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Ehh, I just watched about half of it. It’s way better than their stupid ad where they smashed musical instruments (a low bar, I know). I didn’t find it particul

Ehh, I just watched about half of it. It’s way better than their stupid ad where they smashed musical instruments (a low bar, I know). I didn’t find it particularly egregious, a little cringe but so are most commercials. I don’t think this really deserves the blowback. The truth is, a Mac is probably best for most college students. I had to make my case for why my parents should buy me a Mac for college (in an all-windows family) and was successful. My dad worked in tech, thought the MacBook was overrated, and loved windows (at the time). A few years later my dad got my sister one when she went to college and again a few years after that when the other sister went. He later told me “That was the best decision I ever made, you know how many calls I got about issues with their computers? Zero”. Contrast that with rebuilding the family windows computer at least once a year due to some virus/spyware/malware that was infecting it when they lived at home. MacBooks also hold their value well and are well made (butterfly keyboards notwithstanding). They are great value for the cost. I paid ~$1,000 for my first Mac and it got me through college without issue while I had friends who bought the bargain bin windows $400-500 machine and very few if any of them survived 4 years, the ones that did had batteries that didn’t last or parts literally falling off them. Things may have improved in the subsequent 15 years (I don’t think they could’ve gotten worse on the window side) but I still recommend people get a Mac unless they have some software that they need that can’t run on it (normally only specialized things). For most people and in most cases it really does “just work”.

xhkkffbf 1y ago
I've had the best luck with a used Chromebook that I purchased on eBay for $100 or so. It's not like I had to install any software for my classes. It was all Google docs and sheets. And I didn't worry about someone stealing it.
- BanazirGalbasi 1y ago
  It really depends on what you're doing with your computer. For all of my computer science classes, a Chromebook would not have been sufficient. We did have a remote desktop server we could log into that had most of the tools we needed, but I don't even know if RDP runs well on a Chromebook. Even then, I found that I preferred developing locally so I didn't have to deal with shared computer bandwidth, which means a Chromebook would be completely inadequate. For some of my friends outside of STEM degrees, a Chromebook would have (mostly) been fine. Given that our laptops were a major source of entertainment for us at the time, I think something with enough power for indie gaming and HD video is a must.
  - xhkkffbf 1y ago
    It's true that the Chromebook isn't so good for many CS classes. But it is possible to start up Linux access on a Chromebook. So there's that. My classes, though, didn't need them.
  - subjectsigma 1y ago
    I did development on a Chromebook for two years in college and managed to get a degree, so I know for a fact this isn’t true. A more powerful computer is definitely better but Chromebooks work fine for many tasks.
xeonmc 1y ago
Macs: locked down by default, hackable if you know what you’re doing. Windows: hackable by anyone, usually inadvertently so. Phones: locked down and hostile to all attempts of tinkering. --- Microsoft’s attempt at the locked-down-by-default approach with S Mode was half-assed in its effort and held back by ecosystem inertia. I think the only feasible way to achieve this with the win32 ecosystem is a pubesos + wine approach.
- KetoManx64 1y ago
  I'd say Android phones are in the same category as the Macs, especially Google Pixels. If you know what you are doing you can ublock the bootloader, replace the ROM, root your device, etc.

xhkkffbf 1y ago

I've had the best luck with a used Chromebook that I purchased on eBay for $100 or so. It's not like I had to install any software for my classes. It was all Google docs and sheets. And I didn't worry about someone stealing it.

BanazirGalbasi 1y ago
It really depends on what you're doing with your computer. For all of my computer science classes, a Chromebook would not have been sufficient. We did have a remote desktop server we could log into that had most of the tools we needed, but I don't even know if RDP runs well on a Chromebook. Even then, I found that I preferred developing locally so I didn't have to deal with shared computer bandwidth, which means a Chromebook would be completely inadequate. For some of my friends outside of STEM degrees, a Chromebook would have (mostly) been fine. Given that our laptops were a major source of entertainment for us at the time, I think something with enough power for indie gaming and HD video is a must.
- xhkkffbf 1y ago
  It's true that the Chromebook isn't so good for many CS classes. But it is possible to start up Linux access on a Chromebook. So there's that. My classes, though, didn't need them.
- subjectsigma 1y ago
  I did development on a Chromebook for two years in college and managed to get a degree, so I know for a fact this isn’t true. A more powerful computer is definitely better but Chromebooks work fine for many tasks.

xeonmc 1y ago

Macs: locked down by default, hackable if you know what you’re doing. Windows: hackable by anyone, usually inadvertently so. Phones: locked down and hostile to all attempts of tinkering. --- Microsoft’s attempt at the locked-down-by-default approach with S Mode was half-assed in its effort and held back by ecosystem inertia. I think the only feasible way to achieve this with the win32 ecosystem is a pubesos + wine approach.

KetoManx64 1y ago
I'd say Android phones are in the same category as the Macs, especially Google Pixels. If you know what you are doing you can ublock the bootloader, replace the ROM, root your device, etc.