[23367] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Why after avoiding Apple for decades,
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lauren Weinstein)
Thu Mar 19 14:49:54 2026
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:42:10 -0700
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
To: privacy-dist@vortex.com
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Why after avoiding Apple for decades, I'm buying the new Apple Neo
I have been almost entirely in the Google ecosystem since the dawn of
Google, and in fact bought my first Android phone the first day the
first Android phone (the venerable G1 with the slide-out keyboard,
which I still have and still boots, though with an open source OS
version) became available. All my smartphones since then have been
Android -- I don't expect that to change.
Other than the single purchase of a tiny iPod Nano long ago, I have
avoided Apple hardware due (among other things) to its typically
outrageous pricing and lack of competition in the hardware
manufacturing space.
In fact, I made an anti-Apple decision long, long ago, when I chose to
work with the 8080/Z80 CPU microcomputers rather than the 68000 series
CPUs that Apple chose for its early Macintosh and Lisa lines.
Of course my main work over the decades has been with UNIX/Linux, my
servers are and have always run these, and my primary desktops are
Linux as well. There are also a number of Chromebooks, Android
tablets, Android/Google based TV devices, and some Windows systems for
compatibility with needed Windows apps. There more stuff of course but
you get the idea.
Along the way I've frequently been asked about issues related
specifically to Apple iOS and MACs, and I have simply replied that I
don't have expertise with those.
So I've long been aware of this gap, but couldn't justify the expense
of any Apple hardware simply for the purpose of filling that gap.
Two events have changed this a bit. First it's clear that both Google
and Apple have been moving with notable speed ever farther into the
Dark Side, with their billionaire CEOs embracing fascist Trump and
seemingly everything evil that he represents.
This creates an interesting dynamic, if one feels that purely open
source systems cannot completely fulfill one's required hardware and
software needs. In essence, the question becomes is it better to deal
mainly with a single Evil Big Tech firm, or split your needs in some
respects across two of them (or three, if we include Windows
requirements and Microsoft).
For now I view the "split" as the most practical choice -- for me,
anyway -- and the new Apple Neo (whose macOS runs a largely usable UNIX
under the hood) represents what seems to be the most cost effective
current path to this (it does appear to be a disruptive design in terms of
capabilities and pricing, that may give Google's Chromebooks a run for
their money, especially in the educational space).
Anyway, just thought I'd mention all this -- more than you wanted
to know, of course.
Best,
L
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com (https://www.vortex.com/lauren)
Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren
Signal: By request on need to know basis
Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org
PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility
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