Month: April 2006

i got very little sleep. right now, i really do look like my icon, with a yankees hat.

actually fuck that, new icon! now i look like my icon, without a bubbly drink.

now Shen he wishes he had a six Damon bag.
ok, that was bad. i gotta go.

This all has to do with that little bit I wrote about shared human consciousness last week a few weeks ago. Think this has been in draft long?. If you don’t have a particular care for the subject, feel free to skip it. I actually had a couple of inquiries on the last post on the subject, which I owe responses to. Rather than write out the same thing in a half-dozen ways, I figured I’d encapsulate them in one larger post. I am disclaiming my heavy use of Wikipedia here. I am using it because I feel it is the best tool for the job, not because everything I have read about the subject is contained therein.


Theories, Definitions, and Logic
Jung had a lot to do with the formulation of this nonsense with his Collective Unconscious. Even before him though, you have creation stories tying us to shared origins. Think about this for a minute. Take any subway car you are sitting on. There is strong evidence showing we all share mitochondrial dna enough to prove we all descend from one common ancestor. That means, if you rewind the tape enough, we all have common ancestors. That is hard to swallow now, with the scientific evidence to prove it. How did this story, surviving against common sense, make it all the way to the present to be examined?

My interests in Epigenetic inheritance largely lie in this human condition we live in. While I do not propose something on the order of Orthogenesis (because, indeed, I do not believe in prime motivators or directions), I do think that there is room for Epigenetics to cross into Modern Evolutionary Synthesis in much the same way that modern synthesis made a hybrid of Darwin’s natural selection and Mendel’s inherited genetics. Many serious geneticists I have engaged on this see my theories as a radical form of the theories behind the Baldwin effect.

There are plenty of geneticists out there that subscribe to the theory that acquired traits have no effect on the human genome, which is the only thing passed to offspring. I cannot agree with this stance. To say that the genome is the foundation of genetic potentiality in offspring is apt; to say that it is the only factor is myopic.

So what does all this have to do with consciousness and genetic memory?

We have inherited many things from our ancestor ranging from immunobiology and metabolism along with other phenotype-related traits (hair, eye, skin color). There is some evidence (used mostly in supporting the Baldwin effect) to suggest genetic plasticity, but I suppose the potentiality goes a step further.

Applying Above to History

One of the things that sets us apart from many other species on the planet is our ratio of body-brain, and the way it is utilized. Physiological differences aside, most of our societal as well as individual advantages over most other life forms in terms of environmental survival relates to our brains, and our abilities to use them. Learning, memory, and sense of self (and others) are all key in this process.

There is a majority opinion which states that evolution operates for the middle. In times of drastic environmental change, the “middle” of a species is defined by who survives to procreate. This leads to trends in phenotypes amongst the offspring. If the environment changes again so that something which was a survival need in previous generations becomes a liability in future generations, selection as well as genetics eventually normalize those previously desirable traits.

Take this chunk from Onelife.com:

“The long term result of evolution is bare survival. If the organism is in distress, the higher death rate removes survival impediments rapidly. An organism suffering a high mortality rate tends to become stronger to match its environment. If the organism is better than required, evolution will degrade it, again matching the organism with the environment. A comfortable organism has a lower death rate and so does not weed out detrimental characteristics as quickly. The result is a gradual degradation of function until the comfort is removed.”

That sums it up nicely. If our preceding ancestors, had access to genetic memories, it is very likely that they would have become phased out as our species evolved. Biological evolution tells us that there is very little different between a modern person and someone walking around two hundred thousand years ago. Biologically, this may be apt on major phenotypes, but from a social and neurological perspective, I wonder how true this is. Of course, the rub is, the mental factors are not clearly marked in the archaeological record, and are devilishly hard to pin down, even with artifacts of art, culture, and social structure to support theories.

Going back to cars as an analogy, the definition of an automobile has not changed much since Ford started mass producing them. However, subcategories, features, enhancements and changes have abounded in that same shortened time period. True, there are plenty of external changes to point to these refinements, but the central image is still apt – when do cars stop being cars, and start becoming something else? When do humans?

The things that link us all lie within us, in our “instincts”, in our predispositions to one thing over another, on levels which biochemically are beyond our notice, but phenominologically are beyond our ability to ignore. It is my supposition that this shared pool of consciousness and experience, inherited and altered after generations of diversity, are what lead to the common roots of cultures, religions, and our collective understanding of the world around us. This touches all levels of thought and capability to think, and, therefore, affects everything we, as a species, have accomplished thus far.

Starting At the End to Find the Beginning

Consider the prevalence of common themes in many Eastern and Western mythologies and early theologies. How different is Mictlantecuhtli from Hades, or Lei Kun from Ares? Many great minds have hit upon the commonalities of early cultural mythos from a great many angles. From Freud and Jung with psychological Image creation, to Sir James George Frazer and “The Golden Bough” from a mythological/sociological/historical standpoint, there have been countless explanations and theorizations of “how and why”.

Think of all the commonalities to cultures, despite hugely different sociological, anthropological, and environmental differences. Many Cultures have their own version of the “Cinderella” story. In many cases, this is simply a story traveling from one culture to another. However, when you look at the body of work available to study, it seems that the story arose in several cultures at different times, independent of contact with each other.

The first flirtation I had with “ancestral memory” was in Jean Auel’s “Clan of the Cave Bear”, which I read at a pretty young age.

Auel’s supposition is that our evolutionary predecessors maintained genetic memory. There is no evidence for this, but there is evidence for it in some other primate relatives we can observe. While information there is conflicting, there are certainly lower life forms (zebrafish and African nest weavers) which show some fairly clear signs of behavior consistent with genetic memory. Why is it that we should be exempt from this game?

I know way more about this now, both form a meta scientific and scientific perspective than I did when I started looking into this seemingly odd idea years ago. I have been following it for years, honing my thoughts on it, reading up on it, running into intellectual dead ends, academic cul-de-sacs and opening avenues of thought I had previously thought closed. What I have realized is that there is a good chance I will die before finding biological proof. So, I am going at it like a paleontologist or archaeologist might. Look at the roots of what is available in terms of common human culture, and try to find the patterns and formulas that spring up. Literature, culture, linguistics. These are the broken bones and flint arrowheads of the passage of our species. Why do some people have past life syndromes and others don’t? How is it that some people “know” how to do things, sometimes after being shown once, occasionally not being shown at all, yet others do not, even with professional training? How do savants happen, and why can’t anyone “become” one? What, if any parts of who we are are inherited, and what parts are a byproduct of our environments?

My theory is that the roots of shared biological memory lies within all of us, within our DNA and our physical forms, passed down to us through our common ancestry. Through copious sociological change, the need to depend on, or even use this potential has become infinitesimal compared to our need to use many other higher brain functions, which were getting nowhere near as much of a workout two hundred, or even one hundred thousand years ago. They still pop up in savants, or during dreams, or when those other brain functions are sublimated. They tend to be viewed as “side effects” as opposed to phenomena in their own right. I believe the amount and level of this potentiality varies greatly, and is affected by countless other factors and, to a certain extent is a plastic inheritable trait. All of this adds up to a list of questions which are quite a challenge to qualify, much less quantify, particularly since we are still unlocking vast stores of knowledge on both the neurobiological mechanics of the brain, and DNA/RNA and how it relates to measurable inherited traits.

I am sure you can guess that this will never get “an answer” in my head. However, it does lead down some fascinating roads of knowledge (and useless trivia).

If you managed to read all, or part of that, and have any knee jerks, respond. I’d love to know what you think.

Match the quote with who said it! I made a checklist of answers for you.

Groucho Marx Francis Ford Coppola Carrot Top Flannery O’Connor
Jay Leno Chuck Jones Pauly Shore Woody Allen
Steve Martin Mark Twain Bill Cosby Steven Wright

eddie vedder’s cover of “masters of war”, followed by the south park cover of wyclef jean’s “bullet in your bubble goose” goes a long way towards making a crappy start to a morning a good one.
also – i am reading “sweat” by lazlo xalieri. I got about halfway through it last night. i am envious of the talent i am reading.

i dropped a drink last night for the first time since a tidal wave at ‘s college house. no shit, it has been that long.

never forget folks, pinkys save booze.

So, some of you may have noticed I have been pretty sporadic, both about posting, and about my life in general at the moment. There are a number of things in the hopper right now.

L. is moving in with me at the end of the month. This was not what we had originally planned, but her roommate all but abandoned her, leaving her with few viable options. Our plan was to do something at the end of the summer. I have spent lots of time working extra jobs and the like with the intention of moving out, and now she is going to be moving in. L. is moving in on April 29th. Her birthday is May 1. Anyone who wants to get her a cheap/easy present can help with the move! Beer and pizza will be provided, and, if enough people show up, who knows, it may roll into a crazy housewarming/moving event.

I never really updated all of you on the name change thing. Part of the change is a shift to an identity that is connected to the central theme of a book I have been working on for a while. It is more than loosely connected to myself and my family. I have, over the years, done crap loads of work on my genealogy. Through my father’s father, I can trace back my family/clan origins to Scotland in the mid 13th century. Thank goodness for Scotch-Irish catholics and their family bibles.

On my mother’s side, there is an equally interesting lineage, running through her father, that ends up going back to a similar time frame in Spain. This family line goes back to a long and rich list of aristocrats and nobility, whose descendants have several notable (and a couple of infamous) names, not the least of whom is Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. The branch that my maternal grandfather is a descendant to ended with him. He was the youngest son of five children, and all his siblings died young. None of them had any sons. My mother was the last person born into that line. I am the first son after the end of the line, but borne of it.

My first name (which some of you know I bear with mixed emotions) is a byproduct of massively coincidental importance. Through my father’s side, there was a tradition to name the firstborn son of each generation to get that name. My parents were at odds about this (my mother wanted me to be a Joseph, which was her father’s middle name). Amusingly, or, as fate would have it, my mother’s father had the same name as my father’s father (though my paternal grandfather was an eldest, and my maternal grandfather the youngest). As far as my father was concerned, that was too much of a coincidence to let pass. At the time in my life when I was seriously considering priesthood in the Catholic church, I was going to either keep my name, and take Joseph as my confirmed name, or change my name to Joseph.

In researching family history, history in general, and how this seemingly disconnected line of relatives have had a part and parcel in the development of several sweeping events in Western history and geography, I came to realize that there is quite a bit to write about. In addition, not all that is there is good (though a lot of it is). Part of who I am, genealogically, is this melange of crazy battle-loving drunkards and crazy land-loving aristocrats who finally crossed paths through my parents (who are, at the least, a fairly unlikely match).

The name change is, in part, representative of the work I am doing, and partially cutting back on some of the lingering traces of my life who, now, are left without a forwarding address. I am sure some of them will find ways back, and I may yet go complete-lock down, but, for now, I am trying to maintain a semblance of my former “open information” outlook. In abandoning my old monkier, I am also rebuilding my overabundant number of slots for icons, so expect to see some weird ones as time goes on. Right now I am doing it in dribs and drabs, but I will probably hit a good chunk sometime around the end of May.

There are plenty more changes in the wind, more than a handful of them left to chance, the remainder left to decisions on my part.

so, at a little after nine yesterday, i started getting really lethargic. i think it was secondhand exposure to extreme laziness of DMV workers. so i decide to lay down for an hour, wihout setting an alarm. i got my four hours of sleep for the night, but now i have a much longer than usual road to sunup.

there are some seriously loud crackheads in my neighborhood. if Dracula were alive undead today, the line would be “Ah, the hood rats of the night, what shitty pop music they make.”

i have an amusing anecdote to relate, which will probably offend the more traditionally dead-jew observing religious types on my fl, and i don’t mean muslims.


as you may or may not know, or, as it may or may not surprise you, i once, as tom waits put it “attended a major university”. this institutuion was frighteningly caucasian, and even moreso catholic (we are talking 98%, 99% respectively). at that time, i was just as invested in religious research, etc, but was a lot more angry than i am today (if you can believe it). i liked being mean, as evidenced by this story.

at an institution with a background like the one i set up above, one can only imagine that everyone has off on easter weekend. break started good friday, and ran for a week after that.

my freshman year, i lived on the most insane party hall in the entire school. we had three expulsions within the first month, and our RA definitely got some grey hairs. these people were drunkards, stoners, and pill poppers. but they all went to mass every sunday, and had no problem giving me shit for it for not doing so.

well, at around 2am on good friday, i cooked up a little taste of revenge for the many moons of christ-loving discrimination i had dealt with. i ordered five large pizzas. when they got there (there was an excellent pizza place that delivered until 4am), i plopped the pies down and set to work.

after about 10 minutes, i was bellowing down the hall, letting everyone know that they had free pizza available to them. this fact, as it always is in a college environment, was transmitted borderline tellepathically amongst the party heads, and i had a good mosh pit outside my dormroom pretty quick, all grabbing at slices nicely arranged on paper plates. beneath every slice of sausage, pepperoni, bacon, hamburger, or hammy goodness was a nice little note scribbled in crayon (so as not to ruin the taste of the pizza).

“happy good friday”

seriosuly, there were two kids who went to the bathroom to make themselves puke to save their souls. it was one of the best fourty bucks i spent in college.

i think this only escalated the agression though. looking back, this may have been why someone started my bulletin board on fire a few weeks later.

thanks to for reminding me of this story!

my quest for formulating a unified proof linking genetic and epigenetic inheritance through the artifice of the roots of culture and language has been going on for many years. it has crossed me with theologists, scientists, philosophers, doctors, professors, and self-styled or self-proclaimed types of all of the above. the superstructure of this desire has been evident to me for many years, but the flesh of it, the meat and sinews, shows itself to me seductively and in a rather slapdash manner. trying to figure out a way to coalesce everything i have found is like a silhouette painting of a nude woman, or a pair of almond eyes darting away from my direct eye contact, floating above a veil. even my descriptions of the process mislead. words are the most feeble atoms to build a universe from.

i truly and wholeheartedly believe there is a communal pool of memory that has its genesis in our biological predecessors, and the depths and width of that pool is what spawned many of our universal fears, myths, and deistic tendencies. i believe that pool has been passed on, and changed over time; through genetics, through selection, and, i believe, that environmental factors have led to a far deeper exchange of that genetic data than simple Lamarckian model.

i have just come to the conclusion that there is very little difference between my belief and quest, with all it’s scattered informational trappings, and testable proofs on a micro level (but not macro) and the zealous belief of a deist’s immovable faith. the differences that do exist are significant – a pillar in my belief system is something which i strive to prove through fact, not subscribe to faith. while there are some factually blended faiths out there, the majority of them are just faiths. the other major difference is causality. what i am looking for is not greater meaning as to why we are here, or why the universe exists – those are questions i have my own answers to which lie outside the thesis i seek. there is no intercession to the past to change the present, nor any higher order to bargain, plead to, or cajole into making things go your way.

i will have to be very wary of attempts to discredit what i am working on through ad hominem and straw man attacks.

anyone out there know what i am babbling about, or, if you do know, care?

words truly cannot capture how much has changed at my father’s farm in one year.
it is still in the middle of nowhere, and still in a very rural location. that being said, the farmhouse of yesteryear is now a real home, complete with creature comforts and internet. my parents are putting in a wrap-around deck, which should make for some nice barbecue/lounge areas eventually. i was so busy, that the internet really didn’t come into play (aside from the work i was doing) except for tangential snatches in the wee hours after midnight.

not all who wander are lost

friday’s trip was excellent. we made good the whole way out. we stopped in wilkes barre to get some trappings of my grandfather’s estate from my uncle, who was storing everything in his garage. i saw my uncle, and one of my cousins, who i had not seen in almost five years. time changes everything, that is for sure. we picked up a tiller, a scythe, and a welding table that all belonged to my grandfather. the scythe is an heirloom from the original farm he grew up on. that is to say, the blade is well over 100 years old. pretty neat.


the house has been painted and re-roofed, and the lawn has been re-claimed

friday night was uneventful after getting in. got the heat and hot water running, and made some cheeseburgers. i started the o/s install for the machine which was to host the home automation system. my dad invested pretty heavily in some x10 technology. you may remember the company from yesteryear as the innovator of the paid popup ad, and the plague of the internet. i was with them then, and i am still with them now. they make some pretty nifty stuff. i set up three cameras, a radio-controlled a/c adapter, and some motion sensors. the main heart of the project was an in line a/c interrupter for the furnace, so the heat can be turned off and on remotely via the internet.

of course, all this was complicated saturday morning, when the laptop i had to set up met with some untimely complications. the machine did not have a wireless network card, and the pcmcia combo card in it didn’t have native drivers. without at least a blank cd, i had no way to get the machine on the internet. so, it was off to radio shack, which is about a 5 minute round trip. blank cds, as well as a usb keydrive (as a backup) were appropriated.


the barn still needs a fuckton of work

the laptop was an older dell inspiron 5000, and the central cooling fan just gave up, halfway through applying a service pack once i got all the drivers installed. through an innovative bit of hacking, i bypassed the heat sensor module on the bios, as well as the mobo drivers that monitor the processor heat. a p2 600 does’t put out enough heat to fry the board unless it is more than 90 degrees outside. i don’t think that happens often at the farm.

after getting the o/s salvaged, i hit the next snag. in order to have real time video input, and manage all the devices on the local wireless home automation center, you needed two usb port devices. the laptop had only one usb port. we ran out to radio shack a second time to get a usb hub. once we had that, i got everything set up pretty well, except that one of the cameras, which seemed to work when the wireless video signal was being routed into the TV, totally kicked when i tried to address it to the laptop. it will be returned for a replacement most likely.

because it is still so cold up there (the high was 34 on saturday), the hot water heater really has to work overtime to do it’s job. my dad spent a good portion of the day running a chainsaw and pitchfork clearing brush, so he got the one shower worth of hot water in its belly. i figured i would shower this morning.

i couldn’t have been more wrong.

after dinner (superb roast chicken, and some nice yellow squash/zucchini/tomato/basil), it became apparent that there was something wrong with the hot water heater, when the dishwater would not get much above 38 degrees. i went down into the basement and pulled the panel on the hot water heater, only to find a large rust spot, and considerable corrosion through the wiring and contact points on the lower heating element. even after some impromptu cleaning, there was no heat or electrical activity coming from the lower element. upon returning upstairs, it was noted that the clock on the stove was off, and that the stove was, effectively, fragged.


look at all those goddamn wires coming out of the laptop

so, at 11pm, we called the power company to come out and take a look at the system. my dad seemed to think that we had lost our 220 phase (given the symptoms we were facing), so he assumed it was a problem at the street. he went to bed around midnight. the guys from the power company showed up around 1, and promptly discovered that the problem was neither the street, nor the circut breaker.

today, we were supposed to get an early start out, but instead, we went chasing domestic electrical gremlins. another 45 minute trip to the hardware store, to pick up a replacement heating element, only to find that was not the problem on the return. after some puttering and cursing, another 45 minute trip happened, at which point we now had a replacement part for every component you can replace on a hot water heater aside from the tank itself.

i still contend that part of the problem with the heater is that it is not wired as per the diagram they offer for correct setup. i think this caused a short, and when i flipped the main breakers, that created a power surge that killed the stove. at the end of the weekend, my dad was down a stove and a hot water heater.

in the midst of all this madness, i did pause to take some pictures. i have the workings of some great panoramics. it really is breathtaking up there, and so drastically different in the sun (even when it is 30something with a 20something wind chill).


the older barn roof

i didn’t see stubby this weekend. he has taken on a job as a hand at one of the nearby farms, and has his own place with the mother of one of the neighboring farms. the farm’s proprietor, fred, is friends with my parents, as is the contractor they have hired to do some miscellaneous maintenance (and porch building). both of them are tragic testaments to an era gone by. they are both in their mid to late fifties, and look like they are in their late sixties. both of them have the leathered skin of people who work outdoors for a living, and the cadence, candor and vocabulary of what i can only describe as stereotypical of the people of america’s heartland. fred’s wife is slowly dying of inoperable cancer. he lived on the next farm over with his wife, his mother (who shares a house with stubby), his daughter (whose husband is in iraq) and his three granddaughters. tom lives alone – he never married. both of them have seen good times. the dairy industry is now a mega business, and the life and livelihood of a private milk farmer is something that has all but disappeared. fred still ekes by using his fields for feed and hay. he sold all his cows long ago. tom sold his whole farm and herd, and lives as a contractor. it is interesting to hear them talk, to see them interact with my father, who has one foot in their world, and another foot in a sophisticated, intelligent businessman’s realm.

mostly, it is greatly amusing to hear them all talk about my mother, who is a woman whose makeup and personality doesn’t fit into any of their ideas of what typifies a woman’s characteristics, yet manages to maintain a steady behavior which meets their expectations in a nearing-cliche level.

overall, it was a good weekend, though i left feeling like more remained undone than done. i will probably go back next month to deal with the remainder of the work that needs to be attended to. i need to finish the staff i cut and set to cure about six months ago.

the moral of the story is, when you have a hot shower available, and want one, take it, you never know if it will be there later.

more pics on my flickr

I’m outie for the weekend. Depending on how successful I am, I may have internets out in the farm. Far cry from what I walked into yesteryear. Be good kids, at least as good as you would if I were with you, which is to say, good enough to not get caught.

I have read a good deal of activity online concerning Apple’s recent move to offer a dual boot option. It is the 30th anniversary of the company today. What I find most amusing is that many of the zealots bemoaning the integration of things are split down the middle. Half believe Jobs has finally lost it, the other half believe he has something up his sleeve, and that he will usher in a new era of Apple supremacy.

Most of these zealots are the same who love to trot out the ‘Developers’ speech, or Gates’ quote about RAM. I think anyone who makes concrete statements about the future of technology is an idiot.

Here are some examples, via Wilson Ng’ s article.

1) Jobs was not a believer originally of notebook computers. “(Smaller portables) are OK if you’re a reporter and trying to take notes on the run,” he told Playboy magazine in February 1985. “But for the average person, they’re really not that useful.”

Eighteen years later, he declared 2003 “the year of the notebook” for Apple. “Many users are going to wonder why they even need a desktop computer anymore,” he had said.

2) Introducing the flat-panel iMac at Macworld San Francisco in January 2002, Jobs tells the audience that “the new iMac ushers in the age of flat-screen computing for everyone. The CRT display is now officially dead.”

Four months after, Apple brings out the eMac, a 17-inch flat CRT powered by a G4 processor that’s pitched at the education market.

3) “Apple has decided to make Internet Explorer its default browser,” declared Jobs at Macworld Boston in 1997, cementing a stunning partnership with longtime nemesis Microsoft. “Internet Explorer is my browser of choice,” he had said.

In 2003, Apple introduces its own browser, Safari. Jobs said: “Safari’s highly tuned, rendering engine loads pages over three times faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the Mac and runs JavaScript over twice as fast. Safari is the fastest browser on the Mac, and we predict that many will feel it is the best browser ever created.”

4) In 1998, he tells Fortune magazine: “I don’t really believe that televisions and computers are going to merge. I’ve spent enough time in entertainment to know that storytelling is linear. It’s not interactive. You go to your TV when you want to turn your brain off. You go to your computer when you want to turn your brain on. Those are not the same.”

The debut of the iMac G5 in October 2005 contradicted that statement. The built-in Front Row software allows users to play music, view photo slide shows and watch videos. “The new iMac G5 debuts our amazing Front Row media experience, and we think users are going to love it,” said Jobs.

5) Apple introduced the iPod photo in October 2004, disappointing pundits who believed the company would release a video-capable iPod. Jobs addressed their dashed hopes, stating emphatically that the iPod is the “wrong place” for video. “No one has any video content to put on them, and even if they did, the screens are much too small.”

In October 2005, Apple takes the wraps off the fifth-generation iPod, which features the ability to play video.

6) In November 2003, Jobs pronounces himself “very happy with the PowerPC.” “We have all the options in the world, but the PowerPC road map looks very strong so we don’t have any plans to switch processor families at this point,” he said then.

In June 2005, Jobs drops a bombshell: “Apple will deliver Intel-based Macs within a year.”

Ng pitches this as part of Job’s visionary leadership. His ability to change horses midstream, and adapt himself and his company in directions which make a difference.

My problem with Apple remains the problem I have had with it for many years. NOT since the beginning of my relationship with computers (I was Apple trained back in the day), but more or less since Y2K. They don’t add value to technology, they add image. While the effect of the ipod revolution on digital music market is hardly negligible, they created that platform using DRM, which I abhor on intellectual and moral levels. Jobs has maintained a cult of personality, and the market has kept with that cult. The upcoming italk, iphone, and iwhatever will move this cult forward, without really adding any innovation. They add overpriced services. They add contractual lock-ins and married software and hardware. They are the Mercedes Benz of technology – they couple very savvy design with exquisite marketing, and prices to match. Benz has definitely made some innovations over the years, but none that an be adapted or applied outside of their systems. I’ll never own a Benz for the same reason I will never own a Mac. Give me something I can take apart, innovate with, add or subtract from at will, without hassle. That is the core of computers to me – customability, not perceived individuality though mass consumerism.

Think different indeed.

As I pointed out elsewhere, this move for the dual-boot support is based on fear. Fear that the reverse engineering tactics of many savvy programmers will take Apple’s much lauded O/S out of their hands and put it in the hands of the consumer. Once that happens, you don’t need to buy an overpriced machine to get the super-ergonomically designed leather interior. If you can run Jaguar on anything, why pay for an overpriced machine, other than because you like the way it looks? If you like the way it looks, and have the cash to burn, you’l keep going back. The fringe who has been paying for the hardware because it is the only way they could run the software will evaporate. Apple was nearly killed by clones once before. They are on the precipice of such a situation now. They need to keep their devout rooted in hardware and software solutions which keep them making money on a 2-3 year cycle. If they lose that nice, thy lose their slice of the pie.

That market that buys for aesthetics will be faced with a boatload of design imitations at half the price. Apple’s vice grip on the luxury computer market has only really been challenged by Sony, and Sony has too many other pies in the oven to make a concerted effort to provide real competition, particularly against a zealot market. If Apple gives up its proprietary O/S, or if that O/S becomes divorced from their hardware, you may see Sony and others (like Dell) swoop in on that high end market like vultures at a charnel pit.

I hate Microsoft just as much if not more, for many of the same practices. Don’t paint me as an ‘A vs B’ guy. I am a market vs. technology guy. The problem is, the consumer is dumb, and the tech innovators all belong to good marketing teams. There is too much money out there for the field to be different. Change the consumers, and you change the culture.

I doubt we’ll see it before the whole thing comes crashing down, but a boy can dream, right?