Apple angers it's fans as well as me

Believe it or not this is true. I thought I'd add to my annoyances of Apple with another article I saw online from the BBC. This is along with comments I made to fellow colleagues at work.

Any company in business has the idea of making something that people will buy. That's great when it comes out, but then they decide how can we scam money off people with a small amount of effort? How about small tweaks?

Going back to the iPod it all started well apart from the fact Apple decided that Firewire should be the dominant method for transferring files from a MAC to an mp3 player. However by alienating Microsoft the mass market would go elsewhere.

Fair play when they realise we need to support MS Windows. This allowed the money to come in. Additionally PCI manufacturers made money for making cards with Firewire ports. When the third generation came out I decided to get an iPod. The best thing for me was that know one I knew what an iPod was let alone owned one. For me the 20GB iPod was worth it for the long run, but were expensive too. Owning one was nice for listing to music on my long walks.

Drawbacks of 3rd Gen:
- The cost of this model was £300. This is far higher than the 6th Gen model of 80GB worth £180 (much cheaper now).
- The battery life was awful. You should get 8 hours playback and would be lucky to get 6.
- The battery degrades quickly and Apple wanted £100 to replace and install a new one. I decided to by a replacement elsewhere and install it myself for £15.
- USB charging unavailable yet 4th Gen don't have this problem.
- When the 4th generation came out, Apple forgot about their customers and decided to to give us features they gave to the 4th gen model (they were possible to add to 3rd gen). Remember this: our money helped you develop newer models.

Coming back to iPhone owners:
Back when we owned early iPods that should last the test of time (yet support does not), Apple ignored us. Proof of this can be found online if you look for articles about 3rd gen iPod classic upgrades.

If you have brought an iPhone v1 and paid a costly O2 contract due to exclusivity, then welcome to my world (along with older iPod owners). Version 2 brought in 3G that should have been in version 1. Now version 3 offers other minor tweaks (like faster loading of games). If I was you, forget about the ridiculous price tag. Other phones offer great functions too, look elsewhere and don't get ripped off. Small tweaks and lots of money out of your pocket, it's your fault for encouraging this behaviour.

Outside of the Apple talk:
Why do people by a personal computer called a "mac"?
- Because Windows is rubbish.
- Programs are better on the mac.

This is a PC, not a mac. It is and always will be a personal computer. The dock is not great and you could be searching through a long (unordered list). Windows quick launch and start menu are great.

From a person that has use Windows, Unix, Linux and have used a Mac, the Mac is expensive hardware and software. If you want to do this properly, buy a computer and install the Mac OS (Leopard or whatever animal it is). At the end of the day you are paying a company that is using Unix / Linux source code and charging you a fortune. Many distributions of Linux do not cost any money and you can learn a lot from them.

Support Lifecycle:
If Apple are loyal to their so called fan base, then they should provide support for years to come. For example Windows 2000 is supported till the 13th July 2010.
- How long is the MAC OS supported for?
- How long is the MAC hardware supported for?
- How long is the iPod / iPhone supported for?

Final note:
This is about software installers (linking to my previous post). Why is iTunes 8.2.0.23 41.6MB (outside of the package of 74MB bundle) and WMP 11 only 24.5MB. Windows Media player offers so much functionaly and even sorts artists individually compared to iTunes Library (where multiple artists are not separated).

I know I've ranted from iPhones, iPods, Hardware and software, but feel free to have your say as all comments are welcome (minus swearing).