Apple Products - Love Or Loathe Them

[flavio81]

Plus, Ipod's dont work in cold weather.... believe me

To be fair, that is not something to be blamed on Apple. Batteries typically perform very badly on cold weather.

[Spyes]

True, Apple supports only its variant, ALAC. However, there are a few plugins that convert FLAC to ALAC - some options here: http://www.macworld.com/article/142096/ ... tunes.html

No difference between the two, by the way.

That doesn't excuse the fact that the *world-wide lossless standard format* isn't supported....

[Alec124c41]

Try and find me a Mac version 3D program of any real merit, it is a software deadend.

http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/

Cheers,
Alec

[flavio81]

True, Apple supports only its variant, ALAC. However, there are a few plugins that convert FLAC to ALAC - some options here: http://www.macworld.com/article/142096/ ... tunes.html

No difference between the two, by the way.

Well, the difference is that there are many, many, many files already in FLAC available on the internet. So i would say having FLAC support should be a "must" for the iPod. Even more if the iPod has good D/A converters (and it seems that this is the case.)

By the way, my sincere thanks for the link, i might need to do some FLAC->ALAC conversion for this friends' iPod.

[KevAmiga]

Plus, Ipod's dont work in cold weather.... believe me

To be fair, that is not something to be blamed on Apple. Batteries typically perform very badly on cold weather.

Really?

My phone doesnt switch off after 5 mins of mountain biking?

Neither does my less than ten pounds (dollars, whatever) cheapo mp3 player. But my £199 ipod? Useless.

[13oots2]

Try and find me a Mac version 3D program of any real merit, it is a software deadend.

http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/

Cheers,
Alec

Sorry doesn't run on the Mac OS, will run on Windows on the Mac which is basically a errrr Windows machine, totally unsupported by any Mac OS. I thought the whole ethos of a Mac user was to get away from Windows

[JaS]

True, Apple supports only its variant, ALAC. However, there are a few plugins that convert FLAC to ALAC - some options here: http://www.macworld.com/article/142096/ ... tunes.html

No difference between the two, by the way.

I still don't hate Apple but I'm starting to see why so many people have issues with them. I've already converted my entire digital music collection from APE to FLAC because FLAC won the race and become the standard format for lossless playback. Now if I want to try iTunes I have to convert to their proprietary format? I don't know the reasoning behind this but I think I'll vote with my feet on that particular decision

Regards,
JaS

[13oots2]

I think I will take this opportunity to advertise the launch of my upcoming computer; the Winintoshtelux. I would've booked the Superbowl slot but this is a UK Launch.

Specs are twin processors (faster than Mac), double the RAM and hardrive space and twin graphics cards. Launch price is same as top end Mac and we'll even throw in a free £600 Laptop. Both PC's installed with Linux, Windows 7 Ultimate and Snow Leopard, although running Snow Leopard isn't strictly legal we wanted to include it on your new machine, just to prove a Mac and PC's hardware are the same.

All profits (and they aren't insignificant) will go into making our corporation the richest in the world with more money to spend than the US government. Does this somehow sound familiar?

Can anyone think of why I hate Apple so much?

[davidsss]

While I think of it, where Apple leads the field is with accessibility. Windows isn't close, and I'm unaware of any Linux product in widespread use.

I realise accessibility isn't a priority for most, but it is an example of how thorough Apple can be at its best.

I have no idea what you are talking about here, care to explain? In what way is a Mac somehow more accessible than a PC?

By the way, I had the same problem as others with my iPhone - new firmware wiped everything, all my contacts and the like. No matter what I tried I couldn't get any of it back. Real accessible.

DS

[avole]

While I think of it, where Apple leads the field is with accessibility. Windows isn't close, and I'm unaware of any Linux product in widespread use.

I realise accessibility isn't a priority for most, but it is an example of how thorough Apple can be at its best.

I have no idea what you are talking about here, care to explain? In what way is a Mac somehow more accessible than a PC?

By the way, I had the same problem as others with my iPhone - new firmware wiped everything, all my contacts and the like. No matter what I tried I couldn't get any of it back. Real accessible.

DS

All software should ideally be accessible, and hardware too. There's a strict US standard to which companies try to adhere.

The object is to make computers fully accessible to people who have disabilities or are aged. Loss of sight is a common example.

[avole]

True, Apple supports only its variant, ALAC. However, there are a few plugins that convert FLAC to ALAC - some options here: http://www.macworld.com/article/142096/ ... tunes.html

No difference between the two, by the way.

That doesn't excuse the fact that the *world-wide lossless standard format* isn't supported....

Nothing needs to be excused here. Apple has its own lossless format, and if it chooses to continue with that, then so what? There's no a law that says it has to provide support for FLAC, and in fact its own format would be the second most popular.

[avole]

True, Apple supports only its variant, ALAC. However, there are a few plugins that convert FLAC to ALAC - some options here: http://www.macworld.com/article/142096/ ... tunes.html

No difference between the two, by the way.

I still don't hate Apple but I'm starting to see why so many people have issues with them. I've already converted my entire digital music collection from APE to FLAC because FLAC won the race and become the standard format for lossless playback. Now if I want to try iTunes I have to convert to their proprietary format? I don't know the reasoning behind this but I think I'll vote with my feet on that particular decision

Regards,
JaS

To be fair, iTunes is a product integrated across their product lines and gives you access to a whole lot more than audio alone. It also does support other formats, but sadly not FLAC. ALAC is also, by the way, the one exception, in that AAC is supported by a number of non-apple products.

As it happens the macmini, if not the standard, is is one of the most recommended devices for home streaming solutions, because it is tiny, noiseless, and can run happily without a monitor, using an apple device as a remote - other non Apple products may be able to do this now, not sure.

One other plus for macs: no viruses.

[Spyes]

To be fair, iTunes is a product integrated across their product lines and gives you access to a whole lot more than audio alone. It also does support other formats, but sadly not FLAC. ALAC is also, by the way, the one exception, in that AAC is supported by a number of non-apple products.

As it happens the macmini, if not the standard, is is one of the most recommended devices for home streaming solutions, because it is tiny, noiseless, and can run happily without a monitor, using an apple device as a remote - other non Apple products may be able to do this now, not sure.

One other plus for macs: no viruses.

iTunes is still a weak software compared to hundreds of other non-Apple solutions that get the job done much more efficiently, and without all the hassle. I've helped a few friends out with their iPods and it was a nightmare to get some stuff done with iTunes, things that could be easily done with just about anything else. But there's no compatibility between the iPod and anything else!

Notice the macmini only works with Apple-only products - that is, you bought this cool, 'efficient' piece of machinery for [insert too-high price here] that works quietly, is tiny etc., but then you have to spend an extra [insert too-high price here].

And the no viruses argument is valid. Windows has suffered from that for years now. Linux is a proud virus-free environment too. There's that old joke about the virus that won't run because you don't have the necessary dependencies

[13oots2]

One other plus for macs: no viruses.

Another mis-truth that is propelled round the internet, even to the point Snow Leopard has um now what's it call...ah an anti-virus built in. The Mac is susceptible to certain kinds of attack, one particular one required an exploit in Java since it enabled Root access.

It would be far better and honest to say that Macs are less prone to virus exploits.