iSocket
Wednesday, 2. July 2008, 21:47:00
Some people ask me why I dislike Apple when they make good things, nice and comfortable, which “just work”.
In order for things to work (and especially “just work”) with other things, there are standards. All electrical appliances have plugs of the same shape, and that's why they can be plugged into any socket of the same standard. You don't need a Siemens socket to plug a Siemens hoover. Anyone can make a socket into which a Siemens hoover can be plugged. Any hoover can be plugged into the same socket. The owner of the apartment chooses the electric power supplier or even produces their own power. A Siemens hoover will still work in a new apartment after moving because the sockets there are the same. Even Eskimos who live in igloo and herd penguins have sockets into which a Siemens hoover can be plugged.
An Apple hoover can only be plugged into an Apple socket. There is no publicly available schematic for Apple sockets. Chinese manufacturers have disassembled a sample and started making sockets into which Apple hoovers can be plugged, but using such sockets voids the warranty on your hoover. Not every hoover can be plugged into an Apple socket. Electric power in Apple sockets is supplied by Apple's partners and is more expensive than on the free market. Apple sockets cannot be found in every apartment, but I must admit that Apple builds beautiful apartments. Apple sockets are never found in igloo because Apple has no interest in that market. Nobody knows what the plugs of the next generation Apple hoovers will look like, and whether they can be plugged into Chinese sockets.
© Martin Bekkelund, 2008.
This is a picture from the photo-report about the demonstration in Oslo against accepting the OOXML format pushed by Microsoft as an ISO standard. A banner can be seen in the picture: «Nei til nye stikkontakter» («No to new sockets»). On the right, with a megaphone in his hands, is Håkon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera Software and the inventor of the CSS technology. To him I'm grateful for the idea of the plug-and-socket analogy which I somewhat developed here.
By the way, here is an article in the Norwegian newspaper VG where the bottom picture captures yours truly taking part in the demonstration.
UPDATE: No, it's not a Siemens advertisement. I just needed some placeholder.
UPDATE: For the sake of justice I must admit I've got no complaint against Apple's browser department. Thanks to these guys for their decent and fair competition, for active participation in the web standardization process and for active cooperation with fellow browser makers on security issues.
По-русски: iРозетка
In order for things to work (and especially “just work”) with other things, there are standards. All electrical appliances have plugs of the same shape, and that's why they can be plugged into any socket of the same standard. You don't need a Siemens socket to plug a Siemens hoover. Anyone can make a socket into which a Siemens hoover can be plugged. Any hoover can be plugged into the same socket. The owner of the apartment chooses the electric power supplier or even produces their own power. A Siemens hoover will still work in a new apartment after moving because the sockets there are the same. Even Eskimos who live in igloo and herd penguins have sockets into which a Siemens hoover can be plugged.
An Apple hoover can only be plugged into an Apple socket. There is no publicly available schematic for Apple sockets. Chinese manufacturers have disassembled a sample and started making sockets into which Apple hoovers can be plugged, but using such sockets voids the warranty on your hoover. Not every hoover can be plugged into an Apple socket. Electric power in Apple sockets is supplied by Apple's partners and is more expensive than on the free market. Apple sockets cannot be found in every apartment, but I must admit that Apple builds beautiful apartments. Apple sockets are never found in igloo because Apple has no interest in that market. Nobody knows what the plugs of the next generation Apple hoovers will look like, and whether they can be plugged into Chinese sockets.
© Martin Bekkelund, 2008.
This is a picture from the photo-report about the demonstration in Oslo against accepting the OOXML format pushed by Microsoft as an ISO standard. A banner can be seen in the picture: «Nei til nye stikkontakter» («No to new sockets»). On the right, with a megaphone in his hands, is Håkon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera Software and the inventor of the CSS technology. To him I'm grateful for the idea of the plug-and-socket analogy which I somewhat developed here.
By the way, here is an article in the Norwegian newspaper VG where the bottom picture captures yours truly taking part in the demonstration.
UPDATE: No, it's not a Siemens advertisement. I just needed some placeholder.
UPDATE: For the sake of justice I must admit I've got no complaint against Apple's browser department. Thanks to these guys for their decent and fair competition, for active participation in the web standardization process and for active cooperation with fellow browser makers on security issues.
По-русски: iРозетка
WIDGETIZE
Anonymous # 17. October 2008, 03:23
Good career move! Does Apple have the right to be different, and protect its identity in eveyr way possible? May be their sockets play similar role to Norwegian Language use in Norway instead of English?
feldgendler # 17. October 2008, 07:13
In the example above, I can actually use Siemens sockets together with a Siemens hoover, if I choose so. I choose one independently of the other, but they can both end up being Siemens if that's what happens to be best on the market. Being superior is the only honest way of getting the consumer to buy all kinds of products from the same manufacturer, all the rest is forcing suboptimal choices upon people. I can agree that iPod might be the best music player on the market, at least for some, but would iTunes be used by so many people as it is now if it wasn't forced upon every iPod owner? I don't think so.
arnyq # 17. October 2008, 16:05
Anonymous # 17. October 2008, 16:22
Interesting photos. May be Microsoft was in rush to push standards through because of Opera complaint to EU? And how many people on this Commette supported Opera because its a local company? Why don't post a detail Opera's look at Microsoft OOXML format? Why its so bad after all, and what's better?
Anonymous # 19. October 2008, 23:33
OOXML is defective by design
No_OOXML
Anonymous # 20. October 2008, 00:38
Office Open XML - Wikipedia
Talk: Office Open XML - Wikipedia
arnyq # 20. October 2008, 00:53
With OOXML standard Microsoft is trying to comply. It supposed to be a big document, reflecting Microsoft's many applications' file formats. What's wrong with that? Many developers support this format in their products. Next MS Office will fully support it.
There is also a competing Sun's OpenDocument format, which Microsoft will support via a Converter. Do the protesters want Microsoft to abandon its own file format in favor of ODF? The above EU decision didn't order that. Why they expect MS to do that? Is there evidence that ODF is better? Lets look how they compare. Basically, MS is opening their format for developers. Of course, any outstanding issues must be finilized.
harvurd # 22. April 2009, 18:57