I'm writing to complain. I don't do it often, but I've had two experiences in the past two weeks that have really pissed me off.
About a year ago, I made the switch from the PC to the Mac, and never looked back. What a difference! The integrated search capabilities alone make it worthwhile, never mind flawless sleep mode, a loosely-coupled application/OS architecture, and really cool design work in so many respects. Even Microsoft Office is pretty good on the Mac. So what's my beef? One each for Apple and Microsoft...
Apple: I decided recently to upgrade the RAM from 2GB to 3GB, the machine's max. I went to the Apple store and purchased the required 1x2GB chip...for $500. That seemed high, so I went online (to newegg.com). The same memory was $58. That's right...nearly an order of magnitude less expensive, and it works perfectly. I understand pricing decisions, and it's completely fair that Apple commands a price premium. But 10x?? That's just not right. Thankfully, I hadn't opened the Apple memory box, and was able to return it.
And now to Microsoft: I've been so pleased with Office 2004, that I actually pre-ordered Office 2008, which came out last week. What a disaster. It's bloated. It's slow. It corrupted by Office database (twice...at least it's consistent). It's new features are not compelling (although MyDay is kind of nice). Similar to the Apple story, though, this has a happy ending. I re-installed Office 2004, pointed to my old database, and I was back up and running on ol' reliable in less than 15 minutes.
To my friends at Apple and Microsoft...That's no way to treat your customers.
That's the end of my whine. I'll get back to more positive topics next time.
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6 comments:
Well, They asked Bill Gates what Windows product could have used a little more polish before being released, his response was "Ask me after the next version of Windows comes out."
I think Microsoft is rushing products out that aren't ready in order to feed growth. You saw their earnings yesterday. They were stellar. I wonder if this will come back to bite them.
See it for yourself.
http://gizmodo.com/342920/holy-crap-did-bill-gates-just-say-windows-sucks
When will EnterpriseDB come out for OSX?
It *is* out on OSX ;-) Take a look at the DevZone on the download page at http://www.enterprisedb.com/downloads.do
I don't see OSX listed on that page.
It's there. Scroll past the General Availability and Final Beta sections, and you'll see the DevZone. It's the third one down, updated 2/21/08. And it rocks.
I'm going to run it on my new Mac. I have 2 quadcore chips in it.
Amazon had it on sale for around $2400 after rebate.
8 cores, 2.8 Ghz Xeon. I upgraded it to 8GB of Ram.
I love it!
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