Apple to apples

Reading a recent post about the Apple iPad, which is a ridiculously over glorified computer with a touch screen (or, alternatively, a ridiculously over glorified iPhone on steroids), it struck me that I've been very unfair to Apple in the past. Oftentimes I've thought to myself what an evil corporation they are, and how they overcharge for the most basic of things. Sure, there's a market out there, and they are exploiting it (and I use the word exploiting in the least derogatory manner as possible- if I was running a company I'd exploit every opportunity available). However, for folks like me who are technically savvy and don't need to do much media editing, a PC is the better choice. In any case, I'd like to rescind my disdain for Apple, based on the iPad, the least innovative piece of junk to come out of Steve Jobs' head in years.

"But why?", you ask.

Well, we've had touch screen computers for years, which is initially why I hated the iPad. "This isn't new or exciting!", I screamed. "Stop throwing your money at that man! This is 10 year old technology!". However, as we've seen with the iPod and iPhone, Apple doesn't just make a copy of whatever is out there and add a few features. No, they take what is out there and blow it out of the water in terms of usability. Is it overpriced when they do it? Hell yes it is. But more importantly, it pushes the competitors to make cheaper versions of it, thereby advancing tech-society as a whole. To that end I say, kudos to you Apple. I still won't buy your stuff, but I'm glad you're making it.

Now then, the second half of the title of this post refers to the delectable red fruit we've known since we first handed our kindergarten teacher one. More specifically, I'm going to be starting a little experiment on Sunday. Inspired by my hippie friends who are vegetarians, I'm going to try it out for a couple of weeks as something interesting to do (and, OK, I won't lie, it's also a little bit for the health reasons). What I'm most worried about is the dreaded "return to meat" sickness. I don't think it will have a huge impact over only two weeks, but I'm not looking forward to it nonetheless (the meat sickness, not the vegetarianism itself). I figure at the very least, I'll learn some new cooking techniques, which really isn't a bad thing at all.  Here goes nothing.