[Grovenet] MACs for Christmas

[David Morelli]

Of course I have an opinion on this subject.  I sit here, reclined in  
my easy chair, with a MacBook on my lap.  I don't need a heat shield  
or a noisy fan.

My first desktop computer was a 48k Apple II+.  We plugged in a CPM  
card to run dBaseII.   When the PC came out, I was quite surprised  
when IBM chose MS-DOS over CPM for their personal computer operating  
system.  It wasn't even a player on the market.

Rather than the consumers choosing MS-DOS, the choice of MS-DOS was a  
decision was made by a few deal makers.  Which is more typical of the  
real market than the economic mythology would have us believe.

IMHO, The success of the MS-DOS technology can be tied to the IBM  
nameplate rather than some technical superiority over Amiga, Apple or  
Atari operating systems.  Again, that "paternal support" is not the  
reason usually touted by winners for their economic success.

When Xerox PARC designed the post DOS operating system, Apple saw the  
value and produced the LISA.  Microsoft users kept with their system  
touting the advantages.  Today, Vista owes far more of it's operator  
interface to Xerox than it does to DOS.  The features that made the  
MS-DOS "fast and powerful" back then are all gone in favor of the  
features that Apple recognized.

Is the Mac interface inherently difficult?  I don't really think so.   
Twenty-two years ago, my three year old son could turn on the Mac,  
open MacPaint, draw a picture, and print it on our Epson MX printer,  
and close down the computer.  To do this, he had to locate the power  
button, recognize the icons, and read the letter "P" on one menu.

Yes, it may be a bit harder to get software, especially if you want  
it free.  My NeoOffice suite was free.  The PAW2X genealogy software  
is free.   iPhoto handles the camera.  The Epson scanner was TWAIN  
compliant.  The PhotoShop Elements interface works great but it isn't  
100% Mac.  The Safari browser and Mail client work securely, except  
when they have problem with non W3 standard servers (MS).  iDVD  
handled copying family movies.  Keynote handles the slide  
presentations pretty well.   Final Vinyl copied my LP albums to  
MP3.   Google Earth is a delight to use.   In fact my biggest  
software gripe is the absence of a free Macintosh version of Access  
database.

Maybe my general satisfaction is related to the fact that I don't do  
computer games?  That really seems to be a big draw for PC machines.

Is the OS X Mac perfect?  Of course not, it is a tool made by human  
hands.  But it is good and it is stable.  Now that Vista has been out  
for a year or more it should be mostly debugged.

David


On Jan 2, 2008, at 6:01 PM, Jeff Howden wrote:

> Chuck,
>
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
>> From: chuck
>>
>> The last thing I intended to do was start yet another
>> Mac vs PC debate. I think there has been enough of them
>> over the years that we probably do not want another one
>> here on this forum.
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
>
> Mature adults ought to be able to have a conversation about the  
> relative
> merits of various offerings in the marketplace so long as blanket
> statements, trolling, and other derisive tactics are avoided.
>
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
>> Jeff - glad Vista is running good for you and your
>> friends.
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
>
> So am I.  I depend on computers for my business so I wouldn't choose
> something that I couldn't count on.
>
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
>> In my 8+ years repairing computers here in town - the
>> top 3 common problems I get to fix over and over again
>> are : Viruses, Spyware, and Data Recovery from a crashed
>> hard drive running Windows.
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
>
> If all those Windows users were running Macs or some variant of  
> *nix, then
> the data would still speak volumes.  It's not that you fix all those
> problems and that they're all running Windows that automatically means
> Windows has so many problems.  It's that you provide a service to  
> users of
> computers running Windows to (mostly) non-technical users.  People  
> that are
> not competent computer users will experience problems regardless of  
> the OS.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff Howden
> support at vosandhowden.com
>
> Vos & Howden, LLC
> Internet & Business Consultants
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