ChiliIrishHammock24

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 05:15 PM) Honestly, how is it being cool when so many people have them now? When I think of someone as being cool, it's because they make their own choices for their own reasons, have their own sense of style, etc. Your cell phone is one of the most practical devices one can own, and thus, I choose the device that happens to be the easiest for me to understand and use. That is why I choose it. It isn't a suit or a sports car. It is something that I am using in one way or the other all day, every day, and it is usually kept in my pocket (where no one can see it). You are a college student, so I understand what your perspective is and what your life is like. But keep in mind, that is not everyone else's perspective. iPhones are probably the most obvious device of people trying to have a certain image that I can think of. Yeah, driving around a BMW or Mercedes does it too, but the cheaper way to look cool is to get an iPhone. It's the epitome me, "everyone else has one, I need to one too!". There are some people out there that would love a $800 price tag, that way it can be more exclusive and people will know you must have a lot of money if you can afford to get one. Suuuuuuch a status symbol and fashion accessory, it's sickening.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 05:05 PM) Is 3/$36 really that "Team friendly"? If you go to the fangraphs world, ever since his cy young year, he's been a $12 million-$17 million a year pitcher outside of the year he tore apart his shoulder. At his current pace he'll put up $16 million in value this year, so compared to this year that's slightly team friendly, but he's been a $12 million a year pitcher on average since the end of his cy young year. People are talking about the Dodgers paying him more than that...because the Dodgers might overpay anyone who can fill their holes right now and make them a winner next year, even if it's not a smart financial move. See: Andre Etheir's contract for an example. Team friendly = He could get more elsewhere. You don't think he can get more than $12M AAV with another team? A healthy Peavy, as we see in 2012, is a VERY good pitcher. Cole Hamels just got $25M a year, I think half of that is very team friendly.

Absolutely do NOT pick up that option, and hope he will sign a team-friendly 3 yr/$36 deal because he feels bad about never being healthy while with us.

Now being cool next year will only cost you $800-$900! http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a39694...itter-fury.html And then add on the price to re-purchase all those accessories that will no longer be compatible with the new connection size. Let's see if this is all just a rumor or not.

Just to reiterate as I did months ago when we had a similar conversation, I have NEVER said Apple products weren't good. My point has been I don't see why they are BETTER than alternatives at cheaper prices. Outside of the iTouch, I've never seen a product of theirs that I haven't been able to find an alternative to that was just as good, and cheaper. Apple makes very solid products. I would never expect them to make a bad one. However, I DO NOT think any of them justify their price, or are good enough to ignore anything else that's out there. EDIT: Actually, I DO think that the Shuffle is absolutely laughable. I'm sure it works perfectly, but the idea of it is so silly that I find it asinine. So I guess you could argue I don't think it's very good, because of it's design.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 04:20 PM) Network effects have also been huge for Apple. Being able to plug your phone or mp3 player into numerous devices in the home and car and get direct control is something only available on an iPhone/Pod/Pad because it's the only thing worth dedicating the resources to develop for. Yeah, that's the only thing I missed about my past devices, the lack of tons of accessories for it. I mean, they have them, but they are all made by the company, and are expensive, whereas tons of 3rd party companies make Apple devices, and the prices go down. It's the only thing I miss.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 04:12 PM) The circular "wheel" was a HUGE improvement on all other mp3 players because it allowed you to scroll through massive quantities of music in relatively short order. I preferred the Creative Touch's thumb pad to a giant scroll wheel. It also allowed for quick scrolling. But yeah, that's really the only difference I saw from their product versus others.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 04:07 PM) Innovation isn't just a matter of "inventing" something never seen or heard of before. A lot of it involves taking a product that is good in concept, but poor in execution, and improving about that execution so that the product realizes the potential of the concept. The iPod was a prime example of that, as was the iPhone, the all-in-one iMac, the iPad, as well as many of their software applications. How did the iPod improve upon what Creative was already doing? I mean, they stole their interface, and Creative products STILL had more features to it, plus it allowed for drag-and-drop, as well as providing it's own software similar to iTunes (minus the store).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 03:59 PM) The reason the iPod took off was the interface. An interface that Creative was already using, and sued Apple for infringement of, unless Apple decided to just pay them a large sum of money to just let forget about it. http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/05/6838-2/

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 03:56 PM) They are now, but iTunes purchases were DRM'd for iTunes and Apple devices for a LONG time. Oh I see. Well Playsforsure was compatible with...... AOL MusicNow Yahoo! Music Unlimited Spiralfrog MTV URGE MSN Music Musicmatch Jukebox Wal-Mart Music Downloads Ruckus Network PassAlong Networks Rhapsody iMesh BearShare So there were definitely alternatives for those who wanted to purchase music legally, although back then it was mostly just ripping CD's you had bought. Digital music wasn't that popular.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 03:53 PM) Hah, I understand you enjoy getting a rise out of me, but honestly, if you have this opinion, you're only doing a disservice to yourself, and in the meantime, wrecking all credibility you have on this issue. Even the harshest of Apple critics would concede the opposite of the bolded above. What product, outside of the iPod Touch, has been completely new that we've never seen before? And just to be clear, I'm not talking about stuff from way back in the day when it was run with Woz at the helm. I mean in the new age of portable technology.

The only product Apple ever made that stood out to me as being really cool and different from what I had seen elsewhere, was the iPod Touch. At the time, I wasn't aware of any other completely touch screen mp3 players that had a bunch of games and apps on them. THAT was cool. Everything else they have made I have said "ok, and why is that any different or better than anything else already out there?". I don't see them as an innovative company at all. They just take things that already exist, and slap their logo on them and people freak out, piss themselves, and wait in line for days to buy it for 2x the price of similar items that already exist.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 03:30 PM) Part of making a product successful is getting people to buy it. It also helped that it was a very good mp3 player. Those mp3 cd players were garbage. There are a million products that may be good but don't take off, and those companies have no one to blame but themselves. Apple was not a major player in the early 00s. The imac was kinda getting more popular. Ipod took off because it was a really good product. If you would have made a bet it 00 on who would make the next big music device, i would have probably bet sony. I don't blame them for marketing the s*** out of their products, advertising obviously works. I am just saying, I'm generally not the kind of person that gets sucked in to marketing campaigns. I research the s*** out of products before I buy them. I remember when I purchased my first stand-alone mp3 player (not the mp3-cd player devices Sony made). I printed off specs and prices for the Creative Zen Touch, Apple iPod 4G, Dell DJ, iRiver something, and possibly a Rio. I went over them with my parents for a long time, looking at pros and cons of each. I chose the Creative Zen in the end. I had no opinion of Apple at that point. I went in to it completely unbiased, and made an opinion based on the information I had in front of me, and reviews I read online. It wasn't until a few years ago that I started to hate Apple and completely ruled them out of any purchase I will ever make.

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 05:37 PM) The Red Sox placed Nick Punto on waivers today. He would be a better option than Hudson at this point... no, No, NO!!!!!

I'll be back at school, and I don't spend money on games.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:49 PM) This was the huge leap that Apple made...you could actually upload your music to the device easily and without constant bs errors and the device crashing. There is a reason none of us have a clue of what those other devices are and yet we all know what the Shuffle is/was...and my Apple sold a s***load of them. But you can keep ignoring the real facts, Joe. Is because Apple has a huge marketing campaign. Microsoft is the only other company I can ever remember advertising their mp3 players on TV a lot. Possibly the Dell DJ, but when you are constantly seeing something advertised on TV, you are going to think about it first. Ask anyone you know, and almost all of them you ask will say Apple invented the mp3 player. They were never the first, they were just the loudest. Just because you are unaware of other companies that produce products doesn't mean a whole lot other than you aren't looking in to alternatives, and they don't advertise as much.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:52 PM) You are just making s*** up as you go along... Seriously, the anecdotal evidence of you and your dad versus the billions of downloads on iTunes...you are really grasping here. Lol, just like I'm sure you think it's a myth that the dogs in my family have automatic feeders and yet aren't fat, unhealthy, or over-eat. LOL. You don't have to believe anything, but it doesn't mean my stories aren't true.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:33 PM) There's another difference though...those devices were nice, but you couldn't hook them up easily to an available, legal online store for music. Hooking a shuffle up to Itunes, being able to rapidly swap in and out playlists and other content...legally, was a very important part of their success also. Are the songs you buy on iTunes only allowed to be moved to Apple devices? I am pretty sure other devices can play them. Creative players come with PlaysForSure, which ensures that any music you purchase through an online music store is capatible to play on the device. Plus, "drag and drop" is a much more simplistic and easier system to use than iTunes. iTunes is pure garbage as a software. My dad made the mistake of buying an ipod a long time ago, and he could never figure out how to use iTunes, and neither one of us could figure out how to get a video on the damn thing. He ended up switching to a Sandisk I believe, and it was much easier to work with.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:17 PM) They won't do that, they were asking the Rangers to both take on his contract and to give legit talent back. Well then he's never going to get moved. No one can absorb an extra $25M a year like that for a nearly-34-year-old pitcher.

They would have to throw in like $40M to whatever team takes him.

I think I've made my point, but just for the hell of it......another Rio one that came out years before the Shuffle, you know, when the technology to add a screen to micro mp3 players apparently didn't exist.....

And then of course you have something by Rio, who has been making mp3 players since WAYYY before Apple ever did....

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 08:23 AM) The point of it was to be small, and a storage unit for songs you wanted to hear play...you didn't need a screen for what the device was...you could hear the song. It was a great size for people who wanted to run with it...and that's all it was. It wasn't meant for any other audience. This is the part you don't seem to get. Until recently, most cars didn't have displays for their CD players, either...so what? You couldn't hear the song playing? Except....the technology DID exist. Other devices were just as small and HAD screens. For example, the Zen Micro...... Came out before the shuffle, was small, had a built-in FM radio (which I believe ipods didn't even have until the iPod Touch's, right?), had a microphone, it could record songs off the radio, and it could display pictures. And then you have the Creative Muvo, which had a display, and FM radio, and microphone, and came out a couple years earlier..... And while I didn't look up prices, I'm willing to bet that BOTH of those cost cheaper than the Shuffle did.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 08:48 AM) You're right. My bad. There really is no evidence at all that you may have that opinion. I have no idea where I came up with that. Thank you. I accept your apology.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 1, 2012 -> 03:35 PM) Don't mind Joe. He thinks Apple is a terrible company that makes awful products. Hmmmm, interesting. Tell me more, I love hearing about these things I never said, yet you've somehow gathered. No really, I'd love to hear!