Tiger on DVD; Apple misleads; delay upgrade

The thing is, Apple has /never/ been very bright when it comes to what media things should ship on. iLife was originally bashed because it came on DVD (because of iDVD no less), when few wanted iDVD but wanted the other stuff. If I remember correctly, they got a bit of bad feedback when they decided to do CD-only releases and make you pay extra for floppies of the OS. So am I surprised by Apple doing the 'unpopular' thing? Not really... especially when this policy has been around since before Jobs' return.
 
Oldedit said:
I've bought 100 to 150 Macs since 1986, and I follow the web sites and do my research on the product. I subscribe to .Mac and read their promos. I skipped one web page where the CD/DVD info was hidden in a little box way down in the third column, and I didn't do my research? With millions of older Macs being used, there should have been a section of the order form that gave users a choice of media and allowed those of us with older machines to ask for CDs at no additional charge.

I'm one of the few customers complaining, but for every 1 who complains, there are hundreds who just go away when they feel a supplier has screwed them. Big problem for Apple unless they change their policy Monday.

This obviously was a marketing ploy by Apple, a dishonest one.

I will try to use the DVD drive because a respondent said it should handle the data. We'll see.

i don't get it...so, apple releases tiger on a DVD, and you didn't think "oh, perhaps I need a DVD drive to install an OS from a DVD"???? That's like me buying 4 new truck tires, getting them home and blaming goodyear because i don't have a truck! Not to be a jerk or anything, but this is clearly your fault.
 
Also keep in mind that there are MANY out there enjoying 1 DVD instead of 3 or (probably) 4 CDs. Installation is much quicker this way. I'd say that about 5% or less people installing Tiger actually need the CDs. The others either have a DVD-ROM capable drive built-in or an external one.
 
OldEdit...

1) They should prominently say what you require to use the software on the box, if they didn't, it's not good - I'm sure they appreciate your tip - why not write them instead of threatening a boycott?;

2) [Fryke: something about politics. but i said no more of that in this thread.]

3) If you need to vent - we all have bad days - and we can all vent with the best of them - but after the initial venting, you might've just recognized that this is an inappropriate forum for political talk and it seemed like your call to "boycott" Apple has more to do with your politics than anything substantial or technical, ultimately. Apple has nothing to do with any of this.

Pleasant day! :) ::love::
 
I think its amazing how many people are kicking up a stink about something which is a no brainer. Apple had the system requirements online and on the box, I knew it was on dvd well before I ordered it and I didnt even go out of my way to find that infomation.

They have given you a change over to cd-roms.. Sure its a pain but at least they are doing just that.
 
Yeah. If you go to store.apple.com and select Tiger, there's a little list that says: "What's in the Box:
DVD containing Mac OS X and Xcode 2" (among other things).

That quite clearly indicates that there are _no_ Tiger CDs in the box, doesn't it? But I guess we've almost "overdiscussed" this by now...
Sure, they could have said that a DVD-drive is a requirement, but actually as you _can_ order the CD set and Tiger _does_ run without a DVD-ROM drive, it's not a requirement.
 
Actually, most of the stuff I have seen (although I haven't read the box itself yet) says you need a DVD drive as part of the requirements. We debated this when the requirements were listed for the WWDC build a few times. :)
 
Like when software first started shipping on CDs instead of floppies... "WHAT?! You mean I need to actually keep up with technology in order to run the latest and greatest?! STINK!"

Jeeze, what, were you expecting to keep that computer in the current state it's in forever? If people haven't figured out by now that companies drop support for older equipment or components at some point, then I can't understand how they can actually enjoy using a computer at all. It must be one, big, angering and frustrating experience just logging in, 'cause Lord knows what might be considered "no longer supported" today!
 
Oldedit, I have a couple of things to say. First, your [... we've warned about political comments in this thread. Several times. ...].

Second, having been at the launch event, only 2 people asked about the CD requirement. The DVD requirement is CLEARLY stated on the box. It is also on the website. Now, if you don't have the sense to look at the system requirements, then you don't have a lot of room to complain. Apple isn't having any problems with market share right now, in fact we had a very very good quarter showing lots of growth, so if you decide to stop using the Mac, because of your own inability to read, then please, by all means, let me hold the door open for you while you drag your 100 macs out of here, so the door doesn't hit you on the butt.
 
It makes perfect sense, guys:

If Apple kept offering their OSes on CD-ROM indefinitely, they'd have to pay to press both the CDs and the DVD (surprisingly enough, it's cheaper to make one DVD over and over than 3 different CDs). The idea is that if they make the media exchange system, far fewer people will buy the CD version, and thus they can spend less and manufacture less on CD-pressing. If they offered both as an option, plenty of people would buy the CDs just in case they ever wanted to install it on their older machines or whatever.

Just keeping costs down people.

I can almost 100% guarantee that 10.6 will NOT come on CDs. Just like OS 8.6 didn't come on floppy disks anymore, even though there were plenty of people who didn't have CD-ROMs back then.


Upgrade if you think it's worth your while.

Otherwise, stick with Panther. It's been good enough for you until you saw flashy Tiger and all of a sudden Apple are demons because they're upgrading things? You should feel honoured that they even GIVE you a choice of CD. They're going OUT OF THEIR WAY to support that old hardware.

If Apple wanted to throw a Microsoft and make each successive OS use more and more resources than the previous, they could, and you'd probably still be using the OS that came on the machine when you first got it (on a 400MHz iMac, that's anything from OS 8.6 to 10.0.3)
 
Do you remember the 40+ floppies Microsoft Office 4.2.x came on? Similar thing was available for Windows 95. That floppy set was _heavy_! Sure, that's nothing compared to, say, 4 CDs...
 
Those of you writing critical remarks because someone didn't realize that Tiger came only on DVD are not being fair. I was also fooled by the upgrade. I never noticed that it came only on DVD. There was nothing plainly visible to indicate it was shipped on a DVD. Upon going back to the site where I purchased Tiger, I did find where it was stated that it shipped on a DVD. But this was not plainly stated. And when clicking on the link to order, there was nothing mentioned about the DVD shipment. I don't think it is asking to much of Apple to state PLAINLY upfront that Tiger ships ONLY on DVD. One need not scour the ad to find that out. All previous System software has been shipped on CD, and you can bet that a lot of people were caught unaware and very disapointed when they received the software, only to find out it was useless to themThose of us who do not have macs with DVD capability did not expect this curveball. The fault lies with Apples poor method of communication, not with an unsuspecting customer. Apple is sadly lacking in customer service and consideration for folks using perfecty good hardware that is not compatible with the DVD release.
 
I don't think it was unfair at all -- people just assumed that it would be shipped on CD, which is a mistake, plain and simple.

In the days of the crossover from floppies to CDs, many people got "bit" by software that was shipped only on CDs because they didn't bother to research what kind of media te software came on.

Apple makes it VERY clear that Tiger comes on DVD if you take the time to research what kind of media is included in the box. It is explained on Apple's Tiger page, as well as the Tiger order page, as well as the box itself that the media contained in the box is DVD, and DVD only.

For those that just click through the order process going, "yeah, yeah, yeah, just charge me and ship it to me," well, not to be rude, but you kinda got what you deserved.

Floppies were the "standard" method of software distribution 20 years ago, then it switched to CDs... and now, DVDs. It has never been "O.K." to purchase a software package blindly without first checking 1) system requirements, and 2) kind of media.

If you purchase a set of 15" tires, but your car has 14" wheels, whose fault is it? If you purchase a gas clothes dryer but your home doesn't have gas dryer connections, whose fault is it? If you purchase a new window pane but forget to measure the window first, whose fault is it?

For those that got "bitten" by the DVD-only thing, it sounds like the urge to spend money muscled out the urge to check the requirements and media first. No, Apple didn't display a huge, flashing, "Tiger ships on DVD only!" banner on their order page, but they did provide the information where it was needed: on the Tiger page, it's right under "What's included with Tiger," and on the purchase page, it's clearly written under "What's in the Box."

There's no blame to put on Apple -- those that didn't bother to look up the information they know they need should be slapping their own heads instead of looking to blame Apple.
 
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