@kamm
Cliche or not, doesn't mean it isn't true. Some of us would rather be able to discuss these issues without it deteriorating into a "Apple sucks" "or Apple just makes overpriced junk" blah blah blah. That sort of vitriol isn't particularly useful. We might as well be arguing if the 360 or PS3 is a better device.
The claim of "fanboy" or "apple cult" or whatever is generally the first thing said in such conversations. Yes, it's stupid to have an irrational devotion to a company. I've not seen much of evidence in this thread of that - it's been a pretty back and forth conversation and the people saying "they could make such a product" in no way means "APPLE IS TEH AWESOME and EVERYONE ELSE SUCKS." There have been fans, and there have been advocates but it's not been fanboy central over here.
This conversation, and unfortunately, largely beginning with you - has taken on the tone of something out of a Fark thread.
Apple, whatever else one may think, has over the last few years managed to get their act together (before the intel chips I wouldn't go near one myself) and has beaten the hell (or is in the process of doing so) out of both the cellphone and the personal music market. And is it for everyone? No. But it'd be stupid to deny that they are popular and that the people that do use them generally enjoy them. That's not something we see a lot with tech - enjoyment of use. We tend to have to use technology despite itself - we value that advantage of the general pain in the ass we have to deal with to use it. Look at eReaders - if one really wants to get a lot of mileage out of one's device, you have to work for it! I have Windows installed for the SOLE reason of being able to use the MobiCreator program! I spend hours editing documents to work properly! And most of us here, being a fan community, do similar things!
I think that's one of the reasons we see Apple Fanboys - they get to enjoy using their technology instead of having to worry about it. And again - this is a generalization. But it's also a fair one - some Apple users may be schmucks, but they love their computers and ipods and crap because they just get the pleasure of it without the fight. Some people want the fight, some need it. But not all of us. I'm no Apple Fanboy... Apple does a lot wrong and has done a lot wrong. But I love how beautifully my Macbook and iMac play together. I love how easy it is to use a MacMini as a media center integrated with the rest of my home system. And I could replicate almost all of it for maybe... oh... 25% less on PC's. And I'd spend an ENORMOUS amount of time dealing with it, coaxing it into position. My time is worth enough to me to say "screw it! I'm getting a Mac!" And that's common!
You get the occasional bad experience, but when you have hardware problems and you're under warranty... you are taken care of well! My vid card went out on my iMac - it was out of warranty. It took them about a week longer to fix than it was supposed to because they broke something in it while fixing it. They upgraded my video card and fixed it all and didn't charge me a dime. I had some dust in my iPhone, the guy took a look at it and handed me a new one. Total time? 10 minutes. And because Apple has MobileMe (not the best service, but it has its moments) in just a few minutes my new iPhone had all the right contact info and bookmarks.
Compare that to what most people experience in those situations with Dell or their cell company or whatever. You don't think that means something to
most people? They get their time and dignity back! Some of us might be able to do all of our own stuff, but most people can't - and shouldn't have to. I'd much rather have the non-profit directors I know that have me help with their tech be out saving the world than screwing with their computers! And so would they.
Ultimately, real discussion of a product killer is going to be a bit silly at this stage in the game (hypothetical product and all) but there is a lot of very good reasons to think that if Apple came out with such a device and it could read ebooks that it would
seriously dent the unitasker ebook market. The zeitgeist about Apple is going in the direction I outlined above... there's TRUST there. It may be misplaced, but it is there.
It's not about them being innovators, no one cares about that sort of garbage except techies. It's about them turning whatever into something that people WANT to use, enjoy using, and ideally - just let them use the damn thing! I don't care who made tablets or ebooks or anything else - I care about who can provide me with a device that is pleasant to use, stable, and provides me with the content I want at a reasonable rate.
So.. as dmail said:
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I could care less if Apple or any other company is an innovator or just steals other ideas. I care that a company puts out a device that does what I need it to do and is easy as hell to use. Again, brand loyalty is for suckers, so I could careless if it's innovative or not as long as it works the way I think it should.
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Amen.