Why don't you start a non-profit that gives laptop to kids so you can decide over the kind of machine to procure. These constant opinions on other peoples decisions where you have no insight to the whys is very ego-centric in a i-know-best kind of way.

It is not about their decisions, it is about their bs about the need for high reliability

About… the teenage boy’s… “bs” about his preferences? About his supporters recognizing his free labor, wanting to reward it, asking him to make a choice for himself and him making it?

This case was different from hackclub’s usual donations. Someone spotted OXY2DEV, a prolific Neovim plugin dev, coding on his phone and shared it with the community. People rallied to raise money specifically for him, and hackclub stepped in to facilitate. The drive ended with a small surplus, and since the funds were raised only for him, they let him decide how to use it. Smart choice because in South Asia chasing service centers is such a hassle and Apple’s service process is a dream in comparison.

I can't talk for the entire region, but what I saw across my travels is quite the opposite. You enter a repair shop the owner typically knows how to solder and will fix about any laptop and mobile phone. Back home in Europe is where repairs are overpriced or deemed "impossible". I can't recall more than once in south east asia the words "you better off buying a new one", oh so common in the "west".

I agree the critic sounds misplaced though, he wanted a Macbook. However not because all the other models are complicated to fix in his land.

At the same time—we’re really going to assume that we have a better idea about scrappy repair centers than the kid who lives there and hacks there?

If a lifetime’s effort has only gotten him to the point of affording a phone, what suggests he’d expect to afford a repair anyway? Or that the skeezy aftermarket parts involved wouldn’t compound his problems?

Bro. Just let the kid have his MacBook.