Apple Gaming... or not

Just read an article about Apple not understanding "gaming". Not being a "gaming" person, I can't say what the gaming community understands, I can't really see it through their eyes, and I most certainly don't want to offend anyone. That said... I just can't agree with this idea. Apple knows exactly what they are doing.

Yes, gaming is a BIG market. But so what? It just isn't the market that Apple wants to emphasize. People seem to be only seeing a big market and are not looking at the demand it will take to capture that market. As opposed to the "too many eggs in one basket" problem, I think this is a problem of having too many baskets and not enough eggs! Apple would like the market share (and the population that want to use Apple computers but don't because of the lack of gaming options) and would love the MONEY that comes with it, but there is a much larger reality that must be faced. A company that moves into territory that has nothing to do with their expertise will ultimately fail. Having all those baskets with no eggs to fill them with will destroy a company. There is just so much one company can do, and if they add more baskets, they either have to have more eggs, or have to pull eggs out of the baskets they already have filled. It weakens one market, and never really strengthens the new market. Failure all around, and that is NOT good eats!

This is not to say that there are no success stories for diversifying, but for the most part, the really successful companies either keep with what they know (and do it very well) or get rid of what they did in the past and completely change what they do. Look up the history of DuPont and many of the chemical companies. They went all over the map, but not until they got rid of whatever they were doing previously. They put a strong emphasis on the new market without having to be dragged down by the old one. This just isn't the case with Apple. Their strengths are not in jeopardy, their products not some kind of old technology that is going to go away. To add other products will take away from their successes, not add to them.

Being in the education industry, I meet with many who are now getting degrees in Digital Gaming and Simulation. Most of them want to hack away at a computer... they tolerate Windows, LOVE Linux, but aren't really happy with the Mac OS. And that is fine by me. No problems with that... REALLY! But for me, and the market that Apple seems to sell to (yeah... that would be me!), doesn't care about hacking anything. We want something we can buy and that will work. We don't care to tweak, to modify, to break down and rebuild, to redesign. It just isn't fun to us. We are a totally different market than the gaming community, and Apple has made their decision on who they sell to. And that is fine by me too!

There is one point that I don't understand, and maybe someone can clarify it for me. What is so important about games on a computer anyway?? If I want to have games at all, and remember I'm not one that does, so forgive my ignorance, I can just go get a Playstation a Wii, or whatever else is popular in the market. I hook it up to the television and have at it. Why on earth would I want to run it off a computer with a much smaller screen, or worse, on a laptop with a screen far far smaller than even the smaller modern televisions out there now? I just don't get the attraction. Someone please explain. I may change my opinion if you do!

iPhone - Thick... as a brick

Apple is NOT deliberately "bricking" iPhones. There. I've said it. And here is why ~

1. Apple warned everyone that updates could cause problems on hacked phones. What else do you need to know?
2. The updates are necessary additions to a wonderful / beautiful / really cool piece of UNFINISHED software. Does no one remember how Leopard got stalled because all the designers were taken off to get iPhone ready in time? Well, it still wasn't enough to get the iPhone right the first time. But then again, what piece of software is? It is still a better interface than any other phone I have ever had.
3. Apple is adamant about keeping anything they create stable. This is just not possible if everyone and their mother can add whatever hack they want. There just isn't any control. You can like it, hate it, or be indifferent about it, but that is just the way it is.
Here is a quote from Jobs himself:

“You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore."

Gee… what a thought… have a product that doesn't die on you. Guess it isn't a PC after all!
On a Yahoo Finance page from September 24:

"Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software"

4. Last time I checked, if I work on my car and damage it with third party parts, it isn't the responsibility of the automobile maker… it's mine. Why should a phone be any different? If you want to hack… go for it! But YOU are responsible. DEAL.

You may agree with this assessment or not, or even have absolutely no opinion whatsoever, but I would like to hear from those that are far more in the know than I, specifically those that use hacks, those that are far more technically savvy than I, and anyone else that owns and iPhone and is interested in the subject.