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Comment by fartcannon | Hacker News Reader

It's a competitor in the same sense my smart fridge is a competitor. It's a locked down appliance that I'd have to hack to do what I want with.

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Cool? I mean sure, if when you're picking out a computer it's because you're going to run some variant of Linux/BSD on it then yeah, that's relevant. Or if you have specific Software needs that only run on Windows, macOS, or Linux then that's the decision made. But if you're just looking for a general purpose computer then they're absolutely competitors since the list of popular software that's macos/windows exclusive is small.

And if the argument is "well if you don't have high-performance needs and you're just <pejorative about what people use computers for> then why does it matter" the answer is because the battery life is incredible and the thing is unbelievably snappy and responsive.

Yeah, that battery life and fan noise.

The PR around apple products is hilarious.

Didn’t know that “how fast it is and how long I can use it” weren’t even worth talking about with a computer. Should I choose my laptop based on how many USB ports it has? Maybe how many rgb lights it comes with?

Oh definitely USB ports is more important than fan noise. About on part with battery life.

For me though, the primary thing I look for is whether or not I can do with it what I want. More specifically, whether the company that made it is actively trying to prevent me from doing that.

I care about that stuff most of all. I realize I am one of a very few people though. :)

What hacking is needed to get a Mac to do what you want?

Compared to what?

Is that what reviewers are comparing?

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