I like that Perl tends to do what you wanted it to do, rather than what you told it to do. Bugs in other languages are often because of vice-versa.

That does seem high, but if you factor in the (non-trivial) installation process, and the fact that you won't be voiding your warranty with a DIY installation, it may be an acceptable tradeoff. Apple is probably counting on your reaching this conclusion as well.

It's hard to imagine nowadays, but in the late 1990's, Nokia made cell phones Americans craved. Their blunder in the US market was to think they didn't have to get in bed with specific carriers and make phones exclusive to one or another. A titan the world over, Nokia was surely surprised at how effectively they could be diminished by the business model the US carriers settled on. They never recovered in the US, and I don't think they ever will.

At least you get a few quiet hours between 6 and 9 to actually get things done. I've noticed much less resentment of people who come in after 10 and leave after 6. Same hours, different perception.

Because somehow, no one sees you come in, but everyone sees you go home.

How would the hours I spend on a remote desktop session count in your office?

I'm a teacher, its outcomes all the way for us, and being there when the class meets.

If you think of "I could care less" as sarcasm, it makes more sense, i.e., the speaker couldn't really care less. (If I recall, this was the typical usage when I first started hearing this phrase decades ago.)

In their desire to shed themselves of Google, Apple has opened a window of opportunity for 3rd parties to enhance their own maps' utility. History suggests, however, that this window will be small, and I expect in the long term, the best bet for the 3rd party apps is to be acquired by Apple.

Do you mean "anarchy" in the sense of "chaos" or "absence of government"?

Nokia is a company with over 100 years of success behind it, and it approaches new products with the concomitant confidence: they really believe the engineers will be able to pull off whatever the marketers come up with. (Even after, as the video shows, the top of the line N97 fell far short of the hype.)

I suspect the worst software is the kind where the person buying it is not the person using it. This might also explain Apple's recent successes.

Can you clarify the point you are making?

Are you saying that Apple is succeeding because their customers are their users?

Or are you claiming Apple software sucks, and every ipad sold was a gift?

> Are you saying that Apple is succeeding because their customers are their users?

Yes, and they have different priorities than the CTO or IT manager, who may select enterprise software by feature checklist (or other priorities) rather than end-user experience.

Stopped reading at "I've been tempted, but have never been able to put form over function…."

Yep. This is an article by someone who doesn't understand Apple's unique value proposition.

Apple isn't really about making devices with the highest specs out there (things like retina displays are the exception, not the rule), nor are they about innovating brand-new types of devices (there were plenty of Mp3 players around before the iPod, plenty of tablet PCs around before the iPad, and plenty of Palm and Windows Mobile smartphones around before the iPhone).

What they are about is building things that do what they do, extremely well.

Part of this is design, part of this is their legendary supply chain (though that's a relatively recent advantage) but in my opinion the most important part of this is an intentional willingness to sacrifice features for user experience.

My first iPhone was the 4, and when it came out, I was debating between it and the Evo 4G. On paper, the Evo 4G was a higher spec device. Hell, it's right in the name. It had 4G.

I'm very glad I went with the iPhone. I have friends who didn't, and now, 2-years out, their Evos last for about 4 hours before they have to plug back in. My iPhone can still go happily for 2 days of normal use between charges.

Could Apple have included a WiMax radio in the iPhone 4? Of course! But they had the foresight to say, "It's better to have a phone that lasts for 2-days without having to be recharged than one that has faster download speeds."

That's a single example of a very "Apple'esque" decision, and the type of decision that makes most of the hardware they make, very good hardware.

There are valid reasons to criticize Apple, and be concerned about its future. But this article didn't touch on any of them.

You've gotta admit it takes chutzpah to in the same article:

(1) claim the only thing special about Apple products is their form and that people who care about functionality should buy something else

and

(2) complain how boring it is that Apple doesn't constantly change the products' form but rather keeps improving all that functional stuff with better displays, better cameras, better transmitters, better CPUs...

It's almost like you can't win with this guy.