wanderso

The biggest problem I have with the iMac Pro is the permanent video card and difficult accessibility. I have an iMac right now at home that surprised me with the video card failing. Everything else in the system is fine; used Apple proprietary AMD video cards on eBay are as much as the iMac is worth with no guarantee after I open it and do the risky swap out that they will work.  Unfortunately I have some software mated to that machine that I can't bring to a different one, so I'm still pondering my options. In a pinch, I bought a used current generation iMac Mini and installed an SSD, giving me surprisingly good performance in Final Cut X for my use. It was a horrible, nearly unusable machine without the hard drive upgrade. 

I've owned generations of iMacs dating back to the first year, a mirror drawer powermac, MacBooks, PowerBooks. MacBook pros, etc. My first Mac was a used SE/30 in '92. 

What I've learned through my recent iMac experience is that I won't buy another iMac as a primary machine at home. Instead, it has to be part of a modular system.  Even the Mac Mini gives more options and less risk of throwing away perfectly good hardware. 

I assembled a gaming PC with my daughter recently from scratch using components  (case, power supply, motherboard, intel i8 processor, SSD, Nvidia video card, corsair memory, etc.). Being able to replace any single failed component or upgrade another later is very useful. 

You don't have to be a "pro" to want to have a machine you can repair or upgrade with high quality components.  It taught my daughter some good skills, even though we also own several apple products. 

At our hospital, we already use a wireless wallkie talkie system called Vocera. This works over our private wifi network. If someone wants to call another nurse for example, they simply touch a button, the system chimes and they verbally say who they want to call. (There is a full voice prompt option without pressing the button as well)  It calls the person they want, hands free and it allows for full duplex communication. The user who has an incoming call receives an announcement from the system of who is calling and they can accept or reject the call simply with their voice.  This allows medical folks to talk without needing to touch anything. (Important in keeping things sterile). Group conversations are also possible as are announcements and so forth.  This has existed since before Apple introduced Siri. It is very reliable and an obvious benefit over cellular or other mobile communication options.