Discussion on:

Microsoft and Google may not like it but they're marching to Apple's drumbeat

I would have thought this an article by Jason Hiner, and even though it's not, it still has that same "Aqqle-Fanboi-Mixed-with-BS" look and smell.

Now imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: its traditional partners arent up to the job.
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Yes, Apple definitely flattered MS with their imitation of the MS Tablet PC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tablet_PC

Though I will never understand the spew of hate between Apple, Windows, and Linux fanboys but I can understand how the market does look to emulating the Apple experience. Portable computing is king and Apple promoted the best examples much earlier than the competition. I find merits in all operating systems (at least to Windows 7) but am not the fan of the new Windows 8. I want the start menu and all associated tree menus I've been used to since Windows 95. Call me the dinosaur, but I like a desktop experience on the desktop and have no issues with syncing portable devices with retro desktop operating systems. I may find myself in an all Linux universe for its' abilities to be customized to user experience if the 2 giants keep forcing their portable OS's to my desktop.

I don't "hate" Apple as a company. I intensely dislike their business approach - copy everything that isn't nailed down, then sue everyone who finds the same approach independently - and as a result Apple products are not on my welcome list. Apple cry and gnash their teeth about "oh sob, everyone copies us, why oh cruel world"... then promptly Apple go on to copy the very demons they're attacking.

In fact, prior to their Jihad against Android, iPhone and iPad was doing perfectly well... and now, not so much.

Most companies copy sucessful ideas from other companies. I do agree that Microsoft seems to be following Apples lead at this time. Microsoft's core strategy over the years seems to be, let someone else spend the R&D money and create the market, then MS copies the concept, offers it for free/lower cost, bundles it into existing systems and slowly takes a large chunk of the market share.
As for the death of the PC, I think it's a bit too early for that. I think the PC market is saturated, people don't need to upgrade the hardware that often and the tablet it the latest cool thing. Once everyone that wants one has a tablet, that market will be saturated and then the tablet will become 'dead' and next cool thing will take over.
Since Microsoft is following the Apple line of thinking, it's time for me to look at alternatives. I've recently been playing around with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and I'm quite happy with it. The more I use it, the better I like it. It takes (copies/invents) some aspects of OSX and Windows but gives the user the choice in how and what to use. Ubuntu (Linux) is free and gives freedom to users, now that's worth copying.

...Apple blindness... " while the world moves more towards iOS and mobility" you mean, while the Apple herd moves towards iOS... It's funny how Apple takes an idea, markets it, and the general populace suddenly thinks that Apple originated it and "revolutionized" the industry... their innovation didn't, someone else's did. It's not Apple's products I'm griping about, it's the ignorance of people and how they profit from it. Take Siri... take the ipad... take the mac book air... take the iPhone... all ideas that previously existed, almost to the T... actually, Siri did until Apple bought it and people suddenly thought it was "Apple's innovation"... Notice I didn't say a think about Android or WP8... I have no quandry with Apple, but on a side note, iOS could use widgets and better notification system, it's too dumbed down

Doesn't matter if you are talking about Google, MS or Apple, they all do the same things. They all also have individual fans that are not as educated on tech and believe their company of choice invented this feature or that when introduced. Is this only an issue when it's a fan of Apple? Does it not matter when a fan of MS or Google believes they invented some tech that they actually just copied from somebody else or purchased the rights to? They all have these fans so don't be a hypocrite and only call out one company on it.

Agreed, the desktop is not dead. I see the future in a "home cloud" where the tablets are the thin clients and the desktop acts as the server.

Indeed. Consider where the motor industry would be if this wasn't the case. Hint: not anywhere near as advanced or even consistent as it is now...

No Sir, I do not agree!
Although slightly off the main topic - how can people even come to such conclussions!
Because the majority used their PC's for simple entertainment rather than actual work, hence the high numbers of mindless drones moving from the PC towards the gadgetry, uplifting the sales of the small gadgets in the process.
I am sure it is not the first time this analogy has been presented, but it still holds true - there are different tools for different applications. Most people don't drive supercharged vehicles because they don't really need to, but for a farmer it makes sense to have a 6L V12 engine installed in his pick-up truck. Obviously there are more sedans to be found on the streets than trucks but that does not mean that the TRUCK as a vehicle is dead!

Check out Applied Materials. LCD panel makers in Asia all use their equipment to make their panels. They came up with a new material for the TFTs in LCD panels. The bottom lines is that retina displays will soon become cheap and universally available. Apple could counter by making their products repairable, but that probably won't happen. Who in their right mind thinks that any one company in electorncs can sustain a significant lead in technology for long? Not me.

The evolution of portable computers - including smart phones and tablets - has always been toward smaller, lighter, faster. The iPod and the smartphone were obvious extensions of PDA development and were discussed in PDA circles long. before the hardware came along to make such devices possible. Current tablets result from the convergence of existing slate technology and that of advanced smartphones and PDA's. Current super-thin super-fast super laptops do not constitute a new product catagory, despite both Intel's and Apple's assertions, but the natural culmination of laptop development at this time. Development is happening so fast lately that manufacturers believe they can differentiate product just based on that speed of advancement in the state of the art.
And that's where Apple has proven brilliant - or rather partly where. They have been able to recognize where that evolution is leading, and design and market products that embrace what is just becoming feasible in a fashionable attractive way.
That said, I don't agree with their marketing philosophy and do not use their products.
They certainly didn't invent the mp3 player, the tablet, or the 'ultrabook' style laptop. Or the concepts of thin, fast or light.

give me a brake they are trying to copy the pads from star treck not apple, not windows, and certanly not linux.they are all try to to recerate the pads from "Gene" Roddenberry and no one other than him ! look very close at them thier not big like apple or thick likewindows and dont get me started on linux

If your your spelling and your grammar are this bad then how careful are you with your line of reasoning?

"Then out of the blue, the company comes up with a Mac so sexy it should come with a parental warning." - Really? So much for objective reporting. Not to mention that the author talks about how everything is going mobile, but the new "also mobile" UI and apps put out by Microsoft are horrible.

It's hard to read articles like this for information when it's mostly opinion.

This is a true statement; however, it is not because it is a better product. It is the Apple mystique and the thought that if I have an Apple product, I'm cool! You pay more for the same hardware (I'm talking desktops at this time). Yes, the OS is different and kind of neat. Then again, I don't know of a single document or spreadsheet that the Apple OS has ever created (without the application software tied to it doing the work - like Microsoft Office). This writer makes Hiner seem only luke warm on Apple and we know that isn't the case. Jason, surely you can one up this newcomer with more and better Apple BS.

Nothing like an Applefanboy it a bought of verbal self gratification.

I say this not because he is wrong, but because the article is a waste of space. It adds nothing. We already know this. Apple is on top, and everyone else is chasing them in one way or another. This is just another attempt by an Applefanboy on the Tech Republic staff to try to kiss Apple's backside in the hope of....well, I don't want to know what Applefanboys hope for.

This article is pathetic. I read the whole thing in the hope of finding some spark of originality, but there was none. Please go stand over in the corner with Adrian and Jason.