It wasn’t just Apple on the minds of alert readers. A few pointed out shortcomings of the highly touted Firefox web browser.
On the lighter side, there was praise for our continued reviews of Mac OS X utilities, and a desire by some readers to get Tera’s measurements (not that great) and her phone number (she won’t call you back).
First up, the firestorm of email and comments from the article “Is Apple About To Explode? Growing Pains or Problems?” From reader “gscottr”:
I’m one who happens to think that market share doesn’t matter; profitability, money in the bank, stock price, and a growing body of happy customers are better. Microsoft has the most market share ever, but not as many happy customers. Faithful reader “gojira” had concernes and praise:
Not to be too contrary, but we had a few comments and some feedback from readers who really didn’t want Apple to succeed too much. Think viruses, worms, problems, etc. “jedikindergartener” summed it up this way:
“Is it just me, or am I perhaps the only one who *doesn’t* want Apple to explode in popularity on a momentous level? I don’t want Apple marketting OS X on PC-based machines, and I don’t want them to “dominate” the market. (Subsequently, I don’t want the viruses and user-implicated troubles that come along with domination.)
I simply want Apple to be the suitable, semi-well kept secret alternative that it is. I want Apple to be successful, but I don’t want them to be so insanely popular that they become slovenly and reluctant in their ways. I don’t want them to be the “next Microsoft of Computing.” It’s a far fetched concern, to be sure, but it could very well happen.”
A UK reader took issue with our praise of Mozilla’s new Firefox 1.0 preview browser. Yes, it’s pretty, fast, loaded with features. But, apparently it’s not perfect yet.
Of course, we get our share of InBox praise, too. Well, maybe not a full share, but enough to keep us hungering for more, not so much that we’re depressed and eat chocolate all the time.
We tend to focus on useful utilities, hyperbole, and stuff we like (and don’t like) when choosing article topics. Utilities, for example. If they’re good, we buy ‘em and use ‘em. If they’re not, we say so. Mostly.
Reader “sergio” (yes, that Sergio) like the piece on Freebie Utilities.
As you’d suspect, if you have a favorite utility, tell us what it is and why you like it. We won’t pay you or anything, but we might offer some praise that’ll help others. Or not.