Random Year End Postings
From Wired, mobile phone carriers are thinking of SPAMming you in a really creepy way, like using your phone’s 911-locater device to send you ads based on the stores you’re near, or worse. If this starts happening I’m going to have to definitely retire my cell phone, which I’ve been thinking of doing anyway. I so rarely use the phone aspect of my iPhone and even less frequently answer the thing that a portable com device that basically provides me with text messages (which can be sent/received via the Internet, thus no carrier required) and email would really be all I need to make daily business-like interactions.
Leopard vs. Vista. I’ve heard more bad things than good about both new operating systems – especially with Vista which is consistently touted as either “nothing special” or downright worse than XP – so I thought I’d read some reviews on both and see what the Internet in general is saying. I read about a dozen reviews, and pretty much every Leopard vs. Vista one put Leopard on top. I didn’t read any Mac-specific sites, and in fact even PC Magazine which, by nomenclature, you’d think would be PC-slanted, gave a better score and review to Leopard than Vista. Consistently, every single review gave Leopard a better usability and ease-of-use rating. People everywhere are switching away from Microsoft products to those which are easier to use and provide better features (think Gmail vs. Outlook, Firefox vs. IE).
Vista
Sources: CNet, PC Magazine, Engadget.
Average Rating: 6/10
Leopard
Sources: CNet, PC Magazine, Engadget.
Average Rating: 8/10
I found it particularly interesting that the pros at CNet gave Vista a 7.8/10 where the average user only gave it a 4.9/10. That means that less than half of Vista users are happy with the OS.
The end of Firefox. Firefox has been losing my confidence over the past several months, crashing daily, sometimes several times per day. I have only six small plugins installed and typically have between 4 and 10 tabs open at a time. Hilariously, while writing this very post FF crashed. With my favorite browser being the only serious competition to Microsoft and arguably being the only reason that IE7 finally got its act (half) together with Web standards, I hate to drop it all together, but at this point I find myself using Safari more and more…
In more Mac news, it looks like there’s evidence to support that the same progressive, well-educated areas of the country that end up being havens to Democrats are also the places where Macs do the best. To see what I mean, check out this Red State vs. Blue State map and this Mac Market Share Map.
I can’t help but make the statement, Republicans like clunky dinosaurs that have millions of dollars wrapped up in them but little innovation, whereas Democrats can appreciate the beautiful, the elegant, the accessible and easy to use.
Or something like that (no offense to any Republicans who might be using Macs, there could be hope for this country after all if such a person exists.)
Finally, blogger alienates friends, lover with condescending post on Macs.
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