The 20inch LCD "Conspiracy"

[RRSounds at aol.com]

In a message dated Fri, 31 Jan 2003 03:18:20 EST, SLarsonIH at aol.com writes:

<<
No offense, but either you don't get it, or aren't listening to what a lot of Mac faithful are saying. I don't expect Apple to sit on the fence. I don't mind, and actually support them advancing, and moving on to OSX and all the iApps. This is all good.

What I DON"T like are the ways in which they are penalizing those of us who choose to not move to OSX at this time. I for one, cannot afford to buy a whole new system, with new peripherals and software. There is no reason they can't sell a version of iDVD for $100 that will let me burn DVD's on my 8600 in OS9.

There is no reason they can't have a very small team doing some support. Don't you think they could SELL some of the iApps, if they made them for OS9? I think they could. Shoot, they have a whole team working on OSX on Intel machines, that obviously isn't making them any money. We all know that OSX is the future, but some of us can't afford to go yet, and don't like being treated badly, just because we can't. Not every Mac owner is in a high paying career.

STeve

<< Switch or don't switch - Apple probably won't care.  But expecting
Apple to keep sitting on the fence just because some others do is
pointless. >>


STeve,
Let me preface this by saying that I use OSX and I am not totally satisfied with it. It is not glitch-free, and quite a few user interface changes were made that were completely unnecessary (for instance, why is the shortcut to create a new folder changed to "command-shift-N" when it used to be "command-N"? And three letter file suffixes...Bogus!) Frustration is not limited to OS9 users!

That being said, I do support and "get" at least 90% of the way Apple has done things during the "Second Great Mac Transition" (the 'first' being the move to the PowerPC).

Basically, what Apple has done is to say (my words, not theirs, of course):
"As of now (May 2002, IIRC) OS9 is dead. Anything that works now will continue to work with the equipment that it originally worked with. However, all our resources must be put into promoting the new technology that will ensure our continued existence. We cannot and will not ensure unlimited backward compatibility with our new products and technologies."

Whatever OS9-compatible software and hardware (such as your 8600) you had on the day Apple made this statement, you may continue to use indefinitely. Anything you want beyond this is purely at their discretion. To expect anything more in light of their clearly stated plans is, well, not very astute. And we have had *quite* a while to see this coming (after all, they could have -stupidly- made a clean break to NeXT with NO Classic or other compatibility layer. You think you hear howls NOW!).

Like it or not, this is Apple's decided way of surviving in the PC business where profits -when possible- are getting very thin (Gateway has had losses 8 out of the past 9 quarters). If Apple fails, it will be their own doing. To them, putting money into an operating system they have pronounced "dead" does not make economic sense (and creates an opportunity for third parties). On the other hand, putting ongoing R&D into OSX for the dominant (and quite living) Intel hardware platform makes very clear sense. To me at least.

Most of all, I don't believe any of this is done to "treat you badly." At worst, they are ignoring you, in deference to those who help them financially by purchasing new hardware.

David P. Reaves, III
Recklinghausen, Germany

PS: They *do* have a "very small team doing support." I'm referring to Applecare. If you paid for this support they are there to help you, even with OS9 problems.