Laptops are compared to other laptops availiable on market. Apple sells a entry line of their premium laptops at 1000$. And these are VERY good laptops.
My point was more that throwing around the lowest price point (in a different currency...) of a differently positionned product line helps nothing.
Comparing Macs to Framework laptops is also an exercise in frustration in that nobody's seriously looking at the two for the exact same task. The price point discussion was already a distraction IMHO.
Can you imagine someone thinking "I'm gonna buy an officially supported fully user repairable Linux dev machine, should I get a MacBook Air 15?" or "I own everything in the Apple ecosystem and just need 'a laptop', how does that 100% incompatible machine fit my needs ?"
How much of an overlap is there really ? I totally understand the article author getting mad when he was looking for a completely different thing in the first place.
I think it depends. At least on $dayjob’s stack (webdev/Go) both are interchangeable and I’m fine using either. Ofc they aren’t the same thing, but depending on your task and constraints, both a MacBook or a Framework can attend your needs.
I can agree with you that they don’t have the same position, but users are going to see a Framework laptop on mainstream media and are going to compare options. A few might try out, and even though they’ll get frustrated, they might now understand the ideology around open hardware.
Yes. I think jobs where any laptop would do will get better ROI from the most run of the mill machine, whichever it is.
Back in the day it was the Dell XPS and Thinkpad lines, right now I see the MBA and Surface added to those. Economies of scale just work that way, and these machine will be aimed at perfectly doing the 20% that cover 80% of the requirements, Pareto style.
Does Framework get mainstream media treatment ? I thought they weren't even sold in stores, and only got press from TheVerge and other tech focused media. So the target market ends up being people dedicated enough to pay thousands sight unseen from a smallish company that will deliver in batches months after the order.
I automatically bundle Linus Tech Tips into mainstream, mainly because how much people with no hands-on experience (i.e.: bring their laptops to a shopping center’s IT shop to upgrade RAM/SSD) around me watch it. I hope that eventually they are encouraged enough to try stuff on their own, and if they are in that mindset, framework is the best brand they can buy.
