The Online Photographer

I actually spent the last 24 hours researching how to build a Hackintosh. Which is absurd. I am absolutely the last person on the planet who should be building any kind of computer. Well, okay, not the absolute last person. But let's just say that in that category, "people who should build their own computer," I do not rank in the top two billion.

On the other hand, it was interesting. And in case I didn't already know it, it indicates I am experiencing mild FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about replacing my computer. Partly that's because I'm both a full-time blogger and a photographer who prints, and because I mostly work at a desk but need to travel sometimes.

And who stands with Occam.

And my income tracks with the graph of camera sales.

So I do have, um, highly individualized needs.

As to the new MacBook Pro, well, all right...so I'd have to go back to using a card reader. Not that big a deal really. It's just so sleek and efficient having it built in. Card readers are inherently kludgey and inelegant.

Looking in from outside at Apple's product lineup, it seems to me like phones and tablets have become big product categories, and iMacs and laptops have expanded while the Mac Pro and Mac Mini categories have withered and shrunk. Minis are crippled now and the black-ashcan Mac Pro has not been a marketing success (minimalist, high-style design that values compactness and power users of computers do not go together gladly), and there's nothing in the middle for those who want to use high-quality third-party calibrated monitors or who like gaming and video...the other people who still like and use desktop computers.

What would really make the most sense would be a rationalization of Apple's desktop lineup. Consolidate Mini and Pro and add one or two models in the middle, each tailored for specific markets. A basic, inexpensive, dual-core, soldered-RAM Mini-like tiny box for switchers and light duty users; a bigger but still sleek box for photographers and graphic artists (self-serving suggestion, maybe, but hey, that's legacy for Mac—a heritage core constituency, if you'll pardon the pun); maybe a gaming tower; and a large, highly configurable and expandable, well-cooled, heavy-duty balls-to-the-wall box for the true power users.

As I've said, I don't know much about computers. I just like to advocate for photographers getting what they need to do their work.

And if I ever do buy all the parts for a Hackintosh, I can tell you with a high degree of certainty what would happen next The boxes would sit in a heap in the corner until the day I died, silently mocking me on a daily basis.

As Dana Carvey once said, imitating George H.W. Bush, not gunna do it!

Mike
(Thanks to Scott and Chuq Von Rospach)

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Give the teacher an apple
Join our support campaign or buy something

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!