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

#241

Post by Mikeb85 » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:28 PM UTC

> “This is an amazing statistic,” he says with a serious look before revealing that there are more than 600 million PCs in use that are over five years old. “This is really sad.”

Maybe people are still using old PCs because they still work and are fully functional? I'm using a 4 year old ThinkPad and guess what? It's not only still fully functional, it's still quick, snappy, the screen is still bright and looks nice (I did splurge for the upgrade at the time), and it's been super low maintenance (been running Linux on it the whole time). It could use a new battery (capacity has gone down over time), but hey, it's a removable battery so I can do that.

I imagine I'll still be getting a few more years of use from it, there certainly are no signs that I should upgrade at the moment. I mean, if I were to be a little greedy, I'd buy a new laptop with a wicked video card and give this one to my wife (after she made me throw out a fully functional 6 year old desktop we didn't use very often), but is that necessary, not really.

It's pretty plain that Apple simply plans for its products to be replaced quicker than 5 years, to make more sales, and they're speaking to the faithful.

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

#242

Post by tdkl » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:28 PM UTC

matwood wrote: post #169

tdkl wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't easily download ZIP, unzip it, open some text file, edit it, send it via Mail. Probably I can do it with right apps, but it would require much more clicks or taps. > Now things I could theoretically do but probably can't, because of walled garden: using Terminal to embrace full Unix power, downloading files with BitTorrent, using BitCoin. Probably possible with Jailbreaking, I'm not sure. Also I'm not sure…

Android tablets were simply not very good. I had a N7 and it was okay for the money, but suffered all sorts of quality issues. A couple updates of Android and it takes minutes to start. The battery life also always stunk. I have a couple Samsung tablets in the office for testing and they always felt cheap compared to the iPads. I'm sure there are great Android tablets out there, but I have not found them. Speaking of…

Well are we discussing usability or build quality now ? Because there are huge compromises in both (like always in life).

People I know that bought Android tablets bought it for doing stuff vbezhenar blamed iPad being clunky with and explicitly wanting a tablet form factor. Of course it's not as fancy as an iPad and the battery doesn't last as long, but you can do stuff you described with less hassle AND using Bittorent with it.

But more or less it's obvious that those kind of people are in a minority. They rather sacrifice convenience of a tablet form factor to get a more usable one - like a PC.

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

#243

Post by aibara » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:29 PM UTC

mrbill wrote: post #164

I just bought a "new to me" laptop. Refurb Thinkpad T420s from 2011. I added 16G RAM, two Intel SSDs, an Ultrabay battery, and an 802.12ac wifi card. Grand total: less than $325. This will be my primary portable for at least 2-3 years, and it's already four years old. Just because I can afford Apple doesn't mean I can justify the 2x price premium, or that "old" hardware isn't capable.

A month ago I did the same thing, a T420s with just slightly different specs. The sad thing is that in 2-3 years whatever we choose to replace it with will likely have an inferior keyboard.

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

#244

Post by norea-armozel » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:29 PM UTC

s_q_b wrote: post #210

norea-armozel wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think there's plenty of ways to signal you're a good provider or good in bed without throwing the entire viability of both into money pits of useless junk. It just takes more skull sweat to figure that out on a case-by-case basis.

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

#245

Post by zekevermillion » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:30 PM UTC

iolothebard wrote: post #211

zekevermillion wrote: post #149

My home PC is over eight years old and still functions adequately. I enjoy using it and maintaining it much more than I would fumbling around with a new Apple iPad. It cost about $2800 new, and I've spent about $300 on upgrades since then. So the total cost of ownership is about 390/year. I don't think this cost is much better than buying new iThings every couple years. But I get a much more powerful device, and it r…

I just realized I'm working on a 5 year old Thinkpad (T420). I upgrade just for the heck of it normally, but I gave my wife my T430 for grad school and I bought her a Surface Pro 3 as well (for notes and just for the hell of it). I'm tempted to buy a T460p (if they ever make it into the supply chain with nVidia FX) or a P50, but this T420 keeps chugging along just fine. On my current consulting gig I'm working on a V…

Time flies! I wish that Apple would open up their boxes to allow for a bit more tinkering. More of the Wozniak rather than the Jobs philosophy. I think that they could do this, allow for user modification, without giving up on their high-minded design principles.

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

#246

Post by charlesdm » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:31 PM UTC

ratbeard wrote: post #200

simonh wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought an iPhone 3GS in 2009, that's 6 and a half years ago and my daughter now uses it at school. It even still connects to the App Store. Other than a cracked screen it works fine. Battery life isn't great, but it gets her through the school day. These things have incredible lifetimes and also keep their resale value very well. So in terms of value, I'm not convinced that iPhones are a frivolous luxury. In my exp…

We've got an iPad 2 that is not useless, but much worse after upgrading to ios9. I still play Kingdom Rush games on it but its so slow now its too frustrating to use for internet browsing and other things.

It's one of the reasons why I haven't upgraded my iPad 2 past iOS6.

It still streams Netflix great though, but the browser is starting to show its age - I can't load all webpages anymore. :(

Looks like I might need to pick up a new iPad..

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

#247

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:31 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.

[deleted]

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

#248

Post by yclept » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:31 PM UTC

jwoah12 wrote: post #67

rileymat2 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure if I was suddenly without money, the iPhone would be what I would want to give up. The utility of the device is incredible: Mapping. Phone. Internet. Email. Alarm Clock. Calendaring. Photography. If anything we should work to get smart phones in the hands of the poor. It would be a great way to improve their lives for a somewhat modest cost. I am not sure it is all for looks. Maybe we could quibble abou…

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

Ok, does this make you not poor? I think not.

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

#249

Post by Drakim » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:32 PM UTC

skywhopper wrote: post #184

noxToken wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not sure if I was suddenly without money, the iPhone would be what I would want to give up. If you have an iPhone and then become poor, sure. You probably won't get ahead much by getting rid of your iPhone. If you're already poor, then an iPhone (not a smartphone) is definitely a luxury. There are capable smartphones for much cheaper then an iPhone that could get the job done. That's what GP was likely getting…

> There are capable smartphones for much cheaper then an iPhone that could get the job done. That's what GP was likely getting at. True enough. And yet, if you yourself are not actually poor, you may not realize the value that a marginal luxury like an iPhone or Air Jordans or a top brand purse (sorry, I don't know what the hot brand of purses is atm) can bring to someone in that situation. Spending a few hundred dol…

The same case could be made for the poor buying golden jewelry. I don't find it very convincing.

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

#250

Post by randcraw » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 2:32 PM UTC

Maybe Schiller meant it was sad that PCs haven't improved substantially in 5 years, which is true to a degree that isn't just sad, it's seriously bad. As software historically continues to slow, app runtimes inevitably will too.

Is an iPad Pro 2 the answer? Obviously not. The unsaid lesson from this event is that Apple's products aren't improving as quickly either. Nor are the new features as interesting. So it's not surprising that Schiller would look backward instead of forward.