Had Apple created a really low minimum price for apps — say $0.15 — instead of offering free apps on day one, Ariely suggests, we would be anchored to the idea that apps should cost something.
Yeah...because the concept of an "app" wasn't invented until the iPod/iPhone came around...
Seamless experiences always win out over time. We saw it when gaming shifted from PCs to consoles.
Wait, what? When did that "shift" occur? Sure, consoles have been going online, which naturally means that some online gamers might have switched to consoles to play online, and some console players might have started to play online, but I'm calling [citation needed] on this supposedly significant "shift". "From desktop to mobile" is hugely misleading, as most people/companies aren't throwing out their desktops in favor of their mobile device.
So rather then trying to get some frothy public action thing together with promises to buy again if they change their ways. Just quietly buy what you believe in and let the marketing people figure out why sales dropped. Nothing preachy or pretentious. Just buy what you believe.
Apple products make lots of people happy. Good for them. They're welcome to it. I won't be one of them and wish one and all well.
I have a few problems with this philosophy. Take marriage as an example: if your solution to marital problems is quietly dropping hints, you will have a miserable marriage. "Let the marketing people figure out why sales dropped" is a horrible solution. Clear and direct communication is usually the best solution to any problem in which humans are involved.
Also, "Apple products make lots of people happy" is misleading. My mom bought an iPad, and for the most part it serves her well, but she absolutely hates the look of the calendar app. I looked and looked, but could not for the life of me find any way to significantly customize that stupid app. Lots of people are in this situation: they think that Apple products are unrivaled and therefore put up with Apple's crap. Apple does a lot of great things but is generally pretty bad at giving the user significant power to customize. This is a trend that is simply unacceptable for the future computing; it inevitably leads down the path of censorship and excessive governmental control.
The solution is not to boycott Apple, for that helps no-one - the solution is to continue to battle absurd software patents however it is possible to do so.
I think I'll try both and see what works out.
What's remaining?
webOS, blackberry
The project you are looking for is Bootstrap.
Bootstrap is a standards-based curriculum for middle and high-school students, which teaches them to program their own videogames using purely algebraic and geometric concepts.
Bootstrap uses Scheme/Racket and focuses on the algebraic/functional aspects of programming. The teaching materials are freely available online. They even sell "I program my own videogames" T-shirts.
I'm not seeing Android die anytime soon from where I'm sitting.
The glossy white throne with perfectly rounded corners is right over here.
which would cut off foreign websites dedicated to counterfeiting and piracy that steal American jobs, hurt the economy, and harm customers. It would allow the Justice Department to file a civil action against those who have registered or own a domain name linked to an infringing website.
So...our plan is to cut America off from those nasty pirates, so that good ol' Americans will be forced to pay full price for content they might otherwise pirate? Does this supposed $135 billion lost annual revenue come entirely from the US? There are so many things wrong with this guy's logic...
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion
