[OT] "MacMini" 7-8 years later

[Peter M. Brigham]

On Mar 3, 2013, at 1:22 PM, Richmond wrote:

> On 03/03/2013 07:44 PM, Roger Eller wrote:
>> I only suggest that they allow an unsupported fork because 'support' for
>> all that crazy PC hardware is the typical answer for why Apple doesn't do
>> this.
>> 
> 
> I don't believe Apple.
> 
> I think the reason they will not allow people to install Mac OS X on non-Apple computers
> is because Apple computers are very expensive, and once they allow people to install their OS on
> other hardware they fear people will stop buying their machines.
> 
> That is exactly why I bought Mac OS 10.6 and run it inside VMware Player in a second hand DELL Optiplex 745
> with 6 Gigs of RAM, which cost me, in total, 300 Euros . . .
> 
> ( 100 for the computer, 100 for another 4 Gigs of RAM, 100 for the wide-screen monitor )
> 
> . . . and exactly why Apple don't like people like me, because a bottom-of-the range 21.5 inch iMac costs
> about 1,269 Euros.
> 
> I don't expect an support from Apple; which is just as well, as they won't give me anything except a boot
> up the nether regions!
> 
> Richmond.

While the profit motive should never be dismissed, I actually think that Roger is correct. Steve Jobs was a fanatic perfectionist and wanted the user experience to be as close to "it just works" as possible. Although the Mac OSes have some bugs, and a system crash is possible, it is rare (especially in recent OS versions that sandbox applications to allow force quitting). The advantage of the Mac system has historically been that it has been free of the "WTF do I do to get Windows xxx to run on my machine" problems, and the intricacies of getting a particular Unix flavor to run some apps. Jobs wanted the system to work not just for folks who knew how to tinker with the machinery. Developers have had to work harder to bring things to the Mac platform because they have been forced to jump through the Apple hoops to ensure compatibility with the OS, and Jobs' pit-bull grip on the product design was the reason for that. And many users have been willing to pay more because of the consistency of the user experience.

Although… with the advent of Lion we now have the dumbing down and limitation of the OS to an unacceptable degree, IMO, forbidding certain tinkering with the machinery even for those who know how and prefer different ways of operating. It feels to me that Tim Cook has allowed the vision to slip. I'm sticking with Mountain Lion for as long as I can.

-- Peter

Peter M. Brigham
pmbrig at gmail.com
http://home.comcast.net/~pmbrig