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Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

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Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#301

Post by tomjen3 »

jodrellblank wrote: post #183
tomjen3 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on which group you look into. The social level who can afford to buy apple? Most likely not that many. Those who can't afford to change the laptop if it breaks (or who would find this to be a major expense)? Yeah, I can believe that.

The social level who can afford to buy apple? A Toughbook costs more than a comparable MBP.

And insurance costs more than not having it, but the poorer you are, the more you need it.

So yeah, it is maybe more expensive but I can totally see why you would want that.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#302

Post by Tichy »

thenduks wrote: post #269
Tichy wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the downvotes? I want my mum to chat with my niece. Mum would have an iPad, niece a MacBook. Mum should look good on the MacBook. Also, Facetime has been a major element of recent Apple ads.

The point is that mum and neice will look good -- you don't need a 12MP camera to do that.

Not 12MP, but more than 0,3MP. A popular Logitech webcam has 2MP, and I have heard that it DOES make a difference for video chats compared to lower quality cameras.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#303

Post by rbarooah »

burgerbrain wrote: post #249
tptacek wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As you have just demonstrated, it is perfectly possible to complain about the coverage Apple gets on HN without calling people names.

So are you going to answer his question? Since 'fanboys' is taboo or insulting, what are we supposed to collectively refer to these people as?

Why do you need a term aside from for use in ad hominem attacks?

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#304

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

fluidcruft wrote: post #150
corin_ wrote: post #8

Completely agree. I'm not exactly an apple fanboy, but I do love my iPad, and there isn't yet a competitor's device I'd want to replace it with (although I'm hoping BlackBerry's will change that). If he had come out and given all the ways that the iPad 2 is better than the iPad, I'd have been impressed. But spending half the time criticising competitors just came across as the kind of tacky tactic that really shouldn…

Allow me to appropriate a quotation from a person who's legacy Apple has had no shame appropriating for marketing: "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." This was plainly an exercise in ridicule by Jobs.

I don't disagree, though I would say plenty of things which are ridiculed are done so with good cause and don't get anywhere near the fighting or winning stage.

Just because you're being ridiculed doesn't mean you're on the right track, it might just mean that you're genuinely worthy of ridicule.

(Note: I'm not suggesting that Android is worthy of ridicule, just saying the fact that someone chooses to ridicule you says little about what might happen next).

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#306

Post by buster »

Jach wrote: post #289
darkandbrooding wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Apple is a religion." I find the "cult of apple" and "apple is a religion" memes amusing because, including myself, the majority of Apple users that I know are atheists. Personally, I think "spectator sports" makes for more constructive analogies than religion. People develop very strong associations to their favorite rugby/football/etc team, delight in their team's victories, and bemoan their losses. Some people ch…

I wish I could upvote you more. "X is a religion" should only be valid when X categorically resembles a religion--books, worship, in-group perks, rituals, supernatural, the lot. Your sports team analogy is great.

books: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dap...

worship: http://www.google.de/images?q=steve+jobs+messiah

rituals: the constant plugging in of iphones and ipods into iDevices to recharge/setup

Couldn't resist ;)

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#307

Post by danssig »

othermaciej wrote: post #299
Silhouette wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean Apple, Microsoft, Google, RIM et al? Yes, I think it's a pretty fair assessment to say that they are all losing steam. Their basic problem is that smartphones and tablets have gone from being the cool new toys of yesteryear to being mainstream, expensive tools, with just a soupçon of "too clever for your own good". I saw an interesting debate a few weeks ago on HN. Some people saw these generic tools as the…

Your perspective is interesting. But I think it weakens your argument to claim you would short these stocks in theory, but actually won't. The market price is determined by people who are confident enough in their beliefs to act on them. And those people collectively seem to think market-cap-weighted bundle of AAPL, MSFT, GOOG and RIMM is a good bet. If you are not confident enough to act, then that significantly dis…

He may not have the assets to act in any meaningful way.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#308

Post by danssig »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #86
NickPollard wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying the iPad has sold more than 90% of all devices that are like iPads? Seems verging on tautological to me.

Aka The No True Scotsman Fallacy

Right. Then they need to count Etcha-Sketch in there too.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#309

Post by tnorthcutt »

dean wrote: post #160
Tycho wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are there really millions of Galaxy Tab users ? Anyway, I don't think it's that 'devious' of a lie considering the iPad 2 will simply replace the iPad line, which sells 1 million per month, and will probably do more with the new device. It's not technically true just yet, but it almost certainly will be in a month's time. It would be different if the iPad 2 was a whole new product line.

It's not technically true just yet, but it almost certainly will be in a month's time. Well, let him say it in a month's time. Until then, it's not true -- technically or otherwise.

Well, let him say it in a month's time. Until then, it's not true -- technically or otherwise.

It's what Mr. Jobs likes to call a "future-truth".

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#310

Post by bane »

rbarooah wrote: post #282
bane wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw nothing that constituted a "lie." Here's the list from the article since you must have skipped over them: 1) A mistranslation from Korean that puts a competitor in a bad light. 2) "First dual core tablet to ship in volume." 3) ">90% market share". #1 could arguably just a rehash of old stuff, "sorry guys I'm a bit out of date". #2 and #3 are complete fabrications. The rest of the article was just nitpicking.

#2 depends on your definition of volume, and it's pretty clear that nobody is close to Apple there, so it's hardly even an exaggeration let alone a lie. #3 isn't a fabrication either. For it to be false, you either have to include e-readers, or assume that Samsung sold over 1.6m Tabs, which seems extremely unlikely given the evidence. #1 is the most dishonest looking one, but none of it really justifies the "You Lie!…

#2 Since the iPad 2 wasn't shipping at all, its volume is 0 at the time this was said. That much is inarguable, full stop. Ergo it is a lie.

#3 Provide documentation then, don't guess. Since you're obviously an Apple fan (not saying there is anything wrong with that), guessing will only provide numbers and situations that you want -- confirmation bias.

For it not to be a lie, Apple must own not 88% of the market, not 90% of the market but some number larger than 90%. And yes, include Nook colors since they're Android tablets and sold out and back-ordered where I live. And include Windows tablets. And include cheapo Walgreens Android tablets, and RIM tablets and Nokia tablets, convertable notebooks/netbooks, netpads and whatever other random tablet form factor is out there today. If you want to constrain the form factor to "a big screen that you touch and carry around" so that it excludes Kindles, I think that's fine and makes sense. Here's some lists of tablets so you can start your research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_personal_computer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_computer

Unfortunately, all indications are that Apple owns somewhere between 85-88% of the tablet market today. Which is a fantastically impressive number considering that Microsoft has been trying to build the tablet market for many years and Apple's only been at it a fraction of the time. That is the number that should have been presented, it's an amazing number. There's no reason to fabricate a number and lie.

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