Apple / Mac / Mac clone better for computer haters?

[Michael L]

Hello NLUG,

I have an 82 year old computer hater that (rightfully) complained about Microsoft Windows every day for 19 years; switched her to Kubuntu LTS when Win7 ended, thankfully skipping Win10 and she's complained about Linux almost every day since, even though it works much better than Windows, at least in my book and I'm the end user engineer that has to listen to all the complaining and make it work.  She's not interested in learning; can't explain anything to her; can't have one intelligent word, much less intelligent conversation about the least thing relating to computers.

I want to ask those of you who use Macs if maybe a $1300 iMac desktop would work so absolutely perfectly that a computer hater would all of a sudden be happy?  Or if it wouldn't work absolutely perfectly, would it maybe work hands down at least a little better than any Linux distro?

I've been able to either promptly fix or promptly find a workaround for every issue; that is if I'm asked.  That's just not good enough; she doesn't want to even ask; just wants it to work.  Hardly ever is it an issue of Linux not working; rather it's computer pediatrics.

I switched her from Kubuntu after two years to Ubuntu.  I suspect that RPM distros Fedora or OpenSUSE might have a little edge over the DEB distros on overall desktop stability, based on my own past experimentation, so I might give Fedora or OpenSUSE a try.

Should I even consider a Mac?

Thanks to NLUG I escaped Microsoft penitentiary.  Thanks for the monthly meetups; they benefit me greatly.

Thanks again,

 Michael

[Drew]

Michael,

As a Mac user: One of the reasons I am willing to pay the premium price is that it IS premium hardware, that is I rarely upgrade computers until the old one becomes "unusable" or won't update anymore, which means I've run 10 year old laptops and stuff like that. The hardware is very reliable, especially in the era of solid state hard drives. My biggest issue used to be spinning drive failure. So if hardware is the problem it is hard to argue with the Mac. It's the "It just works" solution to me. When I was in IT, I spent my whole day making everyone else's mess work, when I came home, I didn't want to have to fiddle with my stuff to get it to work.

All that said, it sounds like you need to be comfortable with the solution, and that's the main requirement, because the ..er...client will not be happy with anything. Maybe with a cumulative assessment of the complaints issued, you could go to the apple store and play with an iMac and evaluate whether it might resolve any of the issues mentioned. To be honest, when my computer hating father finally had to have SOMETHING because even his curmudgeon friends were talking about social media sites, we went with an ipad, since he had figured out how to use a smartphone.

Drew

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[Michael Chaney]

I always make my family members buy Macs if they want me to help them with their computer.  I had one problem 15 years ago, but that's it.  Apple folks are good at helping.

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 3:44 AM Michael L <helpwit...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Kevin Hart]

My first thought is, is the computer really a problem or is this a case of a lonely elderly person?  She's been trained that a computer problem brings you around or a phone call.  Lot of these sorta situations are just that, a Pavlovian response where you always come around for computer problems.  Unconsciously she does it because you are 'the good son' type that wants to not have the computer being a problem.

After that, yea Macs 'just work' IMHO but also the way they do stuff is different so for an elderly person to learn a whole new way of using their computer can be tough.  I switched dad to a Mac in like 2012 and he couldn't be happier up until now where that hardware is no longer supported and that the way he uses Quicken doesn't exist anymore so new hardware and OS would mean yet another way of learning how he does his money is just not acceptable.

You can get a MacMini for cheap that would be able to 'solve' her problems.  But do take note of what she does cause we still live in a world where not every application has parity from each OS.  That would let you lay out fewer dollars to try this.  Plus lets you reuse most everything else (tho I do like getting new keyboards and mice since those are touch points that make a computer feel new) and if she has vision issues monitor choice is a real thing to think about.

I would also say, how about an iPad?  Does she have an iPhone or iPad already?  Dad is 99% on his iPad these days and likes it that way.  Only using his old iMac for Quicken.  You can also set up a keyboard and mouse for an iPad as well which turns it into more or less a Macbook.  The touch interface works for a lot of people.  But for elderly , a lot of people say iPads (or I guess an android tablet) are the best, being able to use the 'computer' from her favorite chair/couch.

--
-Kevin

"You can't turn a pig into a thoroughbred,
but if you spend enough time and money,
you sure can make a mighty fast pig"

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 3:44 AM Michael L <helpwit...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Michael L]

Excellent NLUG input as always.  

No she wants a filip phone and "not a computer" for a phone, so not an iPhone user.

Thanks to NLUG I met Greg Cooper Cisco network engineer at the first post COVID in person meetup and we have our VPN with Tactical RMM set up, so I can connect in to her PC and diagnose and address any issue remotely, so I myself am perfectly happy to keep making Linux work for every last little detail.

Her most recent complaint was she couldn't find a video clip on our YouTube channel.  I connected in and also couldn't see it, so I did a temporary workaround to put the video on her PC another way; turned out a simple restart made the video clip appear on YouTube where a browser reload didn't .. not on Firefox or Chromium.  The complaint before that was remote connecting to a DB on Windows 11 that was typically Microsoftly unresponsive .. had to simply reboot (relight) the Windows dumpster fire, (but she complains thinking Linux is the problem) .. in the end it's just hilarious and I just love my job, not sarcastic for once, ever since I escaped Microsoft penitentiary.

I don't plan to mention Apple Mac as an alternative.  Looking forward to March NLUG meetup.

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[Csaba Toth]

I currently have a work MacBook, but if it's up to me I would not buy on my own ever, until:

* Apple won't have egregious extra price just for the brand

* more importantly: Apple ecosystem won't be a WALLED GARDEN

* Apple won't be the worst hardware in terms of repairability

Multiple people mentioned how reliable or well built they are. Well, unfortunately that's a very small sample set. Everything is hunky and dory until one day something goes wrong.

Apple device repair is a joke, you are getting ripped off just like during the purchase.

Apple leads about making changes against repairability and usually other stupid manufacturers follow suit. For example headphone jack or SD card extension removal (claimed to be for waterproofness, bullshit!), glueing in the battery to make it even harder to replace it even though it's already quite hard. And then stupid Android manufacturers follow these practices like sheep.

One of the latest things which freaks me out is that the modern generation MacBook not only has the CPU and memory soldered. But they solder in the freakin SSD! WTF! In any case you have a problem, you have to replace the whole motherboard, which essentially means complete device replacement. Unbelievable.

Please watch old videos of Louis Rossmann, who owned a repair shop specialized in Apple products. He catalogued hundreds (!) of common flaws. Real major ones usually Apple resists to admit, uses dirty tactics to evade and provide warranty.

He essentially spoke against his own business, because the more people he taught repairing Apple products, the less business he potentially gets in the global sense, however he ethically was upset by what he saw every day.

Make no mistake: many times certified Apple repair shops sent devices to him until they screwed up. Oftentimes certified repair could mean shipping your phone to some central repair facility, in which case there's a chance you lose your data. Apple for many decades led a guerilla warfare against 3rd party repair shops, uch as blackmailing Chinese manufacturers of unique chips used to not resell them anywhere else, making certain odd repairs completely impossible. The list goes on and on.

Apple makes sure that some second hand devices are destroyed and won't be reused, inflating the electric waste.

Repairability and reuse is more important than you think.

Please do not buy Apple products until they change their ways.

Note that their repair program is debunked by many YouTubers: the machines the 3rd party repair shops would have to buy are too pricey and they were able to perform only limited types of repairs none of which are profitable.

I didn't even mention that participating 3rd party shops would need to send extensive information about the APple owner clients to the mothership. That's very interesting because Apple lives in many people's heads as the white protector knight of privacy and security. Why do they need extensive privacy data then?

I can tell personal stories. Don't let the shininess fool you.

Please.

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[Michael L]

Much appreciated.

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