It's a compromise most regular customers will probably accept.
And I don't get ""disposable products made of low quality components"" at all. Low quality?!
Apple's new generation design of Macs have soldered-in RAM and a proprietary disk. Will we be able to upgrade them in 4 years?
edit: Imagine if you could upgrade the RAM in an iPad. I could still have used my original iPad now instead of it being junk.
I have a first generation iPad and it does more things than the first day it was purchased.
Not being updated will mean that it will do the same things it does now but no more. That's far from junk.
>> I have a first generation iPad and it does more things than the first day it was purchased.
That's certainly true of mine, crashing 3rd-party apps notwithstanding.
If your issue is "developers have only tested it with the latest device", that's not an issue Apple can correct.
I also use a 1st gen iPad.
I'm not saying I like it. I would probably buy a Retina MacBook Pro if it wasn't "crippled" (for me), now I just use my 2009 MacBook Pro a year longer, hoping for a better rMBP next year. It's crippled for me, but the retina MacBook Pro does more things than anything 95% of the world could hope to do in 3 years (it's a beast).
That doesn't mean it's not an environmentally unfriendly design.
It's a design decision. If you want an ultra thin/light machine then you have to compromise. If servicing the machine yourself is an issue then buy one of the 'regular' Macbooks.
Also, how do I upgrade the RAM in a Galaxy Tab or a Kindle Fire? I think the lack of upgradability is endemic to the tablet form-factor.
You probably cannot, but iFixit gives the Fire a repairability score of 8 and the iPad a score of 2.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Kindle-Fire-Teardown/7099/2#s...
Main positives are for ability to remove the back side and use of Phillips screws: big pluses. However, primary iPad issues: glued on front glass, RAM, persistent storage: all true for Kindle as well.
If no, you need to take that trip anyway. And a 5 hour trip every 3 years is better than carrying 60 grams more in your backpack for 800 days (in that 3 year period).
I'm not saying it's ideal, and I don't like it myself that much. I'm just saying it's a compromise most people accept.
I fail to see how that would change ...
Amazing! Well, if that's the case, you've certainly made your point!
5-hour round-trip when (and _if_) your laptop fails!
1) Oh, the humanity.
2) Oh, how I wish I had a 5-hour round-trip solution available to me...
3) Whereas your alternative would be what? Opening it yourself and using the stack of compatible batteries, screens, logic boards, touchpads etc you have on your house "just in case"?
4) Even if you had that crazy alternative, that applies to what percentage of laptop buyers? And what engineering tradeoffs would it take in that form factor to have user serviceable parts?