Vista vs Leopard = They both Suck

While I don't currently own a Wii, I have to agree with Paul Thurrott on his assessment of the Vista and Leopard issue. I don't own an iPhone either, but I've played with one in the local Apple store for about an hour and I can see some of his comments/complaints. Others I can't because I didn't have the opportunity to try them firsthand. One complaint I've heard firsthand from three separate iPhone users is that due to the touch screen, you HAVE to look at it to use it. There's no blind key feeling possible. With my old LG phone, I could speed dial without looking at all. Great for driving in traffic. I'll avoid regurgitating the same laundry list of issues that bother me with the iPhone, because we've all heard/seen/read them elsewhere.

The interesting part is how the fan-boys from each "camp" deal with criticism of their respective deities. I would say that, on average, from my experience, if you complain about a Microsoft product to someone who typically supports Microsoft endeavors, they usually take it on the chin and say something like "oh well, that's Microsoft". Say something less than stellar about an Apple product to an Apple fan, and watch out. They come out with claws and teeth. Talk about brainwashing. They've been brainwashed with the heavy duty cycle and no rinse.

Back to the chase...

Both Vista and Leopard, in my opinion (I am a systems engineer, so I can pretend to have an opinion on such matters) is a case where the respective vendors needed to pump up sales, hype and relevance. Microsoft makes a respectable income from other streams like Office and server products, so Vista wasn't a lifesaver for them by any means. Same with Apple, given their successes with MacBooks, iPods, the iPhone and so forth. I feel, as a consumer, that we've been seriously short-changed by both of them. We should expect more. If you don't, you're either naive or lying to yourself. They can (and should) do more for us. They really don't have any serious competition across all their product lines. In some limited spaces they do, but not overarching.

I really hope to see more innovation and cheaper prices next year from Apple and Microsoft, but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe when China gets their act together and begins to compete seriously, maybe then.