.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Hoses of the Holy in the Parallel Universe

September 05, 2003

teething problems

I'll say. I love this industry. No other industy operates like this, where it is expected that anything new will break anything old that's supposed to run with it.

Your new DVD player will not work with your old TV. You'll have to buy a new TV, or wait for an update. This new guitar you bought is incompatible with your old amp. You can either carry on as before and use the old guitars, or update and play the new one only.

For a few years, as they struggled to obtain processors that would match Intel etc in the MHz race, Apple moved towards more commoditised computers, but they're trapped by an industry press and by customers who prefer the traditional, "If it ain't broke, update it so that it will break" philosophy. Apple (and all other computer manufacturers) are forced by their own customers and industry expectaions to bring out next-generation machines in a rapid development cycle that allows for no stability.

It's because the loudest, most vocal, most influential computer users are all early-adopter types. These people are the very worst people to have driving an industry, because they expect bugs and fixes and problems as part of every day life. They're also unattractive and unhygienic.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home