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True developers used MacBooks? I was talking to a washed-up developer today who swears by them actually. Every single reason was totally bogus. It went somethi

by SamUK96 10y ago

True developers used MacBooks? I was talking to a washed-up developer today who swears by them actually. Every single reason was totally bogus. It went something like this: Reason 1) "They come with native SSH capabilities" Me) "Uh, you can just get Putty for windows. It takes 20 seconds." Reason 2) "MacOS uses the PC's hardware more efficiently" Me) "Uh, it's because it's a very basic OS and has much less the deal with, i.e less threads to micromanage, so it's not really 'efficiency'. Also, Apple products have very poor hardware specs for the price, so the performance ends up the same if not worse than an equivalent windows machine, even when factoring in poorer hardware utilization efficiency." Reason 3) "B-but, Photoshop and video-editing software runs better on MacOS." Me) "No. It doesn't. It really doesn't. What the hell" Honestly, there is no getting through to them.

wyager 10y ago
> True developers used MacBooks? Yes, three out of four tech companies I've been employed at and many more I've visited have been mac shops. Your made-up justifications don't even touch on the real reasons people prefer macs a lot of the time; it's UNIX, it's easy to use, and the hardware is high-quality. I think this might just be bait, but I do hear comments like this all the time off HN, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
- SamUK96 10y ago
  >the hardware is high-quality. On the outside, maybe? The internal components of Apple products are notoriously planned and built for obsolescence and failure to keep you trendy folk giving them money, line after line (and then charge you to fix the failures!) >it's UNIX People would use Linux if the platform had the money to bribe software makers to support them. That's a "forced-reason", and not a positive design point of Apple itself. >made-up justifications Call everything you don't agree with "made-up"? But seriously though, the reasons that devs use macs are mostly forced/non-reasons: a) Earn a tonne of money and terrible value is not a problem for them b) Need it since the thing they are developing needs to be tested on macs c) Need UNIX and software that supports running on it. d) etc. After a while, you realise most of the reasons why any developer ever buys Apple starts with "need", which, hopefully, you should understand is a statement to the marketing, underhand, and monopolistic tactics of Apple (forcing you to "need" their products, rather than want them)
sidlls 10y ago
I thought the same thing. The only place I've ever seen "developers" use Mac products is when they must for technical reasons (e.g. targeting Mac OS specifically), or in the Valley where it's trendy. It's not even that suitable for the fashionable toy webapp development that seems to reign here in the Bay. I've seen the homebrew or ports hoops the 'webdev' crew at the company I work for have to jump through just to get a basic development environment running. It's silly. I fire up my linux-guest VM or else use my company-provided MacBook as little more than a terminal to remotely access our development servers to write my code (which isn't web or mobile application code). Outside of the Bay, webdev shops, or targeting Apple OSes specifically, if I seriously suggested using Apple products for development I'd expect to be laughed out of the room. And rightfully so, in my opinion. They're fine computers for the consumer market, better than linux or any other alternative for that purpose (in my opinion) but as development platforms they're...wanting.
deleted 10y ago
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by SamUK96 10y ago

wyager 10y ago

> True developers used MacBooks? Yes, three out of four tech companies I've been employed at and many more I've visited have been mac shops. Your made-up justifications don't even touch on the real reasons people prefer macs a lot of the time; it's UNIX, it's easy to use, and the hardware is high-quality. I think this might just be bait, but I do hear comments like this all the time off HN, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

SamUK96 10y ago
>the hardware is high-quality. On the outside, maybe? The internal components of Apple products are notoriously planned and built for obsolescence and failure to keep you trendy folk giving them money, line after line (and then charge you to fix the failures!) >it's UNIX People would use Linux if the platform had the money to bribe software makers to support them. That's a "forced-reason", and not a positive design point of Apple itself. >made-up justifications Call everything you don't agree with "made-up"? But seriously though, the reasons that devs use macs are mostly forced/non-reasons: a) Earn a tonne of money and terrible value is not a problem for them b) Need it since the thing they are developing needs to be tested on macs c) Need UNIX and software that supports running on it. d) etc. After a while, you realise most of the reasons why any developer ever buys Apple starts with "need", which, hopefully, you should understand is a statement to the marketing, underhand, and monopolistic tactics of Apple (forcing you to "need" their products, rather than want them)

sidlls 10y ago

I thought the same thing. The only place I've ever seen "developers" use Mac products is when they must for technical reasons (e.g. targeting Mac OS specifically), or in the Valley where it's trendy. It's not even that suitable for the fashionable toy webapp development that seems to reign here in the Bay. I've seen the homebrew or ports hoops the 'webdev' crew at the company I work for have to jump through just to get a basic development environment running. It's silly. I fire up my linux-guest VM or else use my company-provided MacBook as little more than a terminal to remotely access our development servers to write my code (which isn't web or mobile application code). Outside of the Bay, webdev shops, or targeting Apple OSes specifically, if I seriously suggested using Apple products for development I'd expect to be laughed out of the room. And rightfully so, in my opinion. They're fine computers for the consumer market, better than linux or any other alternative for that purpose (in my opinion) but as development platforms they're...wanting.

deleted 10y ago

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