After seeing the touch bar, I think it's really not all that useful. I would much rather have seen more battery, RAM, faster CPU options, traditional USB and HDMI, magsafe, and more SSD. Basically take the 2014-2015 MacBook Pro and beef it up and I will be very happy.
People say it's selling. Of course it is. Mac still has a near-monopoly on "Unix with good UI." But if they keep doing this, it will erode. Windows is becoming nicer in many ways, MS and other PC hardware is getting better, Linux desktop is steadily improving, etc. The ecosystem never stands still.
> Windows is becoming nicer in many ways, MS and other PC hardware is getting better, Linux desktop is steadily improving, etc.
Since moving to the NT kernel the underlying technology keeps getting better. But personally, I don't think the Windows UI is getting better, and the ecosystem sucks (app store, package manager, permissions system, etc).
Linux desktop is awesome, but laptop is tricky. Battery life can be abysmal without tinkering, although blaming Linux for shoddy drivers isn't exactly fair.
Non-Apple hardware+software always seems like a compromise, and we've been spoiled by Apple by having our cake and eating it. The most frustrating thing is that everything is a compromise now. Ironically, even though Apple is accused of not innovating anymore, I think many people would have preferred less innovation and more iteration.
I really hope that better "Unix with good UI" laptops will exist in the future. Right now, I'd rather buy a 2015 MBP than any of those "Dev Edition" machines.
Over a decade of crawling on its belly at the bottom end of the market has really taken a toll on PC hardware and the whole PC ecosystem. The bundling of actual malware with PCs marks what I think is the low point. Dell's XPS machines are starting to climb out of that hole, but it'll take some resolve.
Ouch.
After seeing the touch bar, I think it's really not all that useful. I would much rather have seen more battery, RAM, faster CPU options, traditional USB and HDMI, magsafe, and more SSD. Basically take the 2014-2015 MacBook Pro and beef it up and I will be very happy.
People say it's selling. Of course it is. Mac still has a near-monopoly on "Unix with good UI." But if they keep doing this, it will erode. Windows is becoming nicer in many ways, MS and other PC hardware is getting better, Linux desktop is steadily improving, etc. The ecosystem never stands still.