firefox trojan which tarnishes the open-source community’s similar portrayal, as well as another security vulnerability discovered in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The malware writers must be ready for a field-day!

On December 15th 2008, Apple released security updates for Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5, client and server, bringing the products up to versions 10.4.11 and 10.5.5. The updates address 21 individual vulnerabilities. 7 of the vulnerabilities are in the Adobe Flash plug-in.

If Apple dared to use severity ratings then a number of these updates would have been termed "critical": However the pretence continues, and no doubt Steve Jobs will manage to sweep this unfortunate necessity under the carpet in the usual style.

With all these circumstances which could lead to arbitrary code execution, Apple had no choice but to patch. I wonder how their advertising campaigns will be affected in the light of reality? :-

"I’m a Mac"

"…And I’m a PC."

"What’s up PC? Have you picked up another infection?"

"No Mac; my user stopped using Internet Explorer until Microsoft release a patch for a recently discovered vulnerability. – Just like Apple recently did for you. How many updates was that now..?"

"Oh a few…"

"- Twenty-something springs to mind: That’s rather a lot for an invulnerable system, wouldn’t you agree Mac?"

"OK, OK, But I’m patched now; so I’m still invulnerable. Your patch hasn’t been released yet."

"Now Mac; aren’t we getting a bit above ourselves? Invulnerable systems don’t need patches. – What’s that? We’re out of time? OK I’ll conclude this ad for you:-

Apple – Patching up the Future Invulnerability."

"Hey! Wait a darn minute PC…" (Sound fades out.)

Apple users should update their systems ASAP.

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Wal-Mart Will Sell iPhones

iPhone

When I heard the news the first thing that I thought was “Excellent; at last the iPhone will get cheaper.” – If Wal-Mart drop the price of an iPhone then other American stores will start doing likewise; and eventually the price-drop will find its way to the UK and I’ll be able to get my hands on an iPhone at a discount.

There was just one crucial factor that I didn’t consider, though; that being JOBSWEH.

Steve Jobs (Jobsweh) has his finger on the pulse in every way possible; from what an individual user can and can’t run on their iPhone, to exactly how much retailers sell it for, and consequently what percentage of that ends up in his pocket.

‘Cut-price iPhone? Pah; no chance. Not if Jobsweh can help it.

“Employees in the cell-phone departments at five California stores, contacted by phone today, said Wal-Mart will offer iPhones by the end of December. Employees are currently being trained on how to sell the device, all five said.”

I dread to think how they’re being trained to sell an iPhone:

“…Yes this is an Apple product. As such it’s immune to any and all malware: Only Microsoft products are susceptible to that. Microsoft’s products suck, but all Apple products are personally controlled by Steve Jobs, aka Jobsweh; God of all things Apple…”

In September, Jobsweh got Best Buy, a US electronics retailer, to start selling iPhones. Apple stores were deluged and overwhelmed back when the current iPhone was released in July 2008. Jobsweh was seeking to expand the market to prevent such a mass rush on his stores whenever there would be a next time. AT&T had also been selling iPhones; but their cred was and still is tumbling down the gurgler, as they tried to lock all purchasers into a long-term contract with them, and then increased their prices while their service standards worsened. Although they still have the exclusive US service-provider rights for the iPhone’s signal, people possibly weren’t willing to give them a profit on the unit itself in addition to that which they made with their service. – That’s my theory anyway – So the market needed to be expanded.

Maybe, though, there is a possibility of a cheap iPhone after all? :

“Analysts say Apple may offer a discontinued 4-gigabyte version through Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart and sell it for $99. Apple currently sells two models at $199 and $299.”

“A $99, Apple-branded cell phone is inevitable,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Brothers in San Francisco. “One of the key things Apple needs to do to drive broader iPhone adoption is to build a more complete product line” with low- end, mid-range and high-end products, Wu said in a Dec. 5 note.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling wouldn’t respond to the report and said the company “does not comment on rumor or speculation.” Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said the company hasn’t made an official announcement on an iPhone offering and has no comment. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel declined to comment.”

Well despite my distaste for Apple in some regards, they are on the up so I can’t knock them. Although their share price has dropped considerably this year, along with pretty much all others, they’re bouncing back and bucking the trend.

Good luck to you Wal-Mart. – But keep your eye on Jobsweh; I wouldn’t put my trust in him totally if I were you.

All quotations are from Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4YIU21gLaSY

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Climb-down

There are times when things can be hard to write; and maybe this is one of them, but what the…

 

OK I’ve been somewhat of an anti-proponent of Apple up until now; and I have to say that I’m still having problems in my mind with what I term "the Steve Jobs modus operandi". I’ve borrowed incidental comments from others and expanded upon them, slating Apple and Steve Jobs in the process. I’ve even used the name "Jobsweh" as a derogatory name for Jobs, (A parody of the all-powerful and demanding Yahweh in the Bible.) which I picked up from a term used once in fun by Ded Ryzing in July of this year, 2008.

But it’s starting to get to my head, and after almost actually, without realising it, trolling in a comment I made on PC Mech earlier, which owner David Risley described in his follow-up comment as a "knee-jerk reaction every time he mentions the word "Apple"", I’m beginning to realise that all that’s happening is that I’m, without meaning to, starting a pointless one-woman-crusade against Apple; which is a ridiculous thing to be doing.

So what got me started on this foolhardy idea in the first place? Well during July I had a long conversation with a taxi-driver whose brother-in-law worked for Apple, and who had passed on some insider-information to him that Apple had rushed out the initial iPhone platform to get the iPhone to market ahead of the LG Viewty. I looked up the LG Viewty on the web and realised that it was a very nice cameraphone. From then onwards I became a proponent of the Viewty in opposition to the iPhone.

At the same time the world went iPhone mad: Suddenly everyone had an iPhone, but very few people owned a Viewty, despite the Viewty’s camera being far better than that of the iPhone. The thing was that the Viewty was a top-class camera-phone, but that’s all it was; a camera and a phone. It wasn’t a mobile personal computer like the iPhone.

At this point I was on the verge of admitting defeat and going with the flow; when suddenly up popped the news that Steve Jobs; control-freak extraordinaire, had a lever that would remotely block any chosen application on any selected customer’s iPhone. The iPhone suddenly became just like a Mac: The property of Steve Jobs, right down to which applications you could run on it. It was no longer a personal mobile computer as in your personal mobile computer; it was Steve Jobs’ personal mobile computer that you’d paid to lease on the proviso that he dictated what Apps you can and can’t run on it. It was yours to do what Jobsweh liked with, literally. It seemed like people were paying Apple for a computer that they were told was their property, but was under the remote control of Apple, with Steve Jobs at the controls. That; to my mind, is a con.

From that point onwards I’ve been expressing my distaste of Apple and Steve Jobs; which is starting to go overboard and is serving no useful purpose as such other than possibly to negatively affect my popularity of late.

Unfortunately it’s time for me to accept the fact: Apple, despite what I may think, and regardless of my opinion, have pulled it off, and they are a successful company, and growing too. Whatever I may think of the tactics of Steve Jobs; they work and they have made him a fortune: More than anything ethical or that I consider ethical has ever made for me. Do I need to redefine ethicality within my own mind? It may be so; maybe not? – I have to think a lot on that one.

Whatever the case; Apple have the iPhone as probably the most popular phone on the planet. Apple are the only company who managed to get everybody excited about their phone product: Think about it; no other mobile device has such a buzz associated with it. Why? The iPhone seems to just work the way people want it to. I don’t know if they envisage Steve Jobs at a remote-control booth somewhere in iWorld booming "I am the Almighty Jobsweh! Thou shalt not run that program upon thine iPhone that I have granted to thee." and pulling the lever. I have no idea whether they see it anything like I do but just put it out of their minds. Whatever they do or don’t do they buy iPhones – millions of them. – And now everyone is trying to make their latest mobile device look nd feel like an iPhone to the greatest extent that they can. Am I missing something here?

Why iPhones? Why not Blackberrys? Why not Sony Eriksson z750i like I have? Why not a Windows Mobile-powered device like I have? Evidently the others seemingly don’t have what it takes. I love my z750i – It’s cute, it’s a cool girly flip-phone. I’m content with my Windows Mobile-powered device to a certain extent too; although it could be better. – But I heard something today which went down like a lead balloon with me: Microsoft are prepping the ancient IE6 to work with Windows Mobile: In itself that’s good news, the current browser I’m using is insubstantial. – BUT would you believe it – here’s the bad news – it’ll require a 500MHz processor to work properly! My device has a 201 MHz processor, 64MB RAM with 128MB flash RAM. Great! No wonder they’re not offering it as an update; millions of people will require a new device! Thanks Microsoft!

Will I be getting a new Microsoft Windows Mobile device? Will I fsck. I’m getting an iPhone next: Not right at the moment; but when I decide to upgrade, which might not be until a better model iPhone is released, I’m getting an iPhone. There you are all those who I’ve slated iPhone to. – Flame bait for you all.

I don’t know if it’s a wise move; I don’t know if I’ll regret it, but in for a penny, why the heck not: It seems to be the better of a bad bunch.

As time goes by I expect mobile devices to improve, and the future is anyone’s guess. Right now; if I can’t beat them – join them.

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A Bit of Humour to Round Off the Week.

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Back on the theme of technology; and I saw this initially at http://operatingsystems.mixx.com , went and found it on You-Tube, and brought it here for your entertainment.

What do you imagine would happen if Bill Gates were suddenly captured by Steve Jobs?

Here’s one idea with a Star Wars flavour at one point:

 

May the source be with you.

Enjoy the coming week, and best of luck with it.

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Can the Heartless Have a Heart Attack?

This report has been the big rumour of the day today; as you may have heard – Setting the gossip lines, blogs, and Twitter, alight with chat:

jobsstorry.png

Apple says the Steve Jobs Heart Attack Report Is Not True.

Of course it’s not true: For one to have a heart attack one must first posses a heart.

Jobsweh may posses an organ that keeps the blood circulating throughout his body; but any outgoing emotion from that organ appears to have been stemmed by his control-freak nature and love of profit at any cost.

Using tactics of mass-mind-control akin to those used on the German people during and just before the second-world war by Hitler and the Third Reich; Jobs has conned the world into buying his substandard products in a hypnotic marketing ploy using deceptive yet convincing tactics to deceive the minds of the masses into thinking that anything bearing the Apple name is the best thing since sliced bread.

What is a Mac? A Mac is a PC with a sturdy chassis and an inflated price tag. What is an iPhone? An iPhone is a small programmable handheld computer/phone with a weak non-user-replaceable battery that is remote-controllable and block-able at the behest of Steve Jobs. What is OSX? Well-developed Linux with its own special flavour – No more and no less.

So an Apple system is no more a sturdy PC made of Apple-approved components in an Apple-defined design configuration running a specialised flavour of Linux called OSX written by Apple, all of which costs twice as much as a normal PC running a normal Linux distro. Maybe this Apple system’s overall operation is slightly better than average; provided that all software is approved by and provided by Steve Jobs at an inflated price. It’s not anything different from the norm in reality: It’s the ultimate con.

Is Steve Jobs worried that he’s taking the public for a bunch of mugs. No; not even an iota of shame or guilt. Does he care that he’s selling a PC as a specialised improved type of technological evolution?

Having said that though – I must admit that I definitely do admire him for his unbelievable nerve. Not even Bill Gates with all his wealth and genius pulled such a massive confidence-trick on so many to get where he is today.

If you’ve seen the 1970/1980s BBC TV comedy series “Only Fools and Horses” then you may remember the episode where Del and Rodney are bottling tap water and selling it wholesale for a profit as “Peckham Spring”. ‘Far-fetched you think? No more far-fetched than Del Boy Jobs selling a PC running Unix as a Mac at an inflated price. No more far-fetched than a mentally-unstable Corporal putting on a display of authority and conning an entire nation into following him and his Third Reich.

The same old confidence-trick in another guise is still just the same old confidence-trick. As Shakespeare wrote in his famous play Romeo and Juliet:-

“That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

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Apple’s Growth Stemmed

Due to slowing demand and bad economic forecasts, Apple’s shares have today been forced down to their lowest price since May 2007 at only $110. Morgan Stanley and RBC both downgraded their stock on the NASDAQ earlier today. (Monday 29th Sept.)

Being more specific about the reason for downgrading; firstly the Mac purchase intentions for desktops and laptops have suddenly moderated since August. Current and future growth trends in the PC market are related to those products with a price tag of less than $1000 – Which excludes all Apple products.

Basically greedy Steve Jobs (Jobsweh; the god of all things Apple.) has priced himself and his company out of the market in the face of an unexpected economic downturn: In the authors opinion it serves him right too: After all; a Mac is just a PC with an Apple logo on it and a high price tag.

…And the forecast isn’t good either for Apple; with the dodgy economy meaning less multiples for growth stocks – And that’s Apple included; so their drop in fortunes isn’t over yet by a long shot.

It may not be all doom and gloom though; as Apple is bringing out 2 ranges of new laptop within the following fortnight. If Jobsweh can control his overwhelming greed as the dollar-signs light up in his dark eyes and keep the price below $1000 then there might just be some hope on the horizon.

JobswehDevil

Jobsweh

So what do you think? Is Steve Jobs going to become a victim of his own greed? Suppose the new laptops have a price label greater than $1000; do you think that’ll put the final kiboshes on Apple?

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Apple Bitten to the Core!


 

Psystar; the company in the US that offers Mac clones, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in a counterstrike, claiming that Steve Jobs’ enterprise employs a load of hype, dubious licensing schemes/technology for the purpose of dominating the Mac-scene.

openb150

The Psystar “Hackintosh”

If Psystar were to win this lawsuit then the face of personal computing as we know it could dramatically receive a fair amount of plastic-surgery: The monopolisation that Apple insist upon enforcing on its customers will end, and Jobsweh will no longer be able to exploit the Apple fanbois/girls with his money-grabbing greed and vastly-exaggerated profits which he currently makes. If Psystar do win then it could mean that Apple technologies become a kind of Open Source environment – Something that Jobsweh has gone out of his way to avoid so far.

Psystar’s angle, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for San Francisco, is Apple “has engaged in certain anticompetitive behaviour and/or other actions that are in violation of the public policy underlying the federal copyright laws.”

Apple originally filed a lawsuit against the comparatively tiny Psystar in July 2008: Psystar clones Macs; that is to say it sells copies of Macs, complete with Leopard, for their real value plus an acceptable profit-margin – Rather than the massively-inflated rip-off prices incurred in buying from Jobsweh and company. Apple claimed that this violates their copyright of the Mac OS and want the court to order Psystar to stop.

Psystar counter this argument by stating that Macs are a cult-monopoly, and that Apple dominates that sector of the market by employing  questionable licences, and uses crafty advertising to create a cult following of their non-interchangeable technologies, maximising their profit-margins in so doing.

In essence; Psystar is accusing Apple of acting anti-competitively in its monopolisation of the Mac and related products. Among other such anticompetitive practices; Apple embeds code into the Mac OS that will brick third-party machines by disrupting the kernel.

DWF15-1102519

Personally I hope Psystar win, and succeed in defeating the greedy Jobsweh who is cheating his customers and breaking the law in some regards.

There have been a number of multi-million-dollar cases of antitrust filed against Microsoft for anticompetitive behaviour of a lesser nature; nearly all of which have succeeded. On the basis of that I think it only fair that Apple are forced to abandon their current policies, pay Psystar’s legal costs, and that Psystar are awarded a small figure in damages.

SwastikaStarsStripes Steve Jobs thief-thumb
“…And the Overlord [Jobsweh]…shall strike as a thief in the night…”

2 Machinations 16:45

Whatever happens; this high-profile case is playing for some high stakes: If Psystar were to win it could open the floodgates and make the Mac environment virtually open source; competing with Linux, and even affecting Microsoft too.

Go Psystar – Yay! This blog fully supports and encourages Psystar in its attempts to thwart the anticompetitive and illegal endeavours of the greedy unethical Jobsweh; god of all things Apple.


 

Other related posts from other blogs:-

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/07/apple-demands-t.html

http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/04/15/openmac-psystar-reeks-of-a-publicity-stunt/

http://www.pcmech.com/article/psystar-doing-software-patches-flips-off-apple/

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1685

http://www.pcmech.com/article/psystar-gets-the-bejeezus-sued-out-of-them-by/

 


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Jobs Does Like Hitler

 

iPhonenmobiler SwastikaStarsStripes Adolf Jobsweh

Die iPhone ist der produkkt!

 

I’m going to quote directly from Michael Arrington’s blog here. Think of Hitler’s speeches to the German people on his Nazi rallies. Fill your mind with images of the Third Reich parading before him with swastika flags on poles; goose-stepping as they raise their arm in a salute to the Fuhrer. Hold that image and read this:

“I’ve been to enough Steve Jobs keynotes now to know that the man is able to take a crowd and bend it to his will. Every time, I’ve been a willing subject – sometimes (but not every time) to find myself in a hangover-like state a day later when I try to remember exactly why I thought that whatever he was pitching would change my life forever.”

“Steve Jobs is masterful and charismatic when he’s on stage and all eyes are on him. And when, like yesterday, the crowd is carefully packed with a throng of Apple developers cheering him on, the press in attendance can easily get caught up in the hype. He’s not nearly so charismatic in person, and I believe that’s why Apple will probably not, as Dave Winer suggests, ever move to a televised delivery of their big news while Jobs is in charge. The videos just don’t communicate the man’s magnetic charm in quite the same way.”

“So while I agree with Charles Cooper that Apple may sometimes get more press, and more compliant press, than they “should,” I think he and others miss the (much) larger point: Apple, and Steve Jobs, stoke our imagination in a way that no other technology company has ever done. Apple is about elegance, design, and potential, and we love them for it.”

 

The image that you’re holding in your mind and the image of Steve Jobs (Jobsweh) align perfectly don’t they? Just like Hitler; Jobsweh is mesmerising the faithful while pulling one of the biggest cons of the century!

Further down the same page, Arrington continues:

“Ultimately I concede that Android may have a much larger market share than the iPhone. But I’ll argue that the iPhone users will be much happier, even as Apple makes obscene profits off of that smaller user base. ”

Jawohl Mine Fuhrer Jobsweh: Mine allegiance is to you unt only you. Seig heil!

“I love the iPhone for the same reason I love technology in general, and loved Disneyland as a child – it drives my imagination and makes me wonder what kind of magic to expect next. Also, it just works.”

“The new iPhone, like the old one, delivers all of that in abundance. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Apple Uber Allez!

It just goes to show that Hitler was a very powerful salesman; a fact that Jobsweh has noticed too by the looks of things!

I wonder if he’ll ever write his memoirs so that they can be published? “Mein iPhone”?

 

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Rotten Apple

Back Again: The Apple-Worm

Latest reports appear to indicate that Apple  aren’t quite as bad as it seems; in fact it might appear at first sight that they had a windfall.

That’s not exactly the case though: Despite news of their taking top customer-satisfaction honours among personal computer manufacturers, as released on Tuesday of this week, there are two things you should note before assuming that Apple are the tops and that this blog is heavily biased against them:

Firstly nobody even thought to ask Kustom Komputa if they even wanted to be included in this award; probably because they knew Kustom Komputa would trounce Apple into second place. On a more serious note, though, the index measures results only for the three-month period ended in June – Before the crap began to hit the fan for Apple, starting with the release of the iPhone.

Also on Tuesday; Apple admitted that a software update for their much troubled iPhone only partly fixes the connection problems it has had in connecting to 3G networks: In other words; honestly this time: “FAIL: We scratched again.”

It has been reported that it isn’t only Apple’s buggy software that’s to blame: There have been reports that the Infineon Technologies 3G chipsets used in the iPhone are faulty. That could mean that no matter how good the software, the hardware issue might cause the problem to never totally go away.

Apple's Fail-Phone

It has been reported that it isn’t only Apple’s buggy software that’s to blame: There have been reports that the Infineon Technologies 3G chipsets used in the iPhone are faulty. That could mean that no matter how good the software, the hardware issue might cause the problem to never totally go away.

The crap certainly has been hitting the fan lately for Apple; and maybe rightly so too: It seems that Steve Jobs has always been a bit of a dreamer; Jobsweh: ''DARE TO DREAM''  and now incarnated as “Jobsweh”; the god of all things Apple; it appears that the power has gone to his head and mingled with his dreams, turning his wallet into a bottomless pit that seeks filling with loot, no matter what the cost.

As reported here on kkomp.com; Apple were recently forced to extend the free trial of MobileMe in a face-saving operation.

“We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make.” Said Apple.

To me that sounds like: “We did it again by releasing a service well ahead of schedule in order to market before the competition: It wasn’t actually ready to be released; but we did so out of a case of having to. We hope we can eventually get it to work.”

If they don’t it’ll end up costing them a few dollars more; which could incur the wrath of Jobsweh!

In the same email Apple stated “We know that MobileMe’s launch has not been our finest hour.” ROFLMAO – You’re telling me! What exactly has been Apple’s finest hour during the past two months? Steve Jobs seems to think he’s Apple’s answer to Bill Gates of late. The question is; is Jobsweh, the god with the bottomless pockets, fit to run Apple any longer? Should someone more competent and less greedy take over?

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60-Days More for MobileMe

This; direct from Apple:

“Why is Apple granting a 60-day subscription extension?
The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was rockier than we had hoped.”

First understatement.

“While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.”

How generous of Apple to realise that they cocked up – Again!

“Am I eligible for the 60-day extension?
You are eligible if you are a MobileMe member whose account was active as of August 19, 2008 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time.”

Ah I knew there was a catch!

“What if I am currently in a free trial period?

If you were in your free trial period on August 19 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time, your free trial will be extended an additional 60 days.”

Blah blah…Ah: Is this another crafty catch? :

“I have an activation key. Will I lose my extension if I apply the key now?
If you are currently in your trial period, you will lose the remainder of your trial period —including any extensions— as soon as you apply your activation key.  If you already have a paid subscription, you can enter your key at any time and Apple will automatically apply the key to renew your subscription after your extension period expires.”

appleaday_2003
Remind me to fire my Advertising Executive

The point is, though, that Apple aren’t doing that well with their recent endeavours: A substandard battery that costs over $120USD to replace with another substandard battery, An overpriced, overrated, iPhone with a case that crumbles and that is under the control of Jobsweh, and a history of a string of catastrophe’s.

The fanboys may swear that Apple products are the best and most reliable; but even Mac fan Michael Arrington has noticed the poor showing from Apple under Steve Jobs (Jobsweh).: A former Windows user up until 2002; Michael Arrington has since then bought 7 Macs, a selection of iPods, and both iPhones.

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In his blog entry entitled “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges” he goes on to say:

“My obvious enthusiasm for Apple products is fairly evident to readers of this blog. But recently I’ve had a string of bad apples come my way, so to speak. It’s time for Apple to stop screwing around and start paying attention to product quality.”

He then goes on to speak about the single hour of battery life he gets from his iPhone , as well as certain Apps vanishing at the behest of the great Jobsweh with his lever of power; before, in usual fanboy style, declaring his undying love for his dead battery iPhone; symbol of the divine nature of the great Jobsweh. (Waste of time, costs you a fortune, sub-standard.)

- As his following commentary notes, under the heading:

Mac Mini, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook, All Failed

* – Read the rest of “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges“. – *

Some of my online associates say that I’m anti-Apple: I disagree; I’m not in any way prejudiced against Apple because they’re not Microsoft, even though you could say that I’m a Microsoft fan. I’m looking deeply into the eyes of Apple and seeing a culture of control, company domination, and exploitation of customers: In fact I see a kind of Pagan-istic-ish fundamentalist cult religion appearing; one where the faithful hang on every word of and would be willing to give their life for, Jobsweh, the god of all things Apple.

- And even though this cult-following; like a flock of ante-Linux zealots, is happening; the faithful are being sold utter substandard crap for a small fortune as massive amounts of profit appear in Jobsweh’s pockets.

A friend commented that I could be cruising for a lawsuit to be filed against me: Quite obviously Apple strongly discourage the expression of opinion through free speech; but in trying to sue me they’d have to interface American law with British law and probably apply for an extradition warrant, only to end up being paid any settlement from my limited funds at about £1UKP a week.

How many $million was that? Oh well it’ll be paid one day – I can imagine being connected to an Apple-funded life support technology to keep me alive indefinitely until the debt is paid in full; like some frankenstinian contraption from the backrooms of science-fiction in the great Jobsweh’s research laboratories  – Until suddenly the entire thing fails and I begin to rapidly age and die as technicians rush about to resolve the issue:

“Holy shit: We used an iPhone battery to power this thing! That’ll add another £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT.”

“Don’t worry about cost right now; she’s dying, and Jobsweh will be mad at us if he doesn’t get his money!”

“Man are you serious? We’ll have to take all this equipment to an Apple store and wait 5 working days plus shipping time!”

(* “Jobsweh”: The name coigned by

DedRyzing

 

 

 

 

 

for the “divine” Steve Jobs.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Financial Assault by Battery

 

Today, after a week of iPhone battery jokes and chidings aimed at a certain iPhone user I know online, whose iPhone battery died very quickly on Monday last, I thought it an idea to have a look into the topic of iPhone batteries a bit more deeply with a little research. A quick Google search revealed 16,300,000 results for iPhone batteries. Quite obviously I wasn’t intending to read them all, and as it happened the first one that I clicked on inspired me to write this blog entry:

 

The following was what I found at http://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone/service/battery/ : Basically it describes Apple’s method of further ripping off the customer post purchase in the event that their battery becomes useless and fails to retain its charge. (I wonder exactly how long that will be? Has anyone actually reached this point already? If so then do please feel free to comment. – Otherwise do feel free to comment anyway.)

 

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The page in question is officially entitled “iPhone Out-of-Warranty Battery Replacement Program Frequently Asked Questions” and begins with the question “What is the iPhone Battery Replacement Program?”

 

Many iPhone users will be glad to know that there is an official battery-replacement program – Until they hear the cost of it. The article says:

If your iPhone requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple Technical Support will replace your battery for a service fee. Be sure to follow these instructions for optimizing life span and battery life before submitting your iPhone for battery replacement.

 

The instructions in question say; in a most roundabout and lengthy manner, that the more use you give your iPhone the less time your battery will remain charged: That’s quite logical I suppose. The catch is, as with all rechargeable batteries, the more you recharge the batteries the less you’ll get out of them: Fair comment. It then goes into great detail about ways of not using your iPhone so that the battery’s charge lasts longer. (Following which it instructs you to “Use your iPhone regularly”.) I find it rather strange that Apple made a product that is to be used as little as possible; but as we’ll note later, this is a caveat for the process of charging you a fortune to replace a dead battery. “Jobsweh(1)“, the god of all things Apple, is a greedy and profitmongering god who likes to milk his people for every dime that they posses after they sell themselves into bondage with him by buying one of his products.

The article continues:

“How can I set up my iPhone for the Battery Replacement Program?”

“You can take your iPhone to your carrier. You can also contact Apple Technical Support or take your iPhone to an Apple Retail Store.”

Yippee-doo; thank you Apple for being so helpful. Now here’s the sting in the tail:

“How much does it cost to participate in the program?”

“The program cost is £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT. All fees are in Euros. Service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse. Please review Apple’s Repair Terms and Conditions for further details.”

iPhone batt icon iPhone

EH?! Fifty-five quid to replace a f—ing battery! That’s over $100 USD; and only “if your iPhone has [not] been damaged due to accident or abuse.” – Accident such as the case accidentally disintegrating perhaps? Abuse such as allowing the case to disintegrate in the first place?

Moving on:

“How long will service take?”

“Service through Apple Technical Support normally takes one week (five business days) from the date the unit is shipped to us. Time may vary if it is done through your carrier or an Apple Retail Store.”

Oh the geeks are gonna love that! A whole week PLUS shipping time without the iPhone: $100USD+ to be without your iPhone for 2 weeks; maybe more? Apple are the biggest con out there today – And people moan about Microsoft! – Er, reality check: Wake up!

 

This may be the answer you’re looking for:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkKQoUlOQg

 

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———–

1. Credit to DedRyzing ( http://twofourtech.com/ ) for naming the divinity of Steve Jobs.

 

 

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Jobs can Interfere with your iPhone!

SwastikaStarsStripes Steve Jobs

It’s called the iPhone Apps Blacklist Feature; and sitting at the remote-cut-off controls of your iPhone is none other than Steve Jobs himself; playing god with your purchase.

It must be a comforting thought for all iPhone users that the great Steve Jobs has control over what Apps you can run on your iPhone that you paid for.

Jobs said that the intent behind the capability is “high minded”: It sounds to me like a case of a control-freak mentality:

“I am the great Steve Jobs; God’s boss, and I shall decree with my awesome power what you will and will not have on your iPhone.”

“Hopefully, we never have to pull that lever,” Jobs said, “but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull.”

It certainly removes a massive element of control by not having it.

What next? MacBooks saying “I’m sorry user; but Steve Jobs has decreed that you are not allowed to run this program; however there is a similar program available from Apple for $$$”?

Apple allegedly need this function to deactivate potentially hazardous software: In other words so that they can instantly defeat any attempt at hacking or at running any open-source Apps from the Open-Source club and the Linux zealots etc.

Last week there was a rumbling and concern amid reports of the so-called “Kill-Switch-Ability” This week the Apple CEO confirmed it himself. We used to think that Microsoft impinged upon personal freedom in computing: This, however, makes Microsoft’s previous alleged control-freak mentality less than academic.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball spoke with an “informed source” at Apple on Friday, who confirmed the presence of a URL inside the iPhone’s Core Location API that downloads a blacklist of applications designated as malicious. Independent iPhone developer and author Jonathan Zdiarski discovered the URL earlier in the week.

Remember; when you are using your iPhone; big Uncle Steve is watching!

 

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