Poor mans version of a Mac (Hey, at at least it works)
May 23, 2008 4:00 AM Subscribe
Why do people spend thousands upon thousands of dollars for Apple hardware when they can easily have most of the functionality of a Mac computer by installing a copy of the 100 dollar Mac OSX on a used first generation X Box. It seems a little silly to me is all.
This post was deleted for the following reason: First link is AWOL and the rest are kinda thin. This feels kinda like you got lost on the way to Slashdot, honestly. -- cortex
I want an Asus Eee.
Imagine my surprise to see that one of my new colleagues has a COMPANY EEE. Fucking weird, it was.
The little thing rocks. Small, light, with no moving parts... it's quite a whizzy little fucker.
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:15 AM on May 23, 2008
Imagine my surprise to see that one of my new colleagues has a COMPANY EEE. Fucking weird, it was.
The little thing rocks. Small, light, with no moving parts... it's quite a whizzy little fucker.
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:15 AM on May 23, 2008
Why do people buy cars when they could ride a rusty old bicycle? It's a mystery.
posted by unSane at 4:16 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by unSane at 4:16 AM on May 23, 2008
OS X can be installed on a pretty broad base of off the shelf PCs.
posted by nfg at 4:18 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by nfg at 4:18 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
For those who don't follow technical stuff: this is entirely insane. They're using a P3/733 with 128 megs (I think?) of RAM, running Linux. Then, under Linux, they're installing a software emulator and emulating a PPC Mac.
In other words, this is entirely stupid, worthwhile only for bragging rights. They're starting out with a slow, RAM-starved machine, and then running an immensely slow software emulator on top of that. You wouldn't want to use this setup. You'd be (much!) happier with a paper and pencil.
posted by Malor at 4:19 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]
In other words, this is entirely stupid, worthwhile only for bragging rights. They're starting out with a slow, RAM-starved machine, and then running an immensely slow software emulator on top of that. You wouldn't want to use this setup. You'd be (much!) happier with a paper and pencil.
posted by Malor at 4:19 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]
Why do people buy cars when they could ride a rusty old shiny new bicycle? It's a mystery.
posted by fixedgear at 4:21 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by fixedgear at 4:21 AM on May 23, 2008
I love my Eee. You can put OSX on an Eee PC too, if you really want to - a better idea than putting it on an Xbox, but still not recommended.
posted by nthdegx at 4:31 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by nthdegx at 4:31 AM on May 23, 2008
I've nothing against shiny bicycles. I've got four of them! Rusty bicycles, not so much.
(And it's hard to haul a half ton of lumber on a bicycle, just as it's hard to run Photoshop on a 1Gb file on an Xbox running OS X).
posted by unSane at 4:50 AM on May 23, 2008
(And it's hard to haul a half ton of lumber on a bicycle, just as it's hard to run Photoshop on a 1Gb file on an Xbox running OS X).
posted by unSane at 4:50 AM on May 23, 2008
Links to eBay, Amazon and some installation instructions? Weak post.
But if we're talking about the Eee until this gets deleted, allow me to recommend Pupeee Linux as an alternative to the standard Xandros distro. For technical reasons I don't understand (it loads into RAM), it's super fast, and you can run it off an SD card, so retaining the handy F9 restore on the Eee should anything go tits up.
posted by jack_mo at 4:55 AM on May 23, 2008
But if we're talking about the Eee until this gets deleted, allow me to recommend Pupeee Linux as an alternative to the standard Xandros distro. For technical reasons I don't understand (it loads into RAM), it's super fast, and you can run it off an SD card, so retaining the handy F9 restore on the Eee should anything go tits up.
posted by jack_mo at 4:55 AM on May 23, 2008
The only thing the XBOX was good for (XBMC) is nearly ported to Linux/Windows (including Vista support). Win XBMC installer.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:00 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:00 AM on May 23, 2008
Pfft. Call me when you get it working on something really difficult.
posted by Mayor West at 5:10 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by Mayor West at 5:10 AM on May 23, 2008
Why do they do it? Because they have a fetish for the brand. Why do people buy a Moleskine for $15 when they could write in a 50 cent composition book? Because it makes them feel a certain way to connect with a brand. Fostering that connection is the holy grail of retail.
posted by jbickers at 5:15 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by jbickers at 5:15 AM on May 23, 2008
Why do they do it? Because they have a fetish for the brand. Why do people buy a Moleskine for $15 when they could write in a 50 cent composition book? Because it makes them feel a certain way to connect with a brand. Fostering that connection is the holy grail of retail.
That's a little stretched to be analogous. The fact that a person who can write with a pencil knows that a Moleskine can serve the same purpose as a thrifted notebook is a completely separate issue than a person who has kept up on recent trends in computing and realizes that "hey, Mac hardware has the same guts as PC hardware now... wouldn't it make sense that I could install OSX on my PC?" and consequently finds out that OSX86 exists.
Not to mention that doing this sort of thing is still technically "illegal".
posted by tybeet at 5:33 AM on May 23, 2008
That's a little stretched to be analogous. The fact that a person who can write with a pencil knows that a Moleskine can serve the same purpose as a thrifted notebook is a completely separate issue than a person who has kept up on recent trends in computing and realizes that "hey, Mac hardware has the same guts as PC hardware now... wouldn't it make sense that I could install OSX on my PC?" and consequently finds out that OSX86 exists.
Not to mention that doing this sort of thing is still technically "illegal".
posted by tybeet at 5:33 AM on May 23, 2008
Why do they do it? Because they have a fetish for the brand.
Sigh... OK, if we must.
Or maybe because it's excellent hardware, running the best implementation of desktop UNIX ever created, and it's widely considered the best platform for audio, video and graphic design, not to mention infinitely more enjoyable to use than Windows machines for just plain old everyday web browsing and email?
Nah, must be fanboyism. I'd much rather run a hodgepodge of random thrown-together computer parts with a horrible joke of an operating system in order to save money, I mean, who wouldn't?
Why do people buy a Moleskine for $15 when they could write in a 50 cent composition book?
More like why do people buy a Moleskine for $15 when they could shit on the floor, pick up a turd and scrawl messages on the wall.
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:35 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]
Or maybe because it's excellent hardware, running the best implementation of desktop UNIX ever created, and it's widely considered the best platform for audio, video and graphic design, not to mention infinitely more enjoyable to use than Windows machines for just plain old everyday web browsing and email?
The fact that a person who can write with a pencil knows that a Moleskine can serve the same purpose as a thrifted notebook is a completely separate issue than a person who has kept up on recent trends in computing and realizes that "hey, Mac hardware has the same guts as PC hardware now... wouldn't it make sense that I could install OSX on my PC?" and consequently finds out that OSX86 exists.
Who said anything about Windows or PC hardware? I thought we were comparing running a shiny, brushed-metal iMac with running the same operating system on a beat-up old console.
And are you honestly suggesting that if I offered an Apple enthusiast (I'm one, by the way) a choice between an ugly but functional beige box and an equally functional but beautiful new Mac, they wouldn't always choose the latter, for reasons that have nothing to do with functionality? Come on.
posted by jbickers at 5:42 AM on May 23, 2008
The fact that a person who can write with a pencil knows that a Moleskine can serve the same purpose as a thrifted notebook is a completely separate issue than a person who has kept up on recent trends in computing and realizes that "hey, Mac hardware has the same guts as PC hardware now... wouldn't it make sense that I could install OSX on my PC?" and consequently finds out that OSX86 exists.
Who said anything about Windows or PC hardware? I thought we were comparing running a shiny, brushed-metal iMac with running the same operating system on a beat-up old console.
And are you honestly suggesting that if I offered an Apple enthusiast (I'm one, by the way) a choice between an ugly but functional beige box and an equally functional but beautiful new Mac, they wouldn't always choose the latter, for reasons that have nothing to do with functionality? Come on.
posted by jbickers at 5:42 AM on May 23, 2008
Do they really call Linux users "TuxHeads"? Because that's just totally dumb and everyone involved should be very ashamed. Us "WinKers" urinate upon you from a very great height.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:55 AM on May 23, 2008
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:55 AM on May 23, 2008
Form follows function.
The problem too many people have with understanding the idea of design is that they think of it as decoration rather than a something that runs through the entire development & production process.
For example, if I want to open the average beige box I need a screwdriver. If I want to open one of the Macs under my office desk I pull a metal tag and then drop the side off. I can then remove a clear plastic component cover, unslide the fan assembly and then start digging around all in the time it's taken to get the screwdriver from a drawer somewhere to start on the beige box.
I like things that work well. This means that they have to fit together and talk together. Of course I'd prefer them to look good because I like my stuff to look good.
Alternatively: Here are two women. They both have excellent jobs in research, a sunny disposition, similar tastes to you and are generally smart, funny, great to hang out with and are of an Olympic standard in the sack. One is teh hotness and the other looks like she's been dragged along the driveway on her face. Which one would you pick bucko?!?
(Please feel free to insert similar male/hetro/homo/bi/etc possibilities to illustrate the point to an even wider audience)
posted by i_cola at 6:01 AM on May 23, 2008
The problem too many people have with understanding the idea of design is that they think of it as decoration rather than a something that runs through the entire development & production process.
For example, if I want to open the average beige box I need a screwdriver. If I want to open one of the Macs under my office desk I pull a metal tag and then drop the side off. I can then remove a clear plastic component cover, unslide the fan assembly and then start digging around all in the time it's taken to get the screwdriver from a drawer somewhere to start on the beige box.
I like things that work well. This means that they have to fit together and talk together. Of course I'd prefer them to look good because I like my stuff to look good.
Alternatively: Here are two women. They both have excellent jobs in research, a sunny disposition, similar tastes to you and are generally smart, funny, great to hang out with and are of an Olympic standard in the sack. One is teh hotness and the other looks like she's been dragged along the driveway on her face. Which one would you pick bucko?!?
(Please feel free to insert similar male/hetro/homo/bi/etc possibilities to illustrate the point to an even wider audience)
posted by i_cola at 6:01 AM on May 23, 2008
I love my Mac, but sure, I'd pick a cheaper, fully-supported beige box any day of the week. I get your point, but there really are plenty of people who use Macs because they just want to get things done. I bought mine because I was tired of the PC audio headaches. That it's pretty and otherwise physically well-designed is a nice bonus.
Of course, running virtualized OS X on XBox hardware would fail at pretty much everything. It's still pretty neat, though.
For example, if I want to open the average beige box I need a screwdriver.
The last Dell I bought, in 2000 or 2001, had thumbscrews. The disks might even have been on rails. Apple hardware is well-designed, in general, but it's not entirely unique.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:09 AM on May 23, 2008
Of course, running virtualized OS X on XBox hardware would fail at pretty much everything. It's still pretty neat, though.
For example, if I want to open the average beige box I need a screwdriver.
The last Dell I bought, in 2000 or 2001, had thumbscrews. The disks might even have been on rails. Apple hardware is well-designed, in general, but it's not entirely unique.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:09 AM on May 23, 2008
Us "WinKers" urinate upon you from a very great height.
Those WinCErs over there are watching you with distressed expressions.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:10 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
Those WinCErs over there are watching you with distressed expressions.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:10 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]
The last Dell I bought, in 2000 or 2001, had thumbscrews.
As if the Windows experience weren't painful enough.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:12 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]
As if the Windows experience weren't painful enough.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:12 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]
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