Quick CV:
Mechanical Engineer 39.5 years, including 6 years as a programmer in FORTRAN, BASIC, Datatrieve; GPSS/H, AutoMod and SLAM discrete event simulation languages; VAX VMS, RSTS/E, RSX-11, DOS, Windows, Macintosh and Unix operating systems.

I only say this to let you know that I do have some sense of the computing world beyond one's own desktop.

So, what you are ignoring is the business model that Apple has. My employer (not Apple) also has a similar mindset. This is an innovation business model versus a commodity business model. When technology items become commodities, your profit margin gets very thin. You CANNOT support a lot of R&D work because you simply can't afford it. Conversely, you can choose to invest in Research and Development, create new things that didn't exist before and sell at a higher profit margin. This is exactly what my employer has done for many years now.

Consider this: BMW's philospohy is similar. They are not interested in a Chevy mindset. BMW's (including MINIs) will never be high volume. It is the same philosophy: keep up technical innovation, give the customers something truly unique that they can't find somewhere else, set the pace and NEVER become a commodity.

 

No, you would have to include my employer. Think glass for LCD's, ceramics for catalytic converters, optical fiber, etc...

 

This thread is moot. Apple's innovation passed away. Let's see where they are in a few years. Although I was an Apple fan they recently have started to **** me of by not fixing what they have (Lion) before they release a new OS. If I wanted that, I would have stayed with MS all along. That being said, I am a Windows developer (C#) and what I have seen coming down the pipe on the MS side looks pretty nice.

 

rubixcube is right on. Each serves a purpose and often that is purely subjective. I have been in IT for a long time, both *nix and Windows. I just bought my first Mac to begin development work on it. It is one nifty machine, just as nice as my iPhone.

But, I would rather be driving my Mini than working/playing on any computer/phone/whatever.

 

I have one Apple product I got as a gift, an old Ipod Nano which wound up collecting dust in favor of an old Creative Zen Mp3 player because I couldn't stand having to use itunes. Just drag and drop files onto the player without having to deal with an overbloated piece of software that updated what seemed like every damn week.

 

I couldn't agree more!!

For the record, I'm an Apple consumer. I tend to consume one per workday, as a lunchbox snack.

 

That's funny - I'm in the exact same boat... Hate apple, purchased an iPod Touch 4th gen to test compatibility for iPhone users at work, wrote it off on taxes.

I've got to say, I HATE the iOS interface. There's a lot of little things I don't like, but the biggest by far is the lack of an actual 'back' button on the device - tiny 'back' buttons in the upper corners of apps are a pain in the ****. Android has more options and is in general a much better user experience.

If it weren't for the iPod Touch I'd have no Apple devices. It pisses me off that MINI is so behind in their thinking with their lack of support for the (better) alternatives out there.

 

I have not read all the replies, and I don't really care which way people swing, to each their own in their tastes in this world. Makes the world go 'round.
I personally am an Apple fan and every car I have owned since 1997 has had an Apple sticker on it (back then it was the rainbow!).
So that said, when I got the USB drive from the dealer that was to have all kinds of cool tips and such on it. Guess what? Stupid thing had an exe file on it, PC only. Boo-hiss to BMW North America. Very one-sided of them.