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Comment by duncan_bayne | Hacker News Reader

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duncan_bayne

It's disturbing to see so many people drooling over this hardware. Granted, it's tasty-looking, but:

- http://www.defectivebydesign.org/apple

- http://www.ifixit.com/blog/2011/01/20/apples-diabolical-plan...

- http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2337939,00.asp

Give some thought to the above before buying an Apple device, please.

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Those links are largely sensationalism. I don't agree with everything Apple does, but it's certainly not as bad as how those articles portray it to be. To call GateKeeper "DRM" is absurd, and having non-upgradeable hardware is a design choice, not a diabolical plan.

Unless you can show me a non-biased, non-partisan view of how Apple is the worst tech company to buy from, I'll continue to enjoy my MacBook Air.

These are critiques of Apple's other products and software, but none of them apply to this specific hardware. Are there specific criticisms of this Mac Pro hardware?

These are critiques of Apple. In buying a Mac Pro, you're lending financial support to a company that does the things spelled out in those articles.

I don't know why you're getting downvoted, this is an objective trend that you're pointing out and it's a legitimate basis to use for predicting the style of any future Apple device. A company's product launches aren't discrete probabilistic events like tosses of a coin -- they tend to follow patterns...

[Edit]: Man, I didn't even say I supported/cared about this manufacturing aspect (hint: I don't) and I'm already getting downvoted... Considering all the controversial things I've said on this site that hadn't earned me a negative score before, this doesn't exactly shed a positive light on Apple proponents. It's OK to not care about a certain aspect/political issue, but the guy's argument was a sound one, at least give him/her that much.

I think some people get tired of repeated comments by geek-liberal activists coming out of the woodwork to attack Apple, when, in reality, very few people share their particular perspective. "Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!"

Obligatory: http://xkcd.com/743/

In all seriousness, this is a real problem in IT. People see shiny new products, and focus on the shininess, not the ethics behind it.

E.g. reviews of new Android devices that so rarely investigate whether the manufacturer is abiding by the terms of the GPL.

Why do people think we come out of the woodwork? I want you to be free if that's important to you! If you disagree (with either being free or my analysis of the situation) you can still buy it.

> Man, I didn't even say I supported/cared about this

> manufacturing aspect (hint: I don't) and I'm already

> getting downvoted...

Cognitive dissonance FTW. When people make a tradeoff decision that involves an entity with a provable history of unethical behaviour (patent lawsuits anyone?), they'd rather not be reminded of it in public.

This from a Spotify and Google user, note. I'm not saying that tradeoff decisions are necessarily wrong, just that my theory is that sensitivity about them is why you're getting downvoted.

> [...] this is an objective trend that you're pointing out and it's a legitimate basis to use for predicting the style of any future Apple device.

How is this relevant to a device that no longer needs to be predicted?

All of the articles are about Apple's proprietary lock-in and difficulty in making your own repairs. This definitely looks like more proprietary form factors and parts to me - I think it's safe to say this will be a definite downgrade in terms of an iFixit score.

Do you really think HN readers are so uninformed that they are not aware of the tradeoffs in Apple hardware? They are tradeoffs, not evil conspiracies.

tldr:

First link is bonkers.

Second link is oh no, pentalobe screws.

Third link is gasp non-removable battery. Yep just like practically every knock of-- excuse me ultrabook has (and for exactly the same reasons Apple did it the first time: people like the very thin form factor).

It's a brilliant design (far beyond its aesthetic novelty), and quite frankly I could care less that they lock things up or spy on me. Make sure to copy and paste your little comment on every Windows PC/phone/tablet announcement as well. Last I checked, it's easier to install Linux on a Mac than a new PC. Oh, you didn't know? Apple isn't the only "diabolical" company. Don't forget about Google, Microsoft, Facebook, the government, etc.

Actually, you know, you're right. We need to boycott these evil organizations. Who needs technology when the companies who make it are greedy? Who needs a government when it does stupid things every once in a while?

All I asked was that people consider these issues before buying Apple. For some types of evil, Apple is the least evil company in its field. For others, it's the worst.

I posted to HN because I'm concerned that these sorts of discussions get no air-time when discussing the latest, greatest IT products. As an example, when was the last time you saw a reviewer asking a company about the GPL compliance of its new Android product?

(Actually, when was the last time you saw a reviewer do anything other than copy-and-paste from a press release? Most reviews these days are just marketing copy).

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