Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 587 posts

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#311

Post by falcolas »

mcphage wrote: post #224
falcolas wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When reading more than few lines of text on the screen, my hands do not tend to remain on the keyboard. They instead drift up the sides of the computer, making the screen closer than the touchpad. Not to mention, having the option to use both certainly doesn't harm anyone.

> They instead drift up the sides of the computer, making the screen closer than the touchpad. Isn't that uncomfortable?

Nope. Well, no more uncomfortable than working on a laptop without an external monitor ever is.

Merely taking my hands off the keyboard is enough for them to move out and away, since I have to "swing" them in to use the keyboard to begin with. This leaves them inches from the screen in the best case, and nowhere near the computer in the worse case.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#312

Post by lobster_johnson »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #8

I find it remarkable that a company the size and profitability of Apple seems unable to do more than one thing at a time. Simply not enough engineers?

Apple does have a very different organization structure than most companies in their league, one that doesn't necessarily scale to a large number of people: http://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/11/27/13706776/apple-funct...

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#313

Post by dkonofalski »

blankenship wrote: post #29
deedubaya wrote: post #13

I still think macOS/OSX provides the best user experience for personal computing. It's the lack of substantial hardware updates which is driving users away. If creatives are going to pay a premium for a Mac, there should be something to differentiate it between the competition besides the privilege to run macOS. Heck, it should have something to differentiate it from the last model! I'll still recommend Macs for my f…

I’ve never owned a PC. The first computer I ever used was a Macintosh II. The first desktop computer I bought was a Power Mac G3. My first laptop was that adorable little Powerbook G4. And I’ve been using an iPhone since 2007. I’m not frustrated because of the hardware — I’m frustrated because 50% of the software on my phone is made by Google, who seems to actually still care about making useable, stable software tha…

I don't understand how you can say that when no other ecosystem offers things like Handoff, Airdrop, and Continuity. How do you use multiple devices that Google software understands but that iCloud/iOS/macOS don't? The difference may be that you have to pay for iCloud, but you're saying that the equivalent just isn't capable.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#314

Post by bsder »

stuckagain wrote: post #95
coldtea wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My main computer is a five year old 17" MBP. I've upgraded it to the max and done repairs to maintain it. I need the computational power - I use it for programming, photo editing at scale, and recording/mixing music. It would cost me $3000 to replace it with a computer that is not significantly more powerful Compared to a five year old 17"? More like double the power. And unbelievably faster SSD (even if you have a…

Does a USB-C to FireWire exist?

If only there were a wired protocol that is high-speed, has a standard connector, can deliver power, and has both bandwidth and latency controls ... wouldn't that be wonderful? Then we wouldn't have to reinvent all of these wires.

(Yes, sarcasm. That protocol is called Ethernet. And basically every high-speed interface we currently have is a bad reimplementation of it for political reasons.)

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#315

Post by dkonofalski »

Recurecur wrote: post #32
deedubaya wrote: post #13

I still think macOS/OSX provides the best user experience for personal computing. It's the lack of substantial hardware updates which is driving users away. If creatives are going to pay a premium for a Mac, there should be something to differentiate it between the competition besides the privilege to run macOS. Heck, it should have something to differentiate it from the last model! I'll still recommend Macs for my f…

Not just lack of hardware updates, but the lack of complete system categories. It's the height of hypocrisy to tout a green approach to things, while not even offering an upgradable machine, e.g. a tower. All-in-ones like the iMac are usually discarded if either the motherboard or the display goes south, whereas a tower is easily fixed. Also, power users are left out in the cold, with the Mac Pro the only system fitt…

On the contrary, the ability for Apple to re-use and re-manufacture their products makes them more green. Apple computers tend to be recycled and resold for far longer than PCs (and their resale value is stupidly high for a tech product). I doubt that all-in-ones, and specifically the iMac, are usually just discarded as it's pretty easy to replace both of those things. I would be curious to see if you have any kind of support for that statement.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#316

Post by dbg31415 »

zeusk wrote: post #308
dbg31415 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would cost me $3000 to replace it with a computer that is not significantly more powerful, has a smaller screen and less I/O functionality, and would be incompatible with my audio interface unless I daisy-chain multiple adapters to get Firewire. Fuck that, as long as possible. To be fair, with the new Macs you still get to daisy chain adapters... Here's the thing, nobody can take away how great the Macs we have…

--- 2016 Razer Blade ($2,099) 16 GB System Memory (DDR4, 2133 MHz) NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5 VRAM) Intel® Core i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor (2.6GHz / 3.5GHz) 256GB (PCIe M.2) options for 512/1024 14.0-in. IGZO QHD+, 3200x1800, capacitive multi-touch http://www.razerzone.com/store/razer-blade#QHD+%20-%20256GB What you linked to isn't 2016 Blade.

Good catch. I linked the 2015 model.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#317

Post by lmm »

jdietrich wrote: post #310
lmm wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably lets them reuse more of the same assembly line/processes for desktops/laptops/tablets.

The Mac Pro is made in the USA; the rest of Apple's product line is made in China. There is already considerable hand-assembly in the Mac Pro; the additional step of installing socketed RAM would add no more than a few cents in cost. Using soldered RAM in the Mac Pro is transparently user-hostile. It serves no purpose other than to depress the used market and allow Apple to charge a huge premium for extra RAM.

> the additional step of installing socketed RAM would add no more than a few cents in cost.

It's not just about more labour though. It's also about having a different kind of component, another supply chain to manage, different QA processes... on what's at this point a very much non-core product line.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#318

Post by protomyth »

sosborn wrote: post #270
protomyth wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xcode was the buggy "single program" replacement for Project Builder and Interface Builder. It really never got over the bugs. I wish they had gone the other way an embraced the parts and components so we could at least add stuff beyond the current model. Thinking about it, this whole must be in xcode to read the documentation is still a pain in the butt. I miss printing the pdfs (much easier on my eyes or I could us…

> why the heck they at least don't have an official documentation viewing app on iOS. https://developer.apple.com/reference/

That doesn't quite work if I'm not on the internet and its a pretty poor experience.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#319

Post by dkonofalski »

autoreleasepool wrote: post #106

After being an Apple "Loyalist" for over 15 years, I recently sold my rMBP and built a desktop (i7 4790k, GTX 1080, 16Gb DDR3 @ 2933Mhz). It was by far the best hardware decision I have ever made. Building the system was an absolute blast. Plus, I now have an extremely powerful PC with first class Linux support, tons of I/O ports, and no vendor lock in. The best part is it cost me about 1/3 of the price of a (maxed-o…

I was in a similar place but ended up getting a MacBook in addition to the custom PC. Most of my day-to-day work just feels more efficient with the Mac but I realized that it didn't make sense to rely on a laptop for gaming, video encoding, and media serving. I still love the Mac for Final Cut and all that, but I just had to change my workflow a little and now I get the best of both worlds.

Re: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

#320

Post by cc439 »

muninn_ wrote: post #124
stuckagain wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly the chain of adapters that beat was complaining of.

We're living in a transitory period as we move from a world of wires and connectors to a wireless world. This is the pain we have to endure as technology is pushed forward. If it were up to the luddites and their obsession with compatibility, a laptop would have a dvd drive, firewire, usb-a, usb-c, thunderbolt, hdmi, dvi, vga, sd, microsd,vga, and display port all in one laptop chassis. Having one single port, that c…

The problem with USB-C as "the one port to rule them all" is that it is impossible to produce a cheap cable and still meet the design spec. Even major smartphone manufacturers have been caught including underspec cables with their phones that damage one device or the other right out of the box. This isn't just limited to USB-A to USB-C cables, there are plenty of USB-C to USB-C cables that pose a potential threat when pushed to their power transmission limits.

USB-C was a great idea taken one step too far. USB-C would be perfect if it hadn't been saddled with the requirement to handle 100 Watts of power. That's an overkill requirement for a feature that wasn't demanded by anyone aside from OEMs looking to cut an additional charging port off the bill of materials.

Post reply on HN