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Apple has truly become a leviathan. Let's not forget that it's already not commercially viable to distribute consumer-targeted software on their desktop/laptop

Apple has truly become a leviathan. Let's not forget that it's already not commercially viable to distribute consumer-targeted software on their desktop/laptop systems outside of their store. It won't be too much longer, and the ability to install non-AppStore software on will be removed from all of their products. For your protection, of course. It's so unfortunate that zero other companies have managed to build a laptop computer that isn't complete garbage in comparison. I left Apple products almost 7 years ago for Ubuntu (+ whatever hardware I can find), and after multiple abject failures, I found a Lenovo X1 Carbon. This device is thrilling in that it actually works and continues to work through software updates. Unfortunately, it's an ugly bastard compared to the latest Mac Pro lineup. Don't get me started on Pixel phones. I'm still stuck on the eternal question, "Are these just bad phones? Or are they the worst phones?" The gravity well that surrounds Apple products is made of an outrageously large collection of extremely high quality user experiences and there are zero other companies who have figured out how to accomplish this absolute feat of human endeavor.

foxyv 3y ago
I honesty haven't had a single issue with my Pixel. I'm curious what has gone wrong with yours.
- anymouse123456 3y ago
  * Glitches/drops frames frequently * Fails to detect fingerprints most of the time * Walks off tables (and dry hands) thanks to the atomically smooth surfaces * Fails to detect rotation events * Randomly detects false rotation events * Turning off auto-rotate requires a rotate-dance to force a rotation to get detected, still completely fails sometimes. * Which Google app does what, changes constantly for no reason (e.g. Nest vs Home, Hangouts vs Duo vs Gmail vs ???, Google Podcasts is going EOL, many more.) * Camera adds AI artifacts to photos * Google apps move their UI controls (my cheese) constantly for no reason * Device search sucks. Exact matches for apps that are installed show the app result ~50% of the time, and web results the other 50% * That gigantic camera slab on the back. WTAF?! * Received SMS images from IOS users are potato quality * Received SMS videos are useless * Google deprecated security patches for my last Pixel after only 3 years. WTAF?! * Bluetooth is still hot garbage when trying to use various headphones and cars That's what I recall in a quick 5 minutes. There are many more gripes, complaints and even some actual defects. I recognize that i-devices have problems too. I recognize that some of these problems are caused by i-devices. I recognize that the utopia has not arrived for anyone. Unlike i-devices, the entire device (and the software on it) do not feel like they were designed by a group of people who care about how it feels to use it. It's obvious that caring people were involved in the creation of these devices, but they were always overruled and limited in their ability to accomplish their goals by dipshits with too much power and no values.
  - foxyv 3y ago
    Ahhh, I understand, I don't use most of these features and have a QuadLock case on mine so I don't notice most of them. Yeah, that really sucks. I have noticed it hates to detect my fingerprints and fails too fast. It's nowhere near the quality of my old Motorola. I think they sacrificed something to do that "Through the Screen" trick. Also the screen rotation thing is a pain. I mostly bought mine because my previous Motorola lost security updates less than a year after I bought it. I need them for my work apps so it pretty much made that phone worthless. One thing I hate is that companies provide security updates for the time period after the phone is released, not last purchased. Apple is definitely blowing away Android phones in almost every aspect. I just can't live with them after my experiences with their iPad and MacBook Pro. Butterfly keyboard, broken touch strip, power cord not working, one drop of water away from disaster. Gah!
  - ravenstine 3y ago
    Sounds to me like you need to install GrapheneOS. Also, I'd suggest ditching SMS and encouraging family and friends to use an encrypted chat app instead. > * Bluetooth is still hot garbage when trying to use various headphones and cars This is usually the car's fault, especially if the car was made over a decade ago. Hell, back when I got my first car with Bluetooth built in, almost no contemporary Bluetooth devices would function with it.
moi2388 3y ago
Given the new EU laws saying they need to do the exact opposite I highly doubt that. Also non-AppStore content works fine, setapp for example is still commercially viable
- anymouse123456 3y ago
  You make a good point. I was wrong to say that it's already not viable. There are some examples of small/medium companies making it happen on the OSX platform.
CharlesW 3y ago
> Let's not forget that it's already not commercially viable to distribute consumer-targeted software on their desktop/laptop systems outside of their store. Please. macOS isn't iOS, and the App Store there is a guy shining shoes on a corner compared to the iOS App Store's megamall. Most macOS software sales don't happen there, and you can't even buy many flagship macOS apps (like Adobe's Creative Cloud suite) there.
- anymouse123456 3y ago
  Adobe has enough brand pull to convince consumers to check the scary little box warning them about installing software from outside the App Store. This is not as easy for small companies with smaller brand footprints. I am also making a prediction (that obviously could be wrong), that this scary little checkbox will eventually be deprecated in favor of a blanket ban.
  - CharlesW 3y ago
    > This is not as easy for small companies with smaller brand footprints. Yes, distribution and discoverability is the value of the iOS App Store, and well worth small companies paying 15% for. On Mac, it's just another way to buy software, and developers can easily avoid it if they don't think the ROI is high enough.
    - anymouse123456 3y ago
      I'm convinced that I overstated the problem in my initial post. It's clearly viable to distribute outside the App Store, but "easily avoid it" is also a little overstated IMO. Apple has increased the friction for outside distribution and 15-30% off the top of all revenue is a wild thing to demand of anyone. Keep in mind that the government is coming along for another 30-50%, leaving value creators with a small fraction of the value they create.
ravenstine 3y ago
> Don't get me started on Pixel phones. I'm still stuck on the eternal question, "Are these just bad phones? Or are they the worst phones?" Clearly, you've never used the epic piece of shit known as Samsung Galaxy.
- anymouse123456 3y ago
  That's true. I had a Samsung Android phone many years ago (in the early days), and the spamware scared me off, possibly for life.
- oasisaimlessly 3y ago
  Which Galaxy model? I've had several, and I'm typically on the receiving end of phone sob stories.

foxyv 3y ago

I honesty haven't had a single issue with my Pixel. I'm curious what has gone wrong with yours.

anymouse123456 3y ago
* Glitches/drops frames frequently * Fails to detect fingerprints most of the time * Walks off tables (and dry hands) thanks to the atomically smooth surfaces * Fails to detect rotation events * Randomly detects false rotation events * Turning off auto-rotate requires a rotate-dance to force a rotation to get detected, still completely fails sometimes. * Which Google app does what, changes constantly for no reason (e.g. Nest vs Home, Hangouts vs Duo vs Gmail vs ???, Google Podcasts is going EOL, many more.) * Camera adds AI artifacts to photos * Google apps move their UI controls (my cheese) constantly for no reason * Device search sucks. Exact matches for apps that are installed show the app result ~50% of the time, and web results the other 50% * That gigantic camera slab on the back. WTAF?! * Received SMS images from IOS users are potato quality * Received SMS videos are useless * Google deprecated security patches for my last Pixel after only 3 years. WTAF?! * Bluetooth is still hot garbage when trying to use various headphones and cars That's what I recall in a quick 5 minutes. There are many more gripes, complaints and even some actual defects. I recognize that i-devices have problems too. I recognize that some of these problems are caused by i-devices. I recognize that the utopia has not arrived for anyone. Unlike i-devices, the entire device (and the software on it) do not feel like they were designed by a group of people who care about how it feels to use it. It's obvious that caring people were involved in the creation of these devices, but they were always overruled and limited in their ability to accomplish their goals by dipshits with too much power and no values.
- foxyv 3y ago
  Ahhh, I understand, I don't use most of these features and have a QuadLock case on mine so I don't notice most of them. Yeah, that really sucks. I have noticed it hates to detect my fingerprints and fails too fast. It's nowhere near the quality of my old Motorola. I think they sacrificed something to do that "Through the Screen" trick. Also the screen rotation thing is a pain. I mostly bought mine because my previous Motorola lost security updates less than a year after I bought it. I need them for my work apps so it pretty much made that phone worthless. One thing I hate is that companies provide security updates for the time period after the phone is released, not last purchased. Apple is definitely blowing away Android phones in almost every aspect. I just can't live with them after my experiences with their iPad and MacBook Pro. Butterfly keyboard, broken touch strip, power cord not working, one drop of water away from disaster. Gah!
- ravenstine 3y ago
  Sounds to me like you need to install GrapheneOS. Also, I'd suggest ditching SMS and encouraging family and friends to use an encrypted chat app instead. > * Bluetooth is still hot garbage when trying to use various headphones and cars This is usually the car's fault, especially if the car was made over a decade ago. Hell, back when I got my first car with Bluetooth built in, almost no contemporary Bluetooth devices would function with it.

moi2388 3y ago

Given the new EU laws saying they need to do the exact opposite I highly doubt that. Also non-AppStore content works fine, setapp for example is still commercially viable

anymouse123456 3y ago
You make a good point. I was wrong to say that it's already not viable. There are some examples of small/medium companies making it happen on the OSX platform.

CharlesW 3y ago

> Let's not forget that it's already not commercially viable to distribute consumer-targeted software on their desktop/laptop systems outside of their store. Please. macOS isn't iOS, and the App Store there is a guy shining shoes on a corner compared to the iOS App Store's megamall. Most macOS software sales don't happen there, and you can't even buy many flagship macOS apps (like Adobe's Creative Cloud suite) there.

anymouse123456 3y ago
Adobe has enough brand pull to convince consumers to check the scary little box warning them about installing software from outside the App Store. This is not as easy for small companies with smaller brand footprints. I am also making a prediction (that obviously could be wrong), that this scary little checkbox will eventually be deprecated in favor of a blanket ban.
- CharlesW 3y ago
  > This is not as easy for small companies with smaller brand footprints. Yes, distribution and discoverability is the value of the iOS App Store, and well worth small companies paying 15% for. On Mac, it's just another way to buy software, and developers can easily avoid it if they don't think the ROI is high enough.
  - anymouse123456 3y ago
    I'm convinced that I overstated the problem in my initial post. It's clearly viable to distribute outside the App Store, but "easily avoid it" is also a little overstated IMO. Apple has increased the friction for outside distribution and 15-30% off the top of all revenue is a wild thing to demand of anyone. Keep in mind that the government is coming along for another 30-50%, leaving value creators with a small fraction of the value they create.

ravenstine 3y ago

> Don't get me started on Pixel phones. I'm still stuck on the eternal question, "Are these just bad phones? Or are they the worst phones?" Clearly, you've never used the epic piece of shit known as Samsung Galaxy.

anymouse123456 3y ago
That's true. I had a Samsung Android phone many years ago (in the early days), and the spamware scared me off, possibly for life.
oasisaimlessly 3y ago
Which Galaxy model? I've had several, and I'm typically on the receiving end of phone sob stories.