7 ms·

Why don't manufacturers compete on quality instead? I can walk into a store and see the Apple computers on one side and the Windows computers on the other. All

Why don't manufacturers compete on quality instead? I can walk into a store and see the Apple computers on one side and the Windows computers on the other. All the Apple computers look and feel beautiful, but the Windows computers are plastered with stickers and 'Beats by Dr Dre' branding. They're made out of what looks like the cheapest plastic ever. I can understand why Apple is absolutely killing it at the moment - it's because everything else is shit.

Steko 14y ago
From what I see they do differentiate on quality. There's a huge range of android devices and they are going to stand out in any way they can -- software is just one more way of doing that.
jiggy2011 14y ago
This is kind of a chicken/egg perception problem. The perception is that if you want to buy a "posh" computer you should get a Mac. Therefor Mac=Expensive , PC=Cheap. This is I guess part of the reason that auto manufacturers will use different brand names for different market segments. Because it's difficult to signal "I am successful and buy nice cars" with a Skoda badge. An example of a "high end" PC would be Alienware, which whilst they have some nice hardware they just look horrendously tacky. Basically the equivalent of sticking florescent lighting all over your Subaru. There is also the potential patent minefield if you want to start manufacturing things that look like or use similar materials to Apple devices.
- giulianob 14y ago
  Thinkpads have great quality but I have to say I have not seen any touch pads that come anywhere close to the quality of the ones on a Mac. Luckily I prefer the Lenovo "nipple" over a touchpad but most people hate it and bringing a high quality touchpad to a PC would be a big deal IMO.
  - Cieplak 14y ago
    http://xkcd.com/243/ http://xkcd.com/243/
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    > I prefer the Lenovo "nipple" over a touchpad but most people hate it The problem is that no one gives the TrackPoint a chance. I've seen people who've used ThinkPads for years and have never even touched the TrackPoint. But if you spend about 30 minutes working with it, you'll find that it's superior to both mice and trackpads for 99% of tasks (gaming being the one exception, for which I keep a mouse on hand).
    - progrock 14y ago
      I find that the nipple requires a little too much pressure (T500), which is a little tiresome. You can be really light to the touch with some touchpads (including simulated clicks.) I'd prefer a nipple more like a touchpad - something like you get on the Blackberries (not the old trackballs.)
      - jamesbritt 14y ago
        I run Kubuntu on a W500 and set mouse sensitivity way up: xset m 5 1 so that I can move the cursor with a fairly light touch.
      - donatzsky 14y ago
        You can change the sensitivity in the settings (and of course, there's the usual mouse-speed setting as well). That said, I have found that some of the newer models have much more sensitive trackpoints than my T60. Edit: Changing the cap can be useful as well. The concave tip in particular.
        progrock 14y ago
        I've tried playing around with the trackpoint speed under Xfce, and it doesn't help that much. The pressure needed although not much, is enough to put stress on my upper body.
yummyfajitas 14y ago
Lenovo certainly does compete on quality, it just aims for a different set of quality seekers. Apple targets people who want their computer to look pretty. Lenovo targets the people who want to get stuff done. Want to quickly scroll through a document? page up/page down/home/end buttons? Lenovo's got it. Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it. Spill your drink? There's a good chance your drink harmlessly poured out through holes in the bottom (damaging at most the keyboard). Need more battery life? Buy a second battery and swap them when the first runs out. Need more ram? Just open it up and put it in. Same thing if you want a new HD/etc. Combine this with great linux support [1] and Lenovo is a clear win for me. [1] At work we have macbook pros, getting it to work with linux was a disaster.
- generalk 14y ago
  > Apple targets people who want their computer to look pretty. > Lenovo targets the people who want to get stuff done. I'm no Apple fanboy, but this statement's ridiculous. > Want to quickly scroll through a document? page up/page down/home/end buttons? Lenovo's got it. Two-finger inertial scrolling on the amazing glass trackpad. Or, Command-arrow keys. Same effect. Not one-button, but it's not like the functionality isn't there. > Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it. Macbooks have a "fn" key that can be held to modify the function key behaviors, and the unmodified behavior is a Mac OS X Preference option. > Need more battery life? Buy a second battery and swap them when the first runs out. > Need more ram? Just open it up and put it in. Same thing if you want a new HD/etc. I feel the need to point out that these are completely valid arguments against the new Macbooks. I have a Late 2008 Macbook Pro, the first unibody they made, and the only reason it still runs strong is because I've swapped the battery, RAM, and HDD (now an SSD). I love the new Retina Display Macbooks, but I don't know if I can put that kind of money down on a computer that isn't upgradeable. Not when it's my primary mode of earning a living.
  - sanderjd 14y ago
    Though I'm not familiar with the Lenovo trackpads in particular beyond playing with them on display models, the trackpad on MacBooks is a huge differentiator over any of the ones I've had on PC laptops. It works so well you forget how well it's working until you start using a different computer with a trackpad that now feels completely broken.

Steko 14y ago

From what I see they do differentiate on quality. There's a huge range of android devices and they are going to stand out in any way they can -- software is just one more way of doing that.

jiggy2011 14y ago

This is kind of a chicken/egg perception problem. The perception is that if you want to buy a "posh" computer you should get a Mac. Therefor Mac=Expensive , PC=Cheap. This is I guess part of the reason that auto manufacturers will use different brand names for different market segments. Because it's difficult to signal "I am successful and buy nice cars" with a Skoda badge. An example of a "high end" PC would be Alienware, which whilst they have some nice hardware they just look horrendously tacky. Basically the equivalent of sticking florescent lighting all over your Subaru. There is also the potential patent minefield if you want to start manufacturing things that look like or use similar materials to Apple devices.

giulianob 14y ago
Thinkpads have great quality but I have to say I have not seen any touch pads that come anywhere close to the quality of the ones on a Mac. Luckily I prefer the Lenovo "nipple" over a touchpad but most people hate it and bringing a high quality touchpad to a PC would be a big deal IMO.
- Cieplak 14y ago
  http://xkcd.com/243/ http://xkcd.com/243/
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  > I prefer the Lenovo "nipple" over a touchpad but most people hate it The problem is that no one gives the TrackPoint a chance. I've seen people who've used ThinkPads for years and have never even touched the TrackPoint. But if you spend about 30 minutes working with it, you'll find that it's superior to both mice and trackpads for 99% of tasks (gaming being the one exception, for which I keep a mouse on hand).
  - progrock 14y ago
    I find that the nipple requires a little too much pressure (T500), which is a little tiresome. You can be really light to the touch with some touchpads (including simulated clicks.) I'd prefer a nipple more like a touchpad - something like you get on the Blackberries (not the old trackballs.)
    - jamesbritt 14y ago
      I run Kubuntu on a W500 and set mouse sensitivity way up: xset m 5 1 so that I can move the cursor with a fairly light touch.
    - donatzsky 14y ago
      You can change the sensitivity in the settings (and of course, there's the usual mouse-speed setting as well). That said, I have found that some of the newer models have much more sensitive trackpoints than my T60. Edit: Changing the cap can be useful as well. The concave tip in particular.
      - progrock 14y ago
        I've tried playing around with the trackpoint speed under Xfce, and it doesn't help that much. The pressure needed although not much, is enough to put stress on my upper body.

yummyfajitas 14y ago

Lenovo certainly does compete on quality, it just aims for a different set of quality seekers. Apple targets people who want their computer to look pretty. Lenovo targets the people who want to get stuff done. Want to quickly scroll through a document? page up/page down/home/end buttons? Lenovo's got it. Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it. Spill your drink? There's a good chance your drink harmlessly poured out through holes in the bottom (damaging at most the keyboard). Need more battery life? Buy a second battery and swap them when the first runs out. Need more ram? Just open it up and put it in. Same thing if you want a new HD/etc. Combine this with great linux support [1] and Lenovo is a clear win for me. [1] At work we have macbook pros, getting it to work with linux was a disaster.

generalk 14y ago
> Apple targets people who want their computer to look pretty. > Lenovo targets the people who want to get stuff done. I'm no Apple fanboy, but this statement's ridiculous. > Want to quickly scroll through a document? page up/page down/home/end buttons? Lenovo's got it. Two-finger inertial scrolling on the amazing glass trackpad. Or, Command-arrow keys. Same effect. Not one-button, but it's not like the functionality isn't there. > Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it. Macbooks have a "fn" key that can be held to modify the function key behaviors, and the unmodified behavior is a Mac OS X Preference option. > Need more battery life? Buy a second battery and swap them when the first runs out. > Need more ram? Just open it up and put it in. Same thing if you want a new HD/etc. I feel the need to point out that these are completely valid arguments against the new Macbooks. I have a Late 2008 Macbook Pro, the first unibody they made, and the only reason it still runs strong is because I've swapped the battery, RAM, and HDD (now an SSD). I love the new Retina Display Macbooks, but I don't know if I can put that kind of money down on a computer that isn't upgradeable. Not when it's my primary mode of earning a living.
- sanderjd 14y ago
  Though I'm not familiar with the Lenovo trackpads in particular beyond playing with them on display models, the trackpad on MacBooks is a huge differentiator over any of the ones I've had on PC laptops. It works so well you forget how well it's working until you start using a different computer with a trackpad that now feels completely broken.