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0 pointsnachopa3mo ago0 comments

>about a couple of decades ago, there would have been immediate and sharp backlash if any hardware manufacturer pulled the tricks that they do today - soldered-on RAM modules, thermoplastic glue instead of screws, riveted keyboards, irreplaceable ICs...

That's when this trend started, with Apple's Macbook Pro leading the way, winding up one of the best-selling consumer laptop brands by targeting incoming college freshmen and their grandparents, focusing on cosmetic appeal over dollar cost for performance.

Most buyers don't even know what CPU model their laptop contains, let alone understand the difference between faster or slower processors from different generations. It will always be a tiny segment of the market that appreciates the value of Framework's features.

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pjmlp3mo ago

Apple did not start anything.

PCs are the odd ones, all other 8 and 16 bit home computers were vertically integrated, most expansions were done via external buses connected into one of the sides, usually the back or right side.

With the race for thin margins at any cost, if anything thanks to Apple, is that OEMs realised going back to Spectrum, C64, Amiga, Atari ST kind of hardware designs payed off in their bank accounts.

nachopaOP3mo ago

My point was that soldered RAM and lack of upgradeable components didn't inspire much of a backlash back then. It led to Apple dominating the higher end of the consumer laptop market.

pjmlp3mo ago

Which was already the way on 8 and 16 bit home computers, for the most part if you wanted an upgrade you would buy the newer model.

The exception being PC clones.

wkat42423mo ago

Apple also drove the quest for extreme thinness. Even Lenovo Thinkpad T keyboards are terrible now due to it.

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goku123mo ago

You are just repeating the same unpopular debunked arguments that the industry makes out of vacuum. Why does anybody have to know the internals of any system to get the advantages of reparability and serviceability? What were independent service personnel for? Did everyone know how to open and repair watches, cars, refrigerators, etc? Did that stop them from getting the benefit?

jorvi3mo ago

I always enjoy how Thinkpad bros have been badmouthing MacBooks for two decades, when those have had the best battery life, screen, hinge, case, bluetooth, fan noise and other amenities during all of that time. They were the first to have WiFi.

Apple figured out pretty soon that a laptop doesn't need to be a dragster or M1 Abrams, it needs to be a Volvo.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsnachopa3mo ago0 comments

0 comments

pjmlp3mo ago

Apple did not start anything.

PCs are the odd ones, all other 8 and 16 bit home computers were vertically integrated, most expansions were done via external buses connected into one of the sides, usually the back or right side.

With the race for thin margins at any cost, if anything thanks to Apple, is that OEMs realised going back to Spectrum, C64, Amiga, Atari ST kind of hardware designs payed off in their bank accounts.

nachopaOP3mo ago

My point was that soldered RAM and lack of upgradeable components didn't inspire much of a backlash back then. It led to Apple dominating the higher end of the consumer laptop market.

pjmlp3mo ago

Which was already the way on 8 and 16 bit home computers, for the most part if you wanted an upgrade you would buy the newer model.

The exception being PC clones.

wkat42423mo ago

Apple also drove the quest for extreme thinness. Even Lenovo Thinkpad T keyboards are terrible now due to it.

1 more reply

goku123mo ago

jorvi3mo ago

Apple figured out pretty soon that a laptop doesn't need to be a dragster or M1 Abrams, it needs to be a Volvo.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse