jbelkin's Profile

  • Oct 16, 2008
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Latest comments made by: jbelkin

  • I think we are passed the time when a majority of people care about the OS ... Several things - most corporations are going to upgrade if they have to or Ms forces them so while it counts as a WIn7 upgrade, it's not really. Several corporations have announced they are going to still hold at XP. MS fanboys will certainly care and sure a small % of buyers might actually sit down and weigh them accordingly but consumers? No. Win7 might as well be WIn8 - while Vista early on GAVE people an excuse NOT to upgrade, the real reason is they see NO VALUE in the OS. WIn is an okay OS if they get it FREE with their computer - one reason why WIN PC ASP is around $500. They are not going to pay $199 to $499 to upgrade a thing they value at $500 and that's the bottom line. They are only willing to pay $500 for a computer because that's all think it's worth - it'd be like saying to most peopel, for $999, we can upgrade your transmission - 98% of people could care less who makes their transmission to their car - does it work. They know it's part of the cost of the car but they're not paying to upgrade it ... same with WIN. It's a fine Os when it's "free" as part of the cheapest computer on Earth. Mac users see things differently. They see the Sunday ads, have fiddled with WIN and decide it's worth spending more because they VALUE the personal computer experience more. So, even if WIN7 is the greatest OS of all time, it will actually affect a OSX versus WIN buyers to a tiny, tiny margin ... because 99.6% of people have already made up their minds. Also Win7 still looks like a MS OS so it's not really like a perceptuaal upgrade antway.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jun 04, 2009 Posts: 41
    Snow Leopard and Windows 7: Two Flavors of the Same GUI
  • The bottom line is that 85% of the people buying PC's buy it on price alone because to them a personal computer (any OS) is not worth more than $499, $399 or $299 - to them, it's not IMPORTANT enough to spend more. Many of us would disagree here but to them, it's like buying curtains or a bookcase ... there are people who spent $5k on curtains and $10k on carpets but $499 on a computer because it's just not that important to them so Chris is right, people claim they want a "cheap" Mac and they have one - a Mini but for the most part, who does it bring to the table? Either Mac users or feel they don't really need that much power and prefer to choose their own monitor or a few PC users but if you go to an Apple store, most Pc users who decide to go mac either buy a laptop or an imac ... people who buy macs value VALUE ... just as a Kia can outcorner a BMW in a specific test and costs way less than a BMW but what % of BMW buyers buy a Kia? Or conversely all the people who claim that PC pricing is the only criteria but would never buy a car that way? The facts are that people calim they want a cheaper mac but the mac buying audience ultimately decides they'd rather spend an extra few hundred dollars from a mini + monitor to an imac or to a macbook ... that is why Apple's US share of $1k retail sales is 66% ... people who really want a computer and not just to have a thing on their desk choose Macs ... or conversely, WIN PC's have fallen from 98% to 34% in 7 years in the $1k category ... (and of course, clearly, the growth of $1k is faster as Apple is crusin at 35% growth EVERY year while Win PC's are increasing at %5 growth ...)
    jbelkin had this to say on Oct 16, 2008 Posts: 41
    Why you didn't see an $800 MacBook: The Dell Comparison
  • Just because it's not for you or you don't need it - does not make it a horrible product. If you stand in a store and hold a laptop (any laptop), the weight is usually okay but for road warriors who have to schlep it from town to town, up & down and all around, 1/2 lb is like 10 lbs by the time you cross the plaza and 2 lbs weight savings is 30 lbs running down the concourse. With the added "remote" feature, there is really nothing missing - OF COURSE, we all want EVERY feature known to man on EVERY machine not just a Mac but the compromises are reasonable. I can carry a uSB stick with utilities and recovery software. I can load movies via wifi or a USb cable or a USB stick. And I'm sure in a month, someone will sell me a portable battery that charges the Mac via USB - in fact, it's better that it's an external because maybe I don't even to shut down before removing the other battery - WHICH I HAVE TO CARRY ANYWAY so whether it's an internal battery or an external one, the weigh is ALL THE SAME - big whoop. It's NOT for everyone but for those who value weight and battery life over having 5 ports to plug into THIS INSTANT, it's a gorgeous machine that serves its main purpose of being fairly speedy and very, very lightweight. If you don't get it or don't need, fine, just step away - it's not even remotely a horrible product unless you have no idea what you are talking about.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jan 18, 2008 Posts: 41
    The MacBook Air Is a Horrible, Horrible Product
  • PC users find this hard to believe but each Mac OS actually makes your older machine faster - I know you think this is a lie as PC users who try and install even XP2 over XP find it's not worth the bother - just buy a new machine while I have a laptop I mostly just used to surf while watching TV or for when guests are at the house, I've upgraded from 10.2 to 10.4 and damn if the thing isn't actually faster ... I know Pc users will find it hard to believe but it's true - one reason why Macs hold up their value.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jul 04, 2007 Posts: 41
    The Amazing Resale Value of Your Mac
  • If you value your time, you will try and get rid of verizon. Note that at worst, at the end of two years, you still have a WIDESCREEN VIDEO IPOD - what is your current phone worth now or in 2 years? To get out of your contract, figure out where your phone ROAMS and just make calls from there - after a few days, Verizon will politely ask you to leave their service.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jul 02, 2007 Posts: 41
    iPhone Mania Has Only Just Begun
  • I have to say this is a pretty strange analysis - there's no real way to disprove your hypothesis but I believe Adobe wished the Mac would've just hone away so they could concentrate their resources just on the WIN market. In the beginning, of course, there was no real long term plan, no one knew exactly what going to happen with the personal computing market especially with graphics. It was a very niche market, a true color computer with mostly true color monitor cost anywhere from $6 to $10k (today's inflation dollars - $10k-$18k) - sure, you could run PS on a b&w mac (or PC) and that was nice and all that and very, very cool (PS 1.0 was like the Mac - the world was suddenly different) but unless you had access to a $6k laser printer, it's like creating art on an etch a sketch ... Until the early 1990's, it was a given that "creative" depts had macs and everyone else eventullay got PC's and you could actually argue that when PS got released on WIndows, it negated the reason for many companies to keep Macs. PS was really one of the few undisputed irreplacable apps. Now, keep in mind, most of the PC versions oF PS were crap until maybe release 4.0 many years alter but the purchasing dept or IT doesn't care about usability. Hey, if PS is avaialble on a PC and they absolutely need PS, great - on the next buying cycle, let's get rid of the Mac and this continued until the late 1990's. Adobe even did their part either through cheapness, laziness or actively trying to kill the Mac - hard to say for 100% certainty because you could argue all three. Macs did a major transition from OS6 to OS 7, ADobe was a year late in moving and when Macs went from OS9 to OSX, again, it took Adobe 18 months to finally release an OSX version and it wasn't true OSX and now from PPC to Intel, again, Adobe is the LAST major app to complete the transition. Maybe it's just because they are cheap & lazy, but you see the pattern? THey got into a dispute with Apple in the 1990's because Adobe wanted Apple to adopt their Postscript as the screen display also but Apple decided not to - since then, Adobe has been frankly, kind of pissy. They basically upgraded Premiere & AF on the PC side but 5 years later, nothing on the Mac side - in fact, iMovie was based on Premiere 3.0 that the developer wanted Adobe to re-do from the ground up but Adobe didn't think it was worth it so they sold it Apple. Same with every app they've sold, upgrade the WIN version, upgrade the Mac version only very reluctantly and slowly (and missing PC features) - maybe it's because they are a cheap company so they hate the fact the Mac side is vocal and the driver of the market where the real pros are so they can't stop developing but they clearly would rather just write Win apps to save them time & money. At least with MS, you can understand when they play games (like the new DOCX) format won't be true mac compatible until next year but Adobe? If anything, they are morons. THey have pissed off Apple AND MS (sued MS for including PDF creation). Not exactly really smart. Maybe that's why they want to develop Flash as the web language (and of course, Apple digs in deeper by ignoring Flash for the iphone) - after all these years, they still struggle from quarter to quarter and when others are lowering the price of software, they try and sell everything for $800, once, 10% of the price of a PC but now 100-50% of a personal computer. THey don't seem to get it's 2007, hell, they still think it's 1995.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jun 28, 2007 Posts: 41
    Did Adobe Save Apple by Supporting Windows?
  • well at least you got the hype part right. Apple did on keynote, some conferences and a few ads - the rest of us ran with it. as for the rest - flash & java are designed to win designer awards since html at best 'blinks' a little (99.999% of it is pointless) especially idiotic websites that unknowingly turn the front door keys over to adobe - the ones who refuse to let you on until you turn on java/flash. if anything, it interferes with true web surfing. THat is why google is switching to H.264 for quality also. the iphone has all the working apps you'd need - other phones need 3rd party apps because the included are crap. And all the included apps are working apps so what was your question? the last Apple needs is some app to load "free" ringtones that is a spambot. the ipod is closed but you can load apps into that also. as for wireless, if you're impressed with the Zune, great, buy one - personally, I would rather have the battery power to talk versus looking to download a song I heard at HOT TOPIC - everyone has priorities - if Zune delivers what you have at the top of your list, buy one. For the rest of us, that's unimportant - and sure 3G is nice but at another couple hundred dollars, less battery - 3F is not exactly burning up the charts now - less than 1 million subscibers in the US. Of course, you're entitled to your opinion.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jun 15, 2007 Posts: 41
    3 Reasons Why I Hate The iPhone
  • You're right it's pointless to rehash old history but the main difference is that MS is a CONVICTED monopolist. There's nothing wrong with being dominant (like the ipod), having a large marlet share is not in itself illegal - it's when you leverage that monopoly to make other gains. That is the main difference between MS & Apple. One's been convicted by dozens of countries and states of committing illegal acts.
    jbelkin had this to say on Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 41
    Apple Culture vs. Microsoft Culture
  • Of course, wall street works now is there's really no upside to setting lofty goals, you are better to aim at 110% of what you can do and the rest is bonus. If anything, if you're just a penny above expectations, that's consideration to sell. There's no real penalty for guessing $.64 a share and coming at $.87 - there's grumbling by 29 analysts but there's thousands driving up shares 8% overnight ... humm, what's preferable?
    jbelkin had this to say on Apr 26, 2007 Posts: 41
    Apple Has an Amazing Quarter
  • You're right about SJ being stubborn and why MS did what they did but they are working a game plan from 1992 and it won't work here. Even Morris in his last comments says it's an experiment and it'd be nice to continue it - knowing full well SJ is not going to go for it. a) Apple could start by pointing out that what's next, why not car manufacturers charge you for gassing up every time or fridge makers everytime you open the door? What else are you using their thing for? b) Clearly with the lower than calculated sale for ipod for online tracks, it's PROVEN that consumers already know how to load non AAC Fairplay tracks on their ipod so what would a Universal pullout achieve? NOTHING. Consumers would continue to DL illegally or buy CD's. Unless Universal is prepared to stop selling CD's in the stores at the same, their bluff is NOTHING. c) Who is going to win this PR battle? Universal? the Music Industry? Or the other side? SJ, Apple, musicians and the music consumer? d) Steve Jobs heads Apple, Pixar and sits on the board of Disney - who is going to piss off SJ and who plans on staying in the entertainment industry? MS cannot seem this because they think it's 1992 and they can implement their embrace & extend game plan - only in this case, Apple is 100 times more because Apple has deliver some $300 million to Universal (guessing at their $1 cut for selling about 25% of all the itunes tracks sold so far) so Universal might talk big to the press, the reality is they are not walking away from that versus MS's ONE MILLION dollar deal (what MS just announced they'll by June 2007 - talk about low expectations ... Apple should be crossing the 120 million ipod by then)
    jbelkin had this to say on Dec 07, 2006 Posts: 41
    Is Microsoft counting on Steve Jobs' Obstinance?
  • There is no way any store in a WTO country is going to go out on a limb and buy into this. It's financial and legal suicide. And any country where the copyright laws are suspect or unenforced, they're not going to bother - like that store in Russia. Since you can legally remove the DRM, it's like buying shrimp from the back of a pickup truck parked in front of the supermarket - you could save a few steps but what's the point? I'll bet the itune store purchasers break out like this - 10% who convert everything to DRM free tracks, 40% who like knowing they can convert at any time and 50% who don't even know or care - they just like the fact they can plug in their ipod, click around and load it right up - instead of having to go to a store, park, look for a CD and then have to convert it themselves. The bottom line is a mediocre dinner at a restaurnt costs $75 for two and that's fogotten in 2 days - so what if 75 songs are in a format - it's all just disposable. Of course, there are vocal critics who cite a lot of stats and resolution and fidelity numbers but in the real world beyond us geeks, NOBODY CARES. The studios have probably sold $200 BILLION dollars worth of DVD's - the fact that only about a small % of geeks know how to copy them has not held back sales or even made a difference. How many people can claim they have never lost or misplaced a CD or DVD they've bought?
    jbelkin had this to say on Nov 21, 2006 Posts: 41
    Double Twist iTunes Destroyer?
  • Honestly, 90% of the people who are really interested in running OSX on their PC are either hackers or people who insist on building thir own white box - just because they enjoy fiddling with it everyday and every week - swapping something out in the "name of making it the best" but in reality, like a kit car - a hodgepodge of technology and frankly, crap. It would be easier just to go out and buy a Mustang 500 for the amount of money they are spending. If anything, offering a Mac OSX legally would bore them - they'd must rather have it as it now - try to hack their system so it runs ... let them just buy a box of OSX off the shel;f but you can NEVER please this crowd with a legal product. As for the rest of the interested people, Mac already licenses the OSX, it's called a MINI. For $600, you get OSX plus iLife and NO viruses ... even if you count XP as the equal to OSX, ilife is available nowhere else for thousands of dollars PLUS you get free walk-in tech support and hundreds of stores who will not tell you to call the MS or vice versa, it's a hardware issue. And that leads to the final reason - how much would you have to price OSX to cover all the add'l tech support (look at all the whining over the FREE PC itunes?) and port ilife also? $499? $599? Hey, look, it's the price of a MINI - again, for pretty much the same price, Apple can deliver you the full Mac experience without the need to set up tech support. Collolary to that is when Pc users walk into a store and see OSX at retail at $499 or $599, they think - man, that's one expensive OS - the hardware must be expensive - it's a bad sitiuation all around. Other than the hackers and pirates who want to run a free OS, the average person does not really know or care that much anymore - you ask them to identify what's Windows and what the browser - how many people will get that right? 30% Apple is doing it right now - build buzz and provide an easy in - the mini. You keep the keyboard, mouse & monitor you like, plug us in and try it out ...
  • Of course, the mac side does have more ultra fanatics - I'm fine with that but I think I speak for many mac users in that we really don't think about it that much. We choose a mac because we look around and decided based on all the evidence that a mac is the best tool when it when it comes to a personal computer - it's why many people buy certain japanese cars - while they might like a particular style - the main reason is they just wanted a car that was reliable, would start up with no worries for 5 years (or more) and other than regular maintenance not have to worry about things not working - that's why many people choose macs - if you ask us specifically we will cite many things but really, the bottom line is it's a computer that will give you the satisfying startup sound 1000 out of 1001 days and among those reasons are no viruses, etc ... but you also have to note that PC users were not exactly acting gentlemanly or lady-like in their attitude towards mac users like - why are you still "different" when you should be like us and dismissing our reasonings ... so of course, mac users have developed an attitude or "defense' if you will against random (verbal) attacks but PC users are not exactly just random bypassers in this sitiation either. Basically the bottom line is this - Mac users understand why corporations buy Windows - just like corporations buy 99% of white cargo vans but when it comes to your own hard earned money, mac users are honestly puzzled as to why anyone would buy a PC - yea, there's the games thing but to us, that's like saying you're buying a cargo van because you're in band - but beyond that tony % of use, we honestly don't get why anyone would buy a PC (not to mention there are other console choices for playing games). You can call that arrogance but think of it this way - to us, Pc users are like polygamists (we're not talking about ones who marry girls but who are married to legally consenting women) - we just don't get it. You can try to explain why you're a PC polygamist but we just won't get it and frankly, we're not that interested. If you're content with your PC or your 5 spouses - okay, fine ... but if you ask why you should get a mac or choose 1 spouse, we'll be happy to give you dozens of reasons.
    jbelkin had this to say on Oct 18, 2006 Posts: 41
    AAM: Curious About the Mac Attitude
  • PC users I think for the most part also do not believe us mac users who claim we have not seen a virus, trojan or malware in 5 YEARS (highjack your search bar? What does that mean?*) We might as well be telling them we rode on the back on the Loch Ness monster for an hour in that Scottish lake ... They just cannot convieve it and think we all got together as part of some mass conspiracy. * My friend's PC had 20 searchbars and 200+ items deemed as spyware after I helped him install a spyware checker ... and of course, this app he used insisted on using IE but as soon as IE launched, another 37 windows would pop up and pop under.
    jbelkin had this to say on Sep 13, 2006 Posts: 41
    Mac or PC? PC Google Ads Suggest a Mac
  • corporate - yes, there's no reason not to - I'm sure Apple can get a good OEM deal or if not, they can sell a partitioned Mac and setup the Admin server software to handle putting their license WIN on macs ... consumers - no, because then as "official software," they'd have to offer some sort of support for it.
    jbelkin had this to say on Aug 30, 2006 Posts: 41
    What If Apple Did Sell Macs with Windows Pre-installed?