“Don’t look now, but the role of the industry’s biggest bully is increasingly played by Apple, not Microsoft,” Mike Elgan writes for Computerworld.
“The most vociferous Microsoft haters slammed the company for being a greedy industry bully that used its monopolistic, clunky, copycat operating system to force software on users and coerce partners into unfair licensing deals,” Elgan writes.
“Don’t look now, but the role of the industry’s biggest bully is increasingly played by Apple, not Microsoft. Here’s a look at how Apple has shoved Microsoft aside as the company with the worst reputation as a monopolist, copycat and a bully,” Elgan writes.
Elgan doles out some real whoppers in his mess, including calling iTunes “the most nonintuitive application” on his Windows PC. Come on, Mike, get real. He complains that you can’t use an Apple iPod to listen to TV sound that gyms broadcast over FM radio when, of course, you can easily do so: iPod Radio Remote. Elgan even says Apple “stole the name for its iPod Touch product, according to HTC.” There’s much more similar baloney in the full article.
Elgan’s piece ends with, “My point isn’t that Apple’s growing bad reputation is deserved, but that Microsoft’s wasn’t.”
Full article, Think Before You Click™ (unless you want some laughs and wish to reward Elgan and his publisher), here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dwayne” for the heads up.]
Elgan’s piece ignores a multitude of facts and history, not to mention copious legal testimony and verdicts. Bottom line: Elgan’s piece is simply a quest for hits from a Microsoft apologist.
Let us know when Apple threatens some other company that they’ll need the “knife the baby” in order to continue receiving a critical product or support from Apple, okay, Mike?
Spock: “Can you imagine a MS cult?”
It’s twenty people locked in Ballmer’s basement forced to squirt each other endlessly. He swears they are there by choice just like all MS customers but if he doesn’t feed and water them soon, they’re going to die. He tried to pet one once and almost broke the poor, little guy’s neck.
@ zero-in —
As in zero in on an advanced dunce degree?
If there was a beautiful forest in front of you to be appreciated you would be bitchin about the lone dead tree in the top left corner.
geez
MW — outside as in outside of the realm of comprehension
“It’s wether, not weather. Weather is outside.”
I’m the lawyer for a man wearing a pan on his head. Spelling is the least of my worries!
@Spock
When and if Apple does get as much market share for Macs as Micro$oft has for its PCs all the Mac cults are going to look silly. Can you imagine a MS cult? 😀
Microsoft doesn’t build or sell PCs.
@Johnny Appleseed’s Lawyer
I’m the lawyer for a man wearing a pan on his head. Spelling is the least of my worries!
The problem with that attitude is that people will assume you are either lazy or stupid. I would say that both assumptions are bad for a lawyer.
@ Slike
Your comments are just retarded.
It is just like buying an HP printer, and whining because only HP offers the drivers and software.
Just like the iPhone and the iPod need iTunes to sync (there are alternatives anyway) If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.
However, I have been using iTunes since it’s first version on OS 9, and don’t have an iPod. Your comment is just pointless.
WTF its not about worshiping Steve Jobs or any of that…its about Computerworld publishing that utter garbage. As far as I’m concerned they shatted and ate it.
I find the notion of knifing a baby completely disgusting. Just imaging the mess. I have found that a little pre-planning goes a long way. That old wire hanger in my closet has saved me many times.
“Just imaging the mess.”
Lay a towel down under your scanner first.
It reminds me of this dream I had where I was talking on this iPhone, and this guy who looks like Alec Baldwin but with no hair walks over and asks if he can bum a smoke. Of course, I don’t smoke but my iPhone does, so he grabs one from it and then like all of a sudden his face starts to inflate like those Jiffy Pop popcorn skillets. And I’m sitting here going “crap” because I don’t want his face popping all over me, so I throw my iPhone at him and then dive for cover behind this Rottweiler. Effin’ freaked me out!
slike,
I think we get where you are coming from. Time to crawl back under your rock.
I own two 17″ ‘Books, a glossy and a matte, and I no longer use the matte because I HATE the screen.
Stuff it
I don’t understand how they think iTunes is an monopoly.
There are other mp3 players around and other software too. You can buy songs at the same price at iTunes and even rent them.
Apple sell iPods, make software to use in (on both Mac OS X and Windows) and sell songs that can be played on any PC or Mac.
Apple haven’t tried to restrict music distributors from selling to other services, etc. Apple doesn’t sell iPods or songs at a loss, so clearly they are not like M$ at all.
…there is this little thing about eliminating eye soothing matte screens for harsh and eyestraining glossy ones.
Eeee,
actually, I find glossy screens MUCH easier on the eye (better colors and contrast and
less scattering of the light and annoying fuzziness). Reflections have *never* been an issue in my use. Don’t believe the choir of the matte screen whiners.
People don’t get it. iTunes (and Quicktime) is Apple’s second operating system. iTunes has allowed Apple to enter the Windows monopoly thru the back door and beat the crap out of MS in media downloads, mp3 players and now cellphones. Instead of being a monopoly, iTunes has broken what would have been a MS monopoly in all these areas.
It is still possible to buy computers, mp3 players, cellphones, software, media downloads, etc. etc. that have nothing to do with Apple. Some work with Apple stuff and some don’t. Is that a big surprise? Apple was the one asking for DRM-free content, not Microsoft and Sony. That one step would nullify 90% of the problems this guy is spouting off about.
Apple has always allowed you to play mp3 files on it’s iPods without modification or an extra download—not MS or Sony. Remember that stupid scheme Sony had where it would convert your mp3 into their “special” ATRAC file in order to play it on their digital walkmans?
Apple is the only reason we have any choices at all.
“When and if Apple does get as much market share for Macs as Micro$oft has for its PCs all the Mac cults are going to look silly. Can you imagine a MS cult? :-“
That’s when we create the Cupertino City State, whilst on the plains of Silicon Valley, Steves minions shadowing the dark side of the moon prepare for one final assault on plains of Silicon Valley against the Droids of Redmond. (Macbible, Innovations 3, 6:6-66 – OSX version)
The level of delusion required to pretend that Microsoft’s reputation is not wholly earned by Microaoft and is as worse as most people imagine…
I can’t go for more than 20 hours without discovering an article or post that painfully points out just how stupid, uninformed, retarded, ignorant and self-aggrandising people can be. And after all this time, I thought that I would become numb to such stupidity.
I don’t understand how they think iTunes is an monopoly.
There are other mp3 players around and other software too. You can buy songs at the same price at iTunes and even rent them.
Yeah, but a company doesn’t have to have 100% market share to be considered a monopoly, it just has to dominate. That’s why Windows is also considered a monopoly, even though there are other choices.
… and Computerworld is the new Charmin Toilet Tissue.
The headline is an insult to Apple.
First of all Apple produces products for the consumer with the consumer in mind. Ease of use, functionality beyond all others, and great looking products with innovative designs. There about having a great, fun user experience with there products. It just works.
Microsoft on the other hand produces products the Microsoft way, difficult to use, not user friendly, controlling the user instead of the user controlling the software. Usually you spend hours trying to figure out how Microsoft engineers want you to do things. The products are boring, not innovative. Microsoft wants your money and that’s all and they could care less about the consumer or the business. They automatically think you are a thief and you steal everything. So they make you constantly check your hardware and software and disable you just because there software thinks you might have changed something.
Apple has no serial numbers for there OS software. They don’t have any auto checking to profile you as a thief if you are or not.
They assume you are innocent until proven guilty unlike Microsoft. They don’t disable your computers functionality in any way. Apple trusts you, Microsoft DOES NOT!
So this story is FUD!!!
Mike Elgan can’t write on the subject of Apple without betraying his own deeply bitter discontent for whatever reason …although the reasons could be financial ..I mean he could be a corporate tool. His track record speaks for itself …here’s one example http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/12901/
I could write better articles on toilet paper without a pen.
What a scum-sucking flit bag.
MW: “Brown.” As in: He writes from his “brown eye.”
zero-in: “On the hardware side, the latest iMacs are more expensive, not cheaper as Mr. Jobs claimed ,…..”
> Not exactly true; A 17″ imac G5, 512MB Ram, 1.9GHz CPU costed over AUD 2000.– 2 years ago.
zero-in: “Furthermore, when PC manufacturers are offering 2 or 3 GB of RAM, Apple reluctantly started offering 1 GB of RAM.”
>Try running Vista Ulatimate on on a 512 MB RAM, 2 GHz CPU, 128MB AGP Graphics Card, Non PCI Express 2-3 years old Win-Box ….
BTW, Win98 slowed down when installing more than 640MB of RAM … go and figure
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
The water pump on my Volvo went out, and I wanted to put a new
Lexus one on my 240…but NO! the Lexus parts house told me. It
won’t work with my Volvo, so now Volvo has me locked in to their
ecosystem. Monopolist frickin’ bastardos!
apple would make better stuff if the continue to inovate the ipod hi-fi,wicth is a good product in my opinion,but if they could mantain the hi-fi in the same status that would be better;i guess that thing that was happen in the store was only a server error,but with no big problems.
I found some good points in the article and some weak points. Hey surprise, just like any other piece of journalism out there. Apple is a corporation. And therefore, in its quest for maximum profit will in effect “do evil”. Plenty of questionable things done by Apple and it never fails to amaze me how people are vilify anyone who makes any criticism of Apple no matter how justified.
It would seem many Mac users are the epitome of navel gazers.