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Comment by defaultname | Hacker News Reader

The post can be distilled down to "I had a Mac and thought it made me special, but now I don't feel special so I use something else and think that makes me special".

Which...I guess? Millions (billions) of people use all sorts of stuff. Good for them.

The "I'm leaving [some platform]" posts are always extremely low value pablum for a subset.

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As somoeone who did the same thing recently, just to MS and Google (I still have a hard time abandoning YoutUbe and Youtube Music along with my years-long build playlist and preferences), I can relate. Because what the OP described is basically the recognition that

- dedicated hardware does a better job than general purpose one (cameras vs. smartphones)

- the smartphone ecosystem (regardless of brand) is becoming more closed, and monitored, every year

- there are enough alternatives out there, even if those mean to give up some "conveniences" we thought we won over the last years (IMHO, most of the perceived "inconveniences" that come from these alternatives are more due to lock-in and dark-patterns from FANG/MS and phone OEMs)

> dedicated hardware does a better job than general purpose one (cameras vs. smartphones)

Hardly headline news - a $1,700 camera with >$1,000 lenses is better than a $1,000 phone with a camera attached. If anything the gap is closer than it has ever been. Irrespective, there is litterally nothing stopping someone from having an iPhone and a dedicated camera, or if there is, then I (and practically everyone I know) are breaking some sort of rule somewhere dictated by the overlords at Apple HQ that thy shall not use a camera.

Also, as any photographer knows, the best camera is the one you have on you.

>a $1,700 camera with >$1,000 lenses is better than a $1,000 phone with a camera attached.

The original assertion was same price, so a $1,000 kit body + lens is better than a $1,000 phone and camera.

Which doesn't change anything about how inane a point it is.

There are many reasons why someone might choose some hardware or platforms over other hardware or platforms. The paradox, though, is that if someone believes it's all or nothing -- that they have to tie their ego with a platform -- their judgment is likely suspect to begin with. When people do the "I'm leaving 𝑥" type declarations, it almost always comes from an unhealthy place.

Somehow I've managed to own an SLR alongside every system I've used for the past decade+ (though it sits unused to a much greater degree given how vastly improved modern smartphones are...). I have a Lenovo Windows laptop, a Windows 10 gaming PC, an Intel MBP, an M1 Mac Mini, an iPhone, an iPad, though I've owned a number of Android tablets and smartphones (including every Nexus device) before. Every server system I've deployed in the past decade has been to Linux.

No Apple stormtroopers ever busted down my doors and demanded compliance. Never did I feel the need to wave a flag or commit to a tribe, because why would I? The notion is self-sabotaging.

> why would I?

In a word "integration".

Can you use an ipad as a second screen/wacom cintiq? On mac it is built in. On windows you need extra software and then it is still ducttaped on.

Linux desktop and android phone? Then you can reply to sms, share the clipboard, automute music when receiving a call,... (kdeconnect. MS and Apple have some decent copies). What if you have an iphone instead? Well, bad luck.

All these things might be "minor" or "only by default", but they matter very much to many people.

> "dedicated hardware does a better job than general purpose one (cameras vs. smartphones)"

I think that depends on what you mean by "better job." For example, I have both a Nikon D-800 and an iPhone. The Nikon takes amazing pictures and the iPhone fits in my pocket. Most of the time, the "better job" I want is a camera that fits in my pocket. On occasion, the "better job" I want is a camera that takes amazing pictures.

I would never abandon either my camera or my phone because my "better job" frequently changes.

Yeah, this is just the nerd equivalent of being a hipster. It's not even as though any of the changes are any better, they're just different. Which of course means you can then write a blog post in a cool monospace font with your cool domain name proclaiming your nerd coolness to the masses.

Not only that, but then you'd also write it in a way that low-key suggests other people probably also want to do the same thing to be just as cool.

Problem is that there are so many different people, and so many of them don't even know how to operate a device that isn't completely pre-prepped for the lowest bar to entry that they can never be as cool. /s

I guess this is the kind of data point that people might use in reinforcing their bias for a choice they are about to make. If you take two brands, platforms, systems etc. and just search for switchers between those you'll find the exact result you'll like.

Going from Debian to Arch? Amazing! Debian sucks for reasons X and Y and Arch is much cooler. But switching from Arch to Debian? Hah, those Arch losers are missing out on A, B and C so they are so uncool! Heck, you can make this even smaller. Using OpenSans as your Font? Boo! Use Fira Code, that makes your code so much better! Pick any microcosmos and you can find migrations in all directions.

This. This 100%. I don’t think my nerd cred is in any danger. I regularly write kernel code, bare metal code, assembly, etc. I know how to computer.

But the older I get, the more I find I’m just happier in the Apple ecosystem. I don’t want to fiddle with X11 settings or tons of dot files. I just want to open my computer and hack on the shit that interests me. There’s things about Apple that annoy me, but the same can be said for Android, Windows, any of the free *nixes, etc.

Every platform and ecosystem has trade offs and it’s fine to just use what you want to use. Personally I’ve got Apple laptop, phone and tablet, a Windows desktop for games, several RPis running various Linux distros, and a Proxmox server running VMs for infrastructure and tinkering. None of that makes my farts smell better than anyone else.

… except for those nasty Emacs users of course :P

I read this article and was immediately reminded of “that kid” in school who was a super fan of some obscure punk band, until some other kid at school claimed they liked them too. Then “that kid” would tell everybody how the now not obscure enough band “sucked”.

It reminds me of the early MUDs and some MMO guild bulletin boards where you'd periodically get these super melodramatic "I quit and this is why" posts, which would more often than not be followed by the person returning to the game not long after.

The longer and more impassioned the goodbye6ever post, the sooner you know the author will return.

If it's really long, it means they love the game but burned themselves out and don't want to admit it.

A long enought post and they will be back before they get to the end of their goodbye.

This still happens frequently. Even before the lawsuit against Blizzard, their WoW forums would basically have daily posts from people who felt the need to cry about things they didn't like about the game and tell everyone they're quitting.

Some people don't care about their computers making them feeling special and instead just have a set of goals and choose the computer hardware and software which best accomplishes those goals.

But those people I'd say wouldn't then go and write an article about it.

Can you imagine how many, very boring articles, there would be if everyone did write that article.

'I needed windows for some work stuff, so I went onto dell and bought the thing in the middle of the price range.'

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