Steve Jobs is a proponent of closed systems. Think iPod/iTunes for example.
John Tuttle: Yes!
I alluded to that.
I said I like the Apple OS more than I like Apple the company and (as I also said) I think that DRM will be the newer, vaster, battleground. Coming down on people that leak trade secrets I don't see as beyond the pale; that's a completely different kettle of fish.
I came upon this w/r/t Vista and HD content. Fantastic!
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html
Just a sample:
Windows allows you to make a small number of system hardware changes after which you need to renew your Windows license (the exact details of what you can and can't get away with changing has been the subject of much debate). If a particular piece of hardware is affected by a driver revocation (even just temporarily while waiting for an updated driver to work around a content leak) and you swap in a different video card or sound card to avoid the problem, you risk triggering Windows' anti-piracy measures, landing you in even more hot water. If you're forced to swap out a major system component like a motherboard, you've instantly failed WGA validation. Revocation of any kind of motherboard-integrated device (practically every motherboard has some form of onboard audio, and all of the cheaper ones have integrated video) would appear to have a serious negative interaction with Windows' anti-piracy measures.
I don't pretend to understand more than 25% of the above article [AGAIN.. who wants to have to figure this *%$^# out
] but it's clear that it's not an Apple-only phenomenon.. to the contrary! The content producers are certainly engaged in a constant war over this with the content pipelines--meaning not just Apple and Microsoft but also Google, YouTube, etc.
I saw recently that C-SPAN slapped a copyright-protection suit on some Democrats that put up C-SPAN footage of Congessional debate on their web sites.
Welcome to the New World Order, everyone!
The long-term winner won't necessarily be who is most lax in this regard, but who is able to make whatever 'controls' (which now seem unavoidable) less onerous, and optimally near-transparent for the end user. Will M$ be able to do that, given their multi-stage licensing and free-for-all market for peripherals? Or will it be Apple (perhaps equally obnoxious theoretically, but less obnoxious in a day-to-day sense)? Or will someone else come along with something better? Or will hackers win? Boh!?
I wouldn't know where to put my money, but I would put "hackers" or "Brand X" over M$ definitely (and over Apple quite possibly).
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Ahh, CFB, you're getting me where it hurts! My sis, who has a PC, owns Apple stock.
I don't! I was insufficiently faithful/partisan/drunk-on-the-Apple-Kool-Aid and lost out bigtime!
If they start planning a "surge", however, should I buy in?
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And, if I get the little Alfa, how will I remember where to insert the key?
.. and will it have the seatwarmers, the ones that make you feel like you've pissed yourself?