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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 user

by 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
      Let's agree to disagree regarding the value proposition of today's Macs. I personally and strongly feel that soldering RAM and storage to the motherboard is crippling the machine, but you feel differently about it, and I'm not going to argue further. Honestly, the USB-C situation is the least of my problems with the MacBook Pro and Apple these days. It's the entire philosophy of Apple and their stewardship of the Mac since Steve Jobs passed away that I take strong issue with. The problem is there is absolutely no manufacturer on the planet who has a philosophy toward personal computing that is aligned with the pre-2012 Apple, before Apple started soldering RAM to their motherboards and before Apple started dramatically lengthening the frequency of updating their Macs. We had a great run of no-compromise personal computers from 2001-2013ish or so, and it's over, not because it got supplanted by superior technology, but because Apple can't make as much money off the 5-10% of power users rather than the masses. Maybe it's just a "c'est la vie" type of thing, but it's a shame that nobody seems to care about the personal computing needs of power users anymore.

by linguae 10y ago

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
    Let's agree to disagree regarding the value proposition of today's Macs. I personally and strongly feel that soldering RAM and storage to the motherboard is crippling the machine, but you feel differently about it, and I'm not going to argue further. Honestly, the USB-C situation is the least of my problems with the MacBook Pro and Apple these days. It's the entire philosophy of Apple and their stewardship of the Mac since Steve Jobs passed away that I take strong issue with. The problem is there is absolutely no manufacturer on the planet who has a philosophy toward personal computing that is aligned with the pre-2012 Apple, before Apple started soldering RAM to their motherboards and before Apple started dramatically lengthening the frequency of updating their Macs. We had a great run of no-compromise personal computers from 2001-2013ish or so, and it's over, not because it got supplanted by superior technology, but because Apple can't make as much money off the 5-10% of power users rather than the masses. Maybe it's just a "c'est la vie" type of thing, but it's a shame that nobody seems to care about the personal computing needs of power users anymore.