[Ti] 10.2.8

[b]

Robert Ameeti paused, thought it over, and spoke thusly:

>  >On Wednesday, October 1, 2003, at 03:08  AM, Massimo Marino wrote:
>>
>>>People who lost ethernet or have battery drained I understand 
>>>perfectly. Others - TransparentDock broken and dock misbehaving - 
>>>a bit less. I do not think Apple will ever tests their updates 
>>>against all possible OS-hacks nor should.
>>
>>The problem is, the transparent dock is NOT  a hack. I don't hack 
>>my system and my dock is transparent.
>
>How is it not a hack?
>
>The dock is Apple's stuff. Transparent Dock messes with Apple's 
>stuff with patches to the System. That is hacking with Apple's stuff.

It's a 'hack', because a DEVELOPER, who pays money to Apple, to have 
access to the APIs and system code necessary to develop apps and 
little apps (utilities) for the Macintosh (which Jobs bragged in SF 
had "over 300,000 developers SUPPORTING the Macintosh platform), 
wrote an app that slightly changes the appearance of the GUI. Big 
deal.

Photoshop is a 'hack', also. Otherwise jpegs would open in iPhoto, 
Preview, or nothing else. So what? Again, Apple can't have it both 
ways. They either reach out to developers, for support of the 
platform, as they have, or they don't.

it's funny, when Microsoft issues an 'update' that breaks third-party 
applications (and then later incorporates the app into the behemoth 
that the NT-XP thing has become), everyone whines about 'limiting 
innovation', 'stifling competition', etc. But when Apple does it, 
it's somehow 'okay'.

I expect to see a 'transparency' feature in the Dock, at some point. 
maybe once Jobs realizes that the brushed aluminum Finder in Panther 
is a resounding failure and lets the people (at Apple) engineering 
the GUI have a go. Nobody (even the sycophants) likes it.

My original comments, despite the defensive reaction of a few, were 
not 'directed' at anyone. I agree, AND occasionally disagree, with 
everyone, sooner or later. Again, so what? What is it, a package deal 
"love me, love all my opinions!!"?.I hope not.

oddballs come up with brilliant ideas, and brilliant thinkers come up 
with clinkers, once in a while. Who cares? look at the history of 
Computing, or Science, for the evidence of all that.

I don't need Apple to hold my hand, whether I've loaded a screwy 
Contextual Menu item (rarely a good idea), or Apple makes a rare 
blunder. I fixed the damage from 10.2.8 myself, with an archive & 
install. No big deal. If my battery (which I rarely use) has been 
compromised, so what? I have three of them, all bought from Apple at 
the same time. They don't live forever, anyway.

it's easy for outsiders to exhibit disdain for those of us who jump 
on the latest 'anything' from Apple. But the reality is: Apple was 
given wide latitude to do what they've done (which is innovate, and 
'try' things out) because of people like us, NOT grandma and her .Mac 
accounts, and not those that put down the early adopters that went to 
Apple, long before there was a Mac, in the first place.

My girlfriend is on the verge of buying her first Mac, ever, due to 
my incessant proselytizing on behalf of Apple. She hears the 
bitching, she thinks whomever invented these lists, and Slashdot (in 
particular) should be banished, but the reality is, unlike those who 
ignore agreement with their points of view, and then pounce on 
someone with the audacity to see things from a different perspective, 
she knows that you 'need the white keys and the black keys to make 
the whole piano."

That goes for opinions, platforms, programs, operating systems, and 
life, in general. Since when did 'Think Different' become 'Agree 
Blindly'?  Apple didn't get where they are by listening to those who 
agree with whatever makes it out the door. They want feedback (and 
praise, and why not), they want developers, and they need to know 
what is and  isn't working for us, the users, too.

If Apple wants to hamstring the next couple of year's worth of 
platforms with a carbon Finder, dressed up as a native, fine, I'll 
stick with it. Hopefully, the developers with deep pockets will shift 
gears, pay their access fees, and keep writing essential applications 
that allow the Mac to be all it can be. In the meantime, as I said, 
they don't 'owe me' anything by way of recompense, and I couldn't 
give a rat's ass if they incorporate my ideas in my lifetime. And I 
care even less if someone happens to deign to agree or disagree with 
my point-of-view. This is between me and Cupertino, and so far, they 
like my money, and I love them. Now when do I get my Cocoa Finder? 
<laughs>

~flipper

~flipper