Say something about this picture...

I asked why, not what might happen if you dream.

 

I love my mac products and the os but yes overpriced and not upgradable is an issue.

 

The parts will NEVER be easily accessible & upgrades will always be an issue...

 

The picture is 460 x 400 pixel JPEG.

 

oh dear Jesus

 

That's sarcasm, right?

 

Actually I think the bloke in the white is saying 'Man I sure wish my wife had one of those', referring to the on/off switch that is. An the other fella is thinking 'Well you may not have a vagina but at least when she (wife, not vagina) see's me checking you out I dont end up having to sleep on the couch complimented with 2 days worth of silent treatment.'

 

corrected

 

The first time most of us built one from scratch it took us under an hour... and we were little kids at the time. :wanker:

 

Have we not had enough "I'm an Apple and I'm a PC" crap? Would you PC and Apple fanboys go to a paintball arena and settle this stupid debate for once and for all?
It's getting to the point of the male and female debate. That stuff has been going on for centuries. Can we just drop this overdone boring crap?

 

Imagine if Best Buy provided a 5 year warranty covering the entire computer as part of the cost of the computer.

 

Actually there are certain standards of quality auto makers are required to meet. Further, I don't think we need to limit the market choices by turning cars into an iCar. Complete manuals are quite expensive. Based on who is pushing this, it looks more like an effort by aftermarket parts suppliers (talk about cheap) to force auto makers to subsidize their industry.

 

I was lucky enough to have first hand experience with Methode electronics and simply put they are told to make the cheapest of the cheap, they still make ASIC's with 8051s that's how cheap I am talking about.

Standards do not limit choices, do you see a limited choice when you go to buy a router? they all have the same standard so by your contorted logic this should limit choice...

Standards make life easier, systems cheaper, improve reliability and make trouble shooting less complicated. The auto companies are the ones with the suspicious behaviour as they make it harder to service and replace components on a per model basis in order to extract maximum profits on after service.

Practically you are trying to defend the wrong guys.

EDIT

This post actually goes against your logic. Any computer has FULL manuals and INTERNATIONAL standards which if anything make the case for the law stronger. Imagine every motherboard manufacturer could use any power sockets they wanted? you would need a gazillion different types of PSU and other parts.... right? which is exactly what car manufacturers do. They are allowed to select any type of wire, any type of socket, any type of controllers on a model specific basis....

If they were standardised the whole process of repair and replacement would be made easier, just like you can go out and buy any ATX power supply and be confident that it will fit in your motherboard header.

 

I'll say that it was a nice rebuttal to the original pro-mac picture.

 

Practically I'm not trying to 'defend' anyone. Simply making observations.
Your example of a router is silly. It's not nearly as complex and with as many facets as an automobile. What would you standardize? Every car must use the same ECM? Same wiring harness? Same climate control? Same fuel management? Same transmission? Just how far are you advocating the aftermarket suppliers get to limit options? You've not even addressed the fact of auto warranties which exceed almost anything else in the market place. As the technology advances so does, generally speaking , the cost to maintain it. Gone are the days when you could go to the local auto parts store and buy an off the shelf Holley 750 double pumper and slap it in your Ford Galaxie 500 with the Hi-Po 390 and have it running in a hour.

 

Addressing late hit edit.
Wrong. Most computers have very basic manuals (plug blue plug here) and standards vary and are optional to the point of being, for example ATX certified, which isn't a requirement for sale. And many of them do not follow the standard conventions. Lastly, just how did you think your stealth edit was addressing WARRANTY?

 

It's trollcasm.

 

Router not a good example? how about power plant components? million dollar transformers? how to lay wire? and a thousands of other markets with standards? its idiotic to say that a car is so complex that many common parts cannot be standardised.

Also you clearly do not understand what a standard is. Does ATX mean all the motherboards are the same? No they are not but they all fit niceley in an ATX case now don't they? is it some kind of wizardry?

I'll use the examples you used. The ECM could have a standard socket and standard chip package across the entire industry since its not exactly bleeding edge tech. Wiring harness? I am assuming its that mass of wires you find inside the engine compartment of the car (not a mechanic just an electrical engineer), well crap man you really can't see how it could be standardised? there aren't any connections nearly all cars share? is it impossible to create a standard for a particular class of car which is compatible across multiple manufacturers? is that what you are trying to tell me? I could continue down the list if you want.

I don't comment about warranty because that is not being debated. What is being debated is that car manufacturers make it their job to create as many company specific parts as possible.

Are you serious? when only basic manuals are produced they will link to you were to get your FREE full service manual. At no point do computer manufacturers tell you that a full manual is a closely guarded trade secret. As for standards being optional... for whom? For closed ecosystems like Apple which screw their consumers by NOT following the standard. At-least the consumer has the choice to wilfully buy a custom made product like Apple or buy standard components, in the auto-industry its the other way around.

They don't offer the choice, they cheap out on electronics which is shameful (standards would solve the problem) and they do it to increase after sales revenue in a non-transparent malicious way.

 

May I just say, if he only changes his oil filter every 2 years... we got a problem here.

 

I don't know why you're stuck comparing simple items like transformers to a complex assembly like an auto. I was for years, a member of the IEEE standards committee as well as providing validation for JEDEC standards. Further, I was intimately familiar with ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 as the equipment engineer for Philips Semi North America. So please don't tell me what I don't know. You look foolish. There is not debate here and you don't get to define the parameters of the discussion. What you ARE doing is expressing your opinion. No more, no less. Warranty was brought in because it's all a part of the cost of the end product and factors into repair obviously. Why do you think I brought it up? What computers, for example have a 5 (or more) year warranty covering parts and labor like many new cars do? I fundamentally disagree that we should use govt to force companies to adhere to some arbitrary standard determined by some bozo's in Congress. Who would enforce this globally?