Parity Violation

so I bought a four-pack of compact fluorescent bulbs, 60 watt replacements. They use 1/4 the energy. I’ll reduce my carbon emissions. I’ll save money in the long run. It seemed like the right thing to do.

But, my dumb fan/light ceiling fixtures are too small. The light bulb cover thing won’t fit back onto the fixture because the compact fluorescents are like 1/2 inch longer than their standard counterparts and apparently that’s enough to make a difference.

So, I said phooey on the covers and the light bulbs are just bare. What do I care – the environment is more important than style. But, I may investigate finding replacement covers that will fit.

Also, I suppose the light that needs replacement is the 150 watt incandescent bulb on the torch lamp in my living room. That is still there.

It maintains two volume settings, one for when headphones are plugged in, and one for when I unplug them (which I have set to be muted). I’m not sure if this is new or not, but it’s definitely something I noticed. A simple but wise feature.

I can tell you some dumb things about Apple, but this silicon.com story doesn’t contain any of them. Let’s look at them…

• The reality distortion field – this refers to Jobs’ ability to bend reality and make people think that something is better than it is… except that this hasn’t really been the case for decades. The term goes back to the 80s when Jobs was at Apple. Since his return, he hasn’t been distorting reality – if anything the press has a hard time gripping reality – skeptical about the iPod in 2001 – where as Apple has produced hits… though there was the cube.

• The iPod. Um, the iPod is the best selling best review and best music player there is. Saying it’s the worst thing about Apple is asinine. He goes on about battery life and scratches. Whatever.

• Style over substance. Design isn’t about style. It’s about how things work. The notion that Apple is a success because they slap a coat of veneer on a product is dumb. People can tell good design when they see it. It’s why the more-expensive iPod was bought over clunky Creative machines back in 2001. The iPod wasn’t just prettier, it was lighter, and had a sensible interface, and synced with iTunes. Apple is way more about substance than style – and they get that piling on “features” is not what makes a product great.

• The iPhone. It’s not even out yet. Save all naysayer comments to chuckle at like the 2001 reactions to the iPod, which was dismissed as just “another” music player and was too expensive.

• Arrogance – the author cites the Cisco / iPhone trademark thing. Whatever. Cisco apparently slapped iPhone stickers onto old products and never really used the term. And if Apple wants to go to court over a name, it can if it wants to. His other complain is that Apple rarely comments on stories. Boo-hoo, Apple won’t talk to journalists. Seeing as how a large percentage of journalists don’t know anything about Apple or technology (they still interview and quote “analyst” Rob Enderle after all) – I don’t blame Apple.

• Litigation – Apple was wrong when they sued a blogger to figure out who leaked a story about an upcoming product. But, they lost and they paid the defendants legal fees. The other overblown Apple trademarks “pod” story was typical press echo chamber nonsense. Apple sent a letter saying that another company couldn’t trademark the term “podcast ready” – not that they said they couldn’t use the term “podcast ready.”

• iEverything. He doesn’t like products that start with an i. Fine. Who cares. How is this on a “worst things list?”

• DRM is an invention of the idiot record labels, not Apple. They have no economic interest in letting other devices play their iTunes store music. Because they don’t make money on the store, they make money on iPods. You can play iTunes songs on a Mac, a PC, an iPod, and can burn them to CD. You can play Windows Media DRMs on “play for sure “devices and Windows – not even on a Zune. That’s as closed as Apple if more so if you ask me. If you don’t like DRM, buy CDs and rip them.

• Environmental Record Greenpeace has been targeting Apple for years, presumably because of the publicity. I don’t know much about their findings… so I can’t really comment. If a more mainstream enviro group .. or a government agency like the EPA issued a report on the electronics industry I’d be more inclined to buy it though.

• Lunatic Fringe – Ah, our good friend Artie Macstrawman. How does this mythical Mac user have anything to do with Apple?

Ok, so how about some real things that are actually bad about Apple?

• .Mac? It sucks. Everyone knows it.
• Annual iLife/iWork “tax” to get the latest versions, with no upgrade price?
• No upgrade price for OS X? (Though each version is a complete install, no previous version required, still.)
• No discount on a complete album on iTunes even if you already bought 1 or more songs from said album?
• Expensive and only 2 year Applecare on iPods
• Finder and/or system still occasionally goes nuts when an Appleshare volume is disconnected unexpectedly.
• TV episodes aren’t always on iTunes the day after they air.
• The OS X Finder could stay some improvements.
• NFS in the OS X apparently has a lot of problems.
• The $150 “black tax” on the high end Macbook (apparently just for the color.)
• I didn’t buy any Apple stock in 2001. Or 1997.
• New item – Quicktime Pro. Let’s give this up already, Apple. Not trying to milk us for $30.

Ok, so that’s not really the “worst” things about Apple – it’s just a list of problems off the top of my head. But, the silicon.com sheet is a joke… and it doesn’t appear to be written by someone who uses much in the way of Apple products.