So as many of you know, I’m unfortunately in the market for an ultralight laptop to replace my faithful x23. After speaking with a vendor today who’s running my distro of choice, Gentoo, on an iBook I thought I’d take another look at some of the Apple hardware. What I found was startling.
Apple’s hardware, I’m finding, is nearly the reverse of what I’ve been led to believe. Its virtue, I’m often told, is craftsmanship because they have full control over the manufacturing process. Well, my brother just bought a brand new iMac, and about an hour after opening it had fried his motherboard. Verdict? Bad power supply. And he’s far from alone: a quick troll through many different forums reveals posts like this one:
My only advice is don’t buy a Mac. I have an iBook, and yesterday it broke for the 5’th time with the same problem. Apple keeps fixing it for free, but it is a major hassle.
Now to be sure, every vendor is going to have their share of these types of comments, because nobody’s perfect. But it’s also true that Apple’s had its share of manufacturing issues over the years – anybody remember that cube thing that cracked prematurely? But just as my expectations for the hardware quality probably need to be reset, my expectations on price definitely did.
Pricing off a Thinkpad x40 versus a Powerbook G4 12″, what do you think I found? Given these specs (TP: 1.4Ghz, 1.25GB, 40GB / PB: 1.5Ghz, 1.25GB, 100GB), anyone care to guess at respective prices (and yes, the Apple does have a higher clock speed than the Thinkpad)? How about $2881 for the Thinkpad vs $2074 for the Powerbook? I don’t know about you guys, but that surprised the hell out of me. Even more because the Apple comes with a CD-RW drive and the Thinkpad comes with no drives of any sort. In the Thinkpad’s favor is weight, it’s sub 3 pounds to the near 5 of the Powerbook. But overall, pricing – the last area I expected Apple to be competitive on – was pretty compelling. Before anyone asks, yes I’m aware there are far cheaper x86 options than the Thinkpad, but it’s pretty much the best x86 hardware available, IMO.
But how can I use Apple’s gear without having to learn OS X? Linux. From what I can find in the Gentoo package database, application availability for Linux on Power’s pretty damn good. No Skype ebuild, and no Ximian-Connector – yet – but overall I can get X, Gnome, Open Office, Evolution, Firefox, Gaim, even Tomboy. Everything I need to do my job, in other words. Not bad at all. Not sure about the hardware yet, particularly the wireless, but am waiting on some feedback from the Gentoo crowd on that score. Somewhere, right about now, Coté is smiling 😉
Saving $800 may come in handy, too, because it would appear that my desktop Windows box is on its last legs; it appears to have cooked an older 45GB IBM hard drive I had in the second bay (more on that minor disaster later). I’ll probably be getting a workstation to replace that, so that I can run some of the heavier duty trial Windows applications I have laying around (like Workplace Service Express). Unless some friendly vendor out there wants to give me some free trial gear (wink wink).
Anyway, the lesson in all of this? Bill James is right; we should all question our assumptions, because as often as not, they’ll prove to be incorrect.
Update: Apparently I shouldn’t hold my breath for wireless support, nor can I swap out the Airport Extreme for a more Linux-friendly Airport. This may be the end of my Powerbook lust, unless I can figure out an alternative like Bluetooth to Verizon to wireless. Either way, it’s a great illustration of how hardware vendors can forgo entire markets for their product; seriously, there probably aren’t any Linux advocates out there that would buy your stuff Broadcom. Or maybe there are 10,000 of them.
Update 2: Looks like I’m not the only one eyeing Mac hardware. Via /., it would seem that Linus has already made the transition.
Cote' says:
March 8, 2005 at 3:08 pm
Some of the folks at work tell me that Gentoo doesn't work with the AirPort. They say you can get a USB wireless thing. So, if you're planning dumping OS X, you might have that as a problem.
Of course, I'd suggest just sticking with OS X. For me, it has all the things about *nix that I like (a shell, users, X-Windows-ish-y, and none of the things I dislike (having to edit a jillion different config files). I'd think that most of the applications you'd want to run would have been ported to OS X. Firefox and Gaim/Adium for sure.
And as far as having to "learn" OS X…really…it'll take a sharp tac like you about 5 minutes 😉 Seriously though, it's really just *nix with some nicer GUIs wrapped around most of the nasty config files. And as I'm fond of saying, everything "just works," so what do you need access to all those config files for anyway?
sogrady says:
March 8, 2005 at 4:26 pm
yup, from what i can tell the newer Airport Extreme cards – unlike the older Airport – does not have any available Linux drivers, nor are any imminent. that is a pretty major showstopper for me. some folks are also apparently have difficulty with the touchpad (which i don't like) in the latest and greatest models.
and as far as OS-X, i'm sure i could pick it up, but once you go Gentoo, it's difficult to go back. have every application from apache to evolution to mysql to tomboy and its dependencies captured in a package DB and centrally administered, man that's hard to give up. want to see what needs to be updated on your whole machine – as in *every* application? emerge -p world. it's sweeeeeet.
i dunno. i love the hardware, but don't think i can give up Gentoo. if the hardware support gets any better, i might be able to go that route but without it, it'd be tough.
Danno says:
March 8, 2005 at 5:04 pm
You know, the only thing that really REALLY annoys me about OSX is the insistence on putting the program options at the very top of the screen instead of on the application windows. I know that's the whole Mac THING, but it still bothers me.
Cote' says:
March 8, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Doesn't fink do all that fancy updating?
I don't use fink all that much, but my understanding is that it wraps around apt-get, or whatever, and it seems to be that same type "mega-package management at your fingertips" system that you're talking about.
All I'm saying is: I think your requirments can be met, esp. if fink does all the updating stuff you're talking about.
Or maybe not: I don't really use fink that much. It's just my understanding that it's one of those best things since sliced bread.
Christopher Baus says:
March 8, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Stephen,
This is what I go through everytime I consider Apple hardware. I almost bought an Mac as a Unix development platform, but then realized their non-blocking I/O support was as good as Linux or FreeBSD, and back to x86 hardware I went.
For awhile Apple seemed serious about Linux support, but they seemed to have given up on that. Sorry Mr. Jobs, but I'm running Dell hardware.
James Governor says:
March 9, 2005 at 1:37 am
i am confused. you consider buying something even though you doubt the build quality? or are you just talking speculatively/questioning your assumptions? take your billing rate and calculate how much downtime costs. if your laptop is on the fritz, you are on the fritz. i would go with the old stinkpad. i just wish
a. IBM wasn't canning the brand
b. they weren't so damn expensive
sogrady says:
March 9, 2005 at 9:07 am
Danno: my intention – should i go the PB route – actually is to shy away from OS X as much as possible, lest i get sucked in 😉 but i actually have hear that complaint before. it's similar to my frustration with the initial release of iTunes for Windows: it wouldn't maximize to the full screen depth, b/c that's not the "Apple" way of doing things. dumb.
Cote': no idea, though i will look into Fink. but it's really about more than Portage, as good as it is. it's being able to try and use all the latest and greatest apps coming out of the open source world without having to wait for ports, about being able to have some consistency from desktop to server, etc. you may get me on Apple hardware – though even that's looking problematic – but you'll have a tough time getting me on Apple software 😉
Christopher: i actually sort of expect Apple to be anti-Linux in their support, mainly because it's emerging as yet another threat on the desktop level according to numbers from IDC. but what's even more frustrating is when hardware manufacturers – in this case Broadcom, who makes the Apple Extreme's chipset – refuse to support Linux. i simply don't get that, from a business standpoint.
James: hahaha – no, i'm not considering buying subpar hardware. i'm instead saying that while Apple's reputation for build quality is not what some people make it out to be, *every* vendor has similar problems. i had someone tell me a few weeks ago that Harvard Business School students are having a lot issues with their school mandated Thinkpads, and are not fond of them.
downtime is a big cost, no question. but we're all going to have it, whether it's through human error (like spilling things on our laptops 😉 or hardware failure. i don't know that that's avoidable. the key is to have a strategy to mitigate the effects of such failures, whether that's backup or network applications or something else.
Jason says:
April 7, 2005 at 3:11 pm
I am seriously disenchanted with Apple's hardware now as well. I switched back after 10 years and it has been total hell. Their hardware is elegant to be sure–and fragile, impossible to work on, and evidently plagued with errors. AppleCare will make it right, but they take forever, consistently overpromise and underdeliver, and require repeat repairs.
Why can't there be a graceful OS designed for a reasonable laptop?