Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#111

Post by sithadmin » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:46 PM UTC

drhayes9 wrote: post #35

sithadmin wrote: post #19

>Mossberg pointed to "a gradual degradation in the quality and reliability of Apple’s core apps." He fingered iTunes for the desktop ("I dread opening the thing"), and the Mail, Photos, and iCloud programs. As somebody that's used a Mac for 90%+ of all computing-related tasks since OS X was released, all of the above-mentioned apps/services have been dead to me for years. I honestly can't remember the last time I pur…

Do you have any recommendations for a music player that isn't iTunes?

I use Spotify for most stuff, and Amazon Prime Music (with a library I uploaded) for more unusual stuff.

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#112

Post by threeseed » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:46 PM UTC

superuser2 wrote: post #85

mmastrac wrote: post #3

It's not just software. While I'm still a fan of Macbooks, I'm getting close to abandoning ship thanks to the increasingly un-repairability of these things. I have a Macbook from ~2008 that's still functional as a media PC thanks to memory/SSD upgrades and battery replacements over the years. My current Macbook Pro has memory soldered on to the motherboard and a battery glued to the case. The SSD is technically repla…

Non-user-serviceability buys smaller and lighter form factors. I would expect the story to be similar for hardware with similar size, weight, and battery life characteristics. EDIT: and most importantly, more battery chemistry per weight. Safety requires that serviceable batteries are enclosed in rather substantial cases whose internals are non-user-serviceable. Apple "cheats" by making this case the entire laptop, r…

And much faster performance.

The drives in the new MacBook Pro are blisteringly quick compared to just a stock standard SSD.

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#113

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:47 PM UTC

douche wrote: post #95

toomuchtodo wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not for a tool contributing towards six figures of income for me annually. That's an insane ROI. EDIT: I know people who spend more than that on Starbucks each month.

Just about everything starts to look cheap when you stack it up next to a daily Starbucks habit...

[deleted]

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#114

Post by outworlder » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:47 PM UTC

stestagg wrote: post #63

untog wrote: post #38

I don't much care about the software - I haven't used iTunes in years, don't use Mail, etc. etc. - it's the operating system I care about. Wi-fi has been buggy on OS X for literally years now. And each new major release seems to bring some new pain point where it refuses to turn on, refuses to connect, doesn't transmit data... and on and on. There's no way Apple can't know about this - it must drive their own employe…

I've found that wifi is buggy generally with lower end APs. It may be Apple employees generally have a better class of router/wifi

That is my experience as well, with multiple APs. Once I switched to a better one (TP-Link Archer C7) the problems disappeared. Same with an airport express base station. No issues at all, wifi connection is near instant when the notebook wakes up.

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#115

Post by massysett » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:47 PM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #57

The problem is that there is no reasonable alternative. If you want a retina display, solid construction, and anything even close to a reasonable command line, then MBPr and OSX are my only real options. Apparently, engineering and producing a high-quality laptop is a really hard problem. Only Apple and Lenovo seem to be able to do it. And if you go Lenovo, then you are stuck installing Linux who's device drivers are…

My days installing Linux on PCs are over. Futzing with the device drivers is way too much trouble. However if I had to I would buy a Lenovo, leave Windows on it, and run Linux in a VM.

Overall I am happy with my Mac though. I think techies and press people find a lot more faults with Mac software than most users do. But it could be that after years of using Linux desktops my standards for good GUI software are extremely low.

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#116

Post by pearle » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

treve wrote: post #5

skorecky wrote: post #2

I think there is a decline in the quality of Apple's software. However I think there is a correlation between the amount of users and complaints / bugs found. Now that Apple has a large and growing user base the seeming quality is also degrading. However I could be wrong, just my opinion. Personally I haven't had as many issues as described in the article e.g. Preview has always worked fine for me. However the bigges…

Try running an up-to-date OS X on a machine that came with a magnetic disk. It's become practically unusable.

This is my experience. I have a late 2013 iMac with a spinner running El Capitan and it's one of the absolute worst OS experiences I've ever had and I've been using computers since the 80s.

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#117

Post by epistasis » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #54

mmastrac wrote: post #3

It's not just software. While I'm still a fan of Macbooks, I'm getting close to abandoning ship thanks to the increasingly un-repairability of these things. I have a Macbook from ~2008 that's still functional as a media PC thanks to memory/SSD upgrades and battery replacements over the years. My current Macbook Pro has memory soldered on to the motherboard and a battery glued to the case. The SSD is technically repla…

Unfortunately Apple values looks over functionality. Apple just keeps making changes for thinness, almost at any cost. And soldering wasn't the first example, I'd argue that removal of the ethernet jack on the MBP was a sign of things to come. Essentially everything started going downhill with the 3rd generation MBPs way back in 2012 (the original "Retina"). The 3rd gen removed: Ethernet, Firewire 800, Superdrive, Ke…

For me, and for nearly everyone I know, thinness is far more functional than an ethernet port. As is weight, a pound is actually a lot!

Ethernet ports are easy to add as a dongle, you can't do the same with thinness. I really only need ethernet in fixed locations, and where there I already have power, and that's the case for most people.

It's totally cool that you have different needs, but it's not cool to misascribe that to "looks."

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#118

Post by kmfrk » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

KirinDave wrote: post #97

kmfrk wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OS has been pretty good after El Capitain. It was some serious garbage in some of the prior versions, though that also made me question why bother. The software is another matter.

El Capitan has been way worse for my software engineering life than any 3 previous versions put together. The first week was pure misery. And I've still gone back to routine crashes if I have a VM open. It hasn't been this bad for me in years.

The worst is that there's no way of knowing. I can't remember which version it was, but man it sucked that I happed to close and open my lid until my wifi would work.

Makes me think that upgrading from Windows 8.1 to 10 can't be that bad.

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#119

Post by Uhhrrr » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

kordless wrote: post #80

sjm-lbm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The extra annoying part is that Apple's total lack of reputability is starting to spread to competing products - a lot of Android phones have dropped user-replaceable batteries, for instance, and a sizable amount of good Windows ultrabooks are about as repairable as MacBooks.

> extra annoying part is that Apple's total lack of reputability is starting to spread to competing products Oh, please. Apple has nothing to do with that problem. The problem is we're a throw away society hell bent on buying the latest greatest thing. If it's anyone's fault, it's our own.

The fact that Apple has been able to get away with it certainly has encouraged others (Samsung).

Re: Apple fans are coming to hate Apple software

#120

Post by wtallis » Mon, Feb 08, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

treve wrote: post #5

skorecky wrote: post #2

I think there is a decline in the quality of Apple's software. However I think there is a correlation between the amount of users and complaints / bugs found. Now that Apple has a large and growing user base the seeming quality is also degrading. However I could be wrong, just my opinion. Personally I haven't had as many issues as described in the article e.g. Preview has always worked fine for me. However the bigges…

Try running an up-to-date OS X on a machine that came with a magnetic disk. It's become practically unusable.

Until six months ago I did most of my day-to-day web browsing on a 2007 MBP with a 7200 RPM 160GB drive. I had to upgrade because the dying GPU was destabilizing the system, but with 4GB of RAM and competent ad-blocking, it was fine for the light use it was getting, and that did include Spotlight searches.