I know that most people who've had their fair share of problems with technology understand the author and identify with him immediately when he says: "No, no, a hundred times no to both - if I buy a product then I expect it to work as advertised and not need to implement hacks to keep it alive.".
The thing with technology, and especially smartphones and computers, is that there seems to be a trend going that devices dictate your behaviour, and not the other way around. For example, windows 10 makes it extremely hard to change files in some locations, won't let the user decide when to reboot and install updates, and regularly bothers the user with useless messages: 'a virus scan (hm, I don't remember starting one?) has completed without detecting any threats.'.
A lot of people have better things to do with their time. Likewise, when want to program stuff it happens that I spent more time on my tools than on coding (visual studio crashes, or won't let me start my program because there is a zombie process, or I messed up my github repository somehow).
People want to manage their own time and are willing to pay for that (especially wealthy peoplee). This is why people buy overpriced stuff (like Apple!). It is true for most hobbies that you can do them cheaply and with a lot of effort, but everyone who is involved in a more serious way usually says: 'spend some more and you'll have a much better time'.
> windows 10 … won't let the user decide when to reboot and install updates
This isn't actually true; there's a setting in the control panel to tell it when to reboot and install updates.
That said, Windows 10 will reboot to install those updates, and then, next time you log in, will make you wait several minutes while it 'finishes installing updates'. It also does so in what is intended to be a user-friendly matter, but which comes across as creepy and menacing. The first time it happened, I logged in to see a screen that said
'Hello'
Then:
'We've made some changes to your computer' (or similar unsettling language)
And then, as if they realized at this point how menacingly they were coming across:
'Your files are all where you left them'
I was 95% sure that I'd been malwared and someone had encrypted all my stuff for ransom. I actually had a moment of panic, wondering what they would have had access to from that machine.
> This is why people buy overpriced stuff (like Apple!).
I would argue that if the frustration-free approach that Apple tends to embody best appeals to you, then it's not 'overpriced', it's just more highly priced.
The thing with technology, and especially smartphones and computers, is that there seems to be a trend going that devices dictate your behaviour, and not the other way around. For example, windows 10 makes it extremely hard to change files in some locations, won't let the user decide when to reboot and install updates, and regularly bothers the user with useless messages: 'a virus scan (hm, I don't remember starting one?) has completed without detecting any threats.'.
A lot of people have better things to do with their time. Likewise, when want to program stuff it happens that I spent more time on my tools than on coding (visual studio crashes, or won't let me start my program because there is a zombie process, or I messed up my github repository somehow).
People want to manage their own time and are willing to pay for that (especially wealthy peoplee). This is why people buy overpriced stuff (like Apple!). It is true for most hobbies that you can do them cheaply and with a lot of effort, but everyone who is involved in a more serious way usually says: 'spend some more and you'll have a much better time'.