Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]And I really get a kick out of the length the anti-Mac people will go to defend their choice and defame Mac. If you don't like Mac's fine, use whatever works for you. But why the constant drumbeat to "prove" Wintel better and Mac no good? Michael Against stupidity the Gods themselves struggle in vain. /Schiller/ On Oct 21, 2005, at 10:39 AM, 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 >