Philosophically, I like open source. As a consumer and techno-challenged person I like Apple.
But I think Apple is successful *despite* Jobs' control freak approach, not because of it.
If you want to consistently succeed at pricing your goods higher than most competitors, you need to consistently provide more options. Not less.
I love my tricked-out MacBook Pro with its solid state drive. But when I first switched to Apple (a Bondi Blue G3 tower and matching humonguous CRT monitor) it was because all of the things it didn't do that Microsoft based systems didn't -- random crashes, cool GUI, not having to be a computer person to use fancy features. Now...it sometimes seems like it is content to adopt the worst parts of the Microsoft business model between ever thinner veneers of cool design.
The G3 looked cool, and underneath was a major machine. The iPad looks cool, and underneath is a lot of nothing much.
"Wade" wrote: