Leaving Windows for the Walled Garden - Grail Hunt

Neva. Once a TPCRer, always a TPCRer.

(Besides, mommy is a TPCRer and we all know who’s the real boss of the house. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: )

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It starts with that gateway drug, iPhone, and spreads from there.Only my oldest was strong enough to not fear “green bubble syndrome” from his friends…it really is sad to see kids shun the “Samsung outsider”…

So, funny story, our wedding cake was an apple logo cake, a heart cake, and a windows logo cake all lined up on a tray. It was awesome and ridiculous enough to be featured on cake wrecks at one point. But the best part of all was the silicon valley tech dad of one of my violin students who said “I know what the apple logo and windows cakes are, but what does the heart mean?” He asked guneuinely thinking there was perhaps some Sun Microsystems or Cisco thing he wasn’t aware of.

My husband uses computers for work, but his hobbies are elsewhere and he really doesn’t care too much about what I use with the kids. But everytime he buys another cymbal, I get a new tablet and he doesn’t get to complain. He complained about the fan noise from my surfacebook when I played Civ VI and I magically aquired a Tab S7+ that runs Civ VI silently.

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HiJack Time (sort of):

I found the following quote in a MacWorld article today for those of you following my journey - and it fits Apple to a T:

"…it’s true that there’s long been an internal conflict within the company that reaches into its very soul.

On the one side is that intrinsic philosophy, trotted out at many a keynote presentation, about how the company loves to surprise and delight its users. That’s embodied in way that Apple creates solutions to problems that users didn’t even know they had. And when it works, it’s truly incredible: Apple’s best products, like the iPhone and the original Mac, are direct end results of this kind of creativity.

But there’s a dark flip-side to this ideal for which Apple is no less well-known: the “Apple knows best” dogma. It’s often compounded with the company’s fixation on form over function, or with its practice of providing only one way to do something. It’s the side of Apple that seems to think that its products would be perfect, if only it didn’t have to deal with those pesky users all the time…

And as the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference approaches, many are waiting to see what this year’s major software platforms updates will bring: solutions in search of problems, or innovations that, yes, surprise and delight."

Beware those last two paragraphs, as it can drive you to drink - e.g. NO TOUCH SCREEN FOR YOU MAC USER! and NO REAL APPS FOR YOU IPAD USER! My expectation for WWDC are more androgynous emoji’s…

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Well, especially with Apple, I think @Desertlap ’s advice to buy for what it is now, not what you hope it will become, is apropos.

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Now, on a more positive note, things have gotten better over the last 27 years: This week in 1995 debuted the first official Mac clone - the Radius System 100 very interesting - especially this quote:

“Aimed at media-intensive electronic publishers, a fully kitted-out System 100 cost $12,495. Adjusted for inflation, that’s more than $23,000 today. And you still needed to buy a monitor.” :scream:

You can buy 10 base Mac Studios or 3 fully maxed Mac Studio Ultras, for that price… :smiley:

Or even NINE maxed out Surface Pro 8’s… :smiling_imp:

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AGREE 100%, and that’s what is keeping the SP8 OFF the auction block for now. My fear of Apple is rapidly diminishing, but the Surface Pro 8 “oneness” beckons like the Call of the Wild…

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For anyone else who is in their own conversion, the comprehensive keyboard shortcut list from XDA Developers is a godsend.

PS - think of that d*** CMD key as CTRL and you are half way there.

Amen. Oh wait!

Actually, my entire family was Apple-Centric. Once my son got deeper into his aerospace engineering education and my daughter into analytics, they both purchased powerful Windows devices. They still use IPhones and IPads but their core computing is Windows based. As a litigator, I am stuck with the “view codes” editing of Word Perfect because Word just don’t cut it, and I think the Mac version of WP has been discontinued for a decade. Now, even my youngest, who is a computer science student, has asked for my old Go to do some Windows centric things she needs to do. So, we’re all winding up on the Windows side.

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I don’t know if it’s the same on MacOS, but on the iPad you can just hold down the Cmd key, and it’ll show you a list of available shortcuts in whatever context you’re in.

And here’s another reason for turning my back on Apple - the new “monetizing” opportunity of subscriptions:

"As far as the difference between a hardware subscription and the iPhone upgrade program. A pure subscription service would do away with finite payment periods, for example, meaning that an iPhone owner would “pay a certain price per month into perpetuity to gain access to their device.”

To that end, Apple would likely debut multiple offerings at different pricing tiers. A lower-tier offering could allow access to a legacy iPhone every 24 months, while higher tiers could give users access to newer devices and other perks."

So I’m struggling to see how what the article you reference is cause to take any action or consider anything yet. First of all it’s pretty much all supposition at this point with virtually no actual facts.

At a minimum this will likely be offered in addition to and not as a replacement for existing options.

Second I would think that as someone like you who regularly upgrades, (i put myself in that same group )this could have actual benefits such as predictable upfront and on going costs. Not to mention that for me it removes one of the biggest hassles which is what to do with the old phone.

Yes it is yet another attempt at the beginnings of the "hardware as a service " model but IMHO given that phones especially, but tech generally has a finite usable life span I struggle to see the huge downside to this.

Of course it’s an attempt by Apple to secure additional revenue, but of course Apple is a for profit corporation.

Plus it could have other benefits such as environmental by providing a predictable known path of secondary use, on to disposal and recycle.

IMHO this is inevitable anyway, not to mention that it falls in line with larger trends in technology especially on the software side. eg. Microsoft is well on the way to getting the majority of their users to subscription models for the OS and their apps.

Again the vast majority of personal tech is not like a toaster, where it will be just as useful 5 years from now as it is today. Other than sentimental value, some of the items in my " tech closet" have no real actual value now and possibly only a bit of novelty or sentimental value (such as my Messagepad 130 aka Newton, or my peach colored, see through iMac)

Everry time i see these articles and especially the outraged comments that always accompany them, I’m reminded of the Family Guy- Stewie meme " I don’t like change"

OTOH I will admit there is a good discussion on the pros and cons of why personal tech has become for all intents and purposes something with built in obsolescence, but that’s a much broader discussion and one that I personally continue to evolve my thinking on.

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I DON’T LIKE CHANGE!

This is going to be a mini-rant, so hang in there.

I’m old enough that I grew up with real monopolies - AT&T and then in 1982 the seven regional baby Bells. You even had to buy (rent) your phone from them to get service back in the 50’s and 60’s. It was use our equipment on our distribution system or hit the highway with two tin cans and a string. It took into the late 60’s to finally roll your own equipment. Anyone else remember Western Electric?

Fast forward through party lines to private landlines to the advent of cellular and the same thing happened. A handful of carriers with their selection of equipment or go elsewhere. It took FOREVER to get to “unlocked” phones which AT&T and Verizon still fight like mother bears defending their cubs.

You can find a parallel universe in the cable company domination of television - and as cord cutters started decimating that model, the cable companies up their internet stranglehold and content providers just move to the “rental” (subscription) model for each of the old cable services.

Why the two minute regurgitation of the history of telephone/cable service - because that’s just where MS and Apple are driving the computer industry and telecommunications markets at the same time. Since MS is beset with a multitude of OEM’s they are doing it through the OS as a service. Apple has the advantage of controlling everything from silicon to OS, so they can drive the “rental” (subscription) model from top to bottom, starting with iPhone (a VERY BIG starting point in the US). They may not be actual monopolies for Sherman Act purposes, but close enough.

It’s the end game that upsets me. Since we’re not buying enough phones often enough (the churn is not to their liking). we’ll just change the game and charge you “forever” for your old phone/service until you have to upgrade. That way we get you coming or going - the Strauss’ of the world keep upgrading far too often, and you low-lifes who stretch out the value of your hardware can just keep paying us on subscription until you get with the program, and we start all over again. I harken back to the beloved bygone days for AT&T who got you for your phone line, long distance, and equipment EVERY SINGLE MONTH. It’s a corporate *** dream.

Sorry to start the day with a rant, but I remember all too well my parents struggling to keep one phone line and wall phone operable…time to get off

Soap Box GIFs | Tenor

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@dstrauss I get that, to a point. But I’m torn over the desire for and appreciation of the rapid advancement of the tech especially in phones. And for those people that both really push , but also depend on them every day, (like me) it’s been a big and beneficial improvement. Something that i was recently reminded of when I had to use an Iphone 6s for a couple of days last week.

And I possibly I may be divergent in this aspect. but I never have gotten any satisfaction in “ownership” of any tech product. I certainly get some kick out of “having the latest” but I also have no compunction in casting it aside if something newer or better comes along.

Now my quite small , but much loved collection of mechanical watches is a completely different story

And again especially with phones, they actually diminish is usefulness over time. Everything from older OS with security vulnerabilities to only working on rapidly obsoleting tech such as 3G or even something as mundane as microUSB

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So as the quickest response to what both you and i wrote. is that I see it as much as anything as a pay me now or pay me later scenario in the end

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Oh come on man - who do you know that changes tech rides faster than yours truly…it doesn’t even have to be “newer or better” just shinier! :upside_down_face:

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:face_with_spiral_eyes:

OK I’m going to read the whole thing, but hearing that Mr “new device every month” doesn’t like change is a bit of a shock! :open_mouth:

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Ha ha ha - if you read it, you’ll realize the “I don’t like change” mantra is philosophical and political - not about changing toys. I still always fall for shiny and new.

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Back to the real topic sentence here. Day six of the switch, and I’m liking this MBP14 and MacOS more each day. That said, I’m sure I’ll hit the panic button anytime now, but so far so good. I suppose it is a bit like driving in England - I’m on ht wrong side of the road but there’s still a steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal, and hopefully NO CLUTCH.

The decision tree is still stuck between “mostly” one device (SP8) vs always two (MBP14 + iPP11). I say mostly because other than web surfing, the rest of my tablet experience is done on the iPP11, thus it’s more of a 1.5 to 2 race at this point. That, and I’m not much happy with Microsoft’s direction these days, and their continual wandering in the wilderness (and breaking my software and setups with each new update). I do know that a lot of folks say the same thing about Apple with their annual big updates as well (and for example the latest iOS that killed battery life).

Still, the cohesiveness of all their devices from watch to laptop is a big draw for me to the Apple camp. If only there were a Surface Pro 8 version of a MacBook…

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Sidecar:

Using my iPad as a second screen with my MBP14 is a piece of cake. Even wireless (in my office on speedy internet, so not a harsh environment) there is no lag, and I can easily use the Draw menu in Word to hand annotate a document. It is just like any other extended monitor, and far more responsive than Duet Display between my SP8 and iPP11. It is almost instant connection and far les setup than Duet Display as well. This will definitely be a productivity booster.