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Something that really bothers me about the sentiment expressed in this article is that computer manufacturers are looking to fit people's specific use cases. I

Something that really bothers me about the sentiment expressed in this article is that computer manufacturers are looking to fit people's specific use cases. I see it all the time, especially on tech sites, where people want to complain that Apple (or whatever tech company is being questioned) has abandoned them because of X, Y, or Z since they no longer offer some kind of functionality that was useful to a person. People seem to have this idea that Apple needs to continue to offer certain features because they did offer them in the past and people created workflows around those features. In reality, Apple is going to keep the features that people buy their products for. Just look at the number of people in these comments complaining that Apple axed the 17" MBP. While I agree that there may be a use case and a segment of the population that could make use of a 17" laptop, they obviously didn't sell enough of them to make it worthwhile. The response to this is usually "well, they just lost me as a customer completely now" as if that's supposed to sway Apple into saying "You're right! We should keep building and sourcing components for a computer that less and less people are using". I'm sure Apple loses some money and some customers from the lack of a 17" laptop, but that obviously doesn't outweigh the number of people that are willing to switch to another one of their computers. Vote with your wallets. Look at what the computers can do and buy them if they work for you. If not, go somewhere else and buy a competing product. If enough people do that, companies like Apple will notice. If not enough people do it, then you're in a small demographic that it doesn't make sense to cater for. Yes, they may lose a long time "loyalist", but it doesn't really make sense for people to be loyal to a specific product. You can be loyal to a company that continues to make products that you find value in, but to base your livelihood and your loyalty on a product seems misguided.

linguae 10y ago
The problem for some Mac users is that there is nothing else that compares to the status quo ante, when Apple used to make Macs that fit our needs. Us Mac users looking to upgrade are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We either have to choose between Mac OS X (and use underpowered and/or non-upgradeable hardware since that's all Apple sells these days) or good hardware (and use operating systems that we feel are inferior to Mac OS X in terms of quality and usability). That's why we're venting right now; our platform is gone and the alternatives are all less than ideal. Maybe an alternative will materialize in the next few years or maybe we'll all learn to cope with Windows and the Linux desktop, but until then, we're in the mourning phase right now.
- dkonofalski 10y ago
  This is the part that I don't understand, though. If you were using a Mac before for your work, then how is a newer, faster Mac unable to do the job? I get that you may be annoyed that you have to buy dongles and adapters or that being able to upgrade was a big thing for you, but Apple has not swept the rug out from under you and made your previous tools obsolete nor have they prevented their new hardware from doing the job your old hardware did. And I'm not complaining about the venting or annoyance that you're describing, I'm talking about the hyperbole like "being in mourning" and crap like "Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists". They didn't alienate anyone, they did research and looked into how people use computers and a small subsection of the population uses them slightly differently. You can still do what you need to do with their computers. You're not alienated at all. You just don't like that their computers don't fit your use case 100% and that's a completely different thing.
  - linguae 10y ago
    Many Mac users, including myself, feel that the new MacBook Pro is inferior to the MacBook Pro it replaced. And for Mac desktop users, the situation is the Mac Mini hasn't been upgraded in two years, and the Mac Pro hasn't been upgraded in three years. And, once again, the current Mac Mini is a downgrade from its predecessor (and some may even argue that about the current Mac Pro over its tower predecessor). Sure, we can keep chugging on with our old hardware, but eventually our hardware will fail, and our options will either be to replace it with overpriced, deliberately crippled hardware if we want to stay in the OS X ecosystem or to switch away from OS X and deal with the inconveniences of Windows and/or desktop Linux. We can work with and deal with either option; heck I could get my work done with an old Pentium II laptop running Windows ME if I had to, but it's just not the same and is worse than what we had before. That's what we're lamenting.
    - dkonofalski 10y ago
      How is the hardware deliberately crippled, though? You keep saying things like that as if they're objective facts. The new Macbooks can run exactly the same software and hardware as the old ones. The only difference is that you may need an adapter unless you have newer devices that can use USB-C. There's no way you could say that any of these are a downgrade from their predecessors when they have faster processors, more storage space, and better displays than any of the old machines. Again, you're bemoaning something that is entirely your decision. You expect the one of the biggest computer manufacturers in the world to cater to your specific workflow rather than verifying that your workflow is adaptable and extensible. That seems backwards to me and your lament seems completely misplaced.

linguae 10y ago

The problem for some Mac users is that there is nothing else that compares to the status quo ante, when Apple used to make Macs that fit our needs. Us Mac users looking to upgrade are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We either have to choose between Mac OS X (and use underpowered and/or non-upgradeable hardware since that's all Apple sells these days) or good hardware (and use operating systems that we feel are inferior to Mac OS X in terms of quality and usability). That's why we're venting right now; our platform is gone and the alternatives are all less than ideal. Maybe an alternative will materialize in the next few years or maybe we'll all learn to cope with Windows and the Linux desktop, but until then, we're in the mourning phase right now.

dkonofalski 10y ago
This is the part that I don't understand, though. If you were using a Mac before for your work, then how is a newer, faster Mac unable to do the job? I get that you may be annoyed that you have to buy dongles and adapters or that being able to upgrade was a big thing for you, but Apple has not swept the rug out from under you and made your previous tools obsolete nor have they prevented their new hardware from doing the job your old hardware did. And I'm not complaining about the venting or annoyance that you're describing, I'm talking about the hyperbole like "being in mourning" and crap like "Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists". They didn't alienate anyone, they did research and looked into how people use computers and a small subsection of the population uses them slightly differently. You can still do what you need to do with their computers. You're not alienated at all. You just don't like that their computers don't fit your use case 100% and that's a completely different thing.
- linguae 10y ago
  Many Mac users, including myself, feel that the new MacBook Pro is inferior to the MacBook Pro it replaced. And for Mac desktop users, the situation is the Mac Mini hasn't been upgraded in two years, and the Mac Pro hasn't been upgraded in three years. And, once again, the current Mac Mini is a downgrade from its predecessor (and some may even argue that about the current Mac Pro over its tower predecessor). Sure, we can keep chugging on with our old hardware, but eventually our hardware will fail, and our options will either be to replace it with overpriced, deliberately crippled hardware if we want to stay in the OS X ecosystem or to switch away from OS X and deal with the inconveniences of Windows and/or desktop Linux. We can work with and deal with either option; heck I could get my work done with an old Pentium II laptop running Windows ME if I had to, but it's just not the same and is worse than what we had before. That's what we're lamenting.
  - dkonofalski 10y ago
    How is the hardware deliberately crippled, though? You keep saying things like that as if they're objective facts. The new Macbooks can run exactly the same software and hardware as the old ones. The only difference is that you may need an adapter unless you have newer devices that can use USB-C. There's no way you could say that any of these are a downgrade from their predecessors when they have faster processors, more storage space, and better displays than any of the old machines. Again, you're bemoaning something that is entirely your decision. You expect the one of the biggest computer manufacturers in the world to cater to your specific workflow rather than verifying that your workflow is adaptable and extensible. That seems backwards to me and your lament seems completely misplaced.