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Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

naughtycomputer.uk

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Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#111

Post by pdimitar »

flocial wrote: post #107
pdimitar wrote: post #98

I'll allow myself some generalization here. I know several very smart and creative hardware technicians and system administrators. I admire them. I truly do. They are more independently thinking than most other programmers I know, are much more resistant to trends and fashion in technology, and rarely complain about the tech they must use. Throw Python, Perl, PHP, bash and what not at them, they can and will curse bu…

Perhaps that level of obsession is what makes them good at their jobs. You can't really fault people for wanting greater control over the tech they own. Repairability of hardware and true control over what we can install on our phones might not seem important in the name of convenience but I'm grateful for these people fighting the good fight and drawing attention to these issues.

Well, I agree with everything you said. :) I know the obsession helps them.

It's just that the tone of his dissent is in my eyes kicking him out of any serious discussion.

Outside of that I'm with you.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#112

Post by yaseer »

bhj wrote: post #77
gcp123 wrote: post #64

I’ll happily pay the “apple tax” so I can live my life and not have to deal with all the bullshit you did just to listen to some music. Good lord. I’d rather experience the world then mess around with the tech that’s supposed to be helping me live better.

It’s amusing to still hear “Apple tax” in 2018, as if there is no additional value in better hardware, software and support for many people’s use cases.

If anything, the 'Apple tax' is greater in 2018 than it has ever been.

I say this as having owned 3 Macs for the last 10 years. 4-8 years ago, the gap between Apple and the rest was so stark, it seemed paying for a premium Apple product was a no-brainer.

Even Linus got a Macbook air because the hardware was such a leap ahead.

Not only has the gap closed, Apple have been left behind, with inferior build quality in key areas (keyboards). This has coincided with raising prices further.

The 'Apple tax' is now a real phenomenon, not just the price of premium.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#113

Post by shaan7 »

pdimitar wrote: post #80
slx26 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or smart and annoyed

Smart and biased . Drinking the Apple hate juice in particular. I envy the people who have the free time to tinker but what they keep forgetting, time and time again, is that they are the minority. Many people have happy family lives and prefer to spend most of their leisure time with people -- or non-tech hobbies. I do enough programming already, thank you. (EDIT to add: and not everybody is in perfect health shape…

+1 on "hate doesn't work". Just adding a perspective that you might be missing. The stuff that OP described doesn't really feel like "work" to him. To him its the exact thing you described - it helps him recharge - so that he can go back to "work" the next day :)

[P.S. "I do enough programming already, thank you." doesn't help as well. To get an idea of how sad it is to read, imagine if someone tells an artist "I do enough painting already, thank you.". People love to do different things, and that is okay.]

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#114

Post by mrob »

bhj wrote: post #77
gcp123 wrote: post #64

I’ll happily pay the “apple tax” so I can live my life and not have to deal with all the bullshit you did just to listen to some music. Good lord. I’d rather experience the world then mess around with the tech that’s supposed to be helping me live better.

It’s amusing to still hear “Apple tax” in 2018, as if there is no additional value in better hardware, software and support for many people’s use cases.

The tax isn't just the higher price, it's the loss of useful features like the headphone jack, the SD card slot, and USB OTG.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#115

Post by notacoward »

deogeo wrote: post #82
notacoward wrote: post #29

Interesting point buried in here: since Android is open source, you could go in and fix the bug, but then because you're not running an official Android version you'd lose access to the Play Store and other services. Something's not really free if there's a penalty for doing it. Since freedom to run a modified version of software yourself is one of the four freedoms of free software, this highlights the difference be…

> I'm not saying open source is bad and everyone should prefer free software. Why not?

Because that debate tends to get very contentious. It's an important debate to have, but I've already been in it many times and watched it even more so I'm not particularly in the mood to go through it this morning.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#116

Post by [deleted] »

pdimitar wrote: post #76
gear54rus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you really just call apples products interoperable? maybe among their other crap, but sure as hell not among other devices. Which are all interoperable among themselves btw.

And yet every time I go to a presentation or a lecture people ask to borrow my MacBook for it because their Windows or Linux laptops can never even connect to their projectors or Bluetooth speakers on the first try. Often they cannot at all connect. Yet the MacBook connects to everything on the first go with zero fuss. So yeah, I am calling part of Apple's functions and devices interoperable. Why aren't you? These ar…

[deleted]

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#117

Post by bartread »

bhj wrote: post #77
gcp123 wrote: post #64

I’ll happily pay the “apple tax” so I can live my life and not have to deal with all the bullshit you did just to listen to some music. Good lord. I’d rather experience the world then mess around with the tech that’s supposed to be helping me live better.

It’s amusing to still hear “Apple tax” in 2018, as if there is no additional value in better hardware, software and support for many people’s use cases.

I know. The choice of Apple vs. Android is a trade-off, as is the choice of Apple vs. Microsoft/Windows 10. It all depends on what's most important to you and what makes most sense.

For me, at the moment, in my personal life Apple makes more sense. I wish it made more sense at work because Windows 10 drives me nearly crazy, but it doesn't, so I stick with Microsoft's offering for now.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#119

Post by dahart »

ikeboy wrote: post #46
notacoward wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently Play Store is unaffected, but some other apps - banking, streaming, even Pokemon Go - will break. And your warranty (including hardware) is voided. So I stand corrected, and thank you, but I don't think the correction affects the main point.

Those apps are making a conscious decision to exclude phones/roms not certified by Google. That's their choice. Generally hardware warranty will remain if it's purely a hardware issue - you can always flash back anyway. Android is free software in the sense that you can make and distribute modified versions. If app vendors choose to discriminate against those versions that doesn't make it unfree any more than softwar…

> Those apps are making a conscious decision to exclude phones/roms not certified by Google. That's their choice.

Isn’t the entire point of Google’s certification process to encourage app vendors to make that choice?

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#120

Post by pdimitar »

shaan7 wrote: post #109
pdimitar wrote: post #98

I'll allow myself some generalization here. I know several very smart and creative hardware technicians and system administrators. I admire them. I truly do. They are more independently thinking than most other programmers I know, are much more resistant to trends and fashion in technology, and rarely complain about the tech they must use. Throw Python, Perl, PHP, bash and what not at them, they can and will curse bu…

Hate doesn't work, I'll give you that. I'm hopeful that OP takes your feedback :) But you're very mistaken about the "disregard for convenience". Almost every human strives for convenience, even the folks you are talking about, they spend a lot of time writing automation scripts to make their work convenient. Just like you advice, please be open-minded to the idea that for some people convenience is just one checkbox…

> Just like you advice, please be open-minded to the idea that for some people convenience is just one checkbox on the list

Noted, agreed and upvoted. :)

From my experience with these folks, when I complained about the 1st gen Chromecast I had 3 or so years ago, one of them casually told me "Oh, just buy an RPi and install KODI on it, also make sure your TV and HDMI cable support HDMI-CEC. You should be sorted pretty quickly, probably three or four hours".

I had to laugh bitterly when he said that! Back then I was much less healthy compared to now, was constantly exhausted, was struggling with debts and crappy jobs, was trying to heal from a failed and ended marriage -- and in general I had a ton on my plate basically 24/7.

And along comes this guy and casually tells you that you might spend a half working day on a project for home streaming -- and he told it to me while full-well knowing my situation. It was pretty inconsiderate in my eyes.

---

It's not even only about putting convenience at the top of your priorities. Sometimes you're just tired. Or have kids constantly demanding attention. Or are trying to heal from stress and burn out (like I am trying now). There are a plethora of VALID reasons why you wouldn't embark on such DIY projects.

And to me, these people easily and off-handedly dismiss them. Which I view as inconsiderate and disrespectful. They are judging things from their own life (which is easier than mine, at least regarding the people I know) and don't give the benefit of the doubt.

But I concende that I might be projecting based on my several such negative experiences. I am not stereotyping all hardware technicians and sysadmins. I also concede that I don't give benefit of the doubt every time. :)

It's just that when things repeat themselves several times, we the humans -- at least I -- tend to try and draw a conclusion.

I admit I could be wrong. Your perspective was appreciated!

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