My Next Mac Mini • Hacker News Board

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#161

Post by caleblloyd » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:07 PM UTC

zuzun wrote: post #122

windexh8er wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which model? I have NUC6i3SYH and NUC6i7KYK, neither exhibit any of the characteristics you've described. I've used Arch and Ubuntu Mate 16.04 on both as well as Windows 10 LTSB and Anniversary editions on the Skull Canyon. The latter is to run some graphics editing software (which is why I wanted dual M.2 slots so I could dedicate physical drives to each OS). If it were really that bad I definitely wouldn't be able…

NUC6i5SYK and Ubuntu 15.10 and now 16.04 LTS. Since I got the NUC right after its release I was hoping for newer kernels to fix some of these problems, but they didn't.

Ditto on the Dell monitor issues. I had some of these inconsistencies with earlier firmware but updates seem to have helped. Also I've had these things just not start at all before. Completely taking the main board out and unplug/re-plug the CMOS battery has fixed it though.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#162

Post by intrasight » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:08 PM UTC

fowlerpower wrote: post #157

Someone here needs to explain it to me because I just don't understand. We have the largest computer company in the world, a shit load of people work there, supposedly smart people. Yet they can't put together a refresh of many of their desktop machines. Why the fuck not? What do all those people getting paid all that money do all day? I can only imagine the conversations, "it takes years it has to be super innovativ…

I think what you're missing is that Apple pursues high-margin endeavors, and competing with a $300 NUC isn't going to be a high-margin business. Some easy money for Apple would be to sell OS licenses for Intel NUCs.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#163

Post by tacostakohashi » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:11 PM UTC

fowlerpower wrote: post #157

Someone here needs to explain it to me because I just don't understand. We have the largest computer company in the world, a shit load of people work there, supposedly smart people. Yet they can't put together a refresh of many of their desktop machines. Why the fuck not? What do all those people getting paid all that money do all day? I can only imagine the conversations, "it takes years it has to be super innovativ…

I guess they've painted themselves into a bit of a corner with the way they do their pricing, and product announcements with a lot of hype.

If they were to do the kind of update you suggest, there would be a lot of bad press stating the obvious ("It's just the same as before, but faster and more RAM. No new alloys or anything!"), and it would drive down prices for inventory of the old model.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#164

Post by fauigerzigerk » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:12 PM UTC

FussyZeus wrote: post #147

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't be so sure. Old platforms suffer from diminishing returns and developers get bored easily. If a platform is no longer exciting and dominant players are lame or annoying, then developers and entrepreneurs will look for alternatives in completely different directions deliberately avoiding the old incumbants. Amazon.com wasn't a Windows desktop app even though most customers would have used Windows to buy fro…

The problem is our small shop, revenues are something like 600% iOS/Android. We make hardly anything on the Play Store because (and you can call this classist if you want, but it's what my data tells me) Android users don't spend money. Now that could be because they don't have it, because they don't see value in software, whatever but the point is if you're an app developer and you want to make money, you go to Appl…

Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure there are many other companies like yours. I doubt that many profitable companies will abandon iOS development just because Mac hardware is a bit dusted or a bit overpriced at this point.

But where is the excitement? Where are the growth opportunities? Where's the space for experimentation? Where are things moving?

Once all the wealthy people on this planet have their iPhones and their six favorite apps in their six home screen rows, all extremely vetted by Apple, the market is saturated and stagnant.

You can't skate where the puck is going to be because the puck has come to a complete stop and all players are sitting on top of it.

I'm a Mac, iPhone and iPad user. But would I ever build a _new_ company on that platform. No. Definitely not.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#165

Post by chatterbeak » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

It works well...

> It’s never bothered me, needed rebooting because it was flakey or even broken a sweat doing all the things I’ve asked of it.

But then ...

> I’m not a huge fan of the aesthetic or DOS roots of Windows

The Mac community has done a great job feeding lies to Mac users! There are no "DOS roots" in Windows 10, just as there are no "Apple ][ DOS" roots of Mac OS X.

We switched back 100% to Windows after Windows 10 came out--we needed NVIDIA and lots of RAM (256GB) for the programming we do -- and have had no trouble. And we have beautiful glass cube workstations (Lian Li) and 100% stable machines that never crash, hang, or act weird.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#166

Post by intrasight » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:14 PM UTC

pixelcloud wrote: post #155

esfandia wrote: post #148

I had the same experience as the OP. My Mac Mini was getting old, and the fan was making a worrisome noise. I wasn't going to buy the "latest" Mini, since it is very stale, hard to upgrade and expensive for what it is. Funnily enough I was already running Windows on that Mini anyway, so my next computer didn't have to be a Mac. But I did enjoy the small footprint, and I have to say that the Mac is probably the easies…

I believe NUCs are targeted towards businesses to be honest. I have a couple of them, and they are very boring, but high quality. Plenty of different configurations, but Intel isnt really trying to sell pre-built windows boxes (unless you buy a bunch of them consistently)

Actually, that's exactly what Intel is doing with the NUC.

http://www.pcmag.com/news/350980/intels-latest-nuc-costs-232...

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#167

Post by once-in-a-while » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:16 PM UTC

(this is nothing nice to say, but here I am, the one without "karma" -- whatever this means to you, to me it simply means: "sold" -- so, I will tell you some naked Truth):

As of today, the guy heading Apple(R) is a man(?!) who has the courage to publicly state:

"Homosexuality is maybe the biggest gift God gave me".

If this is what majority thinks on this Planet, I want to leave for a better place already...

(Yes, I know, many of you cowards can't agree publicly, but at least, do it in your heart! Thank you.)

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#168

Post by flycaliguy » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:16 PM UTC

fowlerpower wrote: post #157

Someone here needs to explain it to me because I just don't understand. We have the largest computer company in the world, a shit load of people work there, supposedly smart people. Yet they can't put together a refresh of many of their desktop machines. Why the fuck not? What do all those people getting paid all that money do all day? I can only imagine the conversations, "it takes years it has to be super innovativ…

I think they are folding their desktop and laptop stuff into the IOS stuff, planning on a singularity in the next couple years.

The iPhone will be able to carry their business over the hill of user discontent in the meantime.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#169

Post by jakobegger » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:17 PM UTC

Can someone here explain why Apple seems to be the only company that builds small stuff with an integrated power supply?

What's the point in making something small, when you need a huge power brick to power it?

It's a shame that Apple's stuff is outdated, but it's just so much nicer when you look at the details.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#170

Post by benologist » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:18 PM UTC

tacostakohashi wrote: post #163

fowlerpower wrote: post #157

Someone here needs to explain it to me because I just don't understand. We have the largest computer company in the world, a shit load of people work there, supposedly smart people. Yet they can't put together a refresh of many of their desktop machines. Why the fuck not? What do all those people getting paid all that money do all day? I can only imagine the conversations, "it takes years it has to be super innovativ…

I guess they've painted themselves into a bit of a corner with the way they do their pricing, and product announcements with a lot of hype. If they were to do the kind of update you suggest, there would be a lot of bad press stating the obvious ("It's just the same as before, but faster and more RAM. No new alloys or anything!"), and it would drive down prices for inventory of the old model.

Apple has stated they think the iPad Pro is the next computer for everyone. I would bet Apple is quite far along making tools for the iPad Pro that let you create apps for the iPad Pro and iPhone. They released a first foray into this kind of tool last year with their Swift Playgrounds, a language they designed to replace old things, using all-new APIs like Metal. The computers we like all stem from what we call Apple's history and legacy!