XPost: comp.os.linux.advocacy, comp.sys.mac.advocacy   
   From: recscuba_google@huntzinger.com   
      
   On 9/10/25 15:36, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   > On Wed, 10 Sep 2025 07:55:50 -0400, -hh wrote:   
   >   
   >> Big talk from a PC user who's spent more trying to cobble together his   
   >> cheap system than it would have just cost him to buy a more capable Mac   
   >> mini...   
   >   
   > At least you *can* actually “cobble together” a Linux-running PC system   
   > from your choice of parts, instead of having to pick from the fixed set of   
   > choices that Apple offers.   
      
   Sure, but as Joel's case study illustrates, it doesn't always cost tons   
   less ... in his case, it cost more even before he fried his motherboard.   
      
      
   > And you can change your mind and upgrade bits afterwards, too, so it   
   > becomes “more capable” over time, than it was when you first got it.   
      
   Sure, but this expansion argument is old and by today's standards very   
   much overblown:  most people buy laptops over desktops because their   
   capabilities are good enough, plus these users never have any particular   
   need or desire to upgrade like we did with desktops 30 years ago.   
      
   As we've discussed before it is because PC technology improved to be   
   "good enough" for mainstream: there no longer are big enough performance   
   changes in new gear in each ~9 month new product release cycle for there   
   to be a positive ROI for upgrading hardware that rapidly.   
      
   With them now being more stable appliances, the market has changed to be   
   to buy "as is" and run them effectively unchanged until they complete   
   their tax depreciation life-cycles of 5+ years.  Similarly, business IT   
   department policies became that if one broke down out of warranty, it   
   was more cost effective to just replace the entire laptop, not repair...   
      
   ...and this technology transition point was passed over a decade ago; we   
   all need to stop living in the past of our youth and accept that even if   
   we have not, the world has changed around us.   
      
   FYI, an implication of this is that if within a year of us buying new   
   gear that we discover that it isn't good enough such that we need better   
   gear, its not the fault of the product:  it means that we failed in our   
   user capability requirements assessment prior to buying.   
      
      
   -hh   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)