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e-mail to: Evan Morris

steve jobs: apple's own worst enemy?

i'm wondering if apple is at a point in its evolution where, possibly just like 1986 all over again, jobs has become apple's biggest liability.

what do i mean? well, lemme tell ya... enough with all the different models of the ipod! personally, i think that the ipod is a fad. it's an mp3 player, guys (well, AAC to be exact.) i don't own one, although i've been considering purchasing one for some time. i was gonna buy a nano, but with all these problems with the screen scratching...hell, i'd be happy with just a shuffle because i don't need to have access to every song i have all the time at my fingertips. it's funny to me to see people wandering through life with the tell-tale white earbud cords dangling from their ears. i listen to music at home--i don't need a goddam soundtrack for my LIFE!

i'm sure zane is gonna correct me if i'm wrong, but i came to the conclusion the middle of last week that the nano scratching issue isn't about the polycarbonate resin apple uses on the front of the nano...it's the tensile strengh of the thickness they're using. apple says it's the same plastic and apple says to buy a nano tube to protect it...but it doesn't matter if they're using the same plastics if the tensile strengh is compormised buy the decrease in thickness over other ipods. it's much easier to scratch plastic when you can bend it.

the ipod is a great product, but because apple doesn't really have anything else in their cadre that is making money hand over fist (their computers suck unless you're an ARTISTE) is the ipod and they need to keep releasing more and more and better and better (if only in jobs's mind) models. and it's the same thing with os x...and i'm borrowing this explanation from another writer who i forget at the moment...os x isn't shipped on 500 bazillion machines every year, so apple must try to convince you to buy it every time they release a new version. unlike microsoft, where once you buy xp, you get all the upgrades for it essentially for free.

i know plenty of people that are pissed that they saved up all their money for a mini only to find that it was discontinued a week later for the new holy grail in apple's stable...and then a month later it was the video ipod that was touted as the latest and greatest! apple is retiring models faster than crystal meth!

but, i love itunes...i think it's fantastic...but that doesn't mean apple's gonna be the top of the heap forever. if microsoft could just release an itunes-like interface and can the clunky old broken down media player...well, i'd at least take a look at switching over...

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