I was aware of that upgrade price, maybe I’ll have to consider that as well.

I should do a post on how I optimized my Vista install. It is pretty similar to how I always optimized (services, networking, uninstalling features, etc) XP, but there are a few more areas that you can do even more now (power management especially) in Vista. I’ll just have to get around to writing it…

Do you get a free copy of Business through your university? You can use Vista Anytime Upgrade to upgrade from Business to Ultimate for $139 if you want everything. Fortunately for me, my university has an agreement with Microsoft so we can get Ultimate for $35. Although I only use the Home Premium level of features.

You should do a write up on SP1. Maybe if it fixes so much stuff, I’ll have a reason to try out my free copy of Business.

About the Vista sales, I was wondering the same thing. It isn’t doing as well as XP, but it isn’t following up Windows ME either. Windows ME created a lot of pent up demand for something new. I have already mentioned that I really like Vista, and SP1 does make it a lot better. I have been running the SP1 RC since December and it is quicker. I’ve been thinking of writing a post to highlight all of the new things in Vista that nobody talks about. I really don’t like using XP anymore because it seems so sparse.

I’d have to agree too, it’s interesting to see Windows on sale. That should tell us something about Vista’s popularity. :-/

Do you know my favorite thing about Media Center? That the picture quality (and this is actually through my Xbox 360) for standard def programming looks a lot better than through my cable box, or using my TV’s built-in tuner. It is so much better even my wife noticed.

See my point is that people (such as yourself) buy the tales that Apple tells without even questioning it. You mock my education (I don’t have an accounting degree btw, it’s an MBA in finance and marketing), and then you put your faith in whatever Google tells you. After all if it is on the web it is true.

And to reiterate Bob’s point, for a company that is supposedly so customers friendly, why are they jerking their customers around because of their accounting practices? After all, the money that is coming in comes in the same either way. It is just recorded different. Honestly, the market doesn’t really care how it is recorded; they care more about cash flows. They don’t care how the bean counters recognize the cash.

Remember that we, as consumers, don’t care about Apple’s internal accounting problems. Also remember that most all tech companies don’t gouge consumers in the same way and are subject to the same laws as poor little Apple. So far, I haven’t seen a reason to be sympathetic with Apple specifically…

I couldn’t find Apple’s statement regarding the itunes gouge, but the link for their statement regarding the 802.11n gouge is here: http://www.macworld.com/article/54948/2007/01/80211nfee.html

How does apple’s bottom line justify fabricating tales that GAAP and Sarbanes-Oxley prevent free software updates?

You may have a degree in accounting, but you must have flunked Basic Google Search 101. Apple is taking the revenue from iPhone and the Apple sales on an 18-month subscription basis in order to avoid those same troublesome accounting issues, which is why those particular upgrades were “free”.

Now, one could make a case that they should have done the same thing for the Touch, but I suspect that they saw that device as being relatively feature complete, and didn’t expect the number of complaints regarding the “missing” iPhone features. Taking EVERYTHING in on a subscription basis has an impact on the bottom line.

Yeah, he only sold about 4 billion songs for them by providing a consumer-friendly outlet for legitimate music purchases.

I mean, selling their product for them, and doing it well. Can you imagine the nerve?

I’d like to believe Apple’s reasoning is legitimate (or at least not deceptive), but I haven’t seen an explanation which shows it as such.