"I call BS on that. If that was the case you wouldn't have insulted your parent poster by saying:

"you probably just have sour grapes because you can't afford one on a dell helpdesk salary.""

Actually I typed that last line specifically to make a point, and here it is, since it's become evident that it went entirely misunderstood:

It's one thing to decide that you're not going to buy something because of whatever reason you like. It is something else entirely to come all up in MY face and imply that I'm foolish, or an idiot, or some sort of ego-freak because of my choice of computational equipment. The first one is something that any reasonable person does throughout their day. The second is only something that someone who is most ironically foolish, stupid, or possessing an ego clearly far larger than mine, does.

It was an object lesson, get it? The meaning of my sentence was commentary on the argument used in the message to which I was responding.

As much as I try, friend, I cannot seem to feel this "freedom being lost", because I cannot make my ipad play WebM. I cannot make it play blu-ray disks either, which also seems to affect my feeling of "freedom" in no way whatsoever.

And I gave up administering "real computers" ages ago in favor of a higher salary and a much more interesting job. What a high holy pain in the ass THAT was.

And lastly, I don't actually flaunt my ipad, because I live in the middle of New York City and I don't want it stolen. I keep it to myself, except at work and at the coffeeshop near my apartment, where I have been known to break it out occasionally and play with Wolfram Alpha. And figure this out: I still adore it, despite not flaunting it everywhere I go. Because I didn't get it to make people feel bad, friend. I got it because I really, really like them.

I'm sorry if my motivation doesn't fit the character of the cut of the jib you seem to be laying on me, but maybe this is a good opportunity for you to "think different".

Bahah. I see what I did there.

Did you want to keep pointlessly whining or did you want to simply go and use something that's more suited to your needs?

Full disclosure:

I am a network security professional who has been in the field for about 20 years. I own Apple equipment specifically because after 20 years, here is what I want:

No more goddamn hassles. I'm tired of tweaking. I'm tired of having to think about that sort of thing in my spare time. Life is short, and I'd much rather spend as much of it as possible with as few headaches as possible. Which is why I recently replaced my laptop with an ipad. No foolin'. And I use it for pretty advanced stuff, too. AND I'm one of those people who just want my gadgets to work together well.

Right now, despite the kneejerk reaction of people who don't actually own any apple equipment, my ipad is loaded with pornography, mostly from the hardcore likes of kink.com and environs. More than half the videos on my ipad have no DRM, because I pirated them. Or I ripped them from other media via open source applications under OS X.

Without any problems at all.

So, to tally up, from my own direct experience:

You can have all the non-DRM, pirated goodness on an ipad or iphone that you want.
You can be a computer super-geek and even a guru to some and still actually enjoy Apple equipment and software.
You can look at all the porn you like on your Apple devices.
And if you really care that much about what *I* choose to use for *MY* own enjoyment, you probably just have sour grapes because you can't afford one on a dell helpdesk salary.

Also, don't worry too much. Here in NYC (my family has a long history of working in restoration in a number of NYC museums) the Guggenheim isn't really taken terribly seriously, and really hasn't been since a certain musician famously intoned upon its completion: "Christ, it looks like a giant toilet!".

For a higher consistent caliber of a similar kind of media and form, check out the Whitney. Maybe they'll do a deal with Vimeo.

How very socially conscious and noble of you. Personally I'd just really rather have a super cool phone, but good luck with your nobility.

It is true actually, but your problem is that you're spoiled. You want Apple to make precisely the device that YOU want, rather than go buy something else that more closely matches your needs.

It seems to me that really what the whiners and complainers want is for a company besides Apple to meet the same design and build standards that Apple does with their physical gear. You should ask yourselves why such a company doesn't exist.

Indeed. It is absolutely true that Microsoft has among the most active security engineering and architecture departments in the world. But the implication is actually (as it almost always is) precisely the opposite of Microsoft's spin.

Then... erm... DO NOT BUY IT.

Where's the argument? Your needs are clearly met by a number of devices that are not made by Apple, and I never quite understood why this argument exists at all. Are you trying to say that Apple has an ethical obligation to make the exact device that YOU want?

If your nixy stuff works better on a linux machine than on a POSIX compliant, certified UNIX (TM), then I'm pretty sure you're doing it wrong.

...monetizing bad math and improperly understood statistics since 2006.

Precisely. Other famous #1's from the annuls of history:

Budweiser
Microsoft
Ford
Bose
Schwinn
AT&T

It seems to me that #1 doesn't have too much to do with quality of product, but of effectiveness of marketing.

Yeah, it is what I want. I've been doing comp/net security for twenty years. I don't want to "fiddle" with things anymore. I just want them to work, and stay the hell out of my way when they do so.

It's awesome that you haven't hit the point in your life that I've hit in mine yet... the point where you're just tired of compiling kernels, writing wrappers and patches to make things work the way you want, etc... the point where you want your computational device to quietly cough up its functionality without wrestling it's user into an inescapable web-of-tweaks, but it would be more awesome if you tried very hard not to poo poo those of us who participated joyously on the front lines of GPL and other, better open source licenses, but who now really just want to see some tits and go have a sandwich.

At least when St. Elsewhere ended, we were left with a series of wonderful performances and truly creative plots and characters, even if in the end it was all some autistic kid's fantasy.

This time we don't get anything. And seriously, how many times did the writers/producers swear up and down that they werent all dead, that the island wasnt purgatory, that they werent pulling those cheap, easy outs.

Goddamn liars.

You appear to be saying that Java's strength in multithreading is all about not having to type an #include line.

Seems a bit weak for a strength to me.