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The New Apple Advantage

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Re: The New Apple Advantage

#141

Post by dlss »

cma wrote: post #133
dlss wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could make a 100x profit on my time doing it, you bet. To put more forcefully: if I needed to maintain one of those room sized refrigerators, and could save $10,000 for a couple hours of messing with a compressor the decision is a no brainer. I agree that mortals can't/won't do this -- doesn't mean the HN crowd is being intelligent when they say what the guy I replied to was saying :p EDIT: Downvoters, please ex…

Someone with high computing requirements shouldn't be using an ultra light notebook; get a desktop or get an amazon ec2 instance for a few pennies.

That's just it: with a vertex 3 and a maxed out CPU the x220 doesn't perform like a thin and light -- I'm getting the same IO performance as a vertex 3 in a desktop, and although I could get a CPU boost with a desktop processor I'd have to give up on having all my work with me at all times / at conferences.

The EC2 option has always interested me, but short of EBS RAID its IO actually isn't better than a vertex 3 -- they're crazy fast; if you haven't tried them I highly recommend you do :)

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#142

Post by old-gregg »

Steko wrote: post #74
jellicle wrote: post #53

What I grasp from this is that John Gruber and Peter Bright are just too dim to understand basic online stores. This qualifies for mockery from Gruber/Bright: > "Everyday Computing" But this is good understandable product description: > "The ultimate everyday notebook" (that second one is Apple's marketing copy for the Macbook Air). The low-end Macbook Air is $999 in Canada. Let's compare. I just priced a Lenovo X220…

"The two laptops weigh almost exactly the same" Rofl no. "and are the same thickness at the thickest point" If by the same you mean the Mac Book Air is half the thickness of the Lenovo then yes. [edit]It's really hard to take your comment as anything more then a troll when you call other people dim but make basic factual errors like this.[/edit] This is where "configure your own Macbook Air" arguments always end up:…

"Ugly as shit"?

I think Lenovo machines in their matte black rubberized cases look gorgeous.

It's all about what you've been pre-conditioned to like. I will not buy a laptop with a glass-covered glossy screen. That screen would be useless to me. Also I will not own a laptop without a layout like this: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/thinkp...

It's called attention to detail and immaculate ergonomics: you have a fully operational mouse without moving your fingers away from the FJ position. I can't imagine working on a laptop without it. Why bother suffering?

I understand that people like sparkly and shiny things. I understand clever marketing, sleek design and the adrenaline of being part of the crowd. Fine, have fun - it's very much like rooting for a football team.

But seeing Mac users trying to "cross swords" in a feature/function battle is simply ridiculous. Try this on your notebook: write a sentence, go and change the 3rd word in it. Time yourself. Divide that by 5 (to get my time) multiply the difference by 1923 (that's how much we do this while coding), add a few minutes on top to compensate for missed "Esc" and "Enter" hits and then throw your arms up, scream in pain and anger, and be enlightened. Free of charge, I do this for charity.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#143

Post by wanorris »

jseliger wrote: post #71
ugh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, you really wanna claim that Apple has an equally confusing product lineup compared to other manufactures? That’s a quite daring claim (and also some impressive misleading quoting you are doing there). Apple doesn’t ask you to decide based on non-sensical marketing blabber like that. They use it, sure, but it isn’t central in the decision process of the buyer. Go to their store and check out how they do it: http:/…

So, you really wanna claim that Apple has an equally confusing product lineup compared to other manufactures? That’s a quite daring claim (and also some impressive misleading quoting you are doing there). Apple doesn’t ask you to decide based on non-sensical marketing blabber like that. They use it, sure, but it isn’t central in the decision process of the buyer. One other point: all three Macs I've owned were ready…

I now recommend to anyone I know that's nontechnical that they buy their new laptops at the Microsoft Store (we have one nearby). All the computers they sell are crapware free, and even come preloaded with the free, near-invisible MSE instead of the awful antivirus trialware most other Windows computers are afflicted with.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#144

Post by glenra »

jarek wrote: post #115
statictype wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The next flight out probably was more than a few hours later. "Why are you still here" could have easily meant " Why aren't you at home packing to leave as soon as you can?"

Flights from SFO to Hong Kong / Shenzen area sound difficult to come by...

Yep. Depending on the airline you might do direct SFO->Hong Kong or there'd be a stop in Tokyo (Narita) or some other inconvenient location. It was one or two flights a day, not every couple of hours.

Heck, I'll bet it's not a lot better now. let's take a look! Suppose I want to fly on United to Hong Kong next Friday. Kayak tells me that if I miss the one that leaves at 1pm (direct flight - total time 14 hours 5 minutes), the next one available leaves at 10:51pm and has an 8-hour layover in Chicago. Total time-in-transit on that option: 27 hours 19 minutes. ("This flight leaves on Friday and arrives on Sunday.") Oof.

Sure, there are other airlines, but booking at the last minute, most of the best route options are likely to be sold out.

(I spent about half of 1999 in short trips to Hong Kong helping "PocketMail" devices ship)

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#145

Post by dlss »

pbreit wrote: post #137
dlss wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could make a 100x profit on my time doing it, you bet. To put more forcefully: if I needed to maintain one of those room sized refrigerators, and could save $10,000 for a couple hours of messing with a compressor the decision is a no brainer. I agree that mortals can't/won't do this -- doesn't mean the HN crowd is being intelligent when they say what the guy I replied to was saying :p EDIT: Downvoters, please ex…

Because you are missing the point. The discussion is on basic marketing which implies to the general populace, not HNers who are comfortable re-installing their OS. And you preface with "How odd..." either unknowingly or just plain condescendingly describing 95% of the computer buying public. Then you fib that Macs are not ready for use out-of-the-box. Then you put forth the classic defense of exaggerating the value…

Thanks for the reply. It cleared up my misunderstanding -- I think HN readers don't do a good job thinking when it comes to Apple stories.

(for those curious here is the breakdown of why pbreit is wrong:

1. The guy I was replying to is by definition an HNer, and was talking about buying an air over a sony SB due to reinstall concerns. My "how odd" was in reply / directly to him.

2. Macs aren't ready to use out of the box. No computer is. You need to, at the very least, install all the apps you use and copy over your data. This takes considerable time. Did it come with Chrome? Did it come with Office? Did it come with (your editor of choice)? Did it come with Little Snitch? 1password? The caps-lock key switched to a control key? Inconsolata installed? No. And that's not a complete list by a long shot. Adding an hour long reinstall to this list isn't a big deal.

3. The x220 and Macbook air do have the same form factor from a functional perspective. They both are quite easy to keep with you at all times, hence both inhabiting the thin and light category used by most review sites. Yes the air is thinner, but it gives up being able to accept good hard drives to do so... making the x220 the smallest you can go and still get good performance.

4. I wasn't exaggerating the value of my work. I don't even think my numbers were above average for engineer pay...)

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#146

Post by snaky »

socratic wrote: post #57
jellicle wrote: post #53

What I grasp from this is that John Gruber and Peter Bright are just too dim to understand basic online stores. This qualifies for mockery from Gruber/Bright: > "Everyday Computing" But this is good understandable product description: > "The ultimate everyday notebook" (that second one is Apple's marketing copy for the Macbook Air). The low-end Macbook Air is $999 in Canada. Let's compare. I just priced a Lenovo X220…

I tried to make this point below in a more subtle way, but you take on the issue more directly. Gruber's arguments never make any sense. Historically, he changes his opinions more or less based on what Apple is currently doing. He adds little value, and it seems clear that he's making a lot of money as a pro-Apple cheerleader from his blog posts. (Which is fine, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't make him a good news…

On Hacker News -- a once great but now decrepit wasteland gathering point -- virtually every post by John Gruber, no matter how unnuanced, uninsightful, and predictable, makes it to the front page. It only needs to speak to that small minority who will predictably and in a concerted fashion vote it up. Any competitor (HN is long past gone. We live in a upside-down world where specialized subreddits on Reddit are insightful and interesting, while HN is populated with superficial talking points, movie references, and pun threads) would be a better site for individuals if they allowed a logged in user to flag stories for noninclusion in any personal vote counts. That if they see yet another empty Gruber post on the front page they could flag it and anyone who voted it up would be removed from any future counts and rankings as presented to them, either on comments or posts

http://blog.yafla.com/A_Curse_of_One_Thousand_Intellectual_V...

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#147

Post by stretchwithme »

The MacBook Air has that block of aluminum. Who else has that?

Yes, its stiffer and lighter, but it also makes it a more beautiful machine. And that's definitely worth something to me.

As is the fact that I can develop on unix.

And it comes with Apple Care.

And I'm able to back up over the air using Time Capsule.

All of these things make life easier and more flexible.

This "new" Apple advantage is just one of the many advantages Apple has been creating.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#148

Post by Steko »

old-gregg wrote: post #142
Steko wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The two laptops weigh almost exactly the same" Rofl no. "and are the same thickness at the thickest point" If by the same you mean the Mac Book Air is half the thickness of the Lenovo then yes. [edit]It's really hard to take your comment as anything more then a troll when you call other people dim but make basic factual errors like this.[/edit] This is where "configure your own Macbook Air" arguments always end up:…

"Ugly as shit"? I think Lenovo machines in their matte black rubberized cases look gorgeous. It's all about what you've been pre-conditioned to like. I will not buy a laptop with a glass-covered glossy screen. That screen would be useless to me. Also I will not own a laptop without a layout like this: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/thinkp... It's called attention to detail and immaculate ergono…

I've read upwards of 10 reviews of the x220 today and every single one of them apologized for the general appearance of the thing.

For the record I don't think the Lenovo is 'ugly as shit'. I used that phrase to drive home the disparity between the Macbook Air and any real world shipping product that people hold up as a price comparable alternative to the MBA.

The bottom line is they always take the bullshit route of comparing a much huskier machine. Why? Because the only machines that really compare in form factor can't compete on price (exactly the point of the linked articles!).

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#150

Post by joshwa »

socratic wrote: post #57
jellicle wrote: post #53

What I grasp from this is that John Gruber and Peter Bright are just too dim to understand basic online stores. This qualifies for mockery from Gruber/Bright: > "Everyday Computing" But this is good understandable product description: > "The ultimate everyday notebook" (that second one is Apple's marketing copy for the Macbook Air). The low-end Macbook Air is $999 in Canada. Let's compare. I just priced a Lenovo X220…

I tried to make this point below in a more subtle way, but you take on the issue more directly. Gruber's arguments never make any sense. Historically, he changes his opinions more or less based on what Apple is currently doing. He adds little value, and it seems clear that he's making a lot of money as a pro-Apple cheerleader from his blog posts. (Which is fine, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't make him a good news…

Take it to MetaTalk.

(oh how I wish HN had a Meta section)

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