sacto joe

dysamoria said:

As for this computer... it looks neat, but Apple has quite clearly dropped me from consideration as a customer. Nothing they sell fits what I need. I can not afford to replace a computer every three years. I’ve been waiting for something worth spending a lot of money on and keeping for ten years. Ha ha ha ha ha...

It’s either too expensive and disposable / suicidal under heavy use, or its build is thermally sensible but so insanely expensive that I could never own one. There’s no dog-damned middle ground anymore.

They’ve also priced out a friend of mine, who’s a student and hobby musician with very little income. She’s been considering abandoning Logic and music-making specifically because she feels she can only afford to buy a Chrome Book to replace her very worn 2010 MacBook Pro, as the current Mac lineup is both ridiculously expensive and getting worse lifetime satisfaction ratings as the years go by.

People like us used to be happy to spend more to get a better made and longer-lived computer or phone/tablet from Apple, with a better OS than frelling Windows. With the proliferation of bugs in iOS, the continually rising base prices on hardware, the continued pathological obsession with thinness, and this new schizophrenic design ideology that is either disposability and lowest common denominator usage scenarios OR insanely priced for reasonable design... Apple is, as a corporate culture, egregiously out of touch.

This is like some kind of weird gentrification project, not a “best computer for everyone” mission.

The last Mac I bought was a used 2011 12,2 iMac because that’s all I could afford. I regret wasting the money on that PITA design. It’s looking lIke it’ll be the LAST computer I will ever buy. No way in hell will I go back to PCs, but Apple has clearly decided I’m an irrelevant market.

Time to give up entirely on computing. Screw it. Hobby or career, computers have not made me an income for years and not provided a drop of personal satisfaction. They just waste my time and my nearly-nonexistent money. No more music or photography as a hobby. No more productive hobbies at all. No more gaming either, because I will NOT buy a dog-damned PC.

I’ve been a computer tech person since age 12. I’ve worked in the business for most of my working life. Result? I hate computers. I *despise* computers. I can’t stand computer geeks, jerkass techs, and apologists (including the privileged cultists on this forum who can’t stand a bit of rational discourse without acting like ego-bruised know-it-all children, who are happy to smear and marginalize anyone less well off than them).

For a moment, between 2007 and 2012, Apple kicked the computer industry’s ass into gear. That was the time when Apple actually saved computing, in my eyes. Made it what it should be. Actual superior product to compete against and challenge the unbeatable status quo. They gave us true pocket computers, high-PPI displays, stable & intuitive operating systems, long-lived computers with solid design... It was no longer a “this is the way it’s always been and always will be” pile of abuse and excuses.

Now we’re back to the same mess of laissez-faire capitalism, inconsistency, unreliability, and “priced out of access” that it was before. “Less bad than PC” isn’t a good enough status.

Screw it all.

dysamoria said:

sflocal said:

icodewell said:

It's called a debate. It's a place where people share conflicting ideas and opinions. It's OK not to agree without resorting to name calling. That's usually an indication of immaturity or a bad counter-argument. Let's keep it classy and listen to each other.

You can call it a "debate" if you want.  People try to pass off their opinions as fact, or they're under the false belief that their needs is what the market should be.  Wrong in every way.

I didn't insult anyone in particular.  It's more or less a general opinion of many people are nowadays.  If you find something in my general post that offends you, grow some thicker skin.  

Because you think it’s your right to force people to wear armor? How mature. Maybe you could learn to behave like a mature human being, instead of a defensive and insulting weapons platform.

icodewell said:

tenthousandthings said:

I guess the idea is that you make that $6K initial investment, and you can expand from there -- add RAM, add storage, add graphics power. This is not unlike the old Mac Pro. You don't have to buy the Apple display.

Some of you have apparently lost perspective on how much actual "Pro" equipment costs these days. My brother is a news photographer -- his camera body alone costs over $30K, and he goes through them every few years. This is not a new thing -- quality primary equipment is expensive, no matter your field. The XDR display is an example -- equivalent displays are pricey -- that $43K comparison price wasn't a joke.

For me, I want the XDR display. It's something I can use. Apple is going to sell a lot of those.

From what I've read, no one (including me) is against the expensive pro machine. We understand that there are reasonably wealthy professionals that buy machines like this. We're disappointed that the majority of pros were left out with regard to this machine, especially when Apple used to have cheese grater options for us.

sirozha said:

If DED lived in Russia, he would be a pro-Kremlin pro-Putin media apologist, judging by the fervor with which he bashes everything Android and defends everything Apple. 

I am an AAPL shareholder, and I want Apple to succeed and grow, but there is no reason to slam and bash everything Android because that creates a false sense of security and helps Tim Cook and the rest of Apple leadership rest on their laurels while some real innovation happens on the Android side of the equation, which makes Android more and more compelling choice. This will become increasingly the case if - God forbid - the tariffs on Apple products materialize in the near future. 

Those who continue to bash Android are basing their uneducated opinion on the Android (and Android handsets) of a decade ago. Pick up the modern Android phone (not a Samsung one) and spend a few days with it. You will see that Android today is a formidable alternative to the iPhone. Then, you will understand how badly Tim Cook is squandering the advantage that the iPhone once (and perhaps still) has had over Android. While Cook is innovating with Emojis, Animojis, and rainbow watch faces, Google is breathing Apple in the neck with their real innovations. A few examples are Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Android Auto. If Apple continues to remain complacent, I don't even want to think about what will happen to my investment portfolio.