jdiamond

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jdiamond
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  • Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro coming in October for over $3000, claims report

    tomahawk said:
    McJobs said:
    I'm so sick of the Tim Cook era, where every product redesign comes with a substantial price increase over previous model. When Steve was there, products got better at the same price points (e.g. MBP--->unibody MBP), or even were less expensive at the same time (e.g. polycarbonate iMac--->aluminum iMac).
    Why wouldn't a new device, with a larger screen, and likely a true "Pro" version of the Pro, cost more? It's going to have a more expensive screen, likely larger battery and potentially more powerful CPU/GPU combos.  It should cost more...  Even if it has the same config as the "better" 15" (8-core, 16GB and 512GB SSD) it would only be ~$200 more than the 15".

    And Jobs raised prices too.  Look at the Mac mini. Started at $499, raised to $599 in 2006, and raised again to $699 in 2010.
    Because technology gets better and therefore cheaper over time. I paid $3,000 for a top of the line Macbook Pro from 2007 through 2015, and it kept getting better and better.  Now, the minimum Macbook Pro that matches those old specs and meets my needs cost over $4,000, but it actually performs worse than before due to thermal issues and is less useful due to connectivity options.

    That being said, if they make an enjoyable keyboard again, I'm willing to suck it up and pay a lot more.  One problem at a time.  Don't discount inflation - what did cars and houses cost back in 2007?

    elijahgentropyskestralBigDann
  • You need a backup plan before you move to macOS Catalina

    And the worst part of this entire mess, is it was all to support a few Mac models in one single year - 2006 - that ran on 32-bit Intel chips.  And that lead to developer inertia such that no one ever checked that 64-bit box, so even very recent apps are still being built in 32-bit mode for no good reason.  We could have had all Apps on Mac 64-bit except for that single bad decision. :(

    RealDavidGurneyrazorpitwatto_cobra
  • You need a backup plan before you move to macOS Catalina

    A good reminder that we should hold off buying new Mac Hardware when Catalina is first released until we have a proven set up working with Catalina - 'cause new Macs won't support Mojave. 

    And I can't spread this news enough - running your old 32-bit MacOS apps in an emulator DOES NOT WORK, so if this is your backup plan, abandon it now.  The reason is that Apple doesn't provide an accelerated 3D API to emulators like VMWare Fusion and Parallels, and there is no software fallback API.  I've found than even some of the simplest 2D apps I've tried simply crash and exit, 'cause they all still try to do something graphical.  This is an unfortunate move by Apple, who could easily provide an emulator, but I assume it's to give developers an impetus for people to move iOS apps to Mac, just as having only USB-C plugs gives manufacturers a reason to make USB-C devices.

    For current software under active development, this is not an issue.  But I've found most developers, even if still active, can't even recompile their older software let alone fix it.  Sad sounding, but just the way it is.  


    mwhiteFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Review: Kanex iAdapt is the best iPad Pro USB-C hub & better with iPadOS

    So glad you wrote this article - glad to find out about this hub.  Certainly looks less "Hideous" to me than the other hubs out there.  You missed two important features of the hub, though:

    1) You can hook a hard drive up to the USB-A port and charge at the same time.  There is no penalty - it reads and writes files at the same speed, whether on the USB-C port or the USB-A port, both at 5 gigabits (USB 3.0 speeds).  And USB-C to USB-A cables are ubiquitous.

    2) It not only supports HDMI, but the USB-C port also supports Displayport 1.2 with HDCP!  (But only up to Full-HD resolution.) . But now you really can't charge at the same time. :)

    williamlondonjahbladewatto_cobra
  • Editorial: No Bill Gates, Windows was not iPhone's 'natural' nemesis

    Yeah - I lived through all this as well.  :) . I get what you're saying about the Microsoft part, but I'm not quite getting your point regarding why Android actually did well in PostPC when Microsoft couldn't.  Are you saying it's because Android was willing to just copy iOS, but Microsoft wasn't?  Just trying to clarify the punchline. :)

    My quick, but admittedly shallow, gut reaction on such a topic would be that Microsoft relied on exclusive software to lock people into Windows regardless of the experience, but for PostPC, people didn't care, because they were already using new PostPC software.  As a result, people were free to choose whatever platform worked best for them.  But similar to Windows, once they got used to a platform (iOS or Android) it was almost impossible for them to change.  So in this view, Android won because they existed at the same time and were better than Microsoft Windows and people had no real reason to be forced to stay with Windows.  I can't help but think that if there was NEVER an Android, Microsoft WOULD become an alternative PostPC platform for people totally used to Windows...  Although it'd still be hard for them to have the same Monopoly on software they once did.


    watto_cobra