No, I bought a first generation 24" iMac, because it was competitively priced. It was about 10% more than an equivalent PC from a regular PC manufacturer + 24" display. I'd used Macs at work in the late 80s and early 90s and liked them and wanted to try one.

With the move to Intel, I didn't really have anything to use. I was using Linux as my main desktop at the time and putting Linux or Windows on it, if I didn't get on with OS X would have been relatively easy.

I really like OS X, although I don't think it has that much of a lead over Vista or Linux in day-to-day use for my use (non-artistic, non-multimedia).

That is one of the reasons I am so disappointed with Apple's pricing today. When I bought my machine, a 10-20% price hike for the Apple kit was well worth it. The "competition's" prices have dropped around 60-70% since then.

I looked at the iPhone when it was first released, but it didn't do enough of what I needed, even though the interface was nicer than Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile was the better platform. With the 3GS, or more appropriately the 3.0 software, the iPhone now represents a better 'phone product for my needs.

If the Apple machines offered better value for money, I'd buy them without a second thought. As it is, I find the iMacs and MBPs very tempting from a technical perspective, but the prices are unwarranted for the technical specification - for the casing etc. you can possibly justify it, but the plastic case on my higher specified Toshiba Tecra, which cost €1,1150, instead of over €1800 for the MBP with the closest spec. If the equivalent MBP was €1300-1400, I'd buy it without thinking. At €1800-€2200...

Likewise, I think the App Store is a great idea, but it has, currently, been poorly implemented - with no clear guidelines of what is or is not acceptable, total trash getting in (these 1,500 aggregators which got kicked out last week, after being in there for months), whilst useful applications are getting turned down, but no clear reasons are given to the developers as to why.

Apple really need to get on top of this, or it is going to come back and bite them.

Calacanis, Pogue, Amber MacArthur, Gruber, LaPorte, Trapani, Ihnatko, Rose and the rest might represent a small percentage of iPhone users, but they have large followings and they have a large area of coverage. Dedicated Apple users are the wrong group to piss off.

So, you made an informed decision on your Apple purchases, everyone else buys them because they're "Apple and shiny". Is the view nice from your ivory tower?



You are fecking kidding, right? Let's put your friend Calacanis on the bench for this one, as he's a nobody. But as for everyone else: yes, they have huge followings, among Apple fans - people who would say "thank you sir, may I have another" rather then use Windows or Linux. And if you think the average person on the street (Joe Sixpack, as you so lovingly, patronisingly called them) even knows or cares who that bunch are then you have even less grip on what real, non-tech, people think than I gave you credit for.

You are putting words in my mouth! Somebody else mentioned that, I just re-used it. A lot of people buy it because it is the fashionable 'phone to have...

Like the so called Apple haters, they aren't the largest segment of Apple buyers, and I never implied they were...


The term is the American equivalent of the UK's Joe Average or Germany's Otto Normalverbrauche... As the Google Voice problem is a purely American issue, it seemed appropriate.

I said that this will not affect the average person on the street, in America. I was implying that it is bad for Apple's image in the press... Two different things.

Yes, Calacanis is a self promoter, you have to be in his line of work. But he still has a big following, building on the days of Silicon Alley Reporter and still has tens of thousands of followers. He is also a regular guest on many of the top tech podcasts.

But he is just the tip of the iceburg. Looking at the blogging, podcasting and developer communities in the USA, the Google Voice stuff has kicked up a real storm for Apple.

I hope they can move quickly and limit the damage, as I keep saying, the App Store is a great idea, but the current vetting process, with no option to manually load rejected apps and no concrete guidelines on what is and isn't acceptable, Apple aren't doing themselves any favours with the press or with the developer community.

Sure, it's a fact that lots and lots of people buy a phone based on looks and fashion. If Apple hits that market, then that's a good thing and shouldn't be something to hold against it.

At the end of the day, only a fraction of people who own an iPhone (or any other smart-phone) actually need an iPhone. I certainly don't need to have it over any other phone. But it's nice. It plays great games, integrates with my computer excellently etc etc etc I don't need to repeat the virtues here.

I certainly haven't heard a single person who talks (or frankly knows about) the short-comings of the app-store. It's streets ahead of anything else, and it's a new concept so of course it's going to have a few problems.

iPhone has arrived... Will have to wait up to 24 hours to start using it

iPhone has been activated, but the SIM card is still blocked.

Also Apples instructions are inaccurate, it says plug iPhone in to Mac, register with iTunes... No mention of how to insert the SIM card! Managed to find a video on YouTube in a couple of seconds, so not really an issue, but that there is nothing on the instructions supplied with the iPhone on how to insert the supplied SIM card is a bit of an oversight...

The network operator should have fitted it Dave.

In my iPhone box is a small wallet that has the SIM tray remover pin and some other bits. On the inside is a single image of how to remove the SIM tray.

As my phone was an upgrade I had to put the SIM in myself

James, your avatar is a 404??

I had a clear out of my FTP space the other day. I must have accidentally deleted it. The putz that I am.

Edit: That's better. I can see you all now.

And the sig?

did anyone get a cleaning cloth with there 3Gs'?

Not that I remember.

Why??

well I got one with my 3G but not the 3Gs disappointed Apple, #AppleFail

Ah ****!!!

Edit: Managed to find a copy on an image folder on an old message board that I don't use any more.

With the Oleophatic screen on the 3GS there is less of an issue with greasy fingermarks on the screen and thus I can see why they didnt hand one out, but it would of been nice