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  • New laptops, same(ish) as the old.

    So Apple has announced some new laptops and I’ve seen a couple of reviews about the MacBook Neo that’s coming out and I have some thoughts about it.

    Some folks seem to be really critical about the device having a CPU that was previously used in the iPhone or about the amount of memory and storage space on the device. Some seem to be thinking that this device is going to be the ChromeBook killer given the relatively low (for Apple) price. 

    Honestly for me the device isn’t something that is that interesting, not because it’s not a good device. More because it’s simply not targeted at me. 

    This type of device is the laptop that someone who just wants a “laptop for school” but doesn’t care about the specification will pick up. They will wind up grabbing it from the Apple store withe AppleCare and will probably walk out the door just around 1000$ out of pocket with a device that should last them through the next couple of years of school or basic email and social media. 

    As far as it killing Chromebooks, I don’t know about that. Chrome OS devices have a whole ecosystem that they live within and the macOS devices are not going to live in that same ecosystem in the same way I can’t see them completely displacing Chrome OS in an organization that has already heavily invested in them. If the organization is one that’s currently sitting on a bunch of late model Intel MacBook Air’s or first generation M1 devices this device gives those customers a price point to move over to newer hardware that’s hopefully going to be faster. 

    The storage options and memory options do irk me a bit, but again I’m not the target for this thing. What is interesting is that Apple has a pretty good track record of providing reasonably long support windows for their devices. If they are still releasing a device in 2026 with only 8gb of system memory that kind of indicates that they intend to support that as a viable configuration for some time to come. For the rest of us out there that bodes well since they will probably have to avoid adding in bloat and garbage into the OS while these devices are still in production. 

    The lack of a backlight on the keyboard, the difference in the speaker setup, the difference in the camera setup, are all things that a lot of people who just need a laptop to work on probably won’t care about. And frankly those limitations make sense since it’s going to prevent Apple from driving the people who would have normally bought a MacBook Air into the MacBook Neo. The people picking this up would be the people who are price sensitive rather than the people that care about the specification of the device. 

    I honestly can’t recall the last time that Apple had a laptop at this price point. From what I can recall the entry point for any Apple laptop has always been around the 1000$ mark. Seeing them getting into the mix at a 600$ entry point is interesting and I would love to see what happens to the higher end iPads during this time period. I know more than a few people who picked up iPad Pro’s and keyboards for them instead of doing a laptop to save a few dollars.

    Unfortunately for Microsoft I think this is going to eat more of their lunch than anybody else. Unless you wanted or had to use a ChromeOS device Windows was the option at this price. Given all the crap they are bundling now with Copilot, and that Recall feature in Windows 11 some folks may just elect to move over now that there is a cheaper option to get into the ecosystem with. 

    Would I buy one? 

    Nope. 

    But I’m not the person this device is aimed at. You could be, and if that’s the case it’s definitely worth a look. 

  • So who am I and why should you care?

    Frankly, I’m nobody in the grand scheme of things and you probably shouldn’t really care what I have to say about anything posted here. This blog is going to be a place for me to toss down random comments on things that I’m interested in and anything here is my opinion, nothing more. 

    Feel free to read through as I’m posting things here and if something that I post makes sense or resonates with you that’s great to hear. Keep in mind however that I’m just another random voice on the internet and anything that I’m posting here should be taken with a grain of salt and you should be doing your own homework to make sure that I’m not completely off my rocker. 

    That said, I’m interested in Technology, Photography, and I have been trying my hand at learning Brazilian Ju Jitsu for the last several years. 

    On the technology side I like playing around with different types of technology, but I also don’t get super excited about things unless there’s a actual reason or application for the technology that I can make use of. So while I’m really interested in 3d printing the current excitement over the sate of “AI” stuff does not really catch my eye as much. 

    That whole AI thing is a discussion for another post since I can rant about that specific piece of tech all day long. 

    I have spent a lot of time playing around with networking equipment, servers, laptops, desktops, mobile devices, and the management of all those devices. I have opinions on all of them, some more informed than others, and I’m sure that we will get into the topic of managing hardware at some point. 

    Photography is something that I’ve been doing off and on since I was young. My first Camera was a Canon T60 that I was given as a Christmas present in high school and I’ve been taking shots ever since. Around 2006 I made a switch over to using a Digital SLR and transitioned away from shooting film. As much as I liked shooting film I don’t really miss the work in the darkroom or the cost of getting film processed if I didn’t feel like doing it myself. 

    Most of what I shoot winds up being scenery, landscapes, things like that. I’m not huge on taking photos of people since people can in many cases object to having photos taken and I try to respect that. 

    On the sporting side I do find myself taking part in Brazilian Ju Jitsu – it wasn’t something that I sought out but I wound up taking some classes and it’s stuck with me for a bit. A bit being long enough for me to get my belt awarded last year and for me to start the process of training for the IBJJF worlds with a eye to going and actually trying my hand in competition this year. 

    So I’m no expert, and I wouldn’t call myself a competitor but I’m probably a bit more than what you would consider a casual player in the sport if that makes any sense. 

    As far as politics or religion, I’m going to try to keep that out of this space. I did used to try to talk through this type of thing with people but the current situation in the world makes that difficult to say the least. A lot of people are just taking the stance that if you don’t have the exact same views they do that you are their enemy. So In general I don’t actively go looking for that type of conversation any more.

    Anyhow, that’s a bit about me. Stay tuned for more as I get around to typing up stuff here.

  • Round 2 I Guess

    Back in 2015 I originally started this up as a place to rant, toss messages around, and in General just mess about with things. Honestly for the most part it was hard to bother with keeping things updated since none of what was posted was actually anything that I saw value in. 

    So, second round, let’s give this another try and see if something of value can’t be put on this page.