Apple Embargo

[inglioti]

Due to the recent spat of publicity Apple, Inc. is receiving for their questionable business practices, their arrogant and gimmicky advertising and self righteous air, I've decided to give up Apple products forever.

I know that sounds relatively easy - I'm assuming that since this is a gaming website most of you have Windows computers to game with - but let me break it down for you.

My dad has owned Apple franchises, based businesses on them and has been exposing myself and my brothers to Apple computers since the cradle. At the moment, I'm sitting on my Mum's 2009 MacBook Pro, as my 2008 Macbook is out of battery. I'd use the 2006 iMac desktop, but we're planning on giving that to my grandma. There is a total of 8 iPods in the house, including shuffles, minis, nanos and touches. My dad has an iPhone, and I actually had an iPod when nobody had them (generation one, represent.) In total, including iPods and iPhones, laptops and desktops, there is 23 units of apple hardware in my house.

I'm giving it up. Once my iPod dies (it's getting on... it's almost four) and my laptop dies (nearly three) I'll be giving them up cold turkey. And I used to be the definition of fanboy. Any time someone even alluded to the word 'crash' or 'bluescreen' I'd be there in a second, expounding the virtues of Macintosh ownership and it's consequent stability and awesomeness. I sicken myself.

SO MY QUESTION IS THUS:
1. Has anyone does this before?
2. What's your opinion on Linux? I think I'll get a new notebook and install Ubuntu on it, or something similar. Open source righteousness shall replace Apple righteousness.
3. HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WITHOUT MY IPOD? DO OTHER MUSIC APPLICATIONS EVEN EXIST?

 

[Miumaru]

Last Apple product I got was the best iPod they made and I noticed dissapeared since it was TOO good probably. (80gig video regular iPod)((if it wasnt designed to break would last me my whole life))
Zune is the alternative to iPod for music on the go. It probably is good, and Id be tempted to check it out should I lose my iPod.

 

[Abedeus]

iPod is not an application. It's an overpriced hunk of junk with touch screen, big whoop. I buy MP3 PLAYERS to PLAY MUSIC, not to play with the buttons. My 8GB MP4 player costed about $75 two years ago, and it's still working perfectly for both music and videos.

Oh, and I don't have to put up with DRM.

 

[Vampire cat]

I've never been into Apple products, mainly cause I didn't hear about Apple before it got popular, and I HATE buying stuff that makes you part of one of those top clicks, cause they are such shallow buttlickers...

I did borrow my dads iPod nano, and I don't think its an awful product, its a fair Mp3 player, but to be very serious here, there are a lot of better Mp3 players! from before it came out, when it did and newer generations.

iPod is not an application. It's an overpriced hunk of junk with touch screen, big whoop. I buy MP3 PLAYERS to PLAY MUSIC, not to play with the buttons. My 8GB MP4 player costed about $75 two years ago, and it's still working perfectly for both music and videos.

Oh, and I don't have to put up with DRM.

Mhm... I agree. My Mp3 is years old and cost me $40 at the time =3. I still have it, and it works excelent for what I need it to do, play fucking music!

 

[guerrillajumpsuit]

iPod is not an application. It's an overpriced hunk of junk with touch screen, big whoop. I buy MP3 PLAYERS to PLAY MUSIC, not to play with the buttons. My 8GB MP4 player costed about $75 two years ago, and it's still working perfectly for both music and videos.

Oh, and I don't have to put up with DRM.

8GB is not even close to enough for some people, me for example. I have a 160gb ipod classic at the moment, but I do dislike Apple. Does anyone know of any 80GB+ MP3/4 players that aren't iPod classics/videos/whatever?

 

[inglioti]

iPod is not an application.

I know it isn't an application, I was referring to iTunes.

And as someone below you said, I too have over 50 gig of not only music, but audiobooks and podcasts - so an 8gb mp3 wouldn't cut it. I'll probably check out zune though....

Has anyone tried an iRiver? I can remember one of my friends, jelous of my iPod when I first got it tried to convince me that his was better. They've kind of disappeared though.

 

[vallorn]

-snipity snip snip-
1. Has anyone does this before?
2. What's your opinion on Linux? I think I'll get a new notebook and install Ubuntu on it, or something similar. Open source righteousness shall replace Apple righteousness.
3. HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WITHOUT MY IPOD? DO OTHER MUSIC APPLICATIONS EVEN EXIST?

1. I haven't, but then i never realy used Apples stuff.
2.im typing ths on an Ubuntu netbook. Ubuntu's good, the interface is smooth it runs Firefox really well and the Open Office programs are equal to (if not better than) microsofts Office. plus it seems relativly stable (i get a glitch where it cant see ANY wi-fi networks after i turn it on, solved by Reboot!), and it never gets viruses because they'r all made for Windows.
3.i use Sony Erricson Walkman phones for music. you can get an adaptor for any headphone to fit quite cheaply and the sound quality is excellent.

 

[Keepitclean]

iPod is not an application.

I know it isn't an application, I was referring to iTunes.

And as someone below you said, I too have over 50 gig of not only music, but audiobooks and podcasts - so an 8gb mp3 wouldn't cut it. I'll probably check out zune though....

Has anyone tried an iRiver? I can remember one of my friends, jelous of my iPod when I first got it tried to convince me that his was better. They've kind of disappeared though.

I had an iriver, one of these.

They are OK, nothing to special. The main problems I had with mine is the user inferface is a pain in the arse to use and when you have a lot of data on it it goes really slowly.

The sound quality is far superior to an iPod, they are much cheaper and support more file types. They are verry fussy about video though. IT supports most video file types but the video must be converted to 320x240 before the iriver will play it.

I don't buy Apple products for the reason you posted in your OP and I am currently looking for something non-Apple to replace my iriver because I broke it's screen really badly. The search isn't going to well thoug because I can't find any shops that sell any large MP3 players other than iPods.

They don't sell Zunes win Western Australia.

 

[Shiny Rabbit]

personally, I don't mind Apple, I prefer Windows myself but I do have an ipod, however, I use MediaMonkey to sync it (and manage/play my music) because iTunes is just a piece of bloated crapware (let's face it, I know my computer isn't what you'd call top of the line but when it momentarily locks up when you click onto the iTunes window, you know they did something wrong). I may buy a macbook for college work (I'm doing a sound and music course so I'd need some of the industry standard mac music applications like iLogic and Garageband).

With the above said, I will say this: Apple seem to have a thing for shooting themselves in the foot (see iPad, iTunes, Macbook Air).

now to answer your questions:

1:I haven't, I'll never move away from Windows unless everything I use Windows for does.
2:I haven't really used Linux, I may set up a Linux dual boot later however
3:I think Songbird (for PC, Mac and Linux) might be what you want, not sure what devices it supports
http://www.getsongbird.com/product/

if you're looking for an mp3 player, the Cowon ones are meant to be ipod killers but are a bit expensive.

 

[Delusibeta]

Apple has pretty much cornered the market for 30Gb+ MP3 players. Although track down a Creative Zen Vision:M. They're only 30Gb and don't do AAC, but in my opinion they kick iPods in terms of features on the player (creating and naming playlists on the fly, for example).

As for other programs to play music, there's heaps, ranging from Songbird [http://www.getsongbird.com/] to VLC [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/] and the (most likely OTT for your purposes) XBMC [http://xbmc.org/]. No comment on Linux, I've never tried it.

 

[Billion Backs]

iPod is not an application. It's an overpriced hunk of junk with touch screen, big whoop. I buy MP3 PLAYERS to PLAY MUSIC, not to play with the buttons. My 8GB MP4 player costed about $75 two years ago, and it's still working perfectly for both music and videos.

Oh, and I don't have to put up with DRM.

There, there. Same sentiment.

I've never been a fan of Apple, I was a microsoft kid since I've started, and living my pre-teen life in Russia while having computer-savvy father and grandfather with computer sciences and math degrees it makes sense because Macintosh never really made it to Russia, at least not by the time I left the country. No idea about other Apple products, when I left in like 2004 I don't think the Ipod craze began in Russia yet.

Now that I came here and tried using Mac a couple of times, I'm absolutely disgusted with how it looks and feels, and I oppose Apple on many ideas. I hate how smug they tend to be, and how monopoly minded they often seem. And I also hate how you can't really custom-build and modify a mac to the same degree as a PC.

I just use an MP3 player with 8 gigs of memory I got for like 20 bucks for music. It's cheap, small, and there's no need for some stupid screen. If I wanted to watch movies/clips, I'd get an Archos or something.

As computers go, I'm trying to make the shift to Linux myself, this summer.
Although as gaming goes, I'll probably have to stick to Windows for most games.

 

[Megalodon]

I have never bought/owned/regularly touched any Apple product. My first Creative MP3 player lasted 5 years before the headphone jack started to break, but technically it still works. Most of my friends seem to have gone through a couple of iPods in that time.
Apple really do suck.

 

[CincoDeMayo]

1. I've never owned a single Apple device, simply because I think they're overhyped and too expensive compared to what you get under the hood.
2. I use Ubuntu on my laptop, it's working pretty good but it takes some time getting used to. However, when you've gotten into it you'll probably love it.
3. Most mobile phones have good mp3 players nowadays, I love my HTC Hero!

 

[blankedboy]

Last Apple product I got was the best iPod they made and I noticed dissapeared since it was TOO good probably. (80gig video regular iPod)((if it wasnt designed to break would last me my whole life))
Zune is the alternative to iPod for music on the go. It probably is good, and Id be tempted to check it out should I lose my iPod.

It IS good. And it's a hell of alot cheaper, too. I can get a Zune with the same space, and more features, for half the price when it's shipped halfway across the world.

 

[GreatVladmir]

When I saw the title for the thread, I thought it was about an embargo on apples, I was all set to rant about how awesome apples are too .

I don't own anything made by apple, havn't made anything that as interested me.

Don't like Linux.

And I use a Sony Ericsson W995i for music, so I'm cool .

 

[IntangibleMango]

(let's face it, I know my computer isn't what you'd call top of the line but when it momentarily locks up when you click onto the iTunes window, you know they did something wrong)

So true.

I'm not really against Apple as such, but I too do not like iTunes, and my iTouch broke about a month after I got it.

It's not so much the products though, it's how people change when they get an Apple product, people with iPhones become pretentious, holier-than-thou people who can't seem to help getting them out every couple of seconds for no reason whatsoever except to try and get other people to notice they have an iPhone. It gets quite annoying.

On the MP3 player front I would recommend Creative MP3 Jukeboxes, such as the Zen, they've never let me down.

 

[likalaruku]

Today's Apple reminds me so much of 80s' Nintendo, & Steve Jobs is their Mario.

I don't believe I've owned an Apple product since our Mac 128k died some time in the late 90s. I miss the creepy-ass noises it used to make. My computer or browser or both were having problems with Quicktime & iTunes, so I uninstalled both.

I've successfully boycotted Viacom products, but it really doesn't have any effect on the company when no one else is doing it.

Never bothereed with tiny easy-to-break-with-your-feet MP3 players. Burn your music onto discs & use a Discman. That JeepersMedia guy on YouTube found 3 Chinese iPod rip-offs that work better than real iPods & are cheaper.

 

[Brotherofwill]

I hate how smug they tend to be, and how monopoly minded they often seem.

Know what you mean but when you're only other reference is pretty much MS, the comparison of wanting to be a monopoly doesn't help. I guess Linux isn't monopoly centered, quite the opposite really.

Apple has pretty much cornered the market for 30Gb+ MP3 players. Although track down a Creative Zen Vision:M. They're only 30Gb and don't do AAC, but in my opinion they kick iPods in terms of features on the player (creating and naming playlists on the fly, for example).

I'd also recommend a Creative MP3 player. They're solid and fairly cheap compared to Apple.

 

[Quaxar]

Apple has pretty much cornered the market for 30Gb+ MP3 players. Although track down a Creative Zen Vision:M. They're only 30Gb and don't do AAC, but in my opinion they kick iPods in terms of features on the player (creating and naming playlists on the fly, for example).

I've got one of these. Worked fine for three years now. Okay, he jumps some specific songs all the time but to be fair I dropped him from like a meter on tile floor twice or so. And he doesn't even have scratches, just the song thing and I'm okay with it since I have enough others to don't care.

I personally have never possessed anything with the bitten fruit on it, I don't see why I should spend three times the amount of money for something I can get cheaper and better. 3000$ for a Mac? Fuck that, for 3000$ I can get you killed and have enough money left for a decent gaming PC!
But what really puts me off is the fact that you are always dependent on apple. You can't change shit on a Mac and they kill your phone for wanting to use applets you write yourself because they clearly are not from Apple themselves. That's just a completely asshole move.
The iPhone has potential regarding usability but they completely fuck that up by blocking non-Apple applications.

2. What's your opinion on Linux? I think I'll get a new notebook and install Ubuntu on it, or something similar. Open source righteousness shall replace Apple righteousness.

Ubuntu is nice. you can't run .exes except if you install wine first and need to get some non-free codecs extra, but you can defninitely do many other things with it.
I still prefer Windows for the comfort of being able to run everything.