Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

theregister.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 369 posts

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#311

Post by themacguffinman »

bigiain wrote: post #153
giancarlostoro wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man. I thought you were joking, then I read the article. Yeah, I will never spend so much on an iPad. It's not even the same OS. I don't know why anyone would think an ebike compares to a Land Cruiser.

I dunno why anybody thinks a computer with a 10 core CPU, 10 core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a TB or two of storage is "an e-bike". None of the machines I do the work that pays my salary exceed those specs. Apart from the 16GB of RAM none of my work machines meet any of the other specs. If Apple would let me plug a couple of HDMI screens and a keyboard and mouse into a iPad, and let me run macOS (or even Linux) on it, it'd…

> I dunno why anybody thinks a computer with a 10 core CPU, 10 core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a TB or two of storage is "an e-bike".

Because it's marketed as an e-bike, shaped like an e-bike, and sold in the e-bike section of the store. If Apple put that e-bike engine into a land cruiser, then you could drive it like a land cruiser, but that seems like a weird expectation to have after you bought it.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#312

Post by ForHackernews »

NoPicklez wrote: post #116
ForHackernews wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they're not designed to work that way. It would be more accurate to say that they are designed not to work that way. In modern times, every limited-purpose internet-connected gadget is actually a general-purpose computer that has been deliberately crippled. The reason you can't run arbitrary software on "your" iPad is because they have locked it down so Apple owns the hardware, not you.

I think we need to look at this in terms of what was the stock product originally designed to do, as opposed to with unlimited skills and expertise what COULD I do with this general purpose computer that most others wouldn't be doing. A Macbook is a laptop, an iPad is a touch screen tablet. It doesn't matter how much I COULD rip it apart and reshape it, they were originally intended to be used differently. Buying one…

The form factor is irrelevant: an iPad, a macbook, a tivo, a smart fridge, a raspberry Pi - they're all Turing-complete systems that can (in principle) execute any arbitrary code that can be compiled for that architecture.

It has nothing to do with ripping out engines or tearing anything apart. If Apple didn't deliberately prevent you from installing unsigned software or operating systems, you'd be able to do that.

A much better analogy would be the engine governor installed by manufacturers to prevent a car from going as fast as the hardware otherwise could.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#313

Post by ForHackernews »

throwaway290 wrote: post #290
ForHackernews wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they're not designed to work that way. It would be more accurate to say that they are designed not to work that way. In modern times, every limited-purpose internet-connected gadget is actually a general-purpose computer that has been deliberately crippled. The reason you can't run arbitrary software on "your" iPad is because they have locked it down so Apple owns the hardware, not you.

> In modern times, every limited-purpose internet-connected gadget is actually a general-purpose computer that has been deliberately crippled. The reason you can't run arbitrary software on "your" iPad is because they have locked it down so Apple owns the hardware, not you. So you also blame Microsoft or Samsung for not letting you do this on an xbox or some fridge with a screen?:)

Yes, of course. I try to avoid buying nerfed toys. I'm mildly concerned that general-purpose computers able to run unsigned code will disappear from the marketplace in the next 15-20 years.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#314

Post by dangus »

armada651 wrote: post #160
dangus wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The concept of "admin" is not a black and white concept, it's a spectrum. Every iPad user is an "admin" of their device. Apple isn't stopping you from "administering" it. There are limitations to the device but every device has limitations somewhere. On that spectrum, the iPad is a much less limited device from a software and hardware standpoint than a lot of other devices, such as game consoles, point of sale termin…

> For example, an inexperienced end user should not be able to freely reprogram the firmware on a robotics system used for surgery. A system like that is very intentionally shipped with guardrails that prevent the owner of the device from making dangerous modifications. Comparing an iPad to a device that controls matters of life or death is almost as ridiculous as pretending these "guardrails" exist to serve the user…

Can you not pretend that my argument had zero nuance?

I specifically mentioned in my reply that Apple should be forced by consumer regulations to remove guardrails like disallowing competing app stores, and they should be forced to have more interoperability with competing standards and products (e.g., iMessage/FaceTime should be an open protocol where other vendors could make compatible communication apps).

But they shouldn't be forced to allow you to gain full root or dump the secure enclave's private keys.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#315

Post by scarface_74 »

ForHackernews wrote: post #309
scarface_74 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the option of paying for every subscription service I use on my iPad without paying Apple a dime - ChatGPT, Google drive, Office 365, every streaming service, Kindle books etc

Can you even use an iPad without an Apple cloud account? Can you install anything on it?

What’s wrong with using thier “cloud account”? The issue I was addressing is that subscription based services and software can be paid outside of the App Store and a lot of them don’t have an option to pay through the App Store like Netflix and Spotify.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#316

Post by burnished »

mullingitover wrote: post #104

"My decade-old and very well-travelled Toyota Land Cruiser finally died, and I hoped my new-ish ebike could replace it." How that article sounds. I don't care how fancy they make them, iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work.

How do you figure? The compute is serious, it is using a real CPU.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#317

Post by [deleted] »

walterbell wrote: post #256
basisword wrote: post #247

This was all over the place. The article itself seemingly bares no relation to the headline. Replacing your laptop with a tablet and then complaining that the tablet cannot do the same things as the laptop was a slightly interesting take in 2010. The iPad has now been around for 15 years. A tech journalist being surprised it doesn't have a terminal with root access at this point is baffling.

Google Pixel tablet now has a Debian Linux terminal VM that is isolated from the host Android OS. Apple iPad had VM capability three years ago, but removed it. They could restore that functionality in 2025 to compete with Pixel tablet, which has weaker hardware.

[deleted]

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#318

Post by drdaeman »

matwood wrote: post #164
drdaeman wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that the post is essentially a complaint about deceptive marketing. iPads are marketed as capable of "doing all the things you love", how it's "so versatile it's up to any task" and so on - leading to perception that it's like a computer, except in a different form factor. While, in reality, of course it's not. Personally, I never found any subjectively meaningful use case for iPads except for por…

Apple is marketing to everyone and not just the HN crowd. For many people their phone is their only computing device and for them an iPad is likely a big upgrade. When I have to proof photos or do a bunch of office type work, an iPad has become my goto device. When I'm programming, not so much. But I don't think that's a big secret to this crowd.

I agree overall, but I don't think it's a secret to anyone, except, possibly, for people new to iPads, who haven't researched about what it really is.

YMMV, but I don't find this situation funny or deserving a sarcastic remark. What happened is that a person had seen an ad for a device with very good hardware specs that they cannot use because it doesn't work for them software- and policy-wise, and they're unhappy about it. I can understand if that person would make fun of their unhappiness (a perfectly valid way to handle the discomfort), but I wouldn't make fun of them as a bystander.

I think it's perfectly natural and expected to voice discontent if you saw an ad but the product wasn't a good fit for you and ad failed to disclose it (for obvious reasons, but still creating a conflict of interest). Especially because Apple is marketing to everyone, including software developers.

Re: Apple has locked me in the same cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

#320

Post by fsflover »

dangus wrote: post #310
fsflover wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure it's a great daily driver for someone who wants to do almost nothing on their phone. It has a full desktop Firefox with all addons, for one. Can your phone do that? See also: https://forums.puri.sm/t/nine-months-librem-5-as-my-only-pho... , https://forums.puri.sm/t/a-l5-review-1-week-to-my-ready-to-s... > no 5G modem What exactly do you get out of 5G? Watching 4k videos live?

I have found that keeping up with the modem capabilities of the average person's phone has been historically important for getting good signal strength and service in general. I don't know if this is a resolved problem with 5G LTE and/or how backwards compatible 5G is with 4G (can they share spectrum? I honestly don't know, and perhaps it all depends on the particular carrier and how they allocate their deployments),…

So for you convenience is more important than supporting alternatives to the duopoly. I can understand that for sure, however keep in mind that duopoly is dangerous to the free market and its users in the long term. (See this: https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/26/ursula-franklin/). I do suffer from the lack of some features.
Post reply on HN