DISQUS

Race Baiting isn't a recent trend. Saying that 6 foot 4, 200 pound black man punched her in the back of the head, fondled her breasts, and then carved a "B" into her face is just the latest example of it.

Apple doesn't spend R&D money on OS development for license sales. They do it to give customers of it's hardware a better value. Every non-hardware move they make is to increase the value of their hardware. When you examine Apple's post-1997 history from that perspective, every move makes sense ...and every lack-of-move does, too.

1. Apple did not make the Pippin. That was a product of Licensed Clone Maker. The product died (as all clones did) when Steve Jobs returned to Apple.

2. Your "AppleTV + iPhone = Game Console" theory has merit. Apple products are supposed to "just work", and if you buy multiple Apple products, they are supposed to work even better.

3. If Apple does this, expect the typical gamer to deride it for not being the be-all-end-all-gaming-device-to-rule-them-all, and to hate it for being insanely popular with REAL casual gamers, not just those who like to THINK they are. (Those who do buy it will be called sheep and accused of only buying it because Apple is a cult)

@44 Tom,

You are mostly correct, except it isn't Quicktime they're pushing, it's h.264. Quicktime isn't a codec, it's a container. The Quicktime Player plays any codec that's plugged into it. ( see: http://perian.org )

Quicktime is Apples' solution for playing h.264 files, but it's not a requirement.

By forcing developers to support an open standard rather than a closed one, everybody wins. (Except Adobe and Microsoft)

HTML5 will do almost everything Flash can do, and what it can't h.264 covers.

Apple is breaking away from proprietary codecs and file formats, but sticking to proprietary hardware and software to do it!

Java, Flash, Silverlight, and (sadly) AppleScript are history. HTML5 is the future.

It seems that the old geek saying "Only the latest and greatest count. Everything else is obsolete!" has confused young geeks.

"Obsolete" and "surpassed" are not synonymous. I know that "common usage" in tech circles uses it this way, and that's where the confusion lies.

The term "planned obsolescence" predates this new usage, and refers to a practice of making functional equipment useless through incompatibility of replacement parts and/or connectors.

A printer that still works but you can't buy ink for is "obsolete". If a printer company purposely changes their ink cartridge shape every two years for no reason other than to boost sales is practicing "planned obsolescence".

When Apple removed ADB, SCSI, serial ports, and the floppy drive, dozens of peripherals were suddenly obsolete.

When the G5 came out, you could no longer boot to OS9. You were forced to use "Classic" mode in OS X. This was the first stage in weening you off OS9 apps.

When Leopard came out, Classic mode was removed - obsoleting OS9 apps once and for all.

Nothing sold by Apple in the last 11 years (other than OS9) is obsolete. They can still function, parts are available, and they can use all the popular file formats, communications protocols, and connectors.

In fact, many would argue that OS9 itself isn't obsolete. It's still available, as are apps. They use all the popular file formats, communications protocols, and (if a G3 or newer) connectors.

That said, your tirade against constantly surpassing itself is a valid complaint... it just isn't "planned obsolescence".

I'm sorry that Apple is offering something for sale better than they were last week - but it in no way diminishes the usefulness of it's previous offering. While no longer holding the title "latest and greatest" it is far from obsolete.

In the same vein: five year old machine is not an "antique".

I fear if we continue referring to old machinery as "dinosaurs" that in five years kids will believe that they were once living reptiles.