[Shiunbird]

I just don't trust Apple anymore. I got REALLY burnt when they discontinued Aperture, was not at all pleased when they canned Shake, and I just can't trust that I will be able to keep operating my equipment as Apple moves forward with the enshittiPadfication of macos.

It''s not my full time job, but I take photographs professionally (a couple clients per month) and, for example, I can download and bundle metadata from my film camera using a USB data dumper that connects to the camera serial port, allowing me to update the scanned files with EXIF and important tracking and copyright information.

The company that made the USB device went bust. The software already does not work in mojave, but works under Windows 10. So I am starting to understand companies that just freeze their environment instead of upgrading. There is no newer version of my film camera - Nikon halted production 2 years ago. So what I am to do? Keep my Mac Pro with mojave and Windows 10, and use a separate qubes os device for Internet tasks. Hopefully the metadata software will keep working long in Windows 11, so I can run a VM for that if necessary.

I rent a garage with my band and we spent a few years installing audio interfaces and other kind of equipment. The vendor decided to stop supporting later releases of Windows 10 and macos. Am I going to throw away 5000 USD of completely functional audio interfaces? Last time I flew home, I helped a friend who is a professional musician in a recording session. I spoke to the studio owner, who was rocking a classic Mac Pro, and I heard the same story. "This studio cost 1 year of my gross income. It is insured. The day it breaks or catches fire, I will replace it. Otherwise, it stays as it is. I'd love to get a new Mac Pro and play with the newest Logic, but ¾ of my hardware is not supported anymore."

So, well, thanks, can't run 32 bit software anymore (and other incompatibilities). Some people can afford upgrading. Maybe I would. But it just does not exist, and I can't bring myself to have a personal financial loss for someone else to have a private profit. This is bloody rent. I'd be honestly happy to pay a few hundred bucks for a new release of the drivers adding support to the new OSs a few releases newer to the originally supported. As I'd rather pay a few hundred bucks for a new release of macos, one that would support the devices I have.

But the world is addicted to "free".

I am ok to pay someone to provide me a service. We shake hands, done deal. Paying extra money for absolutely no gain is something I find very hard to accept.

BY THE FUCKING WAAAAY
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