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Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

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Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#61
post #40

> Don’t be duped by performance, Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control Yes. That's the biggest benefit, and another reason I'm buying it (on top of great performance for my NLE apps). I want the Mac to be it's own platform, and be under Apple's control and vision. If it's also made foul-proof and air-tight, so much the better. I don't want another lowest common denominator OS converging on the same point.…

Can you leave these beautiful Japanese Gardens once you decided to enter or are you getting jailed there? Because you can't just leave Apples ecosystem unless willing to switch devices+ecosystem of course.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#62
post #56
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problems with this are more societal ones than technical or practical: It is impossible, for example, to install most popular apps for macOS without identifying yourself to Apple (and by extension the US government and military intelligence). You can't use the App Store (even for free apps) without an Apple ID, and you can't get an Apple ID without a phone number. (In many countries, you can't get a phone number…

> The problems with this are more societal ones than technical or practical: It is impossible, for example, to install most popular apps for macOS without identifying yourself to Apple (and by extension the US government and military intelligence). For those kind of problems, I agree. But I think they should be solved in the political and legal level, not some technical fix. If you can't trust the government, if the…

> If you can't trust the government, if the government wants increasingly more data, the government should be curbed by protests, voting, and so on. The apps not talking to the vendor is just a band-aid.

And what if you can't discuss protests or protest organization on any of the apps you are allowed to install on your device, as Apple has made the case already in Hong Kong?

This all starts with the tools. Without tools, we cannot even begin to effect change: to organize protests, to communicate with other organizers without surveillance and interference (Poitras can probably testify to this), to reach potential voters.

In Apple's jurisdiction, there are essentially zero options on the ballot for candidates that wish to roll back US state/military surveillance. Voting is not a useful or practical tool in this fight.

Private communications tools (as well as arms) must remain out of the instantaneous reach of the state. Once those are compromised, there will be no way to effect practical change or resistance.

If Signal's iOS publishing certificate were revoked tomorrow and Apple temporarily stopped signing self-builds, we'd be there right now with iOS phones.

We've already lost this freedom on mobile. We need to fight to preserve it on desktop/laptop.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#63
post #22

> However, that marginal improvement hardly seems worth upsetting the entire Mac OS developer and consumer software ecosystem. Really? This entire article is really dismissive, but this line especially struck me. I'm not convinced the M1 chip is some strange alien tech bypassing the laws of physics, but it seems clearly superior at its specific niche (single processes with an emphasis on low power usage, using fewer…

The author clearly and obviously has no clue about M1. Calling its performance a "marginal improvement" is laughable. The entire article reads as a desperate attempt to distract people from the obvious advantages of the M1.

I'd be desperate too if I were trying to pretend Android is a serious competitor performance-wise when the CPUs are 18-24 months behind and the gap is still widening.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#64

> At some point in the not too distant future, old x86 applications will cease to run on Macs, as emulation support won’t run forever One thing I can credit Android some, and Windows a lot (even 10 with all its manifold privacy and user-hostility problems) with is that they are backwards compatible. exceptions to every rule, etc., but I can run all old versions of Android apps on an Android 11 phone, same for Windows…

There is a cost to that though, the reality is Windows has become rather bloated because MS can't let anything go. It doesn't help that they have never been able to say no to anything and everything getting included.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#65
post #56
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problems with this are more societal ones than technical or practical: It is impossible, for example, to install most popular apps for macOS without identifying yourself to Apple (and by extension the US government and military intelligence). You can't use the App Store (even for free apps) without an Apple ID, and you can't get an Apple ID without a phone number. (In many countries, you can't get a phone number…

> The problems with this are more societal ones than technical or practical: It is impossible, for example, to install most popular apps for macOS without identifying yourself to Apple (and by extension the US government and military intelligence). For those kind of problems, I agree. But I think they should be solved in the political and legal level, not some technical fix. If you can't trust the government, if the…

> the government should be curbed by protests, voting, and so on. The apps not talking to the vendor is just a band-aid

This is a big false dichotomy.

It's difficult to find an aspect of modern society that is not influenced by a complex combination of social, ethical and legal norms plus science, technology, economy, education and so on.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#66
post #40

> Don’t be duped by performance, Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control Yes. That's the biggest benefit, and another reason I'm buying it (on top of great performance for my NLE apps). I want the Mac to be it's own platform, and be under Apple's control and vision. If it's also made foul-proof and air-tight, so much the better. I don't want another lowest common denominator OS converging on the same point.…

The Ben Franklin quote that

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

seems particularly apt, here.

Rhetorically: how much do you care about privacy as an issue? Because this is the trade you're making, and you should do it with your eyes open.

I personally don't think the trade-off is worth it, but I also really really hope I'm wrong.

My biggest cause for concern is the long history of the USG collaborating with megacorporations to control people. It's super scary as we reach the point with technology where every person can be identified fully, and is essentially "always on". You can argue that you can unplug, but the cost of that option is so high when society is dependent on it that it rapidly becomes impractical.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#67
post #18

I also think the marketing was genius. NOT labeling that graph they showed did exactly what they wanted. It was impressing the non tech people and the tech people ALL kept talking and talking about it - because it wasn't labeled. Apple's marketing is brilliant. It really gets the kind of people who think they are too smart to be marketed to AND the normies, all in one message.

I was wondering why Gamer Nexus (a very rigorous YouTube review channel) didn't sent a M1 device, while those Apple fanboy channels got it. Probably the dude would've torn the M1 performance claims apart.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#68
The truth is somewhere in the middle, so while this article has some good points it is too colored by a strong dislike for all things Apple and borderline conspiratorial thinking.

I don’t think there is anything that suggests Apple is going to stop people from installing Apps outside their App Store. Rather it is about making sure it is easy for regular users to get Apps in a safe manner without malware and Trojan horses.

This isn’t just hype. We know for a fact that this is a much smaller problem on iOS than Android. I am happy that Android exists as a choice for users but let us not pretend there are no trade offs.

It is a bit too conspiratorial to think Apple control is all about some dictatorship fetish. It is a choice Apple makes to improve user experience at the expense of flexibility.

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#69
If nVidia/ARM manages to put out a chip that competes with Intel (doesn't even have to be as fast as the M1) and have Windows on-board, it's probably over for Intel

(Of course, unless they engage in some unfair competition, but I think the price difference will be so big it won't matter)

Re: Apple’s M1 silicon is all about platform control

#70
post #3

It will be interesting to see how long Rosetta-2 will be supported. macOS 10.15 took away 32bit apps, which was a sizeable chunk so clearly Apple is willing to alienate some of its users in the name of progress and slimlining.

A quick look at previous transitions shows... Classic Mac OS support (both 68k and PPC): OS X 10.0 was released March 2001, dropped with 10.5 released October 2007. So about 6 years, 8 months. PowerPC Mac OS X app support: First Intel Mac January 2006, support dropped with 10.7 in July 2011, so 5 years 5 months. 32 bit iOS app support: iPhone 5S with 64 bit CPU released October 2013, 32 bit app support removed in iOS…

Keep in mind that there is a much larger installed base of Intel machines than any of those other transitions. Apple is unlikely to want to alienate so many people. It will take several years for the percentage of Intel Mac users to fall under 50%.

I see Intel support continuing for closer to 10 years.

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