Yes, and more people -should- feel offended.
I find it strange that apple wants our info when installing OS X. It always bothered me that i have to fill the fields in even thou i do not want to, every other company offers a way for you to skip this but not apple.
I do not mind giving my info but i should not have to if i do not want, and yes i know i can just put random stuff in the fields. Even then apple corrects you, for example if you put a random phone number or not fill in the first box apples corrects you.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Wow. Unlike some of the smart asses ("it's called product registration"), let me wholeheartedly agree with you.
If mr. "synth3tik" (ooh, that's really clever spelling) wants to register his computer, hey no problem, go for it. I'm not going to stop you. But don't ridicule others for posing a very good question.
Apple's registration is despicable, in that it preys on those who don't know enough about their computer to avoid registering if they don't want to. The software goes to special pains to force you to enter valid data, when doing otherwise is a pretty obvious clue you'd rather not give it out. Then it stores your data until you have an internet connection, whereby it gets sent to Apple.
As for why they need it, which was your original question, they don't. Plain and simple. Unless you want AppleCare, or some other service, they don't need a thing from you except payment. However, the question you may be asking is why they -want- it, and that's easy. They want to be able to market directly to you. They want your business, and don't want to share you with any other retailer/reseller. They make much more money when you buy a computer via the online store or one of the company retail stores, rather than through Best Buy or a local retailer.
There is an entire industry built around the gathering of personal information and preferences of consumers. I don't know to what extent Apple participates in gathering or distribution of this information, but most large companies do. The depth is appalling, and it only seems to be getting worse because most people don't seem to care and/or are too lazy to actually take the effort to at least avoid the easy stuff.
As for the tinhat comments, was there a point? Other than looking like a smartass? The guy asked a very reasonable and polite question. No one should be forced to register any purchase if they don't want to.
