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What Pro Computing Could Be

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Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#11

Post by chrisdew »

enqk wrote: post #5
matt4077 wrote: post #2

"In conversation over two years ago, we converged on an assumption: Apple and Microsoft will taper off their investments in pro hardware and software" If it took you two years to get that far, you may want to find some less stressful topics to ponder. Also, please enlighten me: what exactly is Microsoft's previous investment in "pro hardware"? And what "pro software" has Microsoft been investing in in the past that t…

There was once a time where you had a workstation running a professional OS you could trust not to mess with your data and privacy. I think we lost something there.

Yes, we lost something as soon as applications could start doing things without explicit instruction from the machine's owner.

Limited technology (pre-HDD) accidentally gave us privacy (data on disconnected floppy disks) and security (OSs on ROMs).

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#12

Post by beojan »

kluck wrote: post #10

Here is an easy alternative to a MacBook Pro (easy for a professional anyway): Buy a standard Laptop with matte display. Install Arch Linux (learn one thing or another on the way). Use Gnome 3 (maybe install some software from Pantheon as well, like the file manager pantheon-files). Get work done.

I would agree, except substitute Plasma for Gnome 3.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#13

Post by sliken »

jonathankoren wrote: post #9
vomitcuddle wrote: post #6

The "pros" aren't simply pissed off at the latest MBP. We're pissed off at the continuing trend over the last 5 years of Apple products becoming more difficult or nearly impossible to disassemble, upgrade and repair. We're tired of form over function. Sales targets over user experience.

I haven't had a need to open a computer in like 16 years. Well that's not entirely true. I one time upgraded the HDD on my old MacBook Pro maybe 6 years ago. There just isn't a need to do this stuff anymore. Even making your own computer anymore in expensive, confusing, and generally not fun anymore.

For every phone where I could replace the battery, I did. I talked to friends with the same phones, and they often did as well. Comments along the lines of "Wow, battery life as good as new, I'll keep it for another 6 months".

Similar for laptops. Replacing batteries, upgrading ram, and upgrading storage are very common.

You really think that if you blow $2 or $3k on a new laptop that somewhere during it's life you might not want a larger SSD or more than 16GB ram?

Sure it might have made it a mm or two thicker, definitely a price I'd pay for something that's easier to fix (or have fixed) or upgrade.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#14

Post by pavelludiq »

My list of essentials for a pro computer at this point would be:

* Robustness

* Upgradeability

* longevity

* reasonable performance

Having the latest and greatest isn't essential, since I've had my current pair of thinkpad and custom build desktop for a few years now and after a some upgrades(new SSDs, maybe a new GPU and extra RAM for the desktop, etc.) I expect to use them for a few more, maybe even until 2020, if nothing blows out. They perform reasonably well for my needs and are very versatile machines. Right now I can replace the HDD, upgrade the M2 SSD, put a new screen on my laptop and replace the battery myself. That is worth a lot to me and I'm willing to pay more for a machine that isn't a sealed monolith, that is the biggest anti-feature for me. I grew up back when you could just open up your PC case and swap components out and I'm absolutely unwilling to give that up. I don't really want to buy a new laptop every two years, if I do now it will be because I want one, not because I need one.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#15

Post by marmaduke »

Pro computing could also mean moving to a more open hardware platform; consider Talos workstation with a Power8 CPU instead of x86

https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-s...

I've had a chance to test some Power8 systems, and they perform very well. Given the choice, I'd take one over a Xeon system, for intensive professional work.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#16

Post by dognotdog »

> What’s more, we lack the innovative institutions that previously provided cover for the future to take shape: PARC, Bell Labs, et. al.

We may not have as large corporate sponsored basic research, but we do have the Internet. We should be able to leverage that advantage to some effect :)

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#17

Post by moftz »

jwr wrote: post #4

> Pros don’t quit because their tools are suboptimal. That’s practically the definition of “professional” – a pro gets the damn thing done. A pro user might gripe about the new MacBook Pro, but the next time she needs a new machine, she’s going to buy one anyway because that’s the path of least resistance and she needs to get back to work. This sums up perfectly my thoughts about Apple hardware right now. I am annoye…

There are plenty of MacBook Pro alternatives that have identical hardware but have a wider range of ports:

Microsoft Surface Book

Razor Stealth

Dell XPS 13

Unless you are sticking with the macOS ecosystem for old time's sake, it's trivial to switch to a Windows workflow.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#18

Post by kluck »

beojan wrote: post #12
kluck wrote: post #10

Here is an easy alternative to a MacBook Pro (easy for a professional anyway): Buy a standard Laptop with matte display. Install Arch Linux (learn one thing or another on the way). Use Gnome 3 (maybe install some software from Pantheon as well, like the file manager pantheon-files). Get work done.

I would agree, except substitute Plasma for Gnome 3.

Sure, that is just a matter of taste. But no matter which window manager you choose, running Linux, you are actually released from the Apple prison (technical and mental prison).

(Speaking as a current user of an old MacBook Pro which is my first and last Apple product. Also I had an iPad but sold it long ago.)

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#19

Post by pantalaimon »

moftz wrote: post #17
jwr wrote: post #4

> Pros don’t quit because their tools are suboptimal. That’s practically the definition of “professional” – a pro gets the damn thing done. A pro user might gripe about the new MacBook Pro, but the next time she needs a new machine, she’s going to buy one anyway because that’s the path of least resistance and she needs to get back to work. This sums up perfectly my thoughts about Apple hardware right now. I am annoye…

There are plenty of MacBook Pro alternatives that have identical hardware but have a wider range of ports: Microsoft Surface Book Razor Stealth Dell XPS 13 Unless you are sticking with the macOS ecosystem for old time's sake, it's trivial to switch to a Windows workflow.

> Unless you are sticking with the macOS ecosystem for old time's sake, it's trivial to switch to a Windows workflow.

Or Linux for that matter.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#20

Post by moftz »

kluck wrote: post #10

Here is an easy alternative to a MacBook Pro (easy for a professional anyway): Buy a standard Laptop with matte display. Install Arch Linux (learn one thing or another on the way). Use Gnome 3 (maybe install some software from Pantheon as well, like the file manager pantheon-files). Get work done.

As much as I love running Arch on my school laptop, I'd never run it on a laptop I would use for making money. I'd probably be using something like Fedora, a stable distro that doesn't break whenever I update en masse. I usually don't have too many huge bombs go off in my face but the most recent round of updates I applied totally killed my sound and some NetworkManager features. Annoying, not totally disasterous, but I've had some killer bugs in the past that have made me waste time on fixing issues when I should have been studying.

If I'm getting paid, I'm not spending the time on fixing all the small issues that pop up with Arch. I love it otherwise. Sometimes it's fun to blow a few hours on a weekend fixing some random bug that has only ever happened to you. Sometime's its not fun and just really inconvenient. I always keep a backup Windows partition just in case something bad happens and I really need to use a computer for a bit or if I just need to run some random Window's only app.

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