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“This is not the computer for you”

samhenri.gold

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Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#211

Post by butILoveLife »

mr_briggs wrote: post #151

> A Chromebook’s ceiling is made of web browser, and the things you run into are not the edges of computing but the edges of a product category designed to save you from yourself. I'm in the same boat as the author; I cut my teeth on a hand-me-down 2005 eMac, then a hand-me-down 2008 Macbook, before finally getting my own 2011 iMac. I think this is overly harsh on Chromebooks given they belong to the cheaper end of t…

> The Macbook Neo is an awesome machine for it's cost/value

Uh... if you need to compile for iOS, sure.

But outside of that, no its not.

You are literally just paying the Apple tax that they deliberately choose.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#212

Post by tosti »

saagarjha wrote: post #168
mr_briggs wrote: post #151

> A Chromebook’s ceiling is made of web browser, and the things you run into are not the edges of computing but the edges of a product category designed to save you from yourself. I'm in the same boat as the author; I cut my teeth on a hand-me-down 2005 eMac, then a hand-me-down 2008 Macbook, before finally getting my own 2011 iMac. I think this is overly harsh on Chromebooks given they belong to the cheaper end of t…

When Chromebooks originally came out, that was not an option. And almost all school-issued computers will not let you do this.

It was possible on the Acer model I got when it first came out, but it was still useless. A switch that wiped the whole thing back to defaults was needed to open a terminal and from there a shell script could install Ubuntu. It still ran the unmodifiable chromeos kernel with no updates and without some of the modules I'd like. And then the screen died.

It was junk. The EeePC was cheaper, lasted much longer and had Debian out of the box.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#213

Post by butILoveLife »

amadeuspagel wrote: post #207

This article is a strange combination of defending the macbook neo from stupid attacks, and making similarly stupid attacks on the chromebook, with no self-awareness (unless there's some level of irony I'm missing here, which, come to think of it, might well be the case). Chromebooks have a linux VM where you can install anything, including GUI apps, and doing that is much more straightforward then installing somethi…

This is why I skip tech youtube videos with MacOS. The users have the reality distortion field.

I always wonder what the world would be like in a battle between Google and M$ rather than M$ and Apple. Obviously less advertisement, more focus on function and less form.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#215

Post by creshal »

RattlesnakeJake wrote: post #186
creshal wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And faking being sick so he could clap at Apple marketing events. He kinda lost me there.

He's looking back to a time when they were still special. When every keynote brought out a new, interesting product, feature, OS enhancement, etc. Back in the Steve Jobs era, it was still worth tuning in every year to see what was new.

Yeah, you'd find out about it all in the newspapers a few hours later, and none if it was "clap to yourself in an empty room" impressive anyway. I was around back then and I didn't feel the need to act like a drug addict whenever Steve Jobs opened his mouth.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#216

Post by eschatology »

butILoveLife wrote: post #210

[flagged]

Because new user, ostensibly bad faith, throwing short cliched statements with no clear intent to start a meaningful discussion.

Seemingly effortless comments yelling to the void not worth starting a conversation with. Not the kind of comments that belongs or are wanted in this platform.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#217

Post by hylaride »

butILoveLife wrote: post #211
mr_briggs wrote: post #151

> A Chromebook’s ceiling is made of web browser, and the things you run into are not the edges of computing but the edges of a product category designed to save you from yourself. I'm in the same boat as the author; I cut my teeth on a hand-me-down 2005 eMac, then a hand-me-down 2008 Macbook, before finally getting my own 2011 iMac. I think this is overly harsh on Chromebooks given they belong to the cheaper end of t…

> The Macbook Neo is an awesome machine for it's cost/value Uh... if you need to compile for iOS, sure. But outside of that, no its not. You are literally just paying the Apple tax that they deliberately choose.

Look, MacOS has certainly rotted over the past few years, but the primary reason I use it is because it's still a hundred times nicer to use than Windows (which is also regressing for worse reasons - shoving in AI and ads instead of benign neglect).

It's still the best desktop UNIX experience, especially since cheap PC laptops (and until very recently expensive ones) almost always have horrible build quality. It's also within only the last few years that PC trackpads came anywhere near the trackpads on Apple machines. Sometimes what you call a "tax" is literally some of us wanting quality.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#218

Post by torginus »

amadeuspagel wrote: post #207

This article is a strange combination of defending the macbook neo from stupid attacks, and making similarly stupid attacks on the chromebook, with no self-awareness (unless there's some level of irony I'm missing here, which, come to think of it, might well be the case). Chromebooks have a linux VM where you can install anything, including GUI apps, and doing that is much more straightforward then installing somethi…

I think this is entirely fair - this laptop imo could satisfy 90+% of Apple's userbase (including me, I used to do dev work on my M1 Air I bought out of curiosity) - it's a fully featured computer, that's incredibly well made, to the point that I don't think anything compares favorably in the Windows land at any price point. Likewise you'd have to go for the premium segment if you wanted to get a machine with similar single-thread perf (which is the perf that matters the most for most people)

It's not locked down in any way, this is a fully featured machine, unlike Chromebooks, which in my experience don't cost a cent less than equivalently specced Windows laptops. Due to this I never considered buying those.

I'm not even a Mac fan, I just think they make nice computers and their OS has the least amount of downsides atm.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#219

Post by zeta0134 »

saagarjha wrote: post #168
mr_briggs wrote: post #151

> A Chromebook’s ceiling is made of web browser, and the things you run into are not the edges of computing but the edges of a product category designed to save you from yourself. I'm in the same boat as the author; I cut my teeth on a hand-me-down 2005 eMac, then a hand-me-down 2008 Macbook, before finally getting my own 2011 iMac. I think this is overly harsh on Chromebooks given they belong to the cheaper end of t…

When Chromebooks originally came out, that was not an option. And almost all school-issued computers will not let you do this.

I've owned and used the CR-48 prototype Chromebook model, which very well did have a developer mode and a third kernel option built right in. Ran Ubuntu on it with no issues. This has been possible since before the device family was officially available for purchase.

The school thing is different, but also hardly unique. A school issued macbook is often similarly locked down and unusable as a dev machine, due to the student lacking permissions to install anything the school deems dangerous.

Re: “This is not the computer for you”

#220

Post by b3lvedere »

moregrist wrote: post #169

> He is going to download Blender because someone on Reddit said it was free, and then stare at the interface for forty-five minutes. This hits home. Not because I did it as a kid; I'm a bit old for that. But because I've done this exact thing two or three times. You stare and know, just know, that somewhere in this byzantine interface there is the raw power to do lots of cool 3D stuff. But damn. It's quite an interf…

I still love to revive old hardware and push it beyond it limits. Mostly because i think it's fun, but also because it's dirt cheap or free. Back then made an old GPS system play Monkey Island or mp3's or read E-books. Reinstalled lots of old Android phones and tablets. Made photo frames out of them. Made webcams out of them. Transformed old laptops into Chromebooks. Make lots of old NAS devices work again. Stuff like that.
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