Rent a Mac in the cloud for development • Hacker News Board

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#51

Post by droz » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 2:52 PM UTC

roadnottaken wrote: post #15

What kind of Mac developer wouldn't just get a mac?

I've never owned a mac before, never really had the inclination, but have been curious about developing on the platform.

This is the perfect kind of solution (albeit poor pricing plan) that would allow me to give things a try before I commit to buying the hardware.

I see this kind of service targeted at folks like myself who are interested in making the leap and obviously not for people who might consider themselves Mac Developers (tm).

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#52

Post by Wilya » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 2:54 PM UTC

delinka wrote: post #48

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wire cutters cost a couple bucks. A decent Mac you could use for development is a bit more expensive.

The cost is not relevant to my point. If you want to start a courier service in a fairly large area, motorized vehicles are a bit more expensive than a Mac. Can't afford the tools? Find another line of work.

I don't see how the fact that I don't want to pay for a specific set of tools (a mac machine) prevents me from being interested in alternative tools.

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#53

Post by sdafssd » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 2:54 PM UTC

Should offer a boot CD iso that works in recent x86 devices with as many NICs and wireless adapters as possible, and support all inputs on almost all x86 PCs, and most display adapters, then I might use it as a virtual Hackintosh on my underpowered x100e netbook.

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#54

Post by davux » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 2:58 PM UTC

estel wrote: post #46

de90 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how I feel too. I saw the title, and I thought: "Wow, I could really use this". Looked at the pricing, and was too confused to continue any further..

The pricing isn't just confusing, but (unless I'm misunderstanding it...) also plain stupid. For example, as a monthly plan it's $30/month for anytime access up to 5 hours a day; but also $30/month for evening access up to 3 hours a day!? Who is the later plan targeted at, exactly?

It says "Total Login Hour Options (Limited Time Discount!)" for the anytime access--so it seems that it normally costs more.

Still a pretty complex pricing model, wonder what they're doing on the backend to swap sessions around.

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#55

Post by mjschultz » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 2:59 PM UTC

pieter wrote: post #27

Interesting idea, but the pricing is just much too complex. By having to choose between monthly/weekly, morning/day/evening and then number of hours there are perhaps 50 different plans available? I'm just too confused to make a choice.

Indeed, my first thought on seeing all the options was: how could I game this?

For example, if I live on the east coast (UTC-5) and select the lowest-cost option (3 hours of use from 1am until 9am for $20), but claim my timezone is the Alaska (UTC-9) I believe I could actually use the service from 5am until 1pm in the east coast.

I don't know if that's how it would actually work, but it certainly is confusing.

That said, if you look at the academic pricing plans the presentation is much clearer and easier to understand.

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#56

Post by The_Fox » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 3:06 PM UTC

delinka wrote: post #48

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wire cutters cost a couple bucks. A decent Mac you could use for development is a bit more expensive.

The cost is not relevant to my point. If you want to start a courier service in a fairly large area, motorized vehicles are a bit more expensive than a Mac. Can't afford the tools? Find another line of work.

The cost certainly is relevant. You can lease or rent a cube van. You can't rent $10 tools.

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#57

Post by ilaksh » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 3:10 PM UTC

This is the least expensive service of its kind, and yeah there are a few too many options for times, but it is a great idea to limit it to X hours and provide a cheaper monthly rate. The closest competitor is much, much more expensive. I don't have the money to buy a decent Mac, and I really need to set my new web software system up to run on OSX.

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#58

Post by mjs00 » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 3:10 PM UTC

I have an overseas developer (with a mac), but that wants to test xcode/ios simulator and have the location services work in the US as it does for a US-based developer. Are the servers in the US, or is this configured such that the ios simulator thinks its in the US (and if so, what location?)

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#59

Post by civilian » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 3:10 PM UTC

The pay system should be "pay as you go". Obviously, the daytime hours are going to be more expensive, and they can easily chart it out. Kind of like how toll bridges scale their cost based on traffic: http://wstc.wa.gov/highwaytolling/SR520Bridge.htm

Re: Rent a Mac in the cloud for development

#60

Post by nandemo » Thu, Oct 27, 2011, 3:11 PM UTC

delinka wrote: post #19

Roritharr wrote: post #2

How would one deploy a iOS app using this service? It seems interesting since i don't own a Mac and am interested in iOS Development, but don't want to fork out the cash for a mac mini or something similar.

"I'd like to become an electrician, but don't want to fork out the money to buy wire cutters or something similar." Yes, the analogy falls apart because you don't run proprietary software on wire-cutters. I understand that you might want to "try before you buy" with Mac and iOS dev, but I'm speaking to a slightly different issue. If you want to do a job, you either acquire the tools to do the job (wire cutters/a Mac)…

That analogy is utter nonsense.

With a Linux or Windows desktop equipped with a good toolbox we can cross-compile to a wide range of architectures. That this range doesn't currently include the iPhone is completely accidental; it's merely a consequence of a business decision by Apple (and it might even be a good business decision for all I know). It doesn't tell us anything about the adequacy of a Linux/Windows desktop as a tool.