Comment by satisfaction
4 years ago
If you use your laptop as mostly a youtube machine or a social media station then yes, the described problems are not a big deal, in fact they are probably beneficial to your well-being. But if you use your laptop to earn a living, that can be a major problem, day traders for a top of the head example. This also sounds like a nightmare for the corporate world. I suspect that these custom silicon iOS devices will be fully cemented as 'Fisher Price' computers.
> If you use your laptop as mostly a youtube machine or a social media station then yes, the described problems are not a big deal, in fact they are probably beneficial to your well-being
I've set up a few Linux installations for people who only use their computers as Facebook and YouTube machines, and I haven't had a complaint. They also wouldn't be able to break their systems if they tried.
I'm of the opinion that if ChromeOS would fit a user's use case, then so would Ubuntu with Firefox or Chrome, most of the time.
Those same Linux systems would fit my needs as a developer with only a few small changes.
Security, simplicity, power and ownership don't have to be mutually exclusive. You can have a simple and secure computer, and also have power over your system and own your hardware.
Yeah, a modern Linux distro can satisfy the needs of a "regular" user just fine - an up to date web browser and maybe an email client and all is fine.
Yet at the same time it makes it possible for the user to "grow" and make use of more advanced features of the system for creative endeavors.
On the other hand on a locked down mobile device or chromebook, there is not really any room to grow and be creative, it's only good for consuming content.
Even a youtube machine can become a big deal if the walled garden prevents you from installing an ad blocker or third party client & forces you to watch mandatory adds to see any videos - that might very well happens (and happens) in walled gardens.
There's no question that software bugs are bad. But that doesn't mean we should expect consumers to ditch an entire manufacturer forever because it's physically possible for that manufacturer to have a software bug. Obviously, bugs are inevitable. I'm not making excuses. I'm just explaining why people wouldn't instantly abandon a manufacturer after experiencing a single serious software bug.