Apple iTunes MiniStore collecting data from users

[Patrick]

http://since1968.com/article/153/itunes-is-watching
http://since1968.com/article/154/itunes-update-update

The second post is the authors response to Apple apologists.

How is Apple less evil than M$?

[Tsuroerusu]

http://since1968.com/article/153/itunes-is-watching
http://since1968.com/article/154/itunes-update-update

The second post is the authors response to Apple apologists.

How is Apple less evil than M$?

Well they aren't, Apple is against free press and free speech, they fuckung sue blogger for talking about their products and generating hype that benefits them!

[jsusanka]

their hardware is way overpriced and they never put enough memory in their systems they sell.

I bought a used tangerine imac 266 for my daughter and it has been very dependable and ubuntu runs great on it but I will never buy their hardware again.

I am just getting sick of all these companies little secrets. I have to have software that I can fully audit and open source is the only product that fits that bill. I also don't want to sign any NDA's to see source code.

linux is so good these days it is boring - it just works - no viruses, spyware, or drm rootkits. it just works. the hardest part about linux these days is trying to pick a distribution because they are all so good.

[Tsuroerusu]

their hardware is way overpriced and they never put enough memory in their systems they sell.

Apple is kind of like this corp. in the industry that produces more expensive computers, but focuses heavily on having a pretty design, that way people sometimes defend the higher price to themselves.

I bought a used tangerine imac 266 for my daughter and it has been very dependable and ubuntu runs great on it but I will never buy their hardware again.

Hehe, good decision, if you want a kid-proof computers, just get 'em a nice AMD Athlon XP based system, costs maybe a 99 bucks to get, and load a good Linux distro on there.

I am just getting sick of all these companies little secrets.

Exactly, one of my friends bought a cheap Dell 1 year ago, and then the motherboard died and the warranty had just ended, so he bought a new motherboard and found ou he couldn't use it in his Dell, boy did he get pissed off.

I have to have software that I can fully audit and open source is the only product that fits that bill. I also don't want to sign any NDA's to see source code.

Same here, and I wanna be able to give my neighbor a copy to help him out with something, that shouldn't be illegal IMHO.

the hardest part about linux these days is trying to pick a distribution because they are all so good.

Yeah, I tried out about seven (Fedora, SUSE, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Debian, Gentoo, Mepis and Mandriva) before I settled on SUSE.

[CptnObvious999]

Lets get something straight every company/corperation is after money no matter what anyone says. The only thing is some companies don't walk over you to get it so you won't go against them hence making them less evil like google (which some consider to be becoming evil however I do not...yet). Thats why Linux is great we're not walking over you we are giving you stuff and if you repay us thats great if not its still fine. I would say Apple is wants to be more like MS and become more of a monopoly and so far they have been doing a fairely good job at it. Because the Mac is still a minority OS they have followers that will believe they are not evil no matter what facts you throw at them.

[Tsuroerusu]

Lets get something straight every company/corperation is after money no matter what anyone says.

Yes, but some aren't trying to gain the throne of the world, you can absolutely have a business and not be evil. Look at Ralink, nice guys, has been very coperative with the free software and open source communities to create very good drivers, under the GPL, for their wireless cards, that is the total opposite of Broadcom.

The only thing is some companies don't walk over you to get it so you won't go against them hence making them less evil like google (which some consider to be becoming evil however I do not...yet).

I think Google has started putting on a black coat or something, because I am a little suspicious about their latest stuff, and who needs that Google Pack thing LOL, it's a box of crap (With the exception of Firefox of course)!!

Thats why Linux is great we're not walking over you we are giving you stuff and if you repay us thats great if not its still fine.

Which is why I think it's so great that Novell is on "our side" now, I know they've been proprietary in the past, but maybe one day they will trash NetWare completely. I certainly don't agree with all of what Novell has been doing, but I like a lot of the things they've done, like GPLing Ximian Connector, YaST, AppArmor and lots of stuff like Hula, Beagle and openSUSE. By doing Linux, Novell and Red Hat are compeditors, not enemies like Apple and Microsoft, the Fedora project is adopting Mono, which Novell pretty much funds the development of, and I think they include the Ximian Connector plugin, which Novell GPLed, Novell uses the RPM Package manaeer that Red Hat invented, and in general, they do benefit from each other despite the fact that they're compeditors, this makes for a healthy economy.

I would say Apple is wants to be more like MS and become more of a monopoly and so far they have been doing a fairely good job at it.

At this pace I think they'll be twice as bad as Microsoft in just a few years, not necessarily 20 years like Microsoft.

Because the Mac is still a minority OS they have followers that will believe they are not evil no matter what facts you throw at them.

Yeah, and thank god for Apple not being dominant. I have a slight interest in history, and I like to put this computer industry up like a battlefield sometimes, because I like the analogy, we have Red Hat, Novell and IBM aiming BIG guns, not to forget canon balls with lawyers in them, at SCO, and over the long run Novell. Red Hat, IBM and Apple will be firing salvo after salvo at Microsoft, and then if Microsoft is defeated, the guns will be turned at Apple. I say use their minority to our advantage, let them battle Microsoft for a while longer, and then we can take them out someday

[CptnObvious999]

The only thing is some companies don't walk over you to get it so you won't go against them hence making them less evil like google (which some consider to be becoming evil however I do not...yet).

I think Google has started putting on a black coat or something, because I am a little suspicious about their latest stuff, and who needs that Google Pack thing LOL, it's a box of crap (With the exception of Firefox of course)!!

Well that probly came from one of the employees ideas since I think its %20 of their time is spent on personal products. Thats how some of their good products came about. (Gmail was one and Google Desktop was probly another) they do have the occasional bad product. And just because they have a bad product it doesn't qualify as an evil company IMO.

Thats why Linux is great we're not walking over you we are giving you stuff and if you repay us thats great if not its still fine.

Which is why I think it's so great that Novell is on "our side" now, I know they've been proprietary in the past, but maybe one day they will trash NetWare completely. I certainly don't agree with all of what Novell has been doing, but I like a lot of the things they've done, like GPLing Ximian Connector, YaST, AppArmor and lots of stuff like Hula, Beagle and openSUSE. By doing Linux, Novell and Red Hat are compeditors, not enemies like Apple and Microsoft, the Fedora project is adopting Mono, which Novell pretty much funds the development of, and I think they include the Ximian Connector plugin, which Novell GPLed, Novell uses the RPM Package manaeer that Red Hat invented, and in general, they do benefit from each other despite the fact that they're compeditors, this makes for a healthy economy.

Openness is not only not evil it is a business strategy and some companies like IBM, Sun, Novell, and many others are taking advantage of it. By opening it, it makes the company look less evil while still making money kinda like when Bill Gates donates money to make himself look better Theres nothing wrong with doing that since both the customer and the company benefit.

[Wally Balljacker]

Meh, Apple might be worse than MS when it comes down to it, but I like their hardware and operating system. I'm not going to buy a lesser product just because of the politics of the company. Now if only I could decide between the Intel iMac, or the PowerPC iBook...

[Tsuroerusu]

Meh, Apple might be worse than MS when it comes down to it, but I like their hardware and operating system. I'm not going to buy a lesser product just because of the politics of the company.

What do you mean by a "lesser produt" you can get a generic x86 laptop with the same hardware guts as the new MacBook Pro.

Now if only I could decide between the Intel iMac, or the PowerPC iBook...

OK, I can help you on that one, the new Pentium M based Mac laptops are far surperior in terms of performance per watt and battery life.
Steve Jobs showed some benchmarks of it's peak performance being at least 2 time faster and in some cases 3 times faster than the PowerBook G4.

If you want Apple and their stuff, which I don't, then I say get the new Intel stuff if you want a laptop, if you want a desktop (iMac og PowerMac) it doesn't matter that much, if you were to get a PowerMac, I would get a PPC machine because the G5 is a 64-bit processor.

[Wally Balljacker]

Meh, Apple might be worse than MS when it comes down to it, but I like their hardware and operating system. I'm not going to buy a lesser product just because of the politics of the company.

What do you mean by a "lesser produt" you can get a generic x86 laptop with the same hardware guts as the new MacBook Pro.

Now if only I could decide between the Intel iMac, or the PowerPC iBook...

OK, I can help you on that one, the new Pentium M based Mac laptops are far surperior in terms of performance per watt and battery life.
Steve Jobs showed some benchmarks of it's peak performance being at least 2 time faster and in some cases 3 times faster than the PowerBook G4.

If you want Apple and their stuff, which I don't, then I say get the new Intel stuff if you want a laptop, if you want a desktop (iMac og PowerMac) it doesn't matter that much, if you were to get a PowerMac, I would get a PPC machine because the G5 is a 64-bit processor.

The problem is the Intel iBook isn't out yet. I don't have $2,000 to spend on a MacBook Pro. I say lesser product because every Dell, IBM, Sony, and Acer out there comes with Windows installed, and Windows is garbage. I also feel that generic x86 laptops can't hold a candle to Apple, design-wise.

[CptnObvious999]

Meh, Apple might be worse than MS when it comes down to it, but I like their hardware and operating system. I'm not going to buy a lesser product just because of the politics of the company.

What do you mean by a "lesser produt" you can get a generic x86 laptop with the same hardware guts as the new MacBook Pro.

Now if only I could decide between the Intel iMac, or the PowerPC iBook...

OK, I can help you on that one, the new Pentium M based Mac laptops are far surperior in terms of performance per watt and battery life.
Steve Jobs showed some benchmarks of it's peak performance being at least 2 time faster and in some cases 3 times faster than the PowerBook G4.

If you want Apple and their stuff, which I don't, then I say get the new Intel stuff if you want a laptop, if you want a desktop (iMac og PowerMac) it doesn't matter that much, if you were to get a PowerMac, I would get a PPC machine because the G5 is a 64-bit processor.

The problem is the Intel iBook isn't out yet. I don't have $2,000 to spend on a MacBook Pro. I say lesser product because every Dell, IBM, Sony, and Acer out there comes with Windows installed, and Windows is garbage. I also feel that generic x86 laptops can't hold a candle to Apple, design-wise.

I like the look of Alienware laptops. IMO as good as the iBooks. You can always get the windows refund and get $200 back after you buy it.

[Tsuroerusu]

The problem is the Intel iBook isn't out yet. I don't have $2,000 to spend on a MacBook Pro.

Well, then you may want to just wait a little while and save up a few more bucks.

I say lesser product because every Dell, IBM, Sony, and Acer out there comes with Windows installed, and Windows is garbage.

LOL, yeah, Windows is something that comes from "the back-end of a cow" if ya know what I mean. Although maybe you could call up IBM/Lenovo and ask them if you could buy a laptop directly from them without Windows, or how their stance is on the Windows refund that is explicitly stated in the Windows EULA.

I also feel that generic x86 laptops can't hold a candle to Apple, design-wise.

I like the black, clean and lean look of the ThinkPads, but I do agree that Apple's design look quite good, but I think I rather have a more open/standardized laptop than something with a weird-ass bios, and n oyou can't run Windows on it, I just read it in the news.

[CptnObvious999]

I also feel that generic x86 laptops can't hold a candle to Apple, design-wise.

I like the black, clean and lean look of the ThinkPads, but I do agree that Apple's design look quite good, but I think I rather have a more open/standardized laptop than something with a weird-ass bios, and n oyou can't run Windows on it, I just read it in the news.

Windows will be able to be run on it after a few months and linux will be able to be on it with in a week

[Tsuroerusu]

Windows will be able to be run on it after a few months

Windows doesn't support that new weird-ass firmware Apple is using, Extensible Firmware Interface, Vista will, but that's bit into the future.

and linux will be able to be on it with in a week

I have no idea if Linux supports EFI, it might, if not a patch set should be out if someone needs that support.