| When the machine I built had a power supply failure, I had to go fucking replace it. I was free to use whatever power supply I wanted, but I wasn't free to use my damn computer for the four days I waited for my new component. vs When my iMac had a buzzing noise, they replaced it in the store in under an hour. So "sitting on my arse doing nothing, I had to wait four days for a replacement" versus "I physically took my machine to the Apple store and they gave me a replacement at the same time". These are purposefully selective anecdotes. With your first repair, you yourself could have gone to a store - just like you did with the iMac, only not having to carry the damn thing - and got a power supply in five minutes, taken it back to the office, and had it installed and back up in half an hour. Computer stores and power supplies are as common as muck - unless your desktop PC is really weird, you'll find something suitable by simply throwing a brick. Total time spent in process for each 'go to shop' scenario? Less than an hour plus travel time. And with the non-imac one, you don't even have to ferry the computer around. All in all, a pretty similar experience. Unless of course your anecdote is even less fair and the 'four day wait' was for a server part. It's insulting to the people who work really fucking hard and take great pride in the (not so) small impact they leave on the world. People who work hard and take pride in the (not so) small impact they leave can still be doing a bad thing, even though they're full of good intentions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations
(This link is just a strong example, I'm not trying to draw a parallel) |
> can still be doing a bad thing, even though they're full of good intentions.
Totally agree. I just don't think they are doing a bad thing either. No one is forcing you to buy a locked down device. No one is forcing you to make a particular freedom tradeoff. Buy whichever product you like for whichever reasons you like. But just be cognizant of the tradeoffs and their costs without making value judgements about those who make different tradeoffs, both as consumers and as producers.