I asked a question about itunes for OS 9.1. I originally just wanted to download a song by "The Mammas and the Poppas." Thank you as always for your replies and the ensuing debate on the wider and far more important issue of "OEM legacy support."
It seems that many of you feel as I, that our decade long brand loyalty is being rewarded with the "Big Bird." There was one aspect of the pros and cons of legacy support which was not discussed. That being, Consumerism. A similar issue of OEM legacy support plagued automotive buyers for years. Finally, organized consumerist action forced the hand of Congress. Legislation was subsequently passed which held Big Auto to a ten year deep buffer of legacy support. In fact, in that industry, just about anything good for the consumer was forced at the point of a Congressional lance or class action law suit. Often in the face of intense opposition by the auto lobbyists and hysterical cries of "Socialism!" Ironically, as it happens with progressive ideas, OEM after market service, a then irksome afterthought and consumerist forced issue, is now a major profit center for automotive dealerships. So much for Karl Marx. One would hope our favorite digital partners would behave rationally and take good care of their core users. Unfortunately our capitalist economic system often displays a sadly self-destructive, short-term face. Therefore it is up to us to force the (fill-in-the-blank) industry into a long term view. We can do so with strident, persistent consumerist effort and a clear conscious in that our action, as self serving as it may be, inevitably turns to the advantage of business. Returning to the point of legacy support and again referring to the auto industry, the development of fuel injection and anti-skid disc brakes were truly beneficial to the consumer. However their introduction did not render older cars useless, largely thanks to consumer protective legislation. My computer is far more important to my economic life than my car. I earn my living on this machine. The market reality of my profession, graphic arts, insists that I remain digitally current yet imposes an earning cap which makes it economically difficult for me to buy the newest, latest tools, at a pace set by the computer industry's marketing schedule and followed willy-nilly by my corporate clientele. Like so many other lower middle class entrepreneurs I am being squeezed between a digital rock and a corporate place. I currently face yet another, massive, market forced, legacy shift which I can only finance with home equity. Luckily I have the credit but the question begs an answer, as a freelance graphic artist, who am I really working for? Adobe? Apple? Microsoft? The Home Loan Industry? I don't have a free market choice, Apple killed it's own clone competition. Microsoft is a proven, monopolistic civic criminal. Switching to WinTel would be even more expensive than upgrading my Mac. So rather than work the numbers to show Apple and Adobe marketing MBAs the wisdom of legacy support I suggest playing the hand dealt by this system. Work the numbers to demonstrate the economic damage imposed by the artificial marketing construct of "new technology upgrade" and get the industries attention through the courts. My conservative friends bewail to plethora of "anti-business" legislation and consumer advocacy litigation but, cause and effect, when businessmen insist on acting like pigs, the consumer is forced to build pigpens. I apologize for the length of this post. I encourage letters by individuals on this list to consumer groups and Congresspersons about the issues of client-side quality control, "buried and bundled" marketing software, vertically integrated monopolies, "market driven" technology rollouts and planned obsolescence. Feel free to respond off-list. Steven Lee Stinnett www.CrisisCity.com "...old flower child passed on the street seemed to me to be less bold, he handed me a newspaper and suggested I buy gold." - 'Hippie, Yippie, Ya-Hoo!!' �ATL Club 2004 -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
