Notes on life, art, photography and technology, by a Danish dropout bohemian.
When you drink the water, remember the river.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Apple Fanboys Anonymous
"Hello, my name is Eolake, and I'm an Apple Fanboy." "Hello Eolake!"
There is some discussion about whether I post needlessly much about Apple products.
I'm ok with your fanboyism. It's nice to see people passionate about things.
It's not irritating (to me) because you're not pretending that it's the perfect or the only system in the world worth using. I was worse during in my Amiga days, but I couldn't help it, no other platform came close. ;-)
Since you are such a prolific blogger, why not split this blog into two or three more focused blogs?
Who knows you might even increase your total readership that way; some people are more willing to invest the time in a blog that focuses on a narrower subject area which they take an interest in.
Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure... for example, if I'd made a photography blog, that would have seemed pretty dead for a while now (though I'll probably return to it).
Yep, think you hit the nail on the head there: the major stumbling block to having a blog that is anything like successful is surely to have enough to say about something (of interest to others), often enough to retain their interest ... which is the main reason I never bothered :-) The other reason is that most blogs that I inevitably trip over smack a little too much of 'vanity publishing', no?
Okay, I'll admit I usually skip those entries. :P But I can understand being passionate about something. Some people would say I talk to much about music.
"I was worse during in my Amiga days, but I couldn't help it, no other platform came close. ;-)" True, true. I remember these days. Even though I never HAD an Amiga. But I *so* dreamed of. ;-)
"The other reason is that most blogs that I inevitably trip over smack a little too much of 'vanity publishing', no?" Oh, I see you've checked mine. :-)
I know this is getting old... maybe there's a follow-up post already? ...anyway
I could claim that I read almost every post on your blog, but I have to admit that I've skipped most of the iPosts recently. Don't get me wrong, I'm typing this comment with a Mac(hine), but I don't see these products as being so revolutionary. I think the people behind the fore-bitten* fruit are smart and have a good eye for design (I would describe my taste as minimalist). They're just trying to keep their grip on that unruly thing we call fashion--trying to set the trend. I personally don't like all the secrecy, and I think they exaggerate about being eco-friendly and open-whatever when it's convenient. But let's face it: they're capitalists making capital, and they're good at that right now. I don't worship their products ... they're just (nice) things after all.
So, yes, I prefer the more philosophical/photographical posts to the iMaterialist ones. However, it is your blog, Eolake, and you do have the right to post whatever strikes your fancy. I'm still reading ( and iSkipping :)
* sorry couldn't resist...maybe it should be side-bitten or even right-bitten?
Sure, the eco-thing is PR. But every company milks that if they can. I do think though, that Apple, being a traded company, has a company's soul, and as such, it's all about the bottom line. But, I do believe that Steve and many who work there feel deeper about making a product which "makes a ding in the Universe" as Steve put it once.
Whether the products actually *are* more important than just being pretty and easy to use, I think we will just agree to disagree. That's way too complex a discussion.
Whether the products actually *are* more important than just being pretty and easy to use, I think we will just agree to disagree.
That's fair. I'll give you some more of my side of the story: I'm a programmer/GUI designer, and I like things that "just work". But I also use Apple products in an enterprise environment where they don't shine quite so brightly. The OS X Server product, while possibly the easiest server OS to setup and maintain, falls far short of "just works"--in fact there are some downright scary "features" that can result in the permanent loss of mission critical information without warning. Apple apparently doesn't have time to fix these things, and I think I can understand why: the server market is not their primary niche. But then again, why bother selling OS X Server with Mobile/Portable Home Directories (which should be called Pray for your Home Directory--shall we say not designed by someone with a PHD)? That's just one thing that performs a little less reliably than advertised. I don't like to do software testing with my home directory at stake. And trying to troubleshoot and fix these issues is like trying to see into a black hole--a little more openness would come in handy there.
Can't argue there, I have my sites on a regular apache server, and I would not put it on an Xserve to save my life. I don't think Apple realizes how big a commitment it is to serve the enterprise market. Or maybe they do realize it, and they think they would fail their big consumer customer pool if they really went for broke with the biz part. Maybe they would, as MS has shown us, you can't just throw money at it.
Expansion: ... not because I've heard bad things about Xserve (so called. Not "X Server"), until today anyway, but simply because it's a dark horse machine, and I want something my host techies are familiar with.
Per the confusion on Xserve vs OS X Server (not sure where X Server came from).
As you surely know, the Xserve is hardware: an overly-expensive rack-mount server with some pretty nice monitoring features and looks that are way too nice to put in a closet. The worst mis-feature I ever found was the too-easy-to-remove RAID drives...when the case is not locked all it takes is a light bump to unplug the drive. YIKES!!!
The second is software: (Mac) OS X Server, which is the product I was talking about above.
I'm ok with your fanboyism. It's nice to see people passionate about things.
ReplyDeleteIt's not irritating (to me) because you're not pretending that it's the perfect or the only system in the world worth using. I was worse during in my Amiga days, but I couldn't help it, no other platform came close. ;-)
Since you are such a prolific blogger, why not split this blog into two or three more focused blogs?
ReplyDeleteWho knows you might even increase your total readership that way; some people are more willing to invest the time in a blog that focuses on a narrower subject area which they take an interest in.
Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure... for example, if I'd made a photography blog, that would have seemed pretty dead for a while now (though I'll probably return to it).
ReplyDeleteYep, think you hit the nail on the head there: the major stumbling block to having a blog that is anything like successful is surely to have enough to say about something (of interest to others), often enough to retain their interest ... which is the main reason I never bothered :-)
ReplyDeleteThe other reason is that most blogs that I inevitably trip over smack a little too much of 'vanity publishing', no?
Okay, I'll admit I usually skip those entries. :P But I can understand being passionate about something. Some people would say I talk to much about music.
ReplyDelete"I was worse during in my Amiga days, but I couldn't help it, no other platform came close. ;-)"
ReplyDeleteTrue, true. I remember these days.
Even though I never HAD an Amiga. But I *so* dreamed of. ;-)
"The other reason is that most blogs that I inevitably trip over smack a little too much of 'vanity publishing', no?"
Oh, I see you've checked mine. :-)
I know this is getting old... maybe there's a follow-up post already? ...anyway
ReplyDeleteI could claim that I read almost every post on your blog, but I have to admit that I've skipped most of the iPosts recently. Don't get me wrong, I'm typing this comment with a Mac(hine), but I don't see these products as being so revolutionary. I think the people behind the fore-bitten* fruit are smart and have a good eye for design (I would describe my taste as minimalist). They're just trying to keep their grip on that unruly thing we call fashion--trying to set the trend. I personally don't like all the secrecy, and I think they exaggerate about being eco-friendly and open-whatever when it's convenient. But let's face it: they're capitalists making capital, and they're good at that right now. I don't worship their products ... they're just (nice) things after all.
So, yes, I prefer the more philosophical/photographical posts to the iMaterialist ones. However, it is your blog, Eolake, and you do have the right to post whatever strikes your fancy. I'm still reading ( and iSkipping :)
* sorry couldn't resist...maybe it should be side-bitten or even right-bitten?
Thanks, that's absolutely a fair viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteSure, the eco-thing is PR. But every company milks that if they can. I do think though, that Apple, being a traded company, has a company's soul, and as such, it's all about the bottom line. But, I do believe that Steve and many who work there feel deeper about making a product which "makes a ding in the Universe" as Steve put it once.
Whether the products actually *are* more important than just being pretty and easy to use, I think we will just agree to disagree. That's way too complex a discussion.
Wow, that was fast.
ReplyDeleteWhether the products actually *are* more important than just being pretty and easy to use, I think we will just agree to disagree.
That's fair. I'll give you some more of my side of the story: I'm a programmer/GUI designer, and I like things that "just work". But I also use Apple products in an enterprise environment where they don't shine quite so brightly. The OS X Server product, while possibly the easiest server OS to setup and maintain, falls far short of "just works"--in fact there are some downright scary "features" that can result in the permanent loss of mission critical information without warning. Apple apparently doesn't have time to fix these things, and I think I can understand why: the server market is not their primary niche. But then again, why bother selling OS X Server with Mobile/Portable Home Directories (which should be called Pray for your Home Directory--shall we say not designed by someone with a PHD)? That's just one thing that performs a little less reliably than advertised. I don't like to do software testing with my home directory at stake. And trying to troubleshoot and fix these issues is like trying to see into a black hole--a little more openness would come in handy there.
Can't argue there, I have my sites on a regular apache server, and I would not put it on an Xserve to save my life. I don't think Apple realizes how big a commitment it is to serve the enterprise market. Or maybe they do realize it, and they think they would fail their big consumer customer pool if they really went for broke with the biz part. Maybe they would, as MS has shown us, you can't just throw money at it.
ReplyDeleteYou might find John M's articles here interesting. For example the article about OSX on the back burner.
ReplyDeleteExpansion: ... not because I've heard bad things about Xserve (so called. Not "X Server"), until today anyway, but simply because it's a dark horse machine, and I want something my host techies are familiar with.
ReplyDeletePer the confusion on Xserve vs OS X Server (not sure where X Server came from).
ReplyDeleteAs you surely know, the Xserve is hardware: an overly-expensive rack-mount server with some pretty nice monitoring features and looks that are way too nice to put in a closet. The worst mis-feature I ever found was the too-easy-to-remove RAID drives...when the case is not locked all it takes is a light bump to unplug the drive. YIKES!!!
The second is software: (Mac) OS X Server, which is the product I was talking about above.
My mistake, sorry.
ReplyDelete