Hacker News Reader

Comment by reaperducer | Hacker News Reader

Now I find that I rely more and more on brands to decide which things I buy

I do the same. I wish I didn't, but I don't know what the practical alternative is. I guess it's the whole reason that brands were created in the first place.

I do source some of my stuff from smaller brands and shops, whenever I can. But that's not always an option.

When it comes to software, I'm not entirely satisfied with Apple's "walled garden." But for hardware, I know that if I get something at the Apple Store, or from apple.com, I generally don't have to worry.

It's because of this that I wish Apple† would go back into some of the product lines it has abandoned. Wifi routers. Servers. Printers and scanners. Even AA batteries and blank DVD's (I still have some of both). I'm at the point where I'll pay extra for confidence in the product.

† Or some other tech company that cares about its brand.

View on HN

It’s confidence-inspiring that Apple hasn’t stopped software updates for AirPort routers (I have a 5th gen). There’s even an unofficial Python script that enables SSH, giving you root access to the NetBSD system underneath. So even when Apple finally does abandon it, it might still be possible to customize the Unix underpinnings.

Oh, that’s neat. What is this script called? How do you run it?

I just found https://github.com/x56/airpyrt-tools and https://jcs.org/2018/06/12/airport_ssh -- fascinating!

Duck found this, but I haven't tried it yet:

"To enable SSH on an AirPort base station you just need to set the dbug property to 0x3000, like this:

python -m acp -t {ipv4-address} -p {password} --setprop dbug 0x3000

python -m acp -t {ipv4-address} -p {password} --reboot

Then connect to the device with the username root and whatever password you use to manage the device."

https://github.com/x56/airpyrt-tools/issues/1

Nice. Thanks!

Yup. That’s what I did.

Apple's machines are great. Apple's accessories not so much (see reviews on Apple's site). The 3rd party products Apple carries in their stores and on their site can be downright trash. I once made the false assumption that being sold by Apple was a kind of stamp of approval but I've since realized it's just which ever sales person managed to negotiate to get in the store. As a very concrete example, Apple used to carry Morphie battery cases which at the time were not actually Apple certified (lightning connector certification) as compatible with iPhone and yet other 3rd parties cases were but were not in the store. Also Belkin (not a fan)

I don't have the same experience with Apple. My MacBook had to get replaced multiple times due to a bad graphics card. My subsequent one had to get replaced multiple times because of the butterfly keyboards breaking.

So far so good on the latest one but it's annoying to deal with so many replacements

Right, it's really "generally works, and if it doesn't, and not too much time has elapsed since purchase or it's a widespread issue, you'll get the issue fixed relatively quickly, as many times as needed, until the issue is fixed or they give up and replace the device".

> ... I generally don't have to worry.

Emphasis on generally. Apple still sells many (most?) of its iMacs with spinning rust drives. Just picking up something from Apple Store and paying tons for it does not guarantee it meets minimum quality standards one might expect.

At least you know what you're getting. I don't understand why Apple still sells those devices but I'm not going to be surprised by what I receive.

What do you mean by that? That the quality is not good or that the stock is old?

Classic hard-drives with platters that physically spin rather than a solid state SSD hard-drive. Nothing necessarily wrong with the older HDD technology, though most people have come to expect the better performance characteristics that come with newer SSD technology.

> It's because of this that I wish Apple† would go back into some of the product lines it has abandoned.

Related: I try to buy Amazon Basics for a lot of items.

I bought an Amazon Basics USB hub. First I was generally happy, but after some time it would regularly just stop working for several hours. It's not that I was drawing too much power, typically just a security key or USB flash drive (and the hub had an external adapter).

Isn’t Amazon Basics just paid product placement?

No.

That's "Amazon's Choice", which is a label you pay for that gets plopped on random bullshit. Amazon Basics is a brand that Amazon itself has had people design and manufacture for them. Not the same thing at all.

Aha, thanks! You’re right, I was getting those confused.

Not profitable enough, Cook and co’s primary goal.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com