Posts Tagged ‘Mac OS X’
Why I Shall Never Buy Another Apple iProduct
Forget the iPad for a moment. In my eyes, the iPad is the rare exception to the rule in the line of products that Apple has to offer because of the price to features ratio. But bearing in mind buying an iPad would be part of the perpetuation of the Apple brand and the consumerist smug levels that users seem to have, I will no doubt be avoiding it anyway.
Over a year ago, I bought myself an iPod nano – the fourth generation version which had just been released. It was a birthday present to myself and it was the cheapest iPod for a long time. I may as well give it a shot, I thought.
A couple of days later, I get a phone call from my bank, supposedly being the fraud department. I was suspicious of the call, so I called my bank back directly and yes, it turns out that in fact it was the fraud department. Better to be safe than sorry. As soon as the transaction went through from my debit card for the iPod touch nano, my bank had cancelled my card and stalled any transactions taking place, citing “suspicious activity”. When I confirmed that it was in fact a genuine payment and it was a birthday present to myself, they put the order through and I got the iPod the next couple of days.
It wasn’t as if I had bought a dozen of the same thing and sent the delivery to my non-billing address, but I should have seen that as an omen, frankly.
Since then, the scroll wheel became faulty and the battery lasts only so long. The absolute necessity to install iTunes to manage your music detests me (though SharePod works a treat, but not sadly it is not widely known about), and frankly the sound quality was knocked into second place by a BlackBerry of all things.
Switch for a moment from the iPod to the wider picture. The two are not necessarily connected or mutually exclusive to each other. An argument for poor build quality or raising the issue of a device which barely makes it through the year, perhaps. It boils down to one thing, in my opinion. Social class.
This isn’t about Windows or Linux, or even Mac OS X as such. This isn’t an argument of who should use what or the comparison between the operating systems. No, most definitely not. In fact, just to make a point to those who say I’m simply anti-Apple because I’m pro-Microsoft (which frankly makes me laugh), I would definitely advocate open-source technology and operating systems over Windows since my last experiment. The problem is, it’ll never happen.
Though many will no doubt argue that I could not possibly comment after buying a lone iPod nano. Over the last few months, I have experimented in great deal with Mac OS X, the iPhone, and other Apple products. I can surely appreciate the technology, the user interface and experience, the quality of the devices and suchlike. But the technology world seems to have infiltrated the class system in my view, meaning those who buy an Apple product – in particular the notebooks such as the MacBook Air or Pro – use it as a tool of raising their place in the social hierarchy. A device for fashion and statement, rather than that for function and necessity.
To see the technology and specifications packed into say, a MacBook Pro, a relatively powerful device which let’s face it, could be far cheaper and more powerful from another hardware manufacturer. Apple products are staunchly overpriced for what they offer and are not designed to be bought and therefore used by the average student.
Only the other day, was it pointed out to me the privately owned and run Seton Hill University expect students to pay thousands more for a degree programme than most other universities in the US, while at the same time jumping on the Apple bandwagon and offering every new student an iPad. The private university rakes in the tuition fees and spends it on technology of the upper classes – their students who can afford it. The tuition fee debate was sparked off in the comment section a couple of days ago, with my reply also.
They may well be perfect for the silver spoon student who has their tuition fees paid by their father’s trust fund, but to the average, proletariat, working to middle class background student who just about makes it through each academic year, “disposable” devices which are cheap and just about get the job done will have to suffice.
PC vs. Mac in Security: Experts Share Opinions
Those notorious “I’m a Mac” TV commercials from Apple always paint the picture that Macs are nearly impervious to malware – but that’s not the truth. For the most part, it all comes down to the user base that malicious hackers choose to target.
Regardless, the subject of which platform is more secure – the PC with Windows or the Mac with OS X – is constantly debated by rabid fanboys from both sides.
CNet’s Elinor Mills decided to get the experts’ opinions on the subject by polling no less than 32 security gurus on his or her take on PC vs. Mac security. Here are a handful of what the experts had to say:
Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist at Cryptography Research: “The fair answer is that with the latest versions of each operating system there isn’t a compelling security reason to pick one or the other. It used to be that Apple was doing a better job, but with Windows 7 Microsoft has caught up. There are some differences; Windows has a better security ecosystem. On the other hand, Apple tends to have more expensive hardware and has a smaller market share, so it attracts fewer malware writers. Both have security bugs. Both need patches. Both can be broken if someone finds a zero-day exploit.”
Dino Dai Zovi, independent researcher: “Neither. Consumers should see if Apple’s iPad or the forthcoming devices based on Google’s Chrome OS suit their needs because both are significantly more secure than any general-purpose desktop system, Linux, Mac, or PC.”
Adobe Patches Critical Holes in Photoshop CS4
Photoshop users like to expand what the software can do by downloading new brushes, gradients, and color swatches, but the ability to make those additions also turns out to have been a potential avenue for attack.
Adobe Systems on Wednesday released a Photoshop 11.0.2 security update to its earlier CS4 version of Photoshop for both Windows and Mac OS X versions to close off that avenue.
“Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 and earlier for Windows and Macintosh that could allow an attacker who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities to take control of the affected system. A malicious .ASL, .ABR, or .GRD file must be opened in Photoshop CS4 by the user for an attacker to be able to exploit these vulnerabilities,” Adobe said in an advisory. ASL, ABR, and GRD files refer to swatches, brushes, and gradients, respectively.
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