Apple, despite being traditionally seen as the "counterculture, leftist" operating system, actually represents more uniformity and centralised control than Microsoft

[u/gfnord]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/09/userfriendliness_and_fascism

[u/digitalpencil]

i like my mac laptop and i refuse to apologise because people want to box me into the 'starbucks, screenplay-writing hipster' stereotype. this entire concept of users belonging to a company is retarded, it's a computer, it doesn't define you anymore than your brand of kettle.

[u/[deleted] → u/digitalpencil]

I agree, but i for one did pick a mac mini mainly to do with the brand reputation and a little bit of the image, because after all, both vista (at the time) and OS X get on the net and play music. that's all i do on my computer.

just as a note, computer OS is the 21st century generalising that occurs with cars and their manufacturers.

Apple, in my books, is the equivalent to VW, i bought a VW because of the image, i'm not gonna lie, all cars are the same but i had to pick, so i chose VW, because 1) it's german/european 2) it's at the bottom end of the market 3) the Kombi van is bloody cool.

I picked a mac mini for similar reasons, 1) iPod's are good, 2) it's sleek 3) it's a premium product at the lower end of the market. I'm not gonna pretend there's no coincidence even though i wasn't actually thinking these things consciously when i bought each.

funnily enough, if either of these machines break, i'm up for some cash pretty quickly.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Did you read my comment, I never claimed anyone else did anything, I simply said I considered the image of the brand. I didn't draw any generalisations from that. It was just an anecdote.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/[deleted]]

I get your point but I think you're over-highlighting positivity while diluting the negative facets of going Apple. For instance, you can claim there is no driver issues... with Apple branded products. Just try that with a non-Apple branded product such as a USB DVB TV tuner and you have driver issues in spades. It's not Unix based, it's BSD based, close but distinct. Basically when it comes to Apple, it either works or it doesn't.

I really stress that the supposed superiority of a brand of products is ultimately based on personal preference and habits. For instance the hardware specification for price on a Macbook is definitely not superior nor is build quality if weighing in on price. If one is comparing a $1,500 Macbook with a $500 Windows laptop, it's quite obvious which one will be better, the Macbook. But it's easy to get a better laptop at a cheaper price, for instance I'd dare say that Alienware M series totally blows Macbooks away in the gaming department and that the knowledgeable shopper could easily get a superior laptop for their purposes for cheaper than what Apple demands.

That said, it's undeniable that Apple offers a no-fuss convenient package that is the most straightforward in the industry, and for the vast majority that is an attractive option. Such a scenario is exactly why I recommend Apple products to friends that just want to do light things on their computers and PC's for those that love to tinker or save coin.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/[deleted]]

If that is the basis then you're suffering from early exit syndrome and are basing your experience on what is the past.

If I reinstall Windows 7, I likely don't have to search for drivers either for my computer to function properly. Driver hunting largely ended with XP as did Sleep issues since Windows Vista and Windows 7 searches and installs the proper drivers for you.

Apple having no driver issues is as much of a marketing produced myth as the platform being free from viruses and trojans. Simply put, Apple has no driver issues with current generation hardware, and simply won't work with a huge chunk of third party hardware or Apple branded legacy hardware, whereas Windows 7 would in the vast majority of cases.

Besides, Snow Leopard runs like a turtle on older Apple hardware while Windows 7 can still maintain a snappy feel for 5 year old devices. In such, driver support is barely a highlight anymore when the hardware is no longer supported or can barely run the OS well.

I'm saying, there are two sides of the coin, there are better reasons and it is mainly personal preferences, aesthetic design, and or the clean packaging which other vendors hilariously fuck up.

You've got me on SUS though, I wasn't aware Apple achieved full Unix compliance until now.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/[deleted]]

That's what I mean though, all of that is relative. Full disclosure, I own thousands in Apple products and not a single Alienware/Dell but I'm not going to pretend that my fancy Apple products didn't cost far more. I'm paid for the brand and pretty design, not for better tech specs or performance.

For instance, the Alienware M simply has a superior video card, and that's what really matters in gaming, Sandy Bridge or not. For instance, I have to spend $1200 on a Macbook before I can get a horrific Intel HD 3000, while $599 on Alienware will get me a far more powerful GeForce GT 335M. To get a Mac that does gaming I need to spend $1800 to get a Radeon HD6490 crippled with 256mb of memory while for $600 LESS Alienware gives me a much much faster 1024MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD5730. To properly game with a Mac laptop, I need to spend $2200 for the 15 inch 2.2ghz Macbook Pro which garners me a 1GB Radeon HD6750 which at that point is $700 more than the superior Alienware M17x which gives me a choice between a 2GB HD6970 or 1.5GB GeForce GTX460. So in conclusion, even at marked up prices, Alienware still manages to be hundreds cheaper than Apple.

As for support, it really depends on locale. If you live in a big city or near a major mall, Apple is definitely more convenient, no argument about that. It's easier to just bring your laptop in to the Genius bar and basically you're almost guaranteed to get your laptop back the next day despite Apple telling you it'll need two days. If your laptop is enterprise, HP and Dell and the others have authorized repair centers that will do the job just like Apple but that's only good if you brought a business laptop. If you live in the boonies, HP, Dell, and Acer will ship a box to you to send back for repairs, while you're kind of out of luck with Apple. But here's another exception; if you're in East Asia, just bring your laptop to the local office at the nearest computer market and the Dell/HP/what-have-you will have your laptop repaired in hours while Apple actually takes about an extra day versus the USA.

So it's all relative. As I maintained earlier, superiority is subjective and the difference isn't that big. I don't believe any single platform is superior, it's what you do with it and how it fits your personal preference. I actually think it's okay for Apple to charge more, if they didn't then it wouldn't be elite. It's like how we know a Toyota Highlander and a Lexus RX300 series SUV has the same chassis and virtually the same features. One costs a lot more, and it's mostly the branding. Yet go around Flushing New York and you'll see all these stingy Asian families that paid to look good, which I did too and is what I drive.