@Catfiend My view is that I was not overly offensive, but more that Apple users proved overly defensive; people can form their own conclusions based on the above. More importantly, your post #14 is the first to directly address the issues I've raised. My question to any willing to discuss this heresy is, how do people get around Apple's control of content just fine? What are good ways to access content over my network? Do I in fact have to convert all my audio and video to Apple's semi-proprietary formats like ALAC and mp4? If we want to address these questions, we shouldn't mince words about what it is and why it is. The danger of this directness is that people will take it personally, and want to talk about me personally, or anything but the actual technical questions.
My second point was related because IMHO it shows a pattern of Apple treating non-Apple standards as second class citizens. And, while we probably don't need to get into that whole discussion, IIRC there are many other examples of Apple (and Microsoft) brutalizing standards. This is actually, one of the main differences from Android. And the specific mechanism is, when we surrender to ALAC or mp4, we've locked ourselves in to Apple. And we may get touchy about discussing that and its downsides.
I confess in another post that the iPad does do enough things that I want, even does them well, and that's why I'm keeping it. But I like to think that in a forum we could discuss some perceived failings, to help people make informed decisions, to look for workarounds, or even that Apple in their infallible wisdom might make some changes some year.
I don't agree with your brushing off my third issue as "doesn't handle my music in my favorite fashion". I view it as a rather more serious and indeed deliberate breach on Apple's part. We've entrusted Apple with sometimes thousands of dollars worth of music. We've trusted iTunes to continue to offer the same functionality. But now the iTunes (or iPod app) on the iPad has removed the ability to access a remote library. Or, maybe you know a technical work-around we could discuss.
Devices running Android encompassed more than half of all U.S. smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2010. Android increased its U.S. market share lead to 53 percent as 2010 closed, up 9 percentage points over Q3–Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS slipped 4 percentage points to account for 19 percent of sales, tied with Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry (down 2 percentage points).
According to Wikipedia, "Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a phrase and metaphor, used in the United States and Canada, that means to become a firm believer in something, to accept an argument or philosophy wholeheartedly or blindly without critical examination. I also thought it implied a cult-like devotion and closed mindedness, often resulting in ad hominem arguments rather than addressing specific issues.
