On 10/1/2015 11:30 AM, Robert Green wrote:
"rbowman" wrote in message
...
On 09/30/2015 03:48 AM, Robert Green wrote:
I am not sure that the PC revolution would have been as remarkable as it
was
without the clones. They enabled a lot more people access to personal
computing than an IBM-only world would have.
I never owned a genuine IBM PC and didn't have compatibility problems.
It really depended on the clone and what you were doing with it. I have
seen compatibility issues and have worked through some of them, mostly with
high-end graphics and with HW manufacturers deciding to cleverly make use of
areas of memory IBM had marked as "resevered" in their tech manuals.
Remember the days of EMS and expanded memory and programs like 386 to the
Max?
Some were hotter than PCs, in more ways than one.
I've purchased and seen some pretty wild looking CPU coolers. Big copper
pad coolers that look like the Guggenheim museum. Coolers with thin fins
spread out like a card-sharp's show-off deal. Never did get into
overclocking in a big way so I never got into water-cooled rigs. Although I
never saw much point in overclocking, a PC design engineer I talked to said
that overclockers provided excellent feedback about PC designs and
limitations because they were right on the bleeding edge.
I'm always amused when people I consider to be toward the left end of
the political spectrum favor Apple products. I guess they like the 'my
way or the highway' approach Apple has always used.
Hey, even I am considering getting an iPhone because I was unimpressed by
the Android "industry's" reaction to the StageFright bug. It also torques
me up to see that every damn version of Android is slightly different.
Apple controls their whole eco-system and generally delivers a more uniform
experience. When the StageFright bug was found, Google, Samsung and others
appeared to stall, pointing fingers at others while trying to decide who
should fix what. Apple just mostly fixes the stuff without the corporate
drama.
I've read a number of case studies that ask why Apple makes virtually all
the profit in the cell phone industry. (Really, only Samsung makes a
profit - the rest operate at a loss).
http://nyti.ms/1Qp3ipy
The reason is partly snob appeal but it's also because Apples seem to be
very well-liked by the people that use them. Far more so than Android users
like their phones.
As for politics, my wife, a retired Army colonel somewhere to the right of
Atilla the Hun, loves her iPhone. I've always been on the PC/clone side of
the Apple/Wintel war, but I will probably end up getting an iPhone. If it's
going to become the hub of my computer operations, I want it to come from a
company that's on the ball.
I use an I6 *(the previous smaller I4GS was just as good and an easier
fit in your pocket) and will say its a nice
'phone/tablet/clock/radio/gamer/whatever gadget'.
But then again I am still working.
When I retire a *much less expensive*
'phone/tablet/clock/radio/gamer/whatever gadget' will be my choice.
John