Why does apple block what the iPad can do?

[gentlefury]

The Windows/Linux PC environment illustrates what happens with an open system. Some good/some bad. Apple has pretty much had a closed system from the beginning. If the device can only run "supplied" software and use certified devices, then the service/repair/upgrade loop becomes much easier to work and the company also makes more money.
The iPad/iPod/iPhone/iTouch environment has reached many more people with the attendant demand for openness. Where that will end up is anyone's guess.

I think the Mac system is brilliant. The system works because the hardware is closed (mostly...you can still put in 3rd party ram and hard drives)....this means they only have a handful of configurations in the wild at any given time....so when there is a software update it positively affects every system. Unlike windows that has to work on any infinite number of setups and is reliant on 3rd party vendors to provide drivers to work.

Also, since they manufacture their systems you can bring it in for repair or replace to any Apple store.

You can still install Windows/Linux on your mac if you choose to....and you can install any number of 3rd party applications....but the closed hardware system provides a MUCH better user experience all around!

This also holds true to iOS....which is an even smaller set of hardware rules.

 

[DaveSt]

You can still install Windows/Linux on your mac if you choose to....and you can install any number of 3rd party applications....but the closed hardware system provides a MUCH better user experience all around!

Sure, until you want to upgrade the hardware and then you are simply out of luck. Breathing new life into a Mac must equal buying a new system? Seems crazy to me, especially at the prices you pay for that closed system.

 

[deckyon]

Then dont buy a "closed system." It is simple. No one is forcing you to buy a MAC or iPad.

 

[DaveSt]

Then dont buy a "closed system." It is simple. No one is forcing you to buy a MAC or iPad.

I don't believe I ever implied I was being forced into anything. I thought we were discussing the philosophical differences in the two approaches. Just trying to see the plus and minus to each side. I'm so used to being able to upgrade my system when it needs it, I'm just wondering what happens when the family Mac starts showing its' age.

 

[MarkK]

Just where is a Mac a closed system?

Mac OS X is Open Source, I haven't found any hardware which doesn't work on my Mac, the interfaces are standard as well.

Now, which other commercial OS is Open Source?
Which other system is as stable as a Mac?
Which hardware won't run on a Mac? (I'm not talking drivers here, it's not Apple's fault if hardware-manufacturers don't create Mac-drivers)

I think, the Mac wins over your standard PC in just about any point.

 

[DaveSt]

OS X is NOT open source. The Darwin kernel is open source (as required, Apple forked BSD to create it). Everything else that makes OS X what it is (interface, built-in applications, etc.) is completely closed.

Mac is a closed system in the fact that a very small subset of hardware is compatible with it unless you choose to go the Hackintosh route.

I'm not trying to get into a debate over the merits of one OS over the other. Might as well start arguing religion.

 

[col.bris]

I am mystified to what hardware will not run on a Mac. I had some issues with plotters back in OS9 days but no real issues with just about any hardware with the 700 Mac sites i support that have OSX installed and these include cross platform sites, CAD, publishing graphic and general business sites In respect to the iPad it can be hacked if one really wants to but the majority really don't wish or want to go that path they are more than happy with what they purchased and again that is coming from feedback from my own clients many whom are using the iPad as a business tool.

 

[DaveSt]

I am mystified to what hardware will not run on a Mac. I had some issues with plotters back in OS9 days but no real issues with just about any hardware with the 700 Mac sites i support that have OSX installed and these include cross platform sites, CAD, publishing graphic and general business sites In respect to the iPad it can be hacked if one really wants to but the majority really don't wish or want to go that path they are more than happy with what they purchased and again that is coming from feedback from my own clients many whom are using the iPad as a business tool.

Could you swap out your existing motherboard and CPU with a AMD solution if you wanted a quick speed upgrade? I was under the impression that OS X (the newest versions) require Intel hardware but I honestly don't know the answer. Could you swap out your existing Intel based MB + CPU for any third party motherboard and Intel CPU and still be able to boot up OS X? That is the type of hardware change I am referring to in regards to upgrading an aging Mac. Perhaps this is all completely possible but I don't think it is. Can you swap out your old video card for the latest ATI cards? Can you stick an Nvidia Fermi card in there?

 

[robertlc]

I'm not trying to get into a debate over the merits of one OS over the other. Might as well start arguing religion.

Or about Flash on the ipad!

 

[DaveSt]

I'm not trying to get into a debate over the merits of one OS over the other. Might as well start arguing religion.

Or about Flash on the ipad!

LoL! Exactly.

 

[Tinman]

Then dont buy a "closed system." It is simple. No one is forcing you to buy a MAC or iPad.

Apple and its fans should be welcoming as many into the product as possible. But let's get back to iOS and not the Mac, because the Mac is not treated like iOS by Apple itself.

The iPhone was the hottest ticket. And I do love mine.

But now Android, in no small part because of its openness, is overtaking the iPhone. This "Why Android is Better than iPhone" clip from CNET playfully lambastes Apple's nanny-like behavior:
Videos - Free video downloads and streaming video - CNET TV

I have no doubt Android will do the same thing with tablets.

So Apple fans can tell people to just not buy it, or explain how "closed is better" but I figure in about a year, year and a half max, it won't matter: Android will own the tablet market too. Is that really what you want?

And yes Apple has a lot of cash right now. A lot of that was because the iPhone put Apple into the limelight at a time Microsoft was asleep at the wheel (Vista). And the iPhone OS was only the launching point for iOS. Then came the iPod touch, better iPhones, and then the iPad. But MacBook Air the first time around? Not such a big hit. Ditto for Apple TV--both times. I think if iOS becomes marginalized and looked down upon in a big way it could start a trend for Apple. And not a good one.





Michael

 

[dapeeper]

Then dont buy a "closed system." It is simple. No one is forcing you to buy a MAC or iPad.

That is not the point. Obviusly you have bought into the closed system, but fortunately 90% of the world has not, like me.

I can pop into any store, even eBay and buy hardware to add to my system without having to ask Steve for his permission. And I can do it at a fraction of the price.

My system runs extremely well with heaps of options to upgrade both software and hardware.

I am talking now about hardware, not software. Apple's is closed.

I remember years ago I could buy an Apple clone in Singapore called a PineApple but they were forcibly closed down.

I don't doubt Aples business strategy, but that does not mean I must suck up to them.

 

[dapeeper]

I am mystified to what hardware will not run on a Mac. I had some issues with plotters back in OS9 days but no real issues with just about any hardware with the 700 Mac sites i support that have OSX installed and these include cross platform sites, CAD, publishing graphic and general business sites In respect to the iPad it can be hacked if one really wants to but the majority really don't wish or want to go that path they are more than happy with what they purchased and again that is coming from feedback from my own clients many whom are using the iPad as a business tool.

Could you swap out your existing motherboard and CPU with a AMD solution if you wanted a quick speed upgrade? I was under the impression that OS X (the newest versions) require Intel hardware but I honestly don't know the answer. Could you swap out your existing Intel based MB + CPU for any third party motherboard and Intel CPU and still be able to boot up OS X? That is the type of hardware change I am referring to in regards to upgrading an aging Mac. Perhaps this is all completely possible but I don't think it is. Can you swap out your old video card for the latest ATI cards? Can you stick an Nvidia Fermi card in there?

Very true. Since I bought my last pc, which by the way was cheaper but more powerful than any Mac available, I have upgraded the OS, added memory, faster CPU a new graphics card and recently the MB itself. All at a fraction of the price of a closed system. And I was not forced to buy from any one manufacturer. Everything slotted in correctly and just worked.

A similar Apple system, even if it existed, which I doubt, would have cost at least 3 times or more.

Why? Because the PC architecture is not closed. Anyone can manufacture components and because of competition and the free market, I, the consumer, benefit.

The "argument" put forward "if you don't like Apple then why did you buy" is childish and shows a lack of any proper response as well as a last ditch defensive answer.

Grow up guys. This is 2010 and the cold war is over. The consumer is King (except for Apple )

 

[deckyon]

Then dont buy a "closed system." It is simple. No one is forcing you to buy a MAC or iPad.

That is not the point. Obviusly you have bought into the closed system, but fortunately 90% of the world has not, like me.

Prove your "90% of the world" claim.

And I do not own a MAC, nor will I ever. I have 4 PCs in my house (2 media servers and 2 laptops) and other than a few iPods, the iPad is the only Apple product I have. You know what they say about "Assume" Do not assume you know me or my likes.

 

[pelinca]

The only working Frash from cydia is from this source : repo.benm.at
Flash works now in every browser (safari, icab, mercury etc).

I can't install the Frash Toggle for sbsettings though : i am getting this error :

the requested modifications cannot be applied due to required dependencies or conflicts that cannot be automatically found or fixed

any solution for this error ?