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Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

geohot.github.io

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Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#261

Post by forty »

maccard wrote: post #259
forty wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is precisely that you don't care, and as a result laptop makers have no incentive to making long lasting repairable laptop and our planet will look like a giant electric waste (not counting the problem will producing the required minerals etc). If they were required to make things long lasting and repairable, they would put the effort into designing things this way, and you'll probably have laptops as perfe…

You're getting all up in arms about a strawman argument that you feel very strongly about. I' > as a result laptop makers have no incentive to making long lasting repairable laptop and our planet will look like a giant electric waste (not counting the problem will producing the required minerals etc). And yet pretty much every windows machine on the market right now has user replacable RAM, storage and batteries. My…

I don't have concrete number to give you but I have a feeling that the trend is to have more soldered ram (at least that was my impression last time I shopped for a laptop). I think things like batteries and disk replacement is something that buyers cares (cared?) a bit more about than repairability and as a result, makers delivered.

My laptop from 2007 with an old core 2 duo cpu can boot a web browser fine. Some websites with "modern" web tech might not work well (ie it's slow), but I don't think the CPU is the issue here :)

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#262

Post by adalacelove »

mrpippy wrote: post #62
adalacelove wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You cannot uninstall Apple Music. That alone is alienating.

IMO, the benefits of an immutable OS install outweigh being able to uninstall/remove particular apps.

Apple makes excellent hardware (laptop, phone, mini...) to the point I'm willing to pay more for it, but I would prefer a lot to customize my SW. And so I avoid their hardware.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#263

Post by Zak »

jedbrooke wrote: post #43

> Consumer electronics naming is very simple. Make a good product with a simple name. “iPhone”, “comma”, “Z Fold”. Then every year or two, add one to the number of that product. If it’s a small refresh, you can add a letter after the number. “2 3 3X 4” “4 4s 5 5s 6 …” “2 3 4 5 6 7” Why is this so hard for companies like HP? Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the la…

It's really hard to come up with a product name as good as "iPhone". Simple does not mean easy.

Unless they're writing a phone review, nobody ever says things like "I took a picture with my Galaxy", or "I edited the video on my Pixel", but substitute "iPhone" and they sound normal.

It also hasn't become generic. Nobody calls another brand of phone an "iPhone" unless they actually mistook it for one.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#264

Post by philistine »

RunSet wrote: post #60
philistine wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You cannot uninstall Music.app indeed. There is one toggle that hides all of Apple Music. It completely hides it, to the point that a link online to the service will error out.

That setting was removed[0]. [0] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253315335?sortBy=rank

I assure you that toggle is still present to remove Apple Music in the latest version of macOS. It's unchecked on my Mac as I type this.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#265

Post by MarsIronPI »

SoftTalker wrote: post #73
spankibalt wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "I've never been happy with a trackpad: they feel too imprecise" Same for me, Apple included; trackpads are just a huge waste of space to me. Have to say that my hand-eye coordination is way above that of the average computer user, and my workflows involving complementary HIDs always focused on trackballs, digtizer pens, as well as gamepads/game controllers for other, non-game related stuff. I also don't get why pe…

Also don't like trackpads. I even use a ThinkPad keyboard on my desktop. The little rubber nub between G and H is just the ideal control for the pointer. And real buttons for clicking.

Heh, I use a trackball at the desk. It's nice because I can "fling" the ball to move my mouse fast across a large screen. But I can still move the mouse precisely by making small adjustments with my thumb. All this without moving my hand across the desk.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#266

Post by MarsIronPI »

spankibalt wrote: post #130
MrGreenTea wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what you mean by "outdated form factors". Are you saying that the laptop is an outdated form factor? What "market realities" are you noticing? Really interested in your viewpoint and would be grateful for some clarification.

> "Are you saying that the laptop is an outdated form factor?" Yes, that's the gist of it. Classic laptops gave way to an acceptable interstage, the T-hinge convertible (with many great examples especially from IBM/Lenovo, HP, and Fujitsu), which was then superseded by the best of both worlds: the detachable. The latter chassis design, taken to its logical conclusion, is the best form factor for a modular, ultramobil…

If you're looking at tablets, you might be interested in devices supported by PostmarketOS[0]. You might not find one that you like and that's well-supported but it's worth a look IMO.

[0]: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#267

Post by MarsIronPI »

Lio wrote: post #132
spankibalt wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "I've never been happy with a trackpad: they feel too imprecise" Same for me, Apple included; trackpads are just a huge waste of space to me. Have to say that my hand-eye coordination is way above that of the average computer user, and my workflows involving complementary HIDs always focused on trackballs, digtizer pens, as well as gamepads/game controllers for other, non-game related stuff. I also don't get why pe…

I don’t know what you mean by “market realities”. If the market wanted convertible laptops it would be willing to pay more for them. For me it’s because my workflow is keyboard driven and I fined touchscreens annoying. On the laptops I’ve had I generally disable touchscreen because I have no use for it and it gets in the way. I want a good screen, a decent keyboard and a good trackpad. That’s it.

I see the appeal in having a device that's "just a screen" for e.g. reading, but my preferred reading device size is smaller than my preferred laptop size. So I have two separate devices: my X230 and my Pixel C. IMO each one is suited to its own task and I use both of them equally often.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#268

Post by jockm »

jonatron wrote: post #119
jockm wrote: post #38

I mostly think of when geohot wanted to make his own RISC-V core and cranked out some basic verilog. It was incomplete and barely commented, and never touched again. I suspect we are going to get a few blog posts of analysis and then he moves on to something else

I think you missed the last paragraph.

Not really, I should have acknowledged it, to be sure. I am just saying a lot of people put a lot of faith into geohot's musings/side projects/whathaveyou, that doesn't pay off.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#269

Post by dredmorbius »

Zak wrote: post #263
jedbrooke wrote: post #43

> Consumer electronics naming is very simple. Make a good product with a simple name. “iPhone”, “comma”, “Z Fold”. Then every year or two, add one to the number of that product. If it’s a small refresh, you can add a letter after the number. “2 3 3X 4” “4 4s 5 5s 6 …” “2 3 4 5 6 7” Why is this so hard for companies like HP? Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the la…

It's really hard to come up with a product name as good as "iPhone". Simple does not mean easy. Unless they're writing a phone review, nobody ever says things like "I took a picture with my Galaxy", or "I edited the video on my Pixel", but substitute "iPhone" and they sound normal. It also hasn't become generic. Nobody calls another brand of phone an "iPhone" unless they actually mistook it for one.

I guess we should give Cisco credit where due:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_(internet_appliance)>

https://www.cultofmac.com/apple-history/cisco-infogear-iphon...>

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#270

Post by morshu9001 »

JodieBenitez wrote: post #168
vladvasiliu wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple sells an external trackpad. But AFAIK it requires the computer to have Bluetooth. Not sure how well it works with a non-apple os, though.

I suspect it does not work well outside Apple world. And that's kind of the thing with "I want Apple hardware but with Linux software": Software is actually important in the user experience with the hardware.

Maybe, but also Apple trackpads are physically better
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