Upgrade strategies.

The sheer number of productive updates to fix a buggy OS/security are tempting me to go to the Mac OS. So their strategy of offering one, potentially, fixable OS after another and keep people upgrading seems to be working predictably.

Maybe the Linux people can make an upgrade alternative and trademark it "graphics pixel" "Icon" "mouse pointer" or a "Truly Fat 32 bit OS", makes as much moral and logical sense as allowing somebody to have trademark rights to the term "windows" (well the other things are regular everyday common items to ;) ).

I'd much rather prefer MS to make a very bug free OS that is very efficient, fast, and timely on given hardware,m requiring few patches. They can then package all the new add-ons they normally require you to download, instead into new editions of this one OS that keeps the same program and driver compatibility. Wow, what a way to save the odd 100 billion dollars a year from the world economy that could be spent helping the worlds poor!

Mac vs PC and the class divide

Look at any consumer product market in the world and you will see a clear pyramid structure. Apple, like Gucci, Audi and Timex, sit near the top of their market pyramids because they sell high quality, high cost goods to well-off people.

However, the added value to the consumer of a pyramid topping product is not just in the extra quality (often the quality gap is not that significant). Social status and wealth is demonstrated through conspicuous consumption and anyone who buys a Mac or an iPhone isn’t just saying ‘I care about quality’, they are also saying ‘I want everyone to know I can afford to care about quality’. The fact that most ‘average Joes’ dislike Apple is not a concern, because the whole point of being well-off is that you don’t have to worry about buying value for money. Mac vs PC represents the current class divide in Western society.

There is one important complication here – Apple products already had three significant market groups before the technology they sold went mainstream back in the early part of the decade. The technophile fanboys, the anti-Megacorp techno-hippies and the liberal arts grads (now journalists) of the nineties make a very vocal fan base that masks the true nature of Apple's 21st century marketing strategy. However, the Air has thrown many of these into confusion. Unlike the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone, the Air serves no obviously useful everyday function and provides no obvious benefit over similar much cheaper products. The extra cost of the Air is entirely in the branding and it is Apple’s first product aimed explicitly at people who want to show off their large incomes. It could be the beginning of the end for the fanboy-dom and journo love-ins.

oh well

I hate to bust your balloon, Mr. I'm driving a '60's model something, but vehicles in general have had software for quite some time.

Also if you want to change parts in a car, they had better be from the same or close to it, model/year/make or you may need a computer tech to make them work. On the other hand, there are lots of software's that will not run on older computers due to not enough ram,cpu,etc...

It is the same old story, human beings want everything new and improved and if it doesn't change how would they keep selling the same crap year after year? Even the mighty VW finally succumbed.

Chevy fired the guy that designed the '60 model impalas cause they were lasting too long, no repeat business. ha