Chris

Member since: Mar 2nd, 2006

Chris's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
TUAW.com	3 Comments
Engadget	2 Comments
Download Squad	3 Comments

Recent Comments:

Why don't you pay for software? (Download Squad)

May 22nd 2007 1:00PM I used to develop donationware for the Palm PDA and am now developing software for Mac OS X. All my sw is donationware which means that it is optional to pay for it. I program for fun and for the challenge as others may like to solve puzzles. The donations are nice to help me pay for my website but are too little to even cover most of my cost. It could be that many donationware developers are like me and maybe not. I like doing it but luckily am not dependent on it. As for paying for large commercial packages, I understand that when someone is really strapped for cash then it's tempting to download it illegally. It is however still theft, just like stealing from your local store. It's only more anonymous which is in my opinion the reason why it's so rampant. But, I also believe that some of the major sw makers actually don't mind so much if younger people use their sw illegally as it ties them to their products and are more likely to become paying customers later.

Bill Gates: man in the bubble. (TUAW.com)

Dec 11th 2006 5:12PM "Oh well, what does Smith Barney know, anyway?". In my experience not much. They recommended a buy for SUN when they were at their pek at $45. A few months later they were trading at $5. Analysts' recommendations can be overvalued too.

AVG for OS X? (TUAW.com)

Dec 8th 2006 2:23PM Avast! currently has a OS X version in beta.

Safari's market share rises to 4.03 percent (TUAW.com)

Dec 4th 2006 7:56AM My hypothesis is that Firefox users on XP are more likely to switch to OS X. If Safari share is at 4% and OS X share at 5.3%, one could conclude that the share of Firefox on OS X is roughly 20%, higher than it's share on Windows. I think this may be due to the switchers. Switchers from Windows have already shown to be willing to let go of IE and seem to be more computer savvy then the average Windows user. I wonder what the share of FF users among switchers is.

Pirillo says Vista will help Apple (Download Squad)

Oct 15th 2006 8:36PM I was never and still am not anti-Microsoft. However, I recently switched to the Mac. The bootcamp dual boot option and the absence of viruses and malware were the main reasons. I still use my mac in windows mode quite often, but less and less. I play games very rarely so that wasn't a factor (though they run fine in windows mode). My old pc now serves as a fileserver while running Ubuntu.

Whether Ryan Carter is getting more biased against Microsoft is completely besides the point, he is just voicing his opinion. The question he raises is whether more people are switching or not and whether it has consequences for Microsoft.

Fact is that more and more people are switching to the mac, just look at the share of its safari browser. Will it ever come close to posing a serious threat to MS? I don't think so as the corporate environment is far less likely to make the switch (firefox doesnt even get much of a stronghold there). But the Mac has the potential to gain a serious foothold in the home-user market. As Chris Pirillo noted, computing is becoming more of an online event, the OS is becoming less important and it is less and less a problem to use several OS's next to eachother (e.g. in home vs office use).

As for the price difference, it's all relative. A recent comparison between a similarly equipped Dell and a Mac Pro showed a distinctive price advantage for the Mac Pro. (http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php)

But on the lower end, the PC's still hold the price advantage.

As for the availability of software, the PC has much more to offer, but in daily use I haven't missed anything on the Mac (on the contrary, I don't need all my spyware scanners anymore, for now), plus I can always switch to Windows if I really need to.

For a good OSX vs XP out-of-the-box comparison check this site (http://www.xvsxp.com/). OSX wins by a narrow margin.

When is Firefox not a Firefox? (Download Squad)

Oct 3rd 2006 12:36PM FoxyDebi

Bump keying: $1 keys open any lock (Engadget)

Aug 7th 2006 2:50PM This was a well organized PR stunt in the Netherlands. Bump keys have been around for years so there was nothing new. But what was new was a new lock that supposedly couldn't be opened by bump keys. A major tv program aired an item on the bump key and the next day that lock company started advertising for their "safer" locks. Coincidence? Not at all.

I used to work for a PR company that set up these things and recognized the tricks of the trade. First, get a TV program stupid enough to air a bit of sensationalist piece highlighting a so-called problem with a competitor's product. Provide them with so-called neutral experts (of course hand-picked by the PR agency) that validates the story, follow it up with advertising or another PR piece and you're done.