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Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

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Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#211

Post by logfromblammo »

whitegrape wrote: post #111
zepto wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You clearly didn't watch the keynote, since a significant part of it was about unprecedented programs to reuse and recycle their hardware.

The phrase "reduce reuse recycle" is actually a pyramid of effectiveness. The best thing is to reduce your consumption entirely, which in this case translates to not producing or buying new hardware you don't need.

I split "reuse" into "repair" and "repurpose", so that I can put "repair" before "reduce".

I think a product designed to be repairable indefinitely is less wasteful than one that has half as much mass but needs to be completely recycled whenever any critical part fails.

I would dearly love to have a standard laptop form factor, even if means cases would be 5cm thick when closed and 2kg without its innards. If there were a laptop case standard, it would be a whole lot easier to manage repair parts and 3rd party upgrades.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#212

Post by Overtonwindow »

I agree with this piece. I have long been upset at Apple's forced obsolesce policy, and creating the notion that devices are disposable. I still have a Macbook from 2009, and another from 2012, that I am doing everything in my power to upgrade and avoid the forced slow down. Likewise with my iPad and phone. I resist the persistent upgrade requests to the OS. Not because I am blase about security issues, or not wanting bugs to be fixed, but because those fixes and upgrades come with a cost: premature, forced obsolescence.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#213

Post by agentgt »

logfromblammo wrote: post #208
agentgt wrote: post #162

I interpreted it as "it's sad that those Window users having been using just Windows for 5 or more years and not Mac". IMO He's catering to the audience of Apple enthusiasts (who are the ones that watch Apple events generally) and not making fun of poor people. Its sort of analogous to when Jobs said: "It's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell" -- about iTunes on Windows computers Oh so Jobs thinks Wi…

Methinks Jobs had an overly high opinion of iTunes. Giving iTunes to a Windows user is more like giving a massive, ugly, wooden horse to a Trojan, and it is so incredibly unwieldy that the lintel has to be removed from the city gate to even get it inside. Then a bunch of bearded maniacs come out of it and kill everybody. I can't even tell you how many times I have been murdered in my sleep by iTunes. Okay, well, yes…

Yes I agree. Even on my Mac I have seen it take more memory than Spotify and Spotify these days is basically running a Chrome instance.

I use VLC for most quicktime/itunes things these days.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#214

Post by wlesieutre »

Narishma wrote: post #201
wlesieutre wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget the 1366x768 screen! They were selling those as standard on 15.6" laptops with the good old "It's a good screen because it has more inches" line. Only in the last year or two has anything better than that become remotely common.

"Were"? As far as I'm aware that's still the case for the vast majority of cheap mainstream laptops all the way up to 17" ones.

I really thought this had gotten better with all the high DPI convertibles and Windows + 3rd party software finally being pretty reliable with it. But you're right, Best Buy's most popular 15" laptop today is this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-celeron-4...

Specs claim '15.6" display, HD resolution.' with no actual screen resolution listed.

Digging around on Asus's website I see it's available with 1080p, but I'm guessing the 1336x768 base model is the common one. Since 720p is technically "HD", they can claim that in advertising and then dodge around admitting how crappy it is. If BestBuy's product listing were for the 1080p version, they'd be advertising as either 1080p or Full HD.

https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/X540SA/specifications/

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#215

Post by devcamcar »

stuxnet79 wrote: post #93
npatrick04 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I built my desktop from scratch (for the first time) in 2005, added a couple components from other computers as they died, and still use it with no issues. I've thought about upgrading components in it, but since they haven't died yet, and it still works just fine, there's just not much of a point.

Built a monster PC late last year and I see it lasting me a long time as well. I don't want to play the game of always jumping on the latest and greatest. Your pockets will always get emptied out and I've discovered accumulating material possessions and keeping up with the Joneses doesn't give me the endorphin rush like it used to. Thanks for this comment.

I did this back in 2009 and dropped a wad of cash on a Mac Pro tower. Thing is a frickin' champ. Upgraded it to 12GB of RAM and a nice SSD for the OS drive and never looked back. Turns out 4 Nehalem cores at 2.66GHz will last you quite a while if you don't do video editing work or play the latest games at full resolution.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#216

Post by dpweb »

Tactic wrote: post #147
dpweb wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just bought a like-new PC on ebay for $200. It's not about being poor because anyone who says they can't scrape up $200 if they had to, is lying to you. It's the shocking fact that (especially if cash strapped) you can live your life, without constantly buying more and newer things. Of course Apple's stance is, you must buy our new products every year. But I can get on Facebook and email and whatever else on my $200…

As someone that has lived on the street I can tell you that you are wrong about the $200. Don't read your life into others.

There are people that extremely poor yes. They need help and society should help them. But they wouldn't be in the market for a new computer. My point is the cost of computing is about as low as it can be expected to get.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#217

Post by livus »

lewisl9029 wrote: post #209
livus wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I concur with you on not wanting forced upgrades and manufactured obsolescence. But I have found rentalware (specifically Adobe Creative Cloud as I use it) to be a somewhat positive experience. Adobe pushes out updates frequently enough where you see positive increment in productivity without it being an annoying update. Plus it has bought the price within affordable range for people like me who can afford the softwa…

> The only subscription I do not see any benefit in, as a individual developer, is Microsoft Office 365. That's more aimed at business's whose full life depends on the software. If the Office 365 subscription (for businesses) only included the Office suite, then I'd agree with you, but it also includes hosted email (for your own domain) and 1TB of OneDrive storage. To put that in perspective, Google Apps is a compara…

Point well noted.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#218

Post by kamaal »

mrbill wrote: post #130

I said this in the other thread.. I just bought a "new to me" laptop. Refurb Thinkpad T420s from 2011. I added 16G RAM, two Intel SSDs, an Ultrabay battery, and an 802.12ac wifi card. Grand total: less than $325. This will be my primary portable for at least 2-3 years, and it's already four years old. Just because I can afford Apple doesn't mean I can justify the 2x price premium, or that "old" hardware isn't capable…

May I ask from where you bought it and how did you upgrade it. Looks like a very interested configuration.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#219

Post by ant6n »

Shog9 wrote: post #171
majewsky wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like an Android phone with the update availablity of iOS. Nexus is the closest contender, but they still stop supporting devices after about 1,5 - 2 years.

I have a G3 like the GP... Unlocked, with latest nightly (Marshmallow) builds of Cyanogenmod. Pretty painless. You can argue that Google and the OEMs should be making these upgrades easier and more widely available... And they should... But at least 3rd-parties filling in is an option in many cases. You can shop around to find the combination of hardware and software support that you want. The problem with getting lo…

How did you get that phone unlocked? How did you install Marshmallow? How did you install Cyanogenmod? How did you even find out about all this?

Seems kinda painful.

Re: Dear Apple, there’s nothing ‘really sad’ about using a 5-year-old PC

#220

Post by hellbanner »

FireBeyond wrote: post #150
hellbanner wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$200? That's a lot of money for many people.

As opposed to what? It's still less than half the price of a usable iPad (I know the Mini 2 is $270, but let's not pretend they're comparable), let alone Mac.

As opposed to someone working a minimum wage job & trying to eat decently, for example.
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