Steve Jobs Went To Infinity And Beyond!

[Gravekeeper]

This. Edison was an asshole.

Perhaps it is an apt comparison then. -.-

That's funny. Cut the Rope just became available for Android after having been on Apple for a while. Either they changed things and your info is out of date, or ZeptoLab or Chillingo found a loophole and are exploiting it.
^-.-^

Possible, and yeah there are a couple loopholes.

But they like to randomly change the license agreements. Not to mention randomly change the rules on what Apps are and are not allowed ( or more specifically from whom ). As well as what tools we can and cannot use to develop Apps ( They had a big shit fit with Adobe there for a while for example. Where he was specifically changing the license to prevent the conversion of Flash apps and games to iPhone apps ). Basically they'll forbid anyone or thing they don't like or could possibly siphon off 1 penny of their revenue.

They hate cross platform development and any whiff of it in App code. So the coding languages and enviroments we can use are mandated at the behest of Job's himself. Who claimed cross platform development leads to "substandard" apps. Which is fucking hilarious considering 95% of the App Store is pure, unadulterated shit. >.>

[Greenday]

I'm not happy he died, but you won't catch me moping around about it like tons of people seem to be. He's a great marketer and businessman and that's about it. Not worth getting worked up over imo.

[Tanasi]

I don't think it was first no-build home computer but I had a TRS-80 Model I in the 78. It had a whopping 16K of memory and a cassette drive. It put out so much RF you couldn't watch TV at the same time. It also produced a lot of heat and didn't have a fan to cool it so it would overheat and start doing some funky stuff. I still have it and 4 years ago it still worked. It's in the EOM boxes, has a RAM expansion unit taking it to 48K and two single sided single density 5.25 floppy drives. A 5mb hard drive was available but I could never afford the $1500 price tag. I also later got a manual 300 baud modem, you had to manually dial the number and when it started auto-bauding you flipped the online switch and hoped it connected. As I remember Apples were hideously more expensive.

[protege]

I bought an Apple][+ in the early 1980's with no need to assemble anything.

The Apple II, came preassembled. Much like the TI 99-4/A, and Commodore machines did. However, those two required the use of an adapter for use with a TV set...unless you were willing to fork over the cash for a monitor. All of those, along with the Tandy models, were really it in the early 1980s.

1. they used off the self parts and kept it simple.

IBM felt that anyone should be able to repair and/or upgrade their equipment with readily available parts. After my family's TI 99-4/A started having problems, my dad brought home an Apple III (basically a II, but could run DOS) home for us to play with. The one thing that I remember, is even though Apple was a well-known name, it was a pain in the ass to get software or parts. Everything had to come from an "authorized reseller." You couldn't pop down to the local computer store or Radio Shack. Local shops either had very little selection of Apple-ware, or refused to stock it. You were pretty much forced to buy direct from Apple...at a serious markup.

2. they did NOT vigiriously pursue lawsuits against outside companies trying to "copy" theIBM PC . Franklin was on the loosing end of one of Apple's lawsuits when they tried to copy the Apple ][+/c/e. IBM on the other had allowed a "clean" reverse engineering. How do you think Compaq got started and grew into the company it is (no comment how good of a company just saying that many many companies owe their exsistance to the "clean" reverse of IBMs POST and BIOS). Apple on the other hand wanted to keep their stuff very propeiteiry and closed (HMMMMM not much has changed ----- hint hint ****cough cough Iphone **** cough cough*******

Yeppers. That's how quite a few of those companies--Dell, Swan (remember them?), Leyland, etc. got off the ground. When those machines started showing up, they were referred to as "IBM Clones," since they were really nothing more than IBM running gear in a different box. Also, IBM kept a "hands off" approach with the aftermarket suppliers. That's why there are so many accessories and parts for PCs, and very little for Apple products.

[lordlundar]

The one thing that I remember, is even though Apple was a well-known name, it was a pain in the ass to get software or parts. Everything had to come from an "authorized reseller." You couldn't pop down to the local computer store or Radio Shack. Local shops either had very little selection of Apple-ware, or refused to stock it. You were pretty much forced to buy direct from Apple...at a serious markup.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...