[bikelang]

Should we crowdfund some billboards in Cupertino expressing how big a misstep we collectively think Tahoe/iOS 26/Liquid glAss was?

[CamperBob2]

I'd like to see a Super Bowl ad sponsored by one or more of the big Linux players.

"Hi, I'm a Mac."

"And I'm a PC. Wow, you suck, Mac. What the hell happened?"

"Yo momma, PC."

<wild gesticulating and arguing ensues for 20-30 seconds>

"Hi, I'm Linux. Neither of these people care anything about you. You see, you're not their customer anymore. When you're ready to make computing personal again, check us out."

[Nextgrid]

I guess you're not thinking like a marketer/product person (and I don't claim to be one either, at least not anywhere skilled), but your proposed ad shows exactly what's wrong with the Linux mentality and why it didn't go anywhere with consumers and won't go anywhere until this changes.

The ad should show something people want, not vague promises of being their customer or personal computing (a term essentially unknown by the new generations). Show something the new machine can do that the competition can't - built-in adblocker, cross-compatibility with Mac and Windows apps via VMs/rented servers, etc.

[1over137]

No. Direct that money to open source projects and let Apple ruin itself.

[Nextgrid]

I think people wildly underestimate how expensive skilled software development, leadership and especially design is (considering even Apple can't apparently find good designers).

The price of renting a billboard isn't going to cover more than a week's worth of those people's fees. Billboard-induced shame has actually much more chance of succeeding.

[AlexandrB]

There's no relief in open source. I've watched Ubuntu and Gnome copy some of Apple and Microsoft's worst ideas over the last 20 years and somehow put an even worse spin on them. I fully expect to see "Gnome 52 - Liquid Sugar" or something in a couple of years.

[akimbostrawman]

Proprietary software prisoners will do absolutely everything to appease there abusive prison guard except simply quit walking into the golden cage every morning.

[9dev]

If you do, make them play that scrambled egg GIF from TFA in an endless loop. They'll eventually get it.

[lateforwork]

Yes, I would gladly contribute $25. You can rent partial time on an electronic billboard on Highway 101 for under $2K per month.

[layer8]

If they didn’t realize how broken things are by themselves, mere pressure from the outside won’t be turning the ship around.

[Nextgrid]

It's hard to realize things when you're in an echo chamber.

It's also hard to measure the quantity and genuineness of bitching online because people complain about everything and there's an inherent incentive online to complain to bring in ad revenue regardless of how genuine it is.

But it's a direct and unmistakeable sign (to you and your peers and colleagues) when someone paid actual money to rent a billboard just to remind you how much you fucked up.

[supercoffee]

A translucent billboard with some white text would drive home the point.

[miyuru]

the person responsible for this mess was poached by meta a month ago.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46191194

[brigade]

Are there even any billboards in Cupertino?

[brailsafe]

please yes, they could use some real world roasting

[Aeolun]

I mean, I don’t hate it, but it seems like a clear step back.