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What Pro Computing Could Be

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Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#21

Post by moftz »

kluck wrote: post #18
beojan wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.)

I smashed my Nexus 6P's screen and have been using a friend's old iPhone 4s in the meantime as my old Androids were either damaged or totally dead beyond recharging. Disregarding the sluggishness of the phone (it is 5 years old...), there are so many things that even a stock android rom will allow me to customize that iOS doesn't even think about.

I just cracked open my old Droid Razr to jumpstart the battery so I could get back to android until my replacement 6P comes.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#22

Post by Freak_NL »

sliken wrote: post #13
jonathankoren wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 m…

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

Don't forget cleaning! Until we get to the point where all components are passively cooled in a sealed container, cleaning a laptop's CPU fan is simply one of those maintenance tasks that will keep a laptop running quiet and cool for years.

And yeah, getting a a bit of extra RAM or the next generation of fast hard disk is a great and cheap way to give a performance boost to an ageing laptop.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#23

Post by inimino »

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 think it's unfortunate you're being downvoted, but here's the thing: you go to the Apple store, buy a laptop, bring it home and plug it in and it works beautifully from day one. That's Apple's value proposition. (Subtract "beautifully" for Microsoft's.)

Your plan means I'm signing up for a period of pain of unknown duration. It could be four hours or two weeks. And for the next three years I might have a laptop that doesn't sleep properly when I close the lid, or that can't talk to the printer at the office but there's a forum thread somewhere where somebody thinks they solved it.

One of the characteristics of any "pro" market is that these are people who simply aren't going to waste their time messing around with something when there's an alternative that just works and lets them go back to doing whatever it is they do that earns money.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#24

Post by m_t »

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.

On the two MBP that are currently in my home, I have:

  * Changed the RAM (on both)
  * Changed the battery (both)
  * Switched a HDD to a SSD
  * Replaced the touchpad that died
  * Had to do some work on the screen that is slowly dying out
I'm quite happy to do that on computers that are between 6 and 9 years old, it means I can get the most out of them, without paying for a new one each time I need just a little bit more.

I would be completely unable to do that with a newer MBP.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#25

Post by kluck »

moftz wrote: post #20
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, bu…

If updates in Arch frequently "destroy" some features, you could do this: have two partitions, each with Arch on it and bootable from the boot manager. The first is minimal (rescue system) and the second is the one you use. Then before you make an update, boot into the rescue Arch, backup the second Arch partition's data, try the update and see how it goes ;)

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#26

Post by dingaling »

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…

"Pros don’t quit because their tools are suboptimal."

Indeed they don't quit. Quite the opposite, pros dump sub-optimal tools ASAP and buy something decent to finish the job. The productivity of a tool that meets requirements hugely outweighs any additional cost.

In the UK Draper brand hand-tools were well regarded until the 2000s, when they started applying their brand to cheaply-manufactured tools from China. Word of insufficient quality and durability spread amongst 'pro' users who quickly stopped buying them.

Draper later tried to reintroduce a 'Draper Pro' line with higher quality but the brand was irrepariably tainted. Now they're mainly found in the hands of occasional DIYers who remember the brand name.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#27

Post by kluck »

inimino wrote: post #23
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 think it's unfortunate you're being downvoted, but here's the thing: you go to the Apple store, buy a laptop, bring it home and plug it in and it works beautifully from day one. That's Apple's value proposition. (Subtract "beautifully" for Microsoft's.) Your plan means I'm signing up for a period of pain of unknown duration. It could be four hours or two weeks. And for the next three years I might have a laptop tha…

You bring up an interesting point: There are different kind of Pro's. For IT professionals my suggestion is valid in my opinion, but for all other professionals, like audio engineers or graphic designers, not so much. I understand that most professionals really see their pc as a tool that needs to work from day one. But as a professional knowing about the internals of such tool, I really see Apple's (and Microsoft's) computers so very differently.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#28

Post by allenbrunson »

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…

> I also agree that the pro market is ripe for disruption (again).

I kind of hope so.

I am not happy with Apple's latest moves with their Mac lineup. I have been using my current Macbook Pro for six years. I expected to buy one of the newly-announced Macs, but they really aren't speaking my language anymore. So I ordered a refurb Macbook Pro from 2015. It's still not what I would prefer, because the battery is glued in, the RAM can't be upgraded, not the latest processor, etc. But at least it still has USB-A ports, magsafe, and a physical touch pad. I guess now I've bought myself another six years' worth of time to see if Apple comes up with something that is more to my liking.

If someone were to introduce an entirely new and exciting platform, with ways to make money in its ecosystem for a programmer like me, I would strongly consider it. I've done it before. Way back in 1999, I abandoned Windows and switched to BeOS. I worked for Be, Inc. for almost a year, before they went out of business.

Even though it didn't go so well last time, I would make the jump to a new platform, a second time, in a heartbeat.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#29

Post by Accacin »

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.

Oh come on that's completely false. Building your own computer now is easier than it's ever been and can be a lot more cost efficient than buying something pre-built.

Not everyone wants to build there own of course, but saying it's expensive, confusing and not fun isn't really true.

Re: What Pro Computing Could Be

#30

Post by Accacin »

moftz wrote: post #20
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, bu…

Running Arch for years, and an update has never broken my system. It requires more maintenance, sure, but Arch is incredibly stable generally.
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