Parikh1234
Aug 25, 02:57 PM
I have had no luck today getting two batteries replaced. I enter their serial numbers and it tells me they are not valid serials, even though they fall within the range. When I call the support number and hit 5, i just get a busy tone and it hangs up on me.
skier777
Mar 26, 11:38 AM
I hope apple follows microsofts lead and lets students upgrade for 30 bucks in the first few months of release.
The only reason I upgraded from XP to windows7 was the student discount. It would be really nice if i could do the same for lion, otherwise SL is probably gunna be fine forever.
What if you skip releases. Will it be the same price to upgrade from Leopard as SL?
The only reason I upgraded from XP to windows7 was the student discount. It would be really nice if i could do the same for lion, otherwise SL is probably gunna be fine forever.
What if you skip releases. Will it be the same price to upgrade from Leopard as SL?
triceretops
Apr 27, 08:59 AM
I wonder if this is why I can no longer get more than a days charge on my iPhone 4 with minimal use since it seems like it's an always on thing.
If you are having battery issues and you have Apple Care on the phone, you can take it to a store and have them replace the battery.
If you are having battery issues and you have Apple Care on the phone, you can take it to a store and have them replace the battery.
mr.steevo
Apr 25, 04:30 PM
Case in point: My GF has a few crazy stalkers who could find out from this data base where she actually spends most of her time. They are mentally challenged creeps who have no way to do this through hacking into ATT but they could steal her stuff at her public appearances. They actually showed up there.
Then she needs to speak with the police.
Then she needs to speak with the police.
Mr. Retrofire
Apr 6, 07:08 PM
The GPU performance decrease is much more severe that you let on...
...VDA (Video Decode Acceleration) framework support : Intel 3000HD isn't supported, forget hardware accelerated decoding of Flash content in H.264.
Apple does not install Flash Player on newer machines, so this is not a problem.
Try youtube.com/html5 (http://www.youtube.com/html5) or ClickToFlash (http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/) or other HTML5-Safari extensions (http://www.macupdate.com/find/mac/html5%20extension)!
OpenCL. Big selling point for Snow Leopard, absent from most of their hardware line-up now.
You obviously know nothing about OpenCL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCL). OpenCL is not hardware dependent. OpenCL programs can run even on old 300 MHz PowerPC processors, if someone writes a OpenCL-compiler for this platform.
...VDA (Video Decode Acceleration) framework support : Intel 3000HD isn't supported, forget hardware accelerated decoding of Flash content in H.264.
Apple does not install Flash Player on newer machines, so this is not a problem.
Try youtube.com/html5 (http://www.youtube.com/html5) or ClickToFlash (http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/) or other HTML5-Safari extensions (http://www.macupdate.com/find/mac/html5%20extension)!
OpenCL. Big selling point for Snow Leopard, absent from most of their hardware line-up now.
You obviously know nothing about OpenCL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCL). OpenCL is not hardware dependent. OpenCL programs can run even on old 300 MHz PowerPC processors, if someone writes a OpenCL-compiler for this platform.
ThunderSkunk
Apr 25, 03:14 PM
http://thenextweb.com/us/2011/04/20/us-police-can-copy-your-iphones-contents-in-under-two-minutes/
Holy ****.
We had stuff like this when I was in the service, a but its use was strictly observed across and up the chain of command, and we're held accountable for each use. Civilian officers with little or no supervision getting their hands on this level of equipment scares the %^$& out of me.
Holy ****.
We had stuff like this when I was in the service, a but its use was strictly observed across and up the chain of command, and we're held accountable for each use. Civilian officers with little or no supervision getting their hands on this level of equipment scares the %^$& out of me.
dakwar
Mar 22, 02:48 PM
I wasn't thinking straight, big deal.
And Thankfully I'm more successful in life than you'll ever be. Thanks.
Keep telling yourself that. You'll sleep better at night.
And Thankfully I'm more successful in life than you'll ever be. Thanks.
Keep telling yourself that. You'll sleep better at night.
Multimedia
Aug 27, 01:57 AM
How do you get black aluminum? Or is this just a wish? Cause that'd be pretty ill.
And what is the easy access HD bay?It is speculated by some of us that the next MacBook Pro revision will include a Black Anodized Aluminum case. Here is the MacWorld video showing the MacBook's Easy Access HD Bay (http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macword/2006/05/macbookvideo/index.php) which many of us here think is a Pro feature Apple must implement in the next revision of the MacBook Pro. :)
Here is the Apple documentation on the MacBook's Easy Access Hard Drive Bay (http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf).
And what is the easy access HD bay?It is speculated by some of us that the next MacBook Pro revision will include a Black Anodized Aluminum case. Here is the MacWorld video showing the MacBook's Easy Access HD Bay (http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macword/2006/05/macbookvideo/index.php) which many of us here think is a Pro feature Apple must implement in the next revision of the MacBook Pro. :)
Here is the Apple documentation on the MacBook's Easy Access Hard Drive Bay (http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf).
iliketyla
Mar 31, 08:46 PM
This is where the Android "community" is going to split.
The ones we've heard from today don't give a crap about "open" or "closed" or Google or anything else other than the fact that Android is not Apple and is stealing some sales from Apple. They'll defend whatever Google does, because all they want is a platform that's not by Apple to take over the mobile space.
The true believers in the "open" propaganda, as ridiculous as it is and as untrue as it's always been, are probably still in a state of shock. By tomorrow they'll split into two warring camps. One will defend everything Google does because they perceive—wrongly of course—that Android is still in some indefinable way more open than iOS, and they'll blow that little invisible kernel of "openness" up until that's all they can see.
The other camp will be viciously angry at Google's betrayal of the True Religion™ and will be flailing around for some other messiah to deliver them from the "Walled Garden" of Apple and now, Android. These are the people who were saying the other day that "Motorola could rot" with their own OS.
Any suggestions on who the zealots will turn to in their hour of despair? I honestly can't think of a candidate, but then I'm not nuts—at least not that way.
Yeah! That's what'll happen!
Or they'll do further research and realize that the implications in this SINGLE ARTICLE might not be 100% true.
To the everyday user this means NOTHING as they have no knowledge of what open truly means, and therefore can't take advantage of it.
To the users who actually have the knowhow to utilize open source operating systems, this might mean a minor hinderance, but not a complete game changer.
And for clarification, the former is the vast majority.
Did no one notice the obvious bias in this article? It's slanted, and the author clearly thinks that Google has been wrong this entire time.
The ones we've heard from today don't give a crap about "open" or "closed" or Google or anything else other than the fact that Android is not Apple and is stealing some sales from Apple. They'll defend whatever Google does, because all they want is a platform that's not by Apple to take over the mobile space.
The true believers in the "open" propaganda, as ridiculous as it is and as untrue as it's always been, are probably still in a state of shock. By tomorrow they'll split into two warring camps. One will defend everything Google does because they perceive—wrongly of course—that Android is still in some indefinable way more open than iOS, and they'll blow that little invisible kernel of "openness" up until that's all they can see.
The other camp will be viciously angry at Google's betrayal of the True Religion™ and will be flailing around for some other messiah to deliver them from the "Walled Garden" of Apple and now, Android. These are the people who were saying the other day that "Motorola could rot" with their own OS.
Any suggestions on who the zealots will turn to in their hour of despair? I honestly can't think of a candidate, but then I'm not nuts—at least not that way.
Yeah! That's what'll happen!
Or they'll do further research and realize that the implications in this SINGLE ARTICLE might not be 100% true.
To the everyday user this means NOTHING as they have no knowledge of what open truly means, and therefore can't take advantage of it.
To the users who actually have the knowhow to utilize open source operating systems, this might mean a minor hinderance, but not a complete game changer.
And for clarification, the former is the vast majority.
Did no one notice the obvious bias in this article? It's slanted, and the author clearly thinks that Google has been wrong this entire time.
boncellis
Jul 29, 05:59 PM
Ok, here goes. (Quick pass)
Eeek. Not so sure I like that.
Hmmm... maybe with just one slot?
A little better. I personally prefer the taller narrower one, though.
It looks pretty good! The extra room would allow for the 3.5" HDD and a dedicated GPU--making it a "true" media center.
Not to nitpick, but maybe it would only have to be 1.5x wider rather than 2x wide. Either way, I think it's pretty cool. Thanks! ;)
Eeek. Not so sure I like that.
Hmmm... maybe with just one slot?
A little better. I personally prefer the taller narrower one, though.
It looks pretty good! The extra room would allow for the 3.5" HDD and a dedicated GPU--making it a "true" media center.
Not to nitpick, but maybe it would only have to be 1.5x wider rather than 2x wide. Either way, I think it's pretty cool. Thanks! ;)
leekohler
Apr 27, 10:17 AM
Stay classy Faux News:
Image (http://images1.dailykos.com/i/user/6685/what-it-says-fox.png)
I'm seriously beginning to lose my patience with idiots. Is anyone else completely sick of these fools?
Image (http://images1.dailykos.com/i/user/6685/what-it-says-fox.png)
I'm seriously beginning to lose my patience with idiots. Is anyone else completely sick of these fools?
ready2switch
Sep 19, 09:32 AM
It gets annoying. Why? Because it's true and most people don't want to admit it.
In a few cases here and there, the extra processor power/speed is going to help. But for a majority of people buying a MacBook, they're not going to be burning home-made DVD's, doing intense Music compositions, or using it for hard-core gaming. They're going to SURF and WRITE.
As for the "resale" value, again, most people who are buying a used MacBook are NOT going to ask "is it a Merom?" They're going to ask how nice the case is, how much use it's gotten, and how much it is, and that's it.
Everybody likes to play "ooo, I'm the hard-core computing whiz and I need the BEST out there", but I bet you if you took an honest poll out there of everyone who's answered this thread, you'd find at least 75% these Apple fans have no need for for the extra speed, they just want it because it's "cool" and "fast" and it's the latest thing out there.
62% of all statistics are made up to add false weight to the speaker's argument.
:eek:
Unless you have conducted or can site a scientific study calculating exactly how mac users USE their apple machine, stop calling other people annoying and claiming to know exactly how overpowered these systems are for "most" of the users.
In a few cases here and there, the extra processor power/speed is going to help. But for a majority of people buying a MacBook, they're not going to be burning home-made DVD's, doing intense Music compositions, or using it for hard-core gaming. They're going to SURF and WRITE.
As for the "resale" value, again, most people who are buying a used MacBook are NOT going to ask "is it a Merom?" They're going to ask how nice the case is, how much use it's gotten, and how much it is, and that's it.
Everybody likes to play "ooo, I'm the hard-core computing whiz and I need the BEST out there", but I bet you if you took an honest poll out there of everyone who's answered this thread, you'd find at least 75% these Apple fans have no need for for the extra speed, they just want it because it's "cool" and "fast" and it's the latest thing out there.
62% of all statistics are made up to add false weight to the speaker's argument.
:eek:
Unless you have conducted or can site a scientific study calculating exactly how mac users USE their apple machine, stop calling other people annoying and claiming to know exactly how overpowered these systems are for "most" of the users.
braddouglass
Apr 6, 02:48 PM
That is highly limited thinking. It might be time to open your mind and learn how and why other people might actually want a particular feature rather than assume that they are the person who is limited.
I, and many others, use our computers for way more than typing.
A simple example is when I use my MBPro on stage with any number of apps for musical performances.
Also the sound engineers use MBPro for audio cues,audio mixing, recording, effects processing. The lighting guys use them.
When you are heavily involved in multitasking you need to be able to see something, identify it and use it, all within a fraction of a second. You are not sitting there touch typing.
THANK YOU!!!!! That's precisely why I need A back light and no one will understand haha but you get it my friend.
I, and many others, use our computers for way more than typing.
A simple example is when I use my MBPro on stage with any number of apps for musical performances.
Also the sound engineers use MBPro for audio cues,audio mixing, recording, effects processing. The lighting guys use them.
When you are heavily involved in multitasking you need to be able to see something, identify it and use it, all within a fraction of a second. You are not sitting there touch typing.
THANK YOU!!!!! That's precisely why I need A back light and no one will understand haha but you get it my friend.
Super Dave
Aug 5, 09:16 PM
Thanks for the links, Dave! I found them both very informative, especially the one on Quartz 2 Extreme.
Do you have any feel for when we will see a roll-out of the pro apps? I recall quite a bit of rumor-mongering just before the Intel announcement. Since then it has been rather silent. I thought the sudden drop in Quake might be a precursor to something fairly soon??
I have no inside information. I just read rumour and news sites� a lot! Although I use the pro Apps for a course I take, I'm not familiar enough with them to know their typical release schedule. For instance, iLife is once a year, whereas Adobe CS products are about every 18 months - 2 years. With Apple's Pro Apps I just don't know. Anyone?
David :cool:
Do you have any feel for when we will see a roll-out of the pro apps? I recall quite a bit of rumor-mongering just before the Intel announcement. Since then it has been rather silent. I thought the sudden drop in Quake might be a precursor to something fairly soon??
I have no inside information. I just read rumour and news sites� a lot! Although I use the pro Apps for a course I take, I'm not familiar enough with them to know their typical release schedule. For instance, iLife is once a year, whereas Adobe CS products are about every 18 months - 2 years. With Apple's Pro Apps I just don't know. Anyone?
David :cool:
relimw
Sep 13, 12:36 PM
How much more 'blind' do you want it? All the programmer has to do at this point is use multiple threads. Even if they don't, multiple cores will be automatically used for system and other processes.
Splitting one thread so that it ran cocurent with itself is a recipie for massive trouble. Mac OS X is about as blind as any system out there for the programmer. There may be some more optimizations that the system could make in it's own handling of multiprocessing, but from a programmer's perspective it doesn't matter how many cores the system has. (Unless you really want it to.)
Programming in pthreads is a bear (at least to me) an easier method would be nice. However, when I was looking up something today I came across OpenMP (http://www.openmp.org/) which seems to greatly simply setting up threads and the like. I suppose I was just thinking of run-time parallelization.
Splitting one thread so that it ran cocurent with itself is a recipie for massive trouble. Mac OS X is about as blind as any system out there for the programmer. There may be some more optimizations that the system could make in it's own handling of multiprocessing, but from a programmer's perspective it doesn't matter how many cores the system has. (Unless you really want it to.)
Programming in pthreads is a bear (at least to me) an easier method would be nice. However, when I was looking up something today I came across OpenMP (http://www.openmp.org/) which seems to greatly simply setting up threads and the like. I suppose I was just thinking of run-time parallelization.
I WAS the one
Mar 23, 06:44 AM
Let's the game begin.... Nothing will be greater than the iPad unless they make an iOS based Tablet.
MattInOz
Apr 5, 09:31 PM
I doubt Apple will ship a new version of FCP before they ship lion, there are simply no real video editor APIs in Snow Leopard that are capable of 64 bit, QT Kit is a joke.
HOWEVER, according to the developer page for Lion there will be a brand new A/V API in Lion that will be 64 bit and FCP will most likely be written in that.
I guess they could back port the entire API to Snow Leopard, but I wouldn't count on it.
There is little to no technical reason the new framework couldn't run on Snow Leopard as a private API embedded with the final cut release. If the framework you mean is AV Foundation then they don't need to backport it all. It's Not a "New" API it's been running on the iOS branch of OSX for a few years now. So Snow Leopard shouldn't be much of an issue, it's just a matter of tying it in to GCD and the other low level fun stuff SL brought online. It doesn't sound like there is anything in Lion that will mean it will work different at those low levels to stop it working.
Remember Apple owns both the OS and FCP. The low level video boffins at Apple seem to have been working all along to get the framework read for this release. The suggestion that in a company as small as Apple that a team developed the AV foundation without the FCP people knowing about it till the last minute is kind of ridiculous.
HOWEVER, according to the developer page for Lion there will be a brand new A/V API in Lion that will be 64 bit and FCP will most likely be written in that.
I guess they could back port the entire API to Snow Leopard, but I wouldn't count on it.
There is little to no technical reason the new framework couldn't run on Snow Leopard as a private API embedded with the final cut release. If the framework you mean is AV Foundation then they don't need to backport it all. It's Not a "New" API it's been running on the iOS branch of OSX for a few years now. So Snow Leopard shouldn't be much of an issue, it's just a matter of tying it in to GCD and the other low level fun stuff SL brought online. It doesn't sound like there is anything in Lion that will mean it will work different at those low levels to stop it working.
Remember Apple owns both the OS and FCP. The low level video boffins at Apple seem to have been working all along to get the framework read for this release. The suggestion that in a company as small as Apple that a team developed the AV foundation without the FCP people knowing about it till the last minute is kind of ridiculous.
gnasher729
Aug 17, 05:32 AM
They are comparing a 2 generations old G5 (Dual 2,5) versus a new Intel (Quad 2,6) which is not even the fastest out there. What kind of comparison is that?
If you want to know what is the fastest Mac, the comparison is no good. If you want to know whether you should upgrade your machine, the comparison makes a lot of sense. First, the 2.66 GHz Quad has the best price/performance ratio. If you start with the 2.0 GHz, you get 666 MHz more for $300, then you get another 333 MHz for a mere $800. So if you want to upgrade, the 2.66 is _the_ machine to buy. Second, there will be much less difference between a Quad G5 and a Quad Xeon. On performance critical Rosetta applications (like Photoshop) the Quad G5 will be stronger. In that case, it doesn't matter how much stronger - you won't upgrade, that is all that matters. But if you have a dual G5, then the question whether to upgrade or not is really interesting.
And we need to know whether apps use four cores or not. In many cases, changing from two threads to four threads is very easy (that is if all the threads to the same work; it is much harder if the threads do different work), but the app uses only two threads because most machines had only two CPUs. As an example, early versions of Handbrake didn't gain anything from Quad G5s; the CPUs were 50% idle all the time. People complained, and it was changed. The same thing will happen again, especially since _all_ Mac Pros have four cores.
If you want to know what is the fastest Mac, the comparison is no good. If you want to know whether you should upgrade your machine, the comparison makes a lot of sense. First, the 2.66 GHz Quad has the best price/performance ratio. If you start with the 2.0 GHz, you get 666 MHz more for $300, then you get another 333 MHz for a mere $800. So if you want to upgrade, the 2.66 is _the_ machine to buy. Second, there will be much less difference between a Quad G5 and a Quad Xeon. On performance critical Rosetta applications (like Photoshop) the Quad G5 will be stronger. In that case, it doesn't matter how much stronger - you won't upgrade, that is all that matters. But if you have a dual G5, then the question whether to upgrade or not is really interesting.
And we need to know whether apps use four cores or not. In many cases, changing from two threads to four threads is very easy (that is if all the threads to the same work; it is much harder if the threads do different work), but the app uses only two threads because most machines had only two CPUs. As an example, early versions of Handbrake didn't gain anything from Quad G5s; the CPUs were 50% idle all the time. People complained, and it was changed. The same thing will happen again, especially since _all_ Mac Pros have four cores.
aly
Aug 27, 01:38 PM
Just a few hours left, let's hope we see new MacBook Pros tomorrow, I think we'll see the new iMacs with Merom in Paris, because it's a very good announcement for consumers, and get the Pro MB's tomorrow.
As in Paris Expo? Cause I do believe that apple aren't going to be making a keynote speech. And won't make any annoucements at all or am I still believing in old news proved wrong?
As in Paris Expo? Cause I do believe that apple aren't going to be making a keynote speech. And won't make any annoucements at all or am I still believing in old news proved wrong?
Jimmy James
Mar 22, 02:50 PM
Blackberry playbook = The IPad 2 killer - you heard it here first.
Look at the specs, their greater or equal to the iPad 2 with the exception of battery life.
If you can't spell "they're" correctly "you're" hardly a credible source.
Battery life is worse because of the specs. Considering that the iPad can play sufficiently high-bitrate videos, I don't see much value in reducing battery life to compete on the basis of specs.
Look at the specs, their greater or equal to the iPad 2 with the exception of battery life.
If you can't spell "they're" correctly "you're" hardly a credible source.
Battery life is worse because of the specs. Considering that the iPad can play sufficiently high-bitrate videos, I don't see much value in reducing battery life to compete on the basis of specs.
usptact
Apr 11, 02:12 AM
Get me right but i get negative impression about Apple reading this : "Canon was told last night that Apple has demanded ALL “lecturn” or stage time exclusively."
It is ok to be ambitious but not imperialistic and mean!
It is ok to be ambitious but not imperialistic and mean!
ugp
Jun 22, 09:26 PM
Ugh! Lucky!! I think I'm going to just keep calling my local radioshacks and head to one at least an hour before they open on Thursday!
Well being Best Friends has it's advantages. And his DM is actually pretty cool. The store that received 5 of them that he is getting the 2 from, they are all idiots in that store. The Manager is literally Cross-Eyed, Employees don't even greet you when you walk in and are not very knowledgable. It's a shame too because I use to work at that store for several years. Received many trophies for sales. Including this one...
http://i48.tinypic.com/24fjhvm.jpg
What's really sad is that it's a Mall store. Use to be a Million Dollar plus store. Now it has dropped well below that. Although it was back in the day when they actually cared about their employees. They have such a high turn over rate anymore. I had quit because I got tired of the DM (Different DM then) threatening us with our jobs everyday during Golden Quarter. I left my keys on the desk and never returned along with a few others Managers at the time.
Well being Best Friends has it's advantages. And his DM is actually pretty cool. The store that received 5 of them that he is getting the 2 from, they are all idiots in that store. The Manager is literally Cross-Eyed, Employees don't even greet you when you walk in and are not very knowledgable. It's a shame too because I use to work at that store for several years. Received many trophies for sales. Including this one...
http://i48.tinypic.com/24fjhvm.jpg
What's really sad is that it's a Mall store. Use to be a Million Dollar plus store. Now it has dropped well below that. Although it was back in the day when they actually cared about their employees. They have such a high turn over rate anymore. I had quit because I got tired of the DM (Different DM then) threatening us with our jobs everyday during Golden Quarter. I left my keys on the desk and never returned along with a few others Managers at the time.
misterniall
Nov 29, 07:10 AM
Perhaps we should all get a rebate for every crappy album ever released by Universal. I really want some of the stuff that these record execs are smoking, on top law suits and strong arm tactics now they expect to get money from every iPod not because the have provided any service or contributed in anyway to the product. Rather, they just want it. Hell, who doesn't ... I would also like to get in on this deal. Please Apple/Microsoft/SanDisk I would like to get $0.50 for every unit you sell. Sign me up. I think it is time that artists really evaluated the balance of power. I think it is time that artists should reevaluate the distrubution of wealth in the recording industry. Perhaps that lost money isn't due to pirating like the execs want you to think.
Free money always welcome.
Free money always welcome.
smiddlehurst
Mar 31, 02:53 PM
Thats not at all what this article is saying. The Android project is still going to be "open source".
Umm, not by Andy Rubin's own definition it's not:
the definition of open: “mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make”
The problem here is Google aren't playing fair with their partners and they really ought to get grief over it. Good lord, remember the absolute storm of hate that went Apple's way when the subscription details were announced? This is actually far worse for those that depend on the Android OS yet geeks are scrambling to praise Google for doing it....
Now here's the thing... at the end of the day this is probably the right move for Android from a consumer point of view. It's likely to make it easier to get a device that you can update and that isn't drowning in crapware. The problem is they should have done it a year ago when the problem first became obvious. They haven't, they've got a LOT of companies heavily invested in Android and now they're radically changing the rules.
Frankly I wonder if something has gone seriously wrong within Google. Remember when 2.1 came out there were strong hints that they were working on separating the core OS from the GUI to allow far easier, almost device independent updates? We've heard virtually nothing about that since. Honeycomb is, by their own admission, a cludge, albeit a cludge with a lot of potential. I can't help but wonder if they've failed to come up with a software solution that'd let them handle fragmentation and keep a true open philosophy and are falling back on this as plan B. I'd also love to know if Amazon making moves into the App Store space and now launching Cloud Player before Google have an equivalent service have them worried. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's conditions in those new partnership deals to make things like introducing new App Stores in the default build a lot harder.
Umm, not by Andy Rubin's own definition it's not:
the definition of open: “mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make”
The problem here is Google aren't playing fair with their partners and they really ought to get grief over it. Good lord, remember the absolute storm of hate that went Apple's way when the subscription details were announced? This is actually far worse for those that depend on the Android OS yet geeks are scrambling to praise Google for doing it....
Now here's the thing... at the end of the day this is probably the right move for Android from a consumer point of view. It's likely to make it easier to get a device that you can update and that isn't drowning in crapware. The problem is they should have done it a year ago when the problem first became obvious. They haven't, they've got a LOT of companies heavily invested in Android and now they're radically changing the rules.
Frankly I wonder if something has gone seriously wrong within Google. Remember when 2.1 came out there were strong hints that they were working on separating the core OS from the GUI to allow far easier, almost device independent updates? We've heard virtually nothing about that since. Honeycomb is, by their own admission, a cludge, albeit a cludge with a lot of potential. I can't help but wonder if they've failed to come up with a software solution that'd let them handle fragmentation and keep a true open philosophy and are falling back on this as plan B. I'd also love to know if Amazon making moves into the App Store space and now launching Cloud Player before Google have an equivalent service have them worried. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's conditions in those new partnership deals to make things like introducing new App Stores in the default build a lot harder.