This years MacHeist bundle is better than ever. Is it better than last year’s? Well, it’s different; let’s put it that way. The good news is that they lowered the price: $39 is all it takes! WireTap Studio alone is worth the price of the bundle but other apps like World of Goo, Picturesque, and Acorn are all nice apps to have.
Man, I sure hope more employees of financial institutions do this sort of thing. This sort of honesty is sorely missing from our country. I applaud Mr. DeSantis for having the one trait that folks on Wall Street seem to be lacking: a conscience!
John Gruber posted this on his blog and I just had to comment. It seems that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s ever so talented CEO, has stuck his foot in his mouth once again:
“Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction,” Ballmer said, via webcast. “The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”
Wait a minute. Hold on. So, what Steve is trying to say is that the typical Apple computer is $500 more than what everyone else is charging for a similar PC? Really? Last time I checked, a PC with the same processor, same amount of memory, same amount of hard drive space, similar video card, and such was within $100 of what Apple was charging. Simply put, Apple sells premium computers with premium parts; not cheap ass sub $1,000 crap computers. Granted, you can get a Mac Mini for under $700 and a MacBook for $999 but, even then, they’re still great computers and you get what you pay for and then some.
Plus, what Ballmer fails to realize is that you’re not just paying for a name. People don’t buy an Apple computer and/or pay more just because it has a pretty logo on it. An Apple computer is more than just a computer and an operating system. It’s about providing a seamless experience between the hardware and software. Without the OS, an Apple computer isn’t an Apple computer anymore. Same applies to putting the Mac OS on hardware that is different than what Apple sells. It’s the combination of the two that distinguishes an Apple computer from a PC.
Figure it that your average computer buyer only upgrades a computer about once every three to five years or so. Regardless of the economy, people want their dollar to stretch. Would you pay $700 for a PC that will last you maybe three years? Or would you pay $1,200 for a computer that you know will last you five years or longer? People buy Apple computer simply because they are of higher quality and simply last longer.
Ballmer just doesn’t get it. If he actually used an Apple computer for three months without touching a PC then maybe he would understand. I think this quote says it all though:
“You’re talking to a guy, though, whose dad worked for Ford, and once Ford sold Land Rover and Jaguar, we’re selling the cars to get Fords, so you may have a weird outlier in me.”
Yeah, because Jaquar is so anti-American, right? Why would it matter who owns the Land Rover line if they’re still manufacturing a quality product? Has Ballmer even driven a Jaguar? Hell, I’m a big VW guy and it doesn’t bother me at all that Porsche has a controlling share of both VW and Audi. If a company is highly innovative and producing a quality product, who cares who owns them?
While price matters, quality also matters. If you’re not producing a quality product, it doesn’t matter how cheap it is people simply won’t buy it. I don’t know about Ballmer, but I’m more than willing to spend a little more if it means getting something I’ll be more satisfied with in the long run. A quality product is a quality product, even in a bad economy.
Yep, this story just keeps getting better and better. Makes me completely sick to my stomach. I mean, regardless of whether these employees had a contract or not, the CEO could have reversed this decision and not pay these ridiculous bonuses. Getting government bailout funds is a highly extenuating circumstance and one that I feel should reverse any contracts that award any employees (or ex-employees) any bonuses like this. Sorry, there is absolutely no excuse for this. AIG took an action that was completely irresponsible. How can a bank claim to be in the shit and yet feel that it’s ok to payout millions in bonuses? Seriously…when the hell is the CEO of AIG gonna get fired?!
Cough! [Spits out coffee.] WHAT?! I did just read that, right? Hold on…lemme read that again just to be sure…
Yep, I did read that right. Here’s part of their excuse:
The payments to 400 employees of the financial-services unit — some of whom no longer work at the insurer — were promised last year before the federal government bailout. Bonuses range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $6.5 million.
And then they go on to say:
[Chief Executive Edward] Liddy also pointed out he won’t receive a bonus and that the company cut bonus payments for it senior executives. The top 25 executives in the financial-product unit, moreover, have agreed to accept a salary of just $1 for the rest of 2009, his letter said.
Liddy needs to go away. We own 80% of that company now. I say fire his ass!
Last week, Rush Limbaugh said some really ignorant things about health care legislation:
Ok, first off, Obama has been doing his fair share to help fix the current banking and credit crisis. However, he’s not a magician. He can’t just wave a magic wand and come up with a solution over night. Plus, he has to have the backing of Congress to pass any kind of legislation that will aid in fixing the mess. It’s a multi-layered issue and no one really knows how big the problem really is other than it’s really big.
Also, I don’t expect Obama to focus his attention exclusively on the banking and credit issues we face. That would be incredibly irresponsible given that there are myriad of other issues that our country faces that require his attention as well. Not only that but to say that the buck stops with just Obama isn’t realistic. It’ll require the efforts of everyone in Congress; not just Obama and his cabinet.
To say that all he can do is shift people’s attitudes about it is pretty ignorant. This isn’t about ideology. It’s about facing the raw facts. You can preach ideology all you want but at the end of the day if what you are preaching isn’t contributing anything to the solution then your ideology doesn’t matter for squat.
The Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Care Bill?! Seriously, Rush?! That is by far one of the most insensitive things I’ve heard anyone say in quite a while! The guy is dying of brain cancer and you’re making a statement like that?! You may have a difference in ideology and opinion with Ted Kennedy but don’t joke around about his health. It’s rude and downright insensitive and, quite frankly, deserves an apology.
Questions for Rush: What would you do? What solutions to these problems would you propose? Given that you’re so eager to criticize Obama and just about every other Democrat and Republican who doesn’t agree with you, what would the great Rush Limbaugh do if he were in the White House? Would you focus exclusively on each problem till each one is solved? Would you say that’s a good strategy? Or would you get the ball rolling on each of these issues and focus your attention as it is needed?
What the hell does Rush Limbaugh know about any of this stuff? For all he knows, the problems with the health care industry are as big and complex as the banking and credit crisis. I should know because I’ve gone through some health care issues myself recently.
For those who really want to understand one of the bigger issues with health care in this country, I suggest you read a recent Time magazine article entitled The Health-Care Crisis Hits Home. After reading it, I quickly realized just how inadequate my own health care insurance really is.
Just like Patrick Tumulty, I’m on a temporary insurance plan. I switched jobs and, since my wife was still in school, we weren’t sure whether she would end up with a full-time job with benefits. As such, we decided to stick with a temporary insurance plan till we knew more. Big mistake! There were a number of discrepancies with my insurance plan within the six month duration I had it.
First, after having hernia surgery, my insurance company did not pay the anesthesiologist for some reason. Why? No clue. Guess they figured I didn’t need it. Or maybe it was because the anesthesiologist is out of network? So basically the insurance company is telling me that I have to keep up with whether or not if my doctor, the hospital, the anesthesiologist, the labs, and anyone else who is providing me with medical services is covered under my insurance plan. I literally had to jump through hoops to make sure that each and every thing was covered. In my opinion, it’s ridiculous and does nothing but cost more time and money for everyone involved…including the insurance company due to the number of bogus claims they have to process, including mine!
Second, I recently was diagnosed with colitis. I first went to a general physician (who is covered under my plan), who referred me to a specialist. The office for this doctor told me that I was covered under my insurance so, after seeing the doctor, I scheduled a colonoscopy. It wasn’t until about a week before my colonoscopy that I get a call from the doctor’s office telling me that I wasn’t covered through my insurance after all and that I’ll likely have to pay over $500 out of pocket for the colonoscopy. Great.
Fortunately the folks that the doctor’s office were great and found me another doctor who can do the colonoscopy under my insurance. However, this doctor wanted me to come in for an unnecessary doctor’s visit, something my insurance company doesn’t like. My wife thought it was ridiculous to have to pay more money just to have a doctor ask the same questions and say the exact same thing: “You need a colonoscopy!”. So I called back to the original doctor’s office and asked them to find someone who would do the colonoscopy without any questions asked. Good news is that they found someone and I got the colonoscopy done and was diagnosed with colitis. Goody!
Lastly, I have confirmed what I have always know: that pharmaceutical and health insurance companies suck. My doctor prescribed to me two main medications, one oral and one (cough!) fun one. My wife nearly passed out after hearing what a 1 month supply of one and a 3 month supply of another would cost us: $600! And that’s after insurance deductions! Are these people out of their mind? Who the hell pays $600 for prescriptions!? That’s highway robbery!
The problem is that there are no generics of the medications I was prescribed. I either have to take something different or simply not take them at all. I can’t very well afford to keep paying for these medications since I’ll likely have to take them for the rest of my life. It’s a known fact that many medications won’t have generics available unless it’s been on the market for at least three years. In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies are gouging everyone due to the patents they hold on medications that don’t qualify for generic production yet. And being that there is little to no regulation on this, the gouging will continue and American insurance companies and individuals will continue to pay a premium on name brand drugs. It’s ridiculous.
Last question for Rush: What would you have me and millions of Americans like me do about our health care problems? If you don’t have an answer then quit complaining. Sorry but I don’t see how anyone can complain unless they are able to offer an alternative.
This is such bullshit. I mean, I don’t have any kids (yet!) but if I had a kid who was really big into web development, it would be the equivalent of telling him that he can’t use any other CMS but MODx. “Sorry, kid…no Drupal for you!” I may be a Mac pundit but I certainly would not deny my child of the things he/she might want. If my child really wanted a PC with Windows Vista on it, I’m not going to tell them,”Sorry, kid…Windows is not allowed in this household!”
If I was Bill Gates, I would allow my kids to use iPods and iPhones for the simple reason that it would allow me to get a better idea of the competition and actually see how they’re being used. The least Gates can do is explore some of these other products through the eyes of his kids.
Granted, Gates isn’t exactly a big part of Microsoft anymore…but he can sure as hell give some constructive feedback to Ballmer. Not knowing the competition is part of the reason why Microsoft is having such a hard time right now.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized video is probably one of the best explanations of the mortgage crisis that I’ve seen yet. Jonathan Jarvis does a great job of using multimedia and the web to send a message. Albeit a rather simple explanation, it does shed light on the one thing I’ve been saying all along: that the problem was caused largely by banks, not by home owners. Granted, there are some home owners that were grossly irresponsible and signed on a mortgage that they damn well knew they couldn’t afford. However, it was the banks that created the conditions that allowed for this kind of abuse. So, yes, we should be hypercritical about what decisions banks make.
Imagine that you’re living off a slot machine that continually gives you a nice profit for every dollar you stick in it. Sooner or later, that slot machine is gonna stop paying off, right? Sure enough, weeks later, the slot machine stops paying off as much and yet you continue to drop money into it thinking that it’ll start paying off again. Eventually, the slot machine is completely empty and doesn’t pay you anything even though you just got three gold bars.
That to me is how I view the way banks treated mortgages. They made the decision to play slots with high risk mortgages and continually allowed more and more high risk mortgages to be added to their portfolios. In the end, the bottom fell out and the mortgages stopped paying off. Just like a slot machine, eventually any high risk investment will stop paying off if you continue buying into it.
So who’s really to blame? The home buyer who just wanted the opportunity to own a home? Or the bank who got overzealous with the prospect of making more money on risky mortgages? You decide.
With that in mind, here’s the full video of The Crisis of Credit Visualized:
John Gruber pretty much nailed my thoughts on last night’s Oscar awards. This is my favorite part:
Putting WALL-E up against Bolt and Kung Fu Panda rather than letting it compete against Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button is like requiring a 13-year-old chess prodigy to compete only against other children, regardless whether he could stand his own against adult grandmasters. It’s a dismissive pat on the head.
So true. So true.
The sad part is that my wife and I only live like 5 miles away from where Bush lives. Ugg! Sorry, not a fan of Bush. Never have, never will be.
Twitter: jeffwhitfield