I'm more interested in Skype vs Zoom...

I'm 50, in UI, and feeling similar.
I don't mind agile per se (but it's difficult to come in on a very established project - so many decisions were made, and you don't even have the full context to judge them properly. It's like learning a new language, basic fluency is hard won)

What I do mind is how much flavor of the month there has been - a lot of complexity and difficulty in following code path for very theoretical gains . Any redux project smells so much like 2019, it's sad.

So like 20+ years ago, Wired declared "free wins".
I think people - after being nickel and literally dimed by 10-cents-per-SMS - were rightfully shy of "pay per transaction", because thy weren't sure what their usage would look like and that shit adds up.

So two decades later we have this sad fork in the road, two main paths:
* "free", but shitty with ads or other ways they figured out how to commoditize your attention
* subscription, where they can keep collecting rent no matter how little you use it.
( with "pay per usage" the third way less traveled)

Cow Clicker did it first. Or at least, earlier.

Probably right that it's just catnip for people hunting Chevos or whatever the kids are calling them now.

I'll believe it when I (don't) see it.

As you're already aware, making a new platform is an extremely dicey proposition. The "fax machine" effect is huge. Do you really think Truth will give Trump the attention he needs and he'd actually resist the siren call of his old soapbox?

https://twitter.com/RealSexyCy... points out -- rather selfish mentality. If you get the virus some other way, you are jus a walking virus fan.

One more positive interpretation is you can think of cases as a user-selectable customization and personalization!

I use a case, more with an eye out for scratches than for bending (which I've never seen as a problem) but also because silicone rubber feels great in the hand - on a big phone its pleasingly like a flat hockey puck - plus it's bright yellow to make the phone easier to find, and with a few stickers too because I'm a dork.

So thin phones have been "bragging rights" for manufacturers, and I think most phones out there are tough enough that you can "go commando" if you want. But by being so thin, it means when they ARE fully dressed in a case, they aren't unwieldy bulky....

Aye, laddie, you are trying to call out a "true scotsman" argument when you use weasel words like "mature markets", as in

> but as with the iPhone and iPad they've rarely managed to break 20% in mature markets

??? Like the US, which is a solid split, isn't a "mature" market?

Looking at https://fortunly.com/articles/... , I see Apple at 12% of combined desktop/laptops. Like, over one in ten of every damn computer made? Yes, HP and Dell each make a lot more, but to try and pretend one in ten computers is trivial is just stupid. (You make it sound like its Linux or ChromeOS ~2% numbers)

I agree "Get a job that pays, then you can afford one as well." is a shitty as hell line - it's great that low cost phones and computers are available. But if Apple IS able to take ~50-80% of the profits in smartphones every quarter... you gotta figure they're doing something right. I mean even if you're hella cynical about the brand/prestige/sheeple aspect, you just don't have that kind of success unless you read as providing value. (And at scale. I can't figure out how "Bentley" is doing profit wise, I assume the over all amounts are too small to register on the charts I can find... am guessing much less than Toyota or VW or even small players like Mazda)

I think it is a point that Apple goes high end. Like trackpads etc in the $300-500 market are truly dreadful. Yes you can get many things done with a cheap ass PC, but Apple products provide good longevity and great build quality, and a GUI with a lot of great first party support, on a decent Unix-y base. Sitting in my little garden of work and personal Apple, my clipboard leaps from device to device, I can drop files on a whim, and use my iPad as a handy pen-on-screen tablet. It might not be for everyone, but is absolutely value for money.

Their way of providing for the low end of the market are older and/or used models. Particularly true for iPhones. But Macs have terrific longevity - my Air was still a decent main machine from 2013-2020, and while its retina replacement gave way to a larger screen 16" after a year, I expect this one will last me a long, long time.

Mac is a Unix-base (unlike Windows) with good first party support.
(I've been fooled trying to get used to the linux desktop before - MacOS has its quirks but Linux has a lot more rough edges)

Being able to seamlessly share a clipboard w/ my phone, iPad, and computer, or using an iPad as an extra screen or pen-on-screen tablet? It feels amazing, and a true reward for living within this walled garden.

It may not be the end all be all of OS but it has a good feel, good design, and a proper terminal shell.

(to be fair Apple probably gets a boost in perception for avoiding the "race to the bottom" of cheap ass PCs. Just the thought of trying to live with the trackpad of one of those $400-wonders makes me curl up! Like, I'm sure there are great quality hardware PCs out there but they're about as expensive as the Macs)

I had a 2013 or so MacbookAir, then grabbed the still Intel retina and usb-c port refresh when it came out (easier for docking stations), but then last fall I bought the 16" Macbook Pro. On a less-technical level, that size of screen is WONDERFUL and for me worth the price of admission - it really allows apps to fit side by side, so now even couch time can be more productive.

I hope and suspect the 16" will last me closer to the original Macbook Air than that 1 year of the retina Air - my dev work isn't THAT challenging even for older chips.... it's just nice to have the screen.

I feel like the scrollwheel made the difference though! that really was a great way to get through piles of music that AFAIK its contemporaries couldn't match.

"Not a god-botherer myself, but isn't the whole shebang supposed to surpass mere mortal understanding?"

I feel like one of the interesting things about modern AI is you get emergent behaviors that do transcend our ability to rationalize them! Algorithms often learn to do things and we can't really follow the work that got them there...

I always thought Spaceballs' "atmosphere stealing" thing was just a gag!

Time to bust out the Perri-Air indeed!

I believe Shirley has it right. Vendor lockdown wearing Sheep's Clothing of individual privacy concerns, with hypothetical future data dumps providing info for domestic abusers or something like that.