Apple Planned Obsolescence

I've had my Mac Mini for 3 years and I would hate to only have a Mac. Macs have just as many quirks and annoyances as PCs. My wife's only home computer is a 5 year old iMac and she still isn't used to it. So, no even if you use a Mac for an extended period of time, you still might not understand why people will shell out more money for them. The form factor is the only thing I see that is clearly better with the Mac Mini. That form factor is just not available as a PC. That used to be true with the iMac, but I've seen similar form factor PCs, although I've never used one.

 

Hey, you're technically not wrong! We could possibly find somebody, somewhere who would prefer driving a Kia to a Mercedes. I'm not going to start combing the haystacks for that particular needle anytime soon though.

 

Kia and Mercedes-Benz are not computers.

 

PCs as Kias vs Macs as Mercedes is as much of a red herring as the cost difference. My Yoga2 isn't a Kia. It only was cheaper than a Macbook Air because it was refurbished.

 

I wouldn't call a Mac a Mercedes, and I am a Mac owner. If you actually look on the inside of a MBP, for example a 2011 model like I have, and the insides aren't much different than a non-Apple laptop. Intel CPU, Intel graphics, Broadcom Wifi, probably a Toshiba or Samsung 2.5 inch HDD, and RAM by a similar vendor from a non-Apple laptop. Apple uses third party hardware vendors, just like HP and DELL and the rest do.

What you are paying for is 1) OSX, which is obviously different than Windows 2) the chassis / cosmetics and 3) Apple support, including the ability to go into an Apple Store if you have one near you, during the warranty period. Also there's good resale value if you're the type of person who wants to keep upgrading every few years and then sell of the old one to supplement the cost.

 

I hate to say this, but based on the posts you've made about your Mac and how you've handled it, I'm thinking there is more to your story. You seem to have a lot of reasons why you can't fix your Mac, and I'm close to concluding you'd rather have anti-Mac stories then a working Mac. And if that's too harsh, then hey, everybody isn't going to like everything, right?

BTW, there are plenty of tiny PCs. Check out Lenovo's offerings.

 

My impression is that iTunes loads the whole index into RAM -- it's just a simple text file -- and uses it from there. Where you store it doesn't really matter. I keep it on the library drive simply because it's easier to back it up that way.

 

Having all those same components in a case that's made of a solid chunk of metal chosen for its ability to dissipate heat vs. the cheapest plastic available and the cheapest fans to be found makes a reeeeeallly big difference there.

 

Or it could be the fact that laptops just don't last that long. Wear and tear is a much larger issue there than it is with desktops.

 

I'm not anti Mac Mini, I'm anti iTunes 12. That's the only reason I'm not upgrading to Yosemite.

 

Cheapest plastic available and cheapest fans around? What you talking about? When I built my PC I used highly regarded equipment that would last a long time and do the job right.

 

iTunes hasn't been decent since version 10.7.

 

You ever use an HP Probook or Elitebook? Not every non-Apple laptop is like that budget device you see at Best Buy. Again, if you're going to compare it's only fair to use comparable hardware, it would be like trying to compare a MacBook Air to an Alienware gaming laptop.

Imo, Apples and Oranges when the shoot-out is a fair one. It really ends up coming down to OSX vs. Windows and which OS works better for the person in question.

 

That's why I don't want to upgrade. That's the version I'm using.

 

My dad uses iTunes on his Windows laptop and it confused the crap out of him when it updated past 10.7. So that's the one I downgraded him to also and he likes it more than the new ones.

 

Serious side-fork at this point, but can't you make iTunes 12 look basically like previous verisons? I have a certain look and feel I prefer so it's the first thing I do if I'm building out a new iTunes install. Unless there's something specific they pulled out of 12?

 

It's not just the look and feel, especially with 12. Navigating in the Get Info dialog is awful, no keyboard navigation. Also dealing with artwork is bad. One thing I frequently need to do in iTunes is fix artwork for 1 track in an album. To do that in iTunes 12, I have go to the Get Info dialog for the pervious track, select the Artwork tab, hit the tab key 5 times to select the artwork, Command-C to copy it, click on the next arrow (Command-N no longer works), Command-V to copy the artwork in the track. That's twice the clicks compared to iTunes 10.7

 

Thanks. I'm fairly weak on iTunes as I don't really use it for syncing, more for Match and as a local audio repository for my MBP. But certain functions on my main library I don't handle in iTunes, like embedding album art or tagging for example. So, for me anyway, it's more the look-and-feel which I can replicate in 12.

 

True, just for playback. But if you are frequently editing tags, adding new music etc. there will be a performance hit as changes are repeatedly written back to that disk.

 

It's annoying, but not much more annoying than 11.

Naaa, no difference. The drives are too fast nowadays.

Look at it this way: Apple intended for both the music and ITL files to be kept on average people's boot drives -- and that's already tied up with the operating system! It doesn't make any discernible difference, and I have tried it both ways.

 

The laptop I use at work is a Toshiba (tough book I think) and I can't say enough about it. Its that bad.

I have no issues with iTunes, it does what I need it to do.

 

It's funny you should say that. I've got Mac G4 667 TiBook that I bought when it came out. At the time, it was the fastest and most expensive laptop ever made. It's still running fine. It just will not die! I still use it occasionally if I want to open/run something in OS9. It's a freaking antique now, but it still zips along.

And again, it paid for itself within a few months of purchase. That piece of expensive metal got me a lot of location recording jobs. That's one of the main reasons I'm a Mac loyalist.

 

What do you do with your old machines?

My last computer upgrade I sold my Mac and got about 50% of the original sale value to put towards my new Mac.

I don't believe I know any PC users who were able to sell their old computers. My wife's old PC laptop is still sitting in our garage somewhere. Replaced with a MacBook Air because all she did was swear at her old PC. At work...we have 5 or 6 HP towers (xw8600) that are dumped in storage because there's just no market for them. Zero.

 

I've sold several PC labtops back onto the open market. This last spring I got more for my old PC than the new one I bought. Be it was smaller and less of a powerhouse but lighter and faster as what it does function well at. The trade off was huge for my needs. But for the asking price of $235 for a new one, who cares, just get a new one when the time is needed.

Desktops are a different story, usually use them for a long time until new software needs and speed are needed upgrades.

 

So working 20 years experience in domestic, small business and corporate IT means nothing. Okay well I guess then that applies to every profession. I guess we shouldn't take any advice or notice of any opinions or experience you've got of the legal profession then.

All I'm saying is (not scientific fact) from what I have found dealing with hundreds of domestic and small business users (I'm a one man band, I can't handle thousands) -

1. A lot of local knowledgeable independent Apple support has died away in many places. This is a shame but I'm sure all part of Apple's plan. Keep those Apple Care contracts going!

2. Apple gear is harder to maintain for longer and will get more difficult to maintain and repair going forward. I think this is bad on several levels but mainly environmental.

3. Apple as a company is not really suited to helping the average user who has switched over to a Mac in getting their previously Windows centric working environment Mac friendly. You'll need to find some good local IT know how. See No.1.

4. If people can't get to grips with something new within a week or so then they go back to what they know. Especially so if business/making money is involved.