not so anymore! The cheap iphone looks different from the regular, as does the super gold iphone. Apple realized that once their stuff was ubiquitous, it'd be harder to differentiate the haves from the have nots. iphone c, and the gold iphone - problem solved

Agreed - The BSD section used to be somewhat lively. There's an awful lot of hostility towards the BSDs as they're not Linux. People feel really threatened when there is an alternative to their favorite OS. I also have to laugh at posts about BSD fragmentation. How many Linux distros are there now? Oh, but they're all related! Of course, the BSDs share ancestors, so they're related, too.

Apple: Freedom from the tyranny of choice I can certainly understand the frustrations people feel when having too many choices and not knowing what they want, but I personally prefer having more options. It seems that a lot of people get offended when someone does not make the same choice they do... it must be some sort of validation of their choice.

I see this a lot. systems/network administrators are not developers and developers are not systems/network admins. Just because you've read some RFCs doesn't mean you understand how the multitude of vendors have implemented them. Developers usually do a bad job of managing systems... mainly from inexperience. Likewise, sysadmins don't usually write great code.

I saw that article and took the "test." I picked out the Strad right away - the performer couldn't make the lower passages on the G string sound as consistent and strong. I doubt they had many classically trained violinists listen to the excerpts (a bassoonist or percussionist probably doesn't spend much time listening to solo violin music.) I'm sure not all strads are up to the same quality, but there are real reasons Strads and Guaneri violins are in such demand - not just because they're not being replaced, and not just because of the prestige.

Although I'm not a violinist, what I've been told by classical violinists who've had the opportunity to play a strad: it's hard to make a bad sound on the instrument - tone production is easier.

Believe it or not, a lower quality instrument (violin or otherwise) may not suitable for playing certain pieces. Violins and pianos are great examples of this. I overheard a couple of violinists playing the opening page of the Scherzo from Schumann's second symphony (recording and sheet music ). Both violinists played it on a $30k violin and $40k violin. Neither was able to get the passage clear (at full tempo) on the $30k violin, but both could play it easily on the $40k violin. Both violinists were conservatory trained and about equal skill level. That's not to say that instruments are all priced perfectly, but there is something to higher quality instruments being easier to play. Who knows about the luthiers of today? I certainly hope some are producing the strads of tomorrow, but it might not be clear for a century or two.

Given the choice, do you think the average developer would rather work on a netbook or a high end laptop? Both could probably get the job done, but compiling would take longer and everything else would likely take longer.

I must have missed that legislative ruling. I didn't realize there was a fixed life of a phone... other than the carrier's upgrade cycle.

Anyway, my point is, no one updates device software forever - but most people here on macdot.org are making that assertion. Saying, "Apple updates the old devices... but, that device is too old" is not the same thing as "Apple updates all the old devices continually."

It would seem that many people aren't keeping a phone even two years now. I've known quite a few people to upgrade their phone as often as possible, (including iPhone 4 to 4s) so this all may be irrelevant. I'm 100% sure that Apple, Samsung, Motorola, and friends wouldn't mind selling a new phone once a year.

And my iPhone 3G that I bought just before the 3Gs came out? Not so much.

So my iphone 3G will be updated to iOS 5?

My first two cars were standard transmission. You can use your other hand to shift and keep one hand on the wheel. The catch is that a manual transmission car will work fine if you don't leave your hand sitting on the shifter all the time, but a cell phone requires you to hold it to your hand.
I can't believe there are so many people on slashdot who actually believe keeping one hand continuously pressed against ones face is perfectly fine when driving. Sure, you can use the hand holding the cell to do things, but I never really see drivers doing that.
It's definitely not as safe to take a hard turn with one hand... one slip and you'll lose control - especially if you're holding a big cell phone in your hand. You can do it, but you can't say that it's just as safe as using 2 hands. But, it is slashdot, where people make a point assuming their viewpoint is always correct. It's cool - like junior high.

I wonder - are these scheduled visits? Pretty much every company will dress up things for visiting clients (you can't completely cover up problems, but you can present things as being better than they are normally.) If the Apple employees visited randomly, it might be interesting. Then again, it might actually be difficult to do truly unannounced visits... if Foxconn (or whomever) could look out for certain foreign visitors... perhaps with a little help from the government.

You've never honked at someone who's veering off into your lane? I'm not talking about a sudden shift... just a gradual motion.

I find it hilarious that no one here understands the problem with the conclusion, "there is no difference between using a hands free device and continuously holding a cell phone to your head." Sure, you can drop the phone and then your hand will be free, but I really doubt everyone would do that.

I forget, though - this is slashdot; everyone has to argue everything from the perspective of "I never have that problem - I don't know what you are talking about. No one else's argument is worth thinking about." Oh well, at least it's not another article about something Apple related.

If you've got one hand on the wheel and one hand is holding a cell phone, are you going to be using turn signals? They're not optional, as much as some drivers seem to think.
What if you need to honk at someone who's moving into your lane? Sure, you can drop your cell phone or use your hand with the cell phone in it, but I doubt most people do that.

I've always questioned those studies. If you're holding the phone with one hand, you only have one hand on the wheel. Of course, there's no guarantee that any driver will have both hands on the wheel, but the cell phone tends to prevent that possibility.

Seakittens give Morbo gas.