That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people • Hacker News Board

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#201

Post by croon » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

saturdaysaint wrote: post #46

Udo wrote: post #10

I'm an Apple-only user at the moment, both mobile and desktop. When Apple asserts that a desktop computer should be replaced by a locked-down handheld device with very limited capabilities, the odd thing seems to me is they don't realize these devices do very different things and fulfill very different needs. I don't worry about the demise of the desktop because I'm nostalgic, I worry about the loss of power and prod…

"the odd thing seems to me is they don't realize these devices do very different things and fulfill very different needs." They realize it - remember Jobs' "truck vs. car" analogy - and they're betting that 90% of the population's needs are better met with a car rather than a truck.

And here's the crux. I don't get the vibe as much that they cater to a specific usergroup, but rather steers/controls them in one direction, with the limitations of their systems.

With PC/Linux(/Windows) you can get either the practically grandma safe Ubuntu or Mint installation with everything working, or you can go for Gentoo or Arch or even just a customized Ubuntu or Mint when needing more freedom.

There's a thin line between recognizing user needs and deciding user needs.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#202

Post by laumars » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

sbuk wrote: post #188

laumars wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're on a tight budget, then £20 a month matters. It might be loose change to people like us, but unfortunately there are people who have to budget the meals they eat to bring costs down. And to use your watch analogy, you wouldn't expect people on tight incomes to buy a Rolex when a <£15 watch works the same.

The advice I give to anyone buying any tech is to buy the best that you can afford, then what you prefer (i.e. Android, iOS, Windows, Mac etc.). If someone on a 'tight budget' determines that an iPhone or an S7 is a priority, who are you to judge?

I'm not judging. I'm just saying £20/m is a lot to some people to counter the point made previously that the investment was only small.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#203

Post by falcolas » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #160

falcolas wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap phones are actually in the $60 price range. http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Prevail-White-Mobile/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-640-Annual-Contract/dp/B01...

I thought those where locked/discounted phones. First is: Boost (67.99), or Sprint prepaid (104$) Second is: AT&T Go Phone only. But, it looks like you can get a new unlocked smartphone for 60$. http://www.amazon.com/BLU-Advance-5-0-Unlocked-Smartphone/dp...

Gotta love regional pricing. I see Galaxy phone as $57, the Lumia is $44. That they are locked to a particular provider makes them not really any different than your average phone. They do have the advantage of not locking you into a 2+ year contract.

Nice find on the BLU though.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#204

Post by andrewpi » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:13 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #160

falcolas wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap phones are actually in the $60 price range. http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Prevail-White-Mobile/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-640-Annual-Contract/dp/B01...

I thought those where locked/discounted phones. First is: Boost (67.99), or Sprint prepaid (104$) Second is: AT&T Go Phone only. But, it looks like you can get a new unlocked smartphone for 60$. http://www.amazon.com/BLU-Advance-5-0-Unlocked-Smartphone/dp...

I bought a prepaid Moto E for $39.99 and activated it on Ringplus (a Sprint MVNO that offers free data/text/minutes every month) as a backup phone.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#205

Post by cableshaft » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #160

falcolas wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap phones are actually in the $60 price range. http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Prevail-White-Mobile/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-640-Annual-Contract/dp/B01...

I thought those where locked/discounted phones. First is: Boost (67.99), or Sprint prepaid (104$) Second is: AT&T Go Phone only. But, it looks like you can get a new unlocked smartphone for 60$. http://www.amazon.com/BLU-Advance-5-0-Unlocked-Smartphone/dp...

I got the Lumia 635 for $30 last year as a temporary replacement for my Nexus 5 that I walked into a lake on accident, and it's worked out so well I still have it with no plans to upgrade.

I've gotten cheap Android phones that have felt sluggish and super buggy after a mere 6 months (not the Nexus 5, though, that just had a crap battery life, but I also spent ~$450 on it, so it wasn't cheap), but this one still operates as slick and smooth as the day I bought it, with a battery that lasts a day and a half.

Anyone looking for a cheap phone, I highly recommend the Lumia 635 (640 is just as cheap, but it doesn't support LTE, supposedly).

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#206

Post by skywhopper » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

zanny wrote: post #103

jwoah12 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just described the functionality of every single phone on the market, though. Almost all of which are much less expensive than the iPhone.

Was going to say this. If you are legitimately poor, you can get a used Moto G 2013 for $35 and activate it on Freedompop for some free data each month and use wifi wherever possible. That would be a phone on a budget. iphones are absolutely just for prestige, the same way Macbooks in universities are.

If you're poor and don't want everyone around you to know it, why would you buy the phone that screams "hey, I'm poor and got the cheapest possible phone!" Everyone has something they do to stand out from the people that surround them. It's cruel to suggest that folks living in poverty can only be deserving of assistance if they embrace their poverty and advertise it to the world. There are real costs to appearing poor in our society. Is it a surprise that people would spend what little extra money they have on things that help them appear not quite as poor as they actually are?

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#207

Post by pc86 » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

sasvari wrote: post #185

blub wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with those cheap phones is that your private information will be mercilessly sucked into the Google cloud. Some of that is disguised as perfectly innocent and helpful features: contacts syncing, back-ups, connecting more easily to WiFis, etc. The end result though is that your entire digital life will be on some Google server. Preventing this requires significant effort and technical expertise. We got win…

The problem with those cheap phones is that your private information will be mercilessly sucked into the Google cloud. Some of that is disguised as perfectly innocent and helpful features: contacts syncing, back-ups, connecting more easily to WiFis, etc. if you truly value your privacy (most people don't; which solves the problem for them), it is trivially easy: buy a cheap phone (i.e. Moto E/G) and install a custom…

I think you grossly overestimate the technical aptitude of... 99.8% of the population?

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#208

Post by drzaiusapelord » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

blktiger wrote: post #196

rockshassa wrote: post #12

I just can't bring myself to feel the author's anger, in any capacity. He wants to position this as a jab against those who build their own PCs, but that is utterly irrelevant. What percentage of those 600 million five-year-old PCs do you really think are being thoughtfully maintained by modders? Does the author realize that most people do not want the responsibility of maintaining their own hardware? Or that they do…

I don't think Apple is thinking about the money aspect here. Instead they find it sad because many of these people are missing out on _progress_. Especially with regards to ease of use. Many of these people would be much better served with an iPad than with the PCs that they use now.

How is replacing an open-ish general computing device with a locked down tablet "progress?" These people have PC's for a reason, because PCs allow them to do so much and are not merely devices to consume media on.

Apple very much plays the class warfare card. Lets stop excusing sociopathic corporate cultures.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#209

Post by donkeyd » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:15 PM UTC

My 15" Macbook Pro will turn 4 this year. I don't see it being replaced soon, since it still performs quite well. The 13" MacBook Pro that my girlfriend uses is about to turn 6 years old. That one could be replaced, since it has some issues, but for her it does what it needs to do, so there's no real need. We might be able to replace it with an iPad Pro, but I doubt we will.

I wouldn't call myself poor, but I have no need to replace these devices every 3 years, since not much changes, except they get thinner.

Re: That awkward moment when Apple mocked good hardware and poor people

#210

Post by s_q_b » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:15 PM UTC

norea-armozel wrote: post #173

waspleg wrote: post #41

I completely agree with the author of the article. Apple is the real-world incarnation of the economic premise of Huxley's "A Brave New World". This was just the mask dropping for a second to pander to the faithful. I'd like to add, as someone who works at K12 public high school, that I've seen the reality of the article played out. My building is 100% free lunch, most are extremely poor, and yet there is a sizable n…

Conspicuous consumption is the perennial vice of our species. Pyramids, Cathedrals, fast cars, diamond jewelry, fancy suits, and now iPads and iPhones. I swear as much effort goes into these things I think we could've at least solved the problem of starvation by now.

I've often thought conspicuous consumption is largely just a message to the world of one's fitness as a mate.

If so, sexual selection produces some very interesting and complex but functionally "useless" objects.