WHY I ALWAYS AVOID APPLE.

Personal Computers certainly have problems, most of them usually as a result of naff, software from Microsoft. I know i am not alone in being irritated by the constant need to download security updates from them, some of which seem to cause me even more problems. It would appear as many believe that when Microsoft brings out a new operating platform, its really only a Beta version which we then have the dubious pleasure of working in for three or four years till it actually works properly. Then of course our Bill, brings out another version which we have the pleasure of paying for.

I say this just so you won't think i am some kind of geek with nothing better to do with my time. Far from it however. I spend the majority of my time answering emails and scouring the net for the latest research on this or that chemical pollution or danger and i could do without all the tweaking and freakin. Despite this however i would still much rather spend my money on a budget PC than shell out through the nose to improve the lifestyle of Steve Jobs.

Obviously Apple computers have some advantages but despite this, I have long thought of Apple as over-priced and over rated. In recent years Jobs has combined increased desire for commercial success with increased restriction of operability unless you pay the price of course. but, his sucking up to the RIAA and the Music Biz Greed Monsters with his own brand of Net freedom or restriction continues to benefit him. The following piece from the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a good example of what i hate most. If you are an Apple addict and prepared to see only fluffy bunnies and choc ices when you think of Apple, then read no further......

Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod Shuffle
Commentary by Fred von Lohmann
Even as it attacks DRM on music, Apple is continuing to add more DRM to its own hardware (we recently documented all of Apple's various hardware DRM restrictions). The latest example is the new iPod Shuffle. According to the careful reviewers at iLounge, third-party headphone makers will have to use yet-another Apple "authentication chip" if they want to interoperate with the new Shuffle.

Normally, of course, independent headphone makers could simply reverse engineer the interface. The "authentication chip" is there so that Apple's lawyers can invoke the DMCA to block those efforts. So this shows us, yet again, what DRM is for -- not stopping piracy, but rather impeding competition and innovation.

iLounge sums up what this means for consumers:
This is, in short, a nightmare scenario for long-time iPod fans: are we entering a world in which Apple controls and taxes literally every piece of the iPod purchase from headphones to chargers, jacking up their prices, forcing customers to re-purchase things they already own, while making only marginal improvements in their functionality? It’s a shame, and one that consumers should feel empowered to fight.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

One final thought: why have so many of the reviews of iPods failed to notice the proliferation of these Apple "authentication chips"? If it were Microsoft demanding that computer peripherals all include Microsoft "authentication chips" in order to work with Windows (or Toyota or Ford doing the same for replacement parts), I'd think reviewers would be screaming about it.