Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan-- For someone who "hates to get involved," you sure have a knack for throwing around all the worn out, misleading arguments. Ric Carter http://gallery.leica-users.org/Passing-Fancies On Oct 21, 2005, at 1:39 PM, Nathan Wajsman wrote: > I really hate to get involved in a religious war, and I am frankly > not religious about this issue, but in the real world of mainstream > business Microsoft and Wintel rule for the simple reason that that > is what most other people use. I once used a consulting firm in > Paris for a project, and it was a Mac shop. They sent us > presentations in Powerpoint, and invariably things did not line up > correctly etc. when the files were opened on a Windows machine. I > would not want to take this risk when sending stuff to a customer, > and since 95%+ of recipients of my e-mails are in a Windows > environment, then I will be in a Windows environment too, at least > in my business. > > At home, for my Photoshop work, Apple might perhaps be a better > choice, but on the other hand, I often take work home and then I > would run into the same issue as referenced above. > > Finally, the wealth of software and hardware available for Windows > is so much greater than for Apple, and the prices are of course > correspondingly lower because of the greater competition. I am > writing this on a Win XP machine but using a free browser and free > email client, and I use a lot of other open source software both at > home and in the office. > > Apple's corporate turnaround is not due to the small minority of > graphic designer types and Mac fundamentalists. It is much more > driven by the success of the iPod. Apple has effectively become a > consumer electronics company with a computer division attached to it. > > Nathan > > Adam Bridge wrote: > > > >> It's an interesting question that I've heard discussed by a >> variety of >> folks. Let's see if I can summarize: >> 1) businesses often have custom applications that are directly tied >> either to Windows directly or to IE 6. (FIMA is an example of this - >> their site demands IE 6 which only runs on Windows and I ran into a >> site at USA Swimming that does the same - it's arrogant and >> user-hostile for a hetergeneous community but it's fine for >> Microsoft.) >> 2) businesses want a second source and there isn't one for Macs - >> it's >> Apple or nothing >> 3) you'll note that traditional serial and parallel ports are >> still on >> every PC out there but not on Macs. Many businesses won't make the >> transition to USB, probably for economic reasons, so obsolete >> technology still hangs around >> 4) as in the old days when it was written "No one ever lost their job >> by going with IBM", well the same corporate mentality still is there >> but substitute Microsoft and Dell. >> My son is a techie who specializes in Macs (our family have used Macs >> since the "fat Mac" and we've had a long series of machines). Tom >> notes that he's seeing more and more Mac servers. There are still >> "issues" around OS X Server but it's a pretty nifty piece of software >> and it's getting better. >> The move to open standards may also help the Mac in the business >> space >> as will the shift to Intel. It will be possible to run a NATIVE >> (non-emulated) Windows environment on Mac hardware at full-speed, >> rather then 1/8th to 1/4th speed. That will make a difference, I >> think. Microsoft won't care as long as they get the bucks for the >> license and Intel will sell a couple of processors or more. >> So I'm not holding my breath that Macs are going to take over the >> business world. Too many Windows applications. But at least there are >> good reasons to buy a Mac: >> 1) good user interface >> 2) a real security model to help contain viruses (as of the time I'm >> writing this there's no way for a virus that enters into a user's >> account to take over the entire machine - called a "root kit" - >> without the user being explicitly involved, entering passwords, etc) >> 3) elegant hardware design >> 4) an elegant software design for making programs (the Cocoa >> programming environment) >> 5) state of the art peripheral support >> But that's my two cents. The other observations in this also seem >> spot >> on. But, for most individuals, the simple lack of viruses and spy- >> ware >> on the Mac are important. >> Thanks for listening, >> Adam >> On 10/20/05, PHC <paul@paulhardycarter.com> wrote: >> >> >>> It's interesting - I've got no idea how to find unbiased >>> statistics - >>> but I'd guess there are practically no Macs in the corporate >>> world (if >>> you exclude creatives, and maybe execs with PowerBooks) but a quite >>> high proportion of small business and home users. >>> >>> If this is true (what do you think?) I'd say it reflects the fact >>> that >>> most IT Administration courses that people attend are actually >>> Microsoft Administration courses, so when the time comes for the >>> next >>> round of purchases they buy what they know. >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> > > -- > Nathan Wajsman > Almere, The Netherlands > > General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com > Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com > Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman > http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507 > Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >