I’m a windows user who moved to mac one year ago and so I know what you mean with iTunes. On windows it is a horrible app. It’s slow, buggy and really isn’t written properly. It integrates poorly with the OS and generally is crappy.

iTunes on the mac however… is a joy. It works perfectly. Apple’s mail app syncs perfectly with the iPhone, and there are separate contact lists for “email” and “phone” meaning that your contact list doesn’t get crowded on your iPhone. It’s quick, snappy and you can feel the integration between the phone and the computer, as if they are one device. Every single feature in iCal and mail and iTunes is integrated perfectly into the phone.

On windows, they just didn’t bother to get it right, because they only care about you if you’re a mac user. What do you take from this? I guess that macs can be great, but you have to go the whole hog. I’m still not sure if it’s worth the money/heartache going the whole hog, and I guess that’s an individual decision.

Apple seem to think that bolting unchangable batteries into everything is a good idea, including the iPhone. I like to be able to change batteries. Id like it even more if there was a mandated standard for battery compatibility in the high capacity lithium world.

Very few users want to change batteries. Leaving out that ability makes the phone better looking, lightens it, reduces the material needed for it, reduces their inventory, makes it stronger …

Embedded batteries mean they can make the device smaller than would otherwise be possible. There is no way to make a Macbook Air that thin if the battery is changeable.

The areas where technology works best tends to be where open standards exist (like Internet Protocol and HTML for example). Microsoft locks things down a little bit but does begrudgingly follow standards when pushed, Apple just lives in a world of its own.

Huh? Apple’s core OS is open source. They use common standards for calendars, email and contacts; which Microsoft do not. Safari is more standards compliant than Internet Explorer. AAC is easier to license than WMA.

My shares in Apple say they know what they’re doing.

Closing the iPhone to alternative battries is just plain stupid as far as I can see, because doing so doesn’t really help them make money – people wanting battery upgrades will be a nuisance, not a profit stream. And the first battery – well that’s a captive market!

Well I think that Apple is a great hardware designer. The iPhone is hard to fault as a piece of hardware. And the software that is on board the iPhone is of course a major part of how good it is.

Apple seem to think that bolting unchangable batteries into everything is a good idea, including the iPhone. I like to be able to change batteries. I’d like it even more if there was a mandated standard for battery compatibility in the high capacity lithium world.

The general lock-everything attitude of Apple is a big turn off as well. Competition is good, vendor lock-in hurts customers. The areas where technology works best tends to be where open standards exist (like Internet Protocol and HTML for example). Microsoft locks things down a little bit but does begrudgingly follow standards when pushed, Apple just lives in a world of its own.

Admittedly, plenty of people think half the fun of the iPhone is “jailbreaking” it and running the apps that Apple tells you not to run (like VoIP for example). Maybe there’s some weird reverse psychology marketing going on here.