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Totally off-piste, but...
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Posted by MadaboutDana
Apr 23, 2021 at 09:32 AM
I’m amused by the huge numbers of (angeblich pro) Mac users who are whining about (a) the colours and (b) the “chin” of the new M1 iMac.
First, it’s a computer. It doesn’t have a “chin”. It looks fine to me, especially if it means that the (apparently sensational) sound system is optimised. And I repeat, it doesn’t look remotely like a “chin” (some wag even compared it to Jay Leno. I mean, please!). An iMac doesn’t have a “face”.
Second, I LOVE the colours. I want a nice, cheerful yellow one on my desk right now! As someone who spends 99% of my working life in front of a computer, it would make me so happy! Or maybe green…
Third, it weighs less than 10 lbs/4.8 kg. This suggests you could carry it round the house if you wanted to (personally, I like to work in multiple locations). That’s presumably the reason for the MagSafe power cable (although they’re not calling it that). Which begs the question: will Apple (or some other enterprising supplier) produce battery kits for iMacs? Now that would be pretty cool!
Sorry. This has absolutely nothing to do with outlining, it’s entirely about working environment. And aesthetics. And common sense. All things we also occasionally discuss in the forum ;-)
Cheers!
Bill
Posted by Lothar Scholz
Apr 23, 2021 at 10:17 AM
It’s ugly, it’s unfunctional, it’s unergonomic, it’s overpriced and it technically was a huge disappointment.
Ok, i’m not a Barbie club member so we can just agree to disagree about the look of this thing.
But its unfunctional and unergonomic as previous iMacs (i own two of them with 2 extra Thunderbold monitors) with all the USB/TB connectors still on the back side of the monitor, it has no VESA mount and monitor height is not heigh adjustable. The later is a big problem when you work on a desk in winter but in high summer move it to a different heigh table/chair combination in the garden lounge. I do it with my current iMac and it sucks. For a device that is almost completely marketed as a great display with a computer inside the stand problem is serious.
It’s sadly overpriced and the base model of this base model only exist to allow apple show lower prices in ads. But without USB ports or Ethernet and 8GB it is IMHO a shame model. The M1 macMini is good with a good price, but this was only to reduce the critics about the transition to AS. Just as they smoothed it by streching the bad news (no 32bit compatibility, stronger backward compatibility breaking security) over 3 years ahead of the transition, so people don’t associate it with Apple Silicon. Again a very smart marketing move of Apple.
And technically, it’s just an iPad with a big screen. And thats what is still making me think about the Apple future. They have not yet shown that they are able to scale the current AS design which they are working on for 15 years now to a desktop system. If they can’t increase the IO throughput they will have no future. The all integrated approach (the only technical detail that makes the M1 fast and power efficient) is a sign of failure not evolution for professional devices. But Apple had no success in the professional market since 2010 with the last cheesegrader. The M1 design is still 10 times slower (50 times slower 3D with RTX3090) than a PC workstation.
Notice: I do own about $10000 worth in fully maxed out iMacs (2), macMinis (1), iPad (2) and iPhones (1) and i will buy a M1 macMini one day, but i’m not blinded enough to not see the bad things in this products.
Posted by Amontillado
Apr 23, 2021 at 11:55 AM
Lothar Scholz wrote:
It’s ugly, it’s unfunctional, it’s unergonomic, it’s overpriced and it
>technically was a huge disappointment.
>
All valid concerns, although I get a lot of functionality out of my Apple gizmos. The iMac would be better if the monitor stand were detachable and adjustable.
I lived in Linux for a decade or more, then got lured to the dark side (Windows) by not being able to sync Linux with a Blackberry (there are ways, they just didn’t work for me). Then, I discovered Scrivener, which was at that time Mac-only, and got a Macbook Air as a writing machine.
Then, I discovered Devonthink. With that as my “binder” I moved to Nisus Writer, which I like a lot better than Word. By “a lot better” I mean hamburgers in a boisterous sports bar with good friends is a lot better than raw vermin, shivering in a cave. But I also recognize there are people whose voice is found in Word, and I respect that. One person’s rat is another’s gourmet dining. :-)
At some point I got an iMac.
Recently I’ve started migrating my word processing to Mellel.
Curio and MindNode are great for planning. I prefer Apple Numbers to Excel, not because it’s an Apple product, but being able to do layouts with multiple tables, images, etc, on a single canvas is pretty neat. I also recognize I could create the same reports with a combination of Excel and something else. Excel plus Powerpoint, maybe, or my recent favorite, Affinity Publisher.
In other words, I got hooked on Apple-centric applications. If I had this desktop experience under Linux, that’s where I’d be.
Use what works. For me, performance is heavily weighted toward what I can do, not what the machine can do. That’s why I like Linux. I can provision heavy iron for datacenters, one of my day job roles, and I can interface motor controls to a Raspberry Pi in a box the size of a paperback book. Linux is my katana.
Macs can be workhorses, too, but in a quite different way.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Apr 23, 2021 at 01:41 PM
See, I love this. You take a splendidly technical stance and criticise everything about the iMac that hasn’t met your technical expectations. And I get that.
But I don’t have such high technical expectations. What I want is a really, really pleasant working environment. One that makes me smile every time I sit down in it. One that includes an attractive, brightly coloured, meaninglessly but gorgeously thin computer that oozes style and makes me feel happy (no, I don’t think it’s ugly – but as you say, I’m a Barbie Club member).
On the other hand, what really makes me smile is that in reality, you too enjoy that aspect of the Apple ecosphere. You wouldn’t have all those Apple machines if, at some level, you didn’t appreciate the sheer congruence of the Apple working environment. You’re making grumpy noises because, let’s face it, all highly technical users are *expected* to make grumpy noises about the many ways Apple lets them down time and time again (although that may change if they launch a really cool Mac Cube – but no, what am I talking about, that wouldn’t be good enough either).
Yet at the same time, you’re all busy sneaking down to your living rooms, stroking your Mac Minis and whispering: “My Precious…”
It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone… ;-)
Lothar Scholz wrote:
It’s ugly, it’s unfunctional, it’s unergonomic, it’s overpriced and it
>technically was a huge disappointment.
>
>Ok, i’m not a Barbie club member so we can just agree to disagree about
>the look of this thing.
>
>But its unfunctional and unergonomic as previous iMacs (i own two of
>them with 2 extra Thunderbold monitors) with all the USB/TB connectors
>still on the back side of the monitor, it has no VESA mount and monitor
>height is not heigh adjustable. The later is a big problem when you work
>on a desk in winter but in high summer move it to a different heigh
>table/chair combination in the garden lounge. I do it with my current
>iMac and it sucks. For a device that is almost completely marketed as a
>great display with a computer inside the stand problem is serious.
>
>It’s sadly overpriced and the base model of this base model only exist
>to allow apple show lower prices in ads. But without USB ports or
>Ethernet and 8GB it is IMHO a shame model. The M1 macMini is good with a
>good price, but this was only to reduce the critics about the transition
>to AS. Just as they smoothed it by streching the bad news (no 32bit
>compatibility, stronger backward compatibility breaking security) over 3
>years ahead of the transition, so people don’t associate it with Apple
>Silicon. Again a very smart marketing move of Apple.
>
>And technically, it’s just an iPad with a big screen. And thats what is
>still making me think about the Apple future. They have not yet shown
>that they are able to scale the current AS design which they are working
>on for 15 years now to a desktop system. If they can’t increase the IO
>throughput they will have no future. The all integrated approach (the
>only technical detail that makes the M1 fast and power efficient) is a
>sign of failure not evolution for professional devices. But Apple had no
>success in the professional market since 2010 with the last
>cheesegrader. The M1 design is still 10 times slower (50 times slower 3D
>with RTX3090) than a PC workstation.
>
>Notice: I do own about $10000 worth in fully maxed out iMacs (2),
>macMinis (1), iPad (2) and iPhones (1) and i will buy a M1 macMini one
>day, but i’m not blinded enough to not see the bad things in this
>products.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Apr 23, 2021 at 01:50 PM
And this, of course, is the other aspect of the Apple aesthetic. The software is just so nice. Couple your favourite Mac apps with good-looking computers (okay, okay, Barbie-coloured good-looking computers) and you just don’t want to go near a Windows environment ever again. I do (have to) work in Windows, as it happens, mainly to run certain translation-related software that isn’t available for Mac. And the contrast hits me every time – despite all the progress Windows 10 has made, it just isn’t much fun to work in.
Also, nothing compares with the seamless transfer of data from Mac to iPad to iPhone (even to iWatch, although ironically I wouldn’t touch an Apple Watch with a bargepole – a complex, expensive wrist accessory you have to charge every day? No thank you very much! My cheap AmazFit device lasts 30 days before it needs recharging, and no, it doesn’t play music. My iPhone does, though.) That seamless environment is hugely attractive, and not easy to replicate in the Microsoft universe – I’ve tried, got so far and then given up in disgust.
Yes, I confess I do own an Android phone, mainly because I can’t run French Freebox apps on my UK-registered iPhone (they’re not available in the UK App Store), so that’s one down for Apple. Oh, and because it only cost EUR 80, but still has a 6.5-inch screen and a microSD card slot. So that’s two down for Apple. But hey.
Amontillado wrote:
>
>Lothar Scholz wrote:
>It’s ugly, it’s unfunctional, it’s unergonomic, it’s overpriced and it
>>technically was a huge disappointment.
>>
>
>All valid concerns, although I get a lot of functionality out of my
>Apple gizmos. The iMac would be better if the monitor stand were
>detachable and adjustable.
>
>I lived in Linux for a decade or more, then got lured to the dark side
>(Windows) by not being able to sync Linux with a Blackberry (there are
>ways, they just didn’t work for me). Then, I discovered Scrivener, which
>was at that time Mac-only, and got a Macbook Air as a writing machine.
>
>Then, I discovered Devonthink. With that as my “binder” I moved to Nisus
>Writer, which I like a lot better than Word. By “a lot better” I mean
>hamburgers in a boisterous sports bar with good friends is a lot better
>than raw vermin, shivering in a cave. But I also recognize there are
>people whose voice is found in Word, and I respect that. One person’s
>rat is another’s gourmet dining. :-)
>
>At some point I got an iMac.
>
>Recently I’ve started migrating my word processing to Mellel.
>
>Curio and MindNode are great for planning. I prefer Apple Numbers to
>Excel, not because it’s an Apple product, but being able to do layouts
>with multiple tables, images, etc, on a single canvas is pretty neat. I
>also recognize I could create the same reports with a combination of
>Excel and something else. Excel plus Powerpoint, maybe, or my recent
>favorite, Affinity Publisher.
>
>In other words, I got hooked on Apple-centric applications. If I had
>this desktop experience under Linux, that’s where I’d be.
>
>Use what works. For me, performance is heavily weighted toward what I
>can do, not what the machine can do. That’s why I like Linux. I can
>provision heavy iron for datacenters, one of my day job roles, and I can
>interface motor controls to a Raspberry Pi in a box the size of a
>paperback book. Linux is my katana.
>
>Macs can be workhorses, too, but in a quite different way.