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Oh Apple, why are you doing this, taking freedom from your customers. I don‘t want to use Windows, neither do I want to tinker with Ubuntu. But if you keep goin

Oh Apple, why are you doing this, taking freedom from your customers. I don‘t want to use Windows, neither do I want to tinker with Ubuntu. But if you keep going that path, you are forcing your power users to think about migrating to platforms that respect users freedom to do whatever they want to do with their machines. After two years of using an otherwise beautiful iPad Pro (along with my MBP) I came to realize that a crippled machine that is very limited in how I use a computer is not the future of computing I like. The device collects dust for quite some time as I prefer a computing environment where I use the terminal a lot, where I use my bash and Python scripts a lot to automate, where I use Emacs a lot to write tech docs, do my project planning, writing, automating workflows, and many more things that are not doable on a crippled (iPad)OS. You keep going toward your vision of a computing platform where your customers are just consumers, not hackers and doers, and us hackers need to look for alternative platforms, most propably Linux.

boogies 6y ago
> neither do I want to tinker with Ubuntu You can get XPS Developer Edition, System76, Purism, or many other laptop brands (eg. any of these https://elementary.io/store/ https://elementary.io/store/ with elementaryOS, whose DE should feel fairly familiar to a macOS user) with GNU preinstalled these days.
- WhyNotHugo 6y ago
  Although very slowly, this list of companies providing good Linux-ready laptops is growing. I do wish someone would dare ship something high-end non-amd64 (e.g.: ARM). Kinda like what we're seeing from Apple.
  - wmf 6y ago
    First a high-end ARM chip would have to exist. The 8cx is pretty meh compared to the M1.
    - sudosysgen 6y ago
      Even the M1 isn't appreciably better than an AMD chip, especially not an upcoming 5nm chip.
  - skohan 6y ago
    What's wrong with AMD?
    - rangibaby 6y ago
      That comment means amd64 (x86-64) CPUs not AMD (company) CPUs
benhurmarcel 6y ago
Yes the iPad is "crippled" in that sense, but I find it's an excellent accessory to a computer. Not everything I do needs a terminal, my Python scripts, favorite text editor, and rapid multitasking. The iPad is a wonderful (albeit expensive) side device for lighter activities on the couch, in the kitchen, or on the go. It doesn't need to be our only computing device to be appreciated, and not every computing device needs to be powerful.
- submeta 6y ago
  What I am lamenting is the observation that the iPad OS seems to be Apples vision for how computers should work: Crippled, not much user control, just content-consuming devices with Apple controlling every aspect of it. That’s not a personal computer anymore, not a device where we have much control over it.
  - kace91 6y ago
    I'm perfectly happy with the division between "consumer machines" and "creative machines". I obviously count myself among the people who needs and wants creator capabilities, but for my technologically challenged family and friends there's no reason to learn and manage all the complexities of a classic computer environment if they just want a point of access to youtube, netflix, spotify and social networks. I still shiver remembering the times of browsers riddled with search bars, trojans and antivirus software slowing computers to a crawl and people who's "good with tech" being dragged to friends' houses to see what's wrong with the computer.
  - laurieg 6y ago
    You can write a book on an iPad. You can make a movie on an iPad. You can draw, sketch and make art on an iPad. I think it's a bit narrow to call label them content-consuming devices. Of course, they have limitations for activities like programming.
- WhyNotHugo 6y ago
  Same here. I can't stand macOS, the interface is terrible and it's an awful development environment. But the iPad is an excellent companion, since I use that to scrible around, consume media, photo editing, keep my music sheets, and all that stuff that would suck on Linux.
na85 6y ago
>Oh Apple, why are you doing this, taking freedom from your customers Because they can. Most other laptop manufacturers are producing garbage. Vaunted brands like Thinkpad and Dell are even failing to keep pace. My wife's 2019 Dell XPS 13 is awful to use. The touchpad is horrendous, and I'm not buying Lenovo after the Superfish thing.
- rutledge87 6y ago
  Apple has always be proprietary and always will. Apple II and Macintosh Plus days, they sold all their own peripherals. I had a Dell XPS 13 1645 that had a great display, but everything else about it was awful. Well, in reality, you can't be a purist or you'll end up with nothing. The Lenovo T480 is solid and has two batteries.
  - kalleboo 6y ago
    What? The Apple II was a fantastically open machine! It even came with the circuit schematic and ROM source code right in the manual! It had lots of slots and there was a massive third-party ecosystem. It was when Jobs got to design machines with the Apple III/Lisa/Mac that things closed up.

boogies 6y ago

> neither do I want to tinker with Ubuntu You can get XPS Developer Edition, System76, Purism, or many other laptop brands (eg. any of these https://elementary.io/store/ https://elementary.io/store/ with elementaryOS, whose DE should feel fairly familiar to a macOS user) with GNU preinstalled these days.

WhyNotHugo 6y ago
Although very slowly, this list of companies providing good Linux-ready laptops is growing. I do wish someone would dare ship something high-end non-amd64 (e.g.: ARM). Kinda like what we're seeing from Apple.
- wmf 6y ago
  First a high-end ARM chip would have to exist. The 8cx is pretty meh compared to the M1.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    Even the M1 isn't appreciably better than an AMD chip, especially not an upcoming 5nm chip.
- skohan 6y ago
  What's wrong with AMD?
  - rangibaby 6y ago
    That comment means amd64 (x86-64) CPUs not AMD (company) CPUs

benhurmarcel 6y ago

Yes the iPad is "crippled" in that sense, but I find it's an excellent accessory to a computer. Not everything I do needs a terminal, my Python scripts, favorite text editor, and rapid multitasking. The iPad is a wonderful (albeit expensive) side device for lighter activities on the couch, in the kitchen, or on the go. It doesn't need to be our only computing device to be appreciated, and not every computing device needs to be powerful.

submeta 6y ago
What I am lamenting is the observation that the iPad OS seems to be Apples vision for how computers should work: Crippled, not much user control, just content-consuming devices with Apple controlling every aspect of it. That’s not a personal computer anymore, not a device where we have much control over it.
- kace91 6y ago
  I'm perfectly happy with the division between "consumer machines" and "creative machines". I obviously count myself among the people who needs and wants creator capabilities, but for my technologically challenged family and friends there's no reason to learn and manage all the complexities of a classic computer environment if they just want a point of access to youtube, netflix, spotify and social networks. I still shiver remembering the times of browsers riddled with search bars, trojans and antivirus software slowing computers to a crawl and people who's "good with tech" being dragged to friends' houses to see what's wrong with the computer.
- laurieg 6y ago
  You can write a book on an iPad. You can make a movie on an iPad. You can draw, sketch and make art on an iPad. I think it's a bit narrow to call label them content-consuming devices. Of course, they have limitations for activities like programming.
WhyNotHugo 6y ago
Same here. I can't stand macOS, the interface is terrible and it's an awful development environment. But the iPad is an excellent companion, since I use that to scrible around, consume media, photo editing, keep my music sheets, and all that stuff that would suck on Linux.

na85 6y ago

>Oh Apple, why are you doing this, taking freedom from your customers Because they can. Most other laptop manufacturers are producing garbage. Vaunted brands like Thinkpad and Dell are even failing to keep pace. My wife's 2019 Dell XPS 13 is awful to use. The touchpad is horrendous, and I'm not buying Lenovo after the Superfish thing.

rutledge87 6y ago
Apple has always be proprietary and always will. Apple II and Macintosh Plus days, they sold all their own peripherals. I had a Dell XPS 13 1645 that had a great display, but everything else about it was awful. Well, in reality, you can't be a purist or you'll end up with nothing. The Lenovo T480 is solid and has two batteries.
- kalleboo 6y ago
  What? The Apple II was a fantastically open machine! It even came with the circuit schematic and ROM source code right in the manual! It had lots of slots and there was a massive third-party ecosystem. It was when Jobs got to design machines with the Apple III/Lisa/Mac that things closed up.