Tag Archives: mba

My Aging MacBook Situation

My personal daily driver is a 2011 MacBook Air (MBA). I’ve shipped 6 iPhone apps from it. For a computer bought in 2011, I’m happy with how long it has lasted.

I am interested in buying a new MacBook Pro (MBP) to replace my aging MacBook Air, but I’m not sure what to do. The possible choices I see are:

1.) the current MBP (June 2017 version)
2.) wait ? months for an updated MBP (most likely a minor CPU refresh)
3.) a 2015 MBP version (older hardware style with IMHO better keyboard)

Reasons to upgrade sooner:
* Xcode runs poorly on my MBA. Storyboard, Simulator, and Playgrounds are barely usable.
* macOS Mojave will not run on my MacBook Air. It’s only a matter of time before I’m locked out of macOS & Xcode updates.
* Apple announced a Keyboard Service Program.
* As a professional software developer, I can easily justify 2-3 year upgrade cycles.
* My MBA is showing it’s age; the battery is virtually gone.

Reasons to upgrade later:
* My MBA is able to run Xcode 9 (current) and will hopefully run Xcode 10 GM.
* Buying after a new hardware refresh (minor CPU bump most likely) maximizes the currentness of the purchase. This may not be rational, but it’s a factor nonetheless.
* My iPhone app development is primarily dependent on iPhone hardware updates & Xcode, not my Mac.
* Indecision – since none of the current MBP options (2015 or 2017) are very appealing, I can wait it out.

Reasons that don’t make a difference:
* I don’t like typing on the current generation MBP keyboard, but the next significant MBP hardware refresh is probably a few years away (too long).
* USB-C – I’ve found a Multi-Port Adapter (dongle) that works for me.

Inconclusion

In retrospect, I should have bought a decently equipped 2015 MBP in 2015.

If Xcode 10 GM doesn’t work on my Mac, then I’ll be forced to buy a new Mac right away. Otherwise I will wait around hoping Apple decides to update the MBP.

Management Philosophy

A couple pieces on business management (via HN).

Matthew Stewart, founder of a consulting firm that eventually grew to 600 employees, cuts to the heart of management theory:

Between them, Taylor and Mayo carved up the world of management theory. According to my scientific sampling, you can save yourself from reading about 99 percent of all the management literature once you master this dialectic between rationalists and humanists. The Taylorite rationalist says: Be efficient! The Mayo-ist humanist replies: Hey, these are people we’re talking about!

For any given management theory, the support is from numbers (where Stewart mentions, “[pacifying] recalcitrant data with entirely confected numbers“) or emotions (where Stewart says, “And who would want to take a stand against creativity, freedom, empowerment, and—yes, let’s call it by its name—love?“).

Ben Horowitz, CEO of Opsware (acquired by HP in 2007), describes the difference between peace and wartime CEOs:

Peacetime in business means those times when a company has a large advantage vs. the competition in its core market, and its market is growing. In times of peace, the company can focus on expanding the market and reinforcing the company’s strengths.

In wartime, a company is fending off an imminent existential threat. Such a threat can come from a wide range of sources including competition, dramatic macro economic change, market change, supply chain change, and so forth.

The piece goes over the top in describing the difference in thinking of peace VS war CEOs. That said, it does a great job of explaining that different CEO roles are needed when a company is looking for the right product/market fit (aka a viable business plan) VS growing their market share.