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Comment by ojiikun | Hacker News Reader

You know those 45% of HN readers that use a Mac?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4422121

Time to start voting with your $$ against AAPL. They are part of the problem, not part of the innovation.

I try to do this, just because I viscerally dislike Apple specifically and the increasing hegemony of corporations over individuals in general, but it is really hard to stick with because Apple simply makes the best fucking products.

I bought a Galaxy Nexus, and it's a lot better than previous Android phones, but it just sucks too much to rely on so I carry two phones. I bought a Nexus 7, which I actually like more than the current iPad, but that is mostly form-factor thing; a 7-inch iPad would relegate the Nexus 7 to the shelf.

So I can decide to use these slightly shittier devices and 'punish' Apple, but it doesn't feel worthwhile, because in doing so I also have to punish myself, and Apple isn't the actual underlying problem.

In this case, it is the dysfunctional patent system. In another recent case where Apple was the villian, the issue was the diminishment of the rights of individual citizens in favor of protecting the interests of multinational corporations: when Apple actively lobbied to make jailbreaking illegal.

That was a case where the actual underlying system was resolved in favor of the good guys (per my worldview, and that of most HN readers I presume). The law of the land was changed, and the problem was solved/averted.

Fixing the patent system seems like a herculean task, probably much harder than protecting our legal right to crack shitty DRM and usage restrictions on devices we own, but I think it is still the right place to focus. Apple may be the latest Oracle/SCO/AssholeCorp, but as long as the underlying legal system is completely fucked, even if Apple disappeared there would just be another corporation that came along and started doing the same shit.

Essentially, the problem is with the government, not Apple. I don't dislike Apple for what they are doing; they are doing what any self-interested company would do.

What's wrong about the Galaxy Nexus?

I don't disagree with your exhortation to vote with your dollars. It's a principle that I constantly think about as a consumer. However, saying "Don't do X" is IMO not usually very productive. Saying "Do Y instead of X" has a much better success rate. For those customers to whom feature set is as (or more) important than the Big Picture, can you recommend an alternative?

I've consistently used Apple hardware for many years because of the combination of multimedia-friendly Unix on ultra quiet hardware. I currently use an iMac because I get a large screen, a small desktop footprint, and no fan noise. Is there a hardware vendor who makes very quiet machines, whose components are well supported by Linux, and whose sins are modest enough for you to recommend them?

The real problem are the laws, you can't expect companies to always just "play nice" within the context of those laws.

Agree. Apple sucks.

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