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Apple Wants Your Input
Johnny Mnemonic writes "Apple is asking for feedback specifically from PC users about why you might be considering a Mac purchase, or if you recently purchased a Mac for the first time, why you made the switch. A good opportunity to sound off about your Apple peeves, but also a chance to let Apple know what you think they're doing right. The Mac OS X feedback page, originally from the Public Beta, is still up and accepting feedback, also."
And I think it's not only the PC people who ARE interested in macs, but those who specifically aren't interested as well. Maybe then, Apple would really know what they need to woo the "other 95%".
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
MAC OSX..
simply the best Unix version for the desktop, the power of unix with the commercial support of windows without the excess baggage. That is one big reason.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
1 It didn't cost me an arm and a leg. For what I'd pay for a new IMac, I could easily stock a brand new AthlonXP w/a full fledge GF4.
.. *blah*
Aside from that I love Mac's just too out of my price range
3000 dead over past 2 years, still no free Palestinians, still
What about asking why people aren't considering Apple? Seems to me they're just soliciting favorable commentary.
If I was in Apple's marketing department I'd be asking "what would it take to get you to switch to Macs?" not "why are you thinking about buying a Mac?" or "Now that we have your money, what do you think?"
There are two main things stopping Apple from gaining greater market share: Price and Applications. They cost too damn much (for what you get) and don't have all the apps that Windows (or even Linux, these days) has.
I'd really like to see Apple get their act together and take about 30% of the desktop market instead of the pathetic share they have now. I'd be happy as a clam if Linux could steal just 20% of the market, give Apple 30% and let Microsoft keep the majority but keep them on their toes.
Here's my question: Why are we still double-clicking?
MacOS required double-clicking because it originally only supported one mouse button.
Microsoft ripped off MacOS, warts and all, so Windows makes you double-click too.
Then the Linux desktops ripped off Windows, warts and all, and we have to double-click as well. (Sure, you can override it. I do. But it's certainly not something the average user, even the average Linux user, can do)
Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if your OS worked like your web browser? Left click to launch, left drag to move, right click for more options. No double clicking. Ever.
Remember when you first taught your mom to double click and how much trouble she had? Then she started double-clicking everything: buttons in Word, links in Netscape, you name it. She was confused because it was inconsistent and a stupid UI decision.
So i say Apple should lead the way again and get people off the stupid double-clicking habit.
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Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
But, as soon as Apple decided to buy back the licenses it had sold to the clone companies, enough was enough. Apple had abandoned me as a consumer of their product, the MacOS, so I was going to abandon them. I have not bought a single product of theirs since, and have built countless Wintel machines.
My suggestion: bring back hardware licensing! It will increase market share and increase the purchases of their OS, where the real money is at anyway.
The one thing that Apple has done best (at least during some years) is to try out new designs, new ideas. They've shown a willingness to take risks. Whether it's the GUI, Human Interface Guidelines, the Newton, the iMac, or just little touches that make the computing experience a little bit friendlier. They showed us that there was a viable alternative. Sometimes they fail (eMate, CyberDog, eWorld). But in the process, they teach the whole industry a lesson.
With a behmoth like M$ around, we can use more friendly ideas.
I fell in love because of the UNIX environment that can also run Office natively, meaning that I don't have to use Windows ever again.
Two years ago, I never would have considered a Mac, nor would anyone I know, except for artists. Now, my wife, my mother and about 85% of my technical friends are Mac users.
OS X really has something for everyone. My mother loves iTunes... it's so incredibly easy to use. My wife and I like the support for DVD burning. I've recently tried some PC products to do this, and they just aren't mature enough, whereas the Mac solution is simply brilliant.
Ease of use and a real UNIX architecture really make it worthwhile. The cost of hardware is a minus, but I feel it was worth the extra money.
I bought a Mac because Apple has the best support in the industry. Check out this glowing review from MacNet:
It used to be that when people were asked what made them Mac users people would always say that the Mac OS was better than Windows (which it was) and that it was easier to use and so forth.
For a loyal Mac user to finally be released from the 'reality distortion field' it can be devastating but at the same time "liberating". For me these last few weeks have been very stressful and not at all what I had had in mind as the publisher of MacNETv2. I can see clearly now and what I see will take some getting used to.
There was no way to know just how many people would contact me after reading my last two columns. I wrote them to get something off my chest. I'm the publisher of a webzine that professes to "Celebrate The Mac!" and here I was doing anything but. The truth is the 'reality distortion field' was weakening and I was getting angry at what I saw.
First there was the news that Apple's Retail Stores were not doing very well and the blame fell squarely on the shoulders of whoever was in charge of building a sales force. I knew first hand how ridiculous things were on the store level and after Charles Haddad broke the news in his Business Week column it gave me an opening to share with my readers the experiences I had had with Apple Retail.
I vented my anger at Apple in that column because with the millions of dollars they were investing in this brilliantly bold move to bring Apple to the masses they were blowing it big time. I'm far from a billionaire but even I know what it takes to make a retail store successful. Even I know how to sell computers to the 'everyday people' better than the bigwigs at Apple. So I let them have it and I was rewarded (?) with nearly 400 emails from people who thought the same way I did. Not a single email disagreed and many shared experiences with me that they had had at the Apple Retail Stores and it wasn't pretty.
Then, after getting the run-around from Apple on a new $3000 Tower purchase I found myself writing another damning column. It wasn't just this Tower experience that finally made me write about Apple Tech Support and Apple Customer Support. It was last October's PowerBook fiasco and last month iBook debacle. Here's some background to let you know why I decided to "go public".
PowerBook G4
Last October my PowerBook G4 racked up it's fourth visit to Apple/Austin for repairs and I was fed up. So I decided to climb up the "Apple Complaint Ladder" until I reached the 'Executive Relations' department. Four major repairs on a computer the entire world lauded as the best in the world were, at best, ridiculous.
After careful review of my service record the woman in Executive Relations agreed with me that I should receive a replacement PowerBook (Gee, ya think?). In a matter of days I was shipped a "like-kind" brand-new PowerBook G4. Although it took two visits too many to Apple/Austin in order to get a replacement I was delighted that it seemed as though someone cared enough to go the extra yard. That didn't last long.
You see, after I received the new PowerBook I spent half a day installing software. After an hour I noticed the PowerBook was getting unusually warm. After two hours it got hot, after three hours I began to worry that Apple had installed a nuclear reactor in it and after the fourth hour I came real close to having the PowerBook blow up in my lap. The computer started smoking and the LCD screen started flickering and I started freaking out. I unplugged the unit, disconnected the battery and called my contact at Executive Relations.
After conversations with Executive Relations and Apple Repair we came to the conclusion that this brand new PowerBook G4 didn't have a working fan. In half a day I managed to pretty much burn it up. Imagine my disappointment.
Executive Relations admitted to being really embarrassed and proceeded to make it up to me by offering another new PowerBook, only this time it was the newer model...more hard drive, more speed, more RAM...not a bad deal. I received the new model PowerBook in two days and promptly returned the burned up computer. I figured that after all these months with a problem PowerBook Apple was making a real effort to make it up to me. I still believe to this day that they tried to do right by me.
Well, the new PowerBook (my third one now) had a problem that took me a few days to find. (Not that I was looking) Seems no matter what kind of RAM you put into this computer it recognized the RAM as incompatible. Yes, I used right RAM...even Apple's own RAM at one point. The PowerBook still called the RAM incompatible. But it worked fine so I decided I could live with it.
Then the time came to use Norton to optimize my hard drive. If you installed nine gigs of software over the course of a few days you simply would have to optimize the drive. So I tried to boot from the Norton CD to run the tests and do the optimization. The PowerBook wouldn't boot from it. Then I tried Tech Tool Pro 3 and got the same result. It wouldn't boot from Tech Tool either.
After trying 6 other bootable CD's, including the OS X and OS 9 CD's that came with the PowerBook I couldn't get any CD to boot...except one...the Apple Hardware Diagnostic CD. Go figure.
Okay, what would you do if you were me? Well, I called Executive Relations again and offered to pay to have it overnighted directly to Executive Relations so they could see for themselves that I wasn't crazy and this new PowerBook refused to boot up from a CD. The last I heard was they were going to get back to me about getting yet another replacement or a fast repair. That was in mid-October, I'm still waiting.
If I were the person on the Apple end of the phone I would have sworn that this person (me) with three bad PowerBooks was trying to pull a fast one (although I couldn't imagine what would be gained), and I imagine they thought the same thing, so I after they hadn't called me back I sent one email. Never got an answer.
So I dropped it. I refused to get involved with Apple again. I was too busy to have to keep complaining about a $3500 PowerBook. I kept the PowerBook. I'm writing this column on it. Lucky for me Apple announced an upgrade path to the Combo Drive so I figured that I'd just wait and upgrade the drive and that would probably fix the boot problem. Never mind that it would cost me $300, after all I wanted a Combo drive anyway. But I was always a little disappointed that Executive Relations never called me back. By the way, I called on February 1st to get the combo drive and I was told it would take three weeks before I received the box to return the PowerBook. I'm still waiting.
And as far as having to boot with Norton or any other CD my problem was resolved by getting a SmartDisk FireFly hard drive. I installed OS X, OS 9, and all the repair utilities I had on this tiny FireFly and I boot from it whenever I need to. I would not have been able to keep this PowerBook running had it not been for the great people at SmartDisk.
iBook
Last month my iBook (Dual USB that I got for Christmas) had a problem. Well, wait, it had a problem the first day I bought it, but I had heard that most of the iBooks had the same problem so I never bothered Apple about it. The problem was the keys on the keyboard kept popping off. No big deal, I never lost one and I learned to keep an eye out for loose keys that were about to pop out and I learned to type by lightly tapping the keys.
The problem that did cause me to call Apple was the CD-ROM drive. One morning while I tried to place the new Garbage CD in it to rip it in iTunes it didn't want to stay closed. I have no idea what happened, it just one day decided not to stay closed. So I called it in. I told them about the keyboard and drive and they sent a box 3 days later. I did not involve Executive Relations, I mean, what's the point, right?
A week later the iBook showed back up at my home and Apple fixed the Drive. But they didn't touch the keyboard. Did I call them back and complain? No, I didn't. I let it slide.
2002 Quicksilver
The day I spent three grand on a new Dual GHz Tower I began to have serious issues with it. Last weeks column runs down the chain of events that caused me to finally write about the horrible state of Apple Tech Support and Customer Care so I won't repeat it here.
The very day my column was published I received a call from Executive Relations...Only this time it was Executive Relations in Cupertino, not Austin. And yes, they insisted they replace my Tower. I haven't received it yet but I have no doubt that I will. Whether it solves the problem or not, who knows? But instead of having to return the Tower to Austin they want it returned to Cupertino.
What I can't figure out is why did Apple call me? There are literally hundreds of people suffering from the same problem I am and Apple hasn't called them to set up a replacement so why did I deserve this special treatment? Okay, they did set up the capture problem but no one on the Apple Discussion Board apparently received one.
I have been pondering the answer to this for several days now. Did Apple want me to write about how great they were at getting to my problem and replacing my machine? Did they expect me to take my column down? I couldn't figure it out. They never even mentioned the column, but they certainly mentioned MacNETv2.
I was grateful that I was getting a new Tower, after all spending $3000 CASH for a new machine only to have it so screwed up I couldn't work on it was a little much, but was I happy with Apple?
In a word? No.
I remember talking to Apple Tech Support early last year when I had my first big problem with the original PowerBook G4. I remember telling him that I used to have to call Apple all the time in the mid-90's, back when they had Kodak Tech people come to your office or home for onsite service. No matter what Mac I owned I was always on the phone or sitting around talking to the Tech guy while he replaced a logic board or something. Those days must have cost Apple millions.
I also told him that I hadn't had to call Apple in the last 3 years because all my Macs ran perfectly. I never had a problem with any computer I bought since Steve Jobs came back. I was assured that this was a fluke and that Apple's quality was still first rate....
So was I just having a string of bad luck with my recent purchases? Was it just me?
After more than 700 emails since I published last week's column I think the answer is apparent; Apple has some real problems that either they don't care about or don't have an answer for.
I received email from people that have more serious horror stories than I did. Some people were so angry and so disappointed that their feelings came through the email like a bolt of lightning. I was literally stunned by the amount of email and the seriousness of the terrible support Apple is offering it's loyal customer base.
Several people urged me not to drop this issue. They implored me to keep it going, keep Apple's feet in the fire until they change their ways. But is that even possible? After all, I started publishing MacNETv2 because I wanted to help evangelize Apple. "Celebrate The Mac!" "Celebrate The Mac"...
Unlike many publishers of Mac-centric web sites, this is my full-time job and only source of income. I have employees to worry about and investors looking to turn a profit in the next year or two. How do I find the right balance of continuing to evangelize the Mac while holding Apple accountable for their quality of products and their quality of customer care? How do I remain true to my readers, my employees, not to mention my investors and myself?
John Manzione
Publisher
I want my colorful logo back.
And stop using those fuckin slow 68000 chips from motorola, u should use AMD becuz AMD RULEZ.
I've got a suggestion, too. Apple should merge with AOL. It makes perfect sense.
They both made their sucess by dumbing down computers to the point where anyone could use them. Their entire business models depend on making computers simple, bright, and pretty.
AOL wants a Microsoft-free Internet appliance, right? How about having the Apple hardware and UI people design it, and then AOL engineers can slap on the AOL client and Mozilla.
Think of all the money they'll save on customer support: they'll have control over every aspect of the experience, from the hardware to the OS to the client software to the server software. AOL currently spends a ton of money talking people through troubleshooting modem problems and whatnot in Windows. With their appliance, they can actually fix the crappy interface.
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Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
The people that they should be asking are those of us who are not considering the purchase of a Mac. Why ask the tiny percentage of the market that is considering it? What about those of us who "think different[ly]"? That said, Apple needs to either get more converts or switch CPUs. With the relatively small user base, their simply is not the money for R&D to improve the CPU and, while it might have been hot when it was launched, it's getting a bit long in the tooth now -- as shown by independent benchmarks.
The problem with Quicktime is not Apple, it's the people that do the codec (Soresen? sorry can't remember off hand). It's a big mess actually, each company says it is the others fault. Quicktime will come to linux (not through wine plug-ins) soon I think. It is an EXCELLENT movie format...
The people they are getting here already have some interest in Apple and therefore are less helpful. They need to randomly survey regular people- business users, education users, home users (put them in focus groups or something too.) They need to find out what they can do to reach out to the people that DON'T know why OS X is different and DON'T know about Apple.
"Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if your OS worked like your web browser?"
In Windows Explorer, go to the Tools menu, then click on Folder Options. Click the radio button labeled "Single-click to open an item (point to select)." Icons on your desktop will then act like web page links.
This option has been around in Windows for a while. I think the real reason people don't use it is mostly because they have grown accustomed to double-clicking. You're right -- it is inconsistent behavior. However, at least Windows gives you a pretty easy way to change it.
Simpli - Your source for San Jose dedicated servers and colocation!
Sure, I'm keeping my PC's around...but for everyday computing I love OSX.
I bought a Powerbook G4...and while I think it is a beautiful machine and a dream to use, I am very disappointed in the build quality. The hinge has cracked and the latch has failed, the screen is scratched from contacting the keys when closed, the keyboard randomly spits out "Q's" while typing, and the A/C port is temperamental. Believe it or not, I actually take good care of it...I keep it in a padded sleeve inside a padded case!
So I guess the feedback I'd give to Apple is: Please make your hardware a more durable, or at least give me a robust, foolproof warranty without having to pay an additional $100 a year. After all, I'm paying a premium to own an Apple!
There is no gravity...the earth just sucks.
Ever try Apple's hot key combo's if you are left handed?
s cape
I use the mouse in my left hand. The hot keys cannot be comfortably done with the right hand.
PCs are left hand friendly because the functions accessed with hotkeys on an apple are accessed by right clicking a PC. Ever try the on a mac with your right hand?
Crossover Problems:
Command+z
Command+c
Command+v
Command+x
Crossover and Hand position:
Command+w,+a
Command+Shift+3
Command+Option+E
Command+y
Command+Shift+1 (one)
Command+Shift+0 (zero)
Command+e
Command+Option+w
Nothing like alienating 11% of potential customers when you only have 3% of the market.
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
Mouse buttons.
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the pen is mightier than the sword, the sword is mightier than the court, the court is mightier than the pen.
...keep doing annoying shit like that one button mouse. I would have gotten a cube, but I hate the mouse and the OS, then they basically made a cool X windows system and I was willing to get a Ti laptop - but the motherfucking one buttong mousepad on it, no way in hell I will ever get anything of theirs no matter how shiny it is until they do less retarded ergonomic shit. they claim they are innovative and doing things to better ergonomics - bullshit - they are doing it for the sake of being different. fuck that.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
1 - Confusing interface
2 - One Button Mouse
3 - Customization and configuration is hard to grasp
4 - Expensive Hardware
5 - Apple is unpredictable
6 - Proprietary platform
7 - OS X is kinda slow
8 - I don't like Steve Jobs (I gotta be honest)
9 - We've heard about Apple treatening many Open Source projects (ie. Themes.org OSX theme)
I really don't think anything would convince me to ever buy a Mac. They are always claiming to be twice as fast as equivelent PC processors but if you look at the notes to it it's always only in a grafic app like Photoshop. The whole 1 button thing makes me sick. There's no upgradability, and everything loox like a hippy made it. Did anyone else almost throw up at the site of the WinXP default GUI cause it was like you were using a mac. User Friendly style is what Macs seem to be all about but they still leave everything all inconvenient. Scroll bars that don't even adjust themselves to the distance in the window to scroll. And software everything, special>>eject CD special >> eject disc. Special >> give me a second mouse button cause i want to see the properties for this stupid file that doesn't even have file extensions... invalid operation. Apple i shake my fist at thee, don't try to infringe on the PC market with your stupid Hippy cases and GUI's.
At least my name's not Jerry.
- G5 CPU - coming soon, so no problem.
- A cutting edge GPU. Come on, every developer knows the 4MX got a "4" purely for marketing purposes. Where's the NVidia 4Ti?
- Developer support for that GPU. Where is the support for GL extensions documented? Where is the "how to make games look amazing on the Mac" document? Every paper at GDC talked about WGL extensions - that's Windows GL, not Apple. Apple is fumbling badly here. I want to know there will be support for me if I choose to make the Mac my development platform.
If Apple could truly make the Mac a platform for cutting-edge development they would have me, since developing on Windows sucks.Granted, they seem to actively support Carmack. But what about the rest of us? (BTW, I doubt the Mac would even have a 2/4MX or ATI mobile Radeon if it weren't for Carmack, so thanks, John.)
Tell me what you think, here's what I sent:_ ____
__________________________________________
Regarding your query at http://www.apple.com/hardware/pcusers/, re: If you're a PC user who's eyeing a Mac, we'd love to know what you're thinking.
I probably fit into another category altogether, that of the macintosh apostate considering a return to the fold. I've wanted to write something like this for the last year, but only now do I have the time to do so.
Having used a Mac plus and then a IIsi in college, I preoordered one of the very first powermac 6100s. I was a Mac loyalist, through and through. But when win 95 was introduced, it became harder and harder to justify the instability of the mac operating system or the high cost. God Only Knew when OS X, nee Taligent, nee Pink would be released. It seemed pretty clear that I could do more on a pc, for less, suffer fewer system crashes and play more games to boot.
Don't underestimate the value of gaming.
Anyway, the truth is that I've been eyeing getting a mac since OS X was released for the desktop. I'm a unix fan and I love the aqua interface. I'm fed up with Linux on the desktop and have been impressed with friend's powerbooks running OS X. So, here's my current assesment, bullet by bullet:
PRO getting new Mac
* OS X - it's unix! It's easy to configure! It slices *and* dices...
* Aqua interface
* new iMacs and titanium power books are cool looking
* It's not microsoft
* Prices are more reasonable than ever
AGAINST getting new Mac
* fewer games
* slower - and don't give me garbage about the "megahertz myth." Sure, it's true that mhz isn't a great measure of efficiency across architectural platforms, but any techno weeny knows that it isn't irrelevant either. The latest P4s are much faster than the fastest G4s in both standard integer and floating point operations. Now on the other hand, is it important? Probably not, an 800 mhz or 1 Ghz G4 is still plenty fast for everything a person actually needs to do and even gaming.
* Unless you get the expensive tower, no upgradeable video. The GeForce 4mx is basically a souped up 2mx, much slower than the true GeForce 4 and soon to be outdated. On the other hand, an outdated unix box still makes a great server.
Altogether I think the pros outweigh the cons, I'll probably be buying one in the summer. Now iMac or Powerbook...
My cat can eat a whole watermelon
Well, I guess you guys are getting lots of e-mails, having this comments page being slashdotted and all. Your plan to get people to buy Apples works great, or at least it did in '92. That's when me and my twin brother bugged the hell out of my parents until they bought me one. They got me a LC II, which has worked flawlessly to this day (with the exception of having to replace the clock battery, but what do you expect from a 10 year old PC). Sure it's slow, it's 8mb of ram is funny, and I can't help but crack up thinking of it's HUGE hard drive, we went for the 80 meg! Lately, I've been taking apart EVERYTHING in my house, and I have to say that the design of the LC IIs case is amazing. I also recently bought a PowerMac 7200 off E-Bay to put Linux on, and it's a great PC too. The case looks like it would be very elegant too, that is if UPS didn't dent the hell out of it in shipping.
Well, on to the topic at hand. I am defiantly a geek. Once I got more experienced in computers, I fell in love with PCs for a few different reasons. For one thing, there were more games, although that is SLOWLY changing. The really big thing that I liked was the fact that I could control the PC completely. Back then, PCs ran DOS and 3.1, so there were config files everywhere, you could change anything. Now, with OS X, things are basically even, but that's one reason I switched over. Also, I just love command line interfaces, but that too has changed.
Well, onto the present. Last summer my brother (who has used PCs for a long time too, but always loved Macs, more openly than me I should say), bought a PBTi. I have to say that I was amazed at the thinness of the thing. I also love that glowing apple logo on the screen, and of course, the screen it's self. It's quite zippy, and it's really nice. I only have three major gripes with it: no 3D support (but with the new ATI Mobility Radeons, I'm sure that will change), only one mouse button (I won't be buying a Mac Laptop without this getting fixed), and they keyboard seems a little bit flimsy.
Apple has done some strange things over the years but I do have a few suggestions for you. First up is OS X. It's a VAST improvement over OS 9, and you guys finally have a modern OS. I love the fact that it's built on Unix, so it has a CLI and everything. It think that you guys finally have a major opportunity. If you were to ship OS X for PCs, then I think not only would you be a formidable foe for MS, but I'm sure there are many out there who would switch (like me). Since the kernel is open source and already compiles in x86, you'd be sitting pretty there. Next up is Aqua and Carbon, which shouldn't be too hard to get running. Also, if you figure that out of the serious users (like me) who are likely to be early adopters of such a product, the vast majority would have either a ATI Radion (or better) or an nVidia GeForce (or better), drivers should be easy, especially since they would be nearly direct ports of those on the Mac. That's another point, I'm glad that you guys have switched over to PCI, AGP, and other standard interfaces from the PDS slots, NuBus, and other oddities of Macs of old. If you switched, you would get more hardware, and you could get ports to the Mac and PC fast.
My seconds suggestion is obvious and I have already stated it, GET MORE MOUSE BUTTONS. Back in the early nineties, one mouse button worked fine, but today, I seriously doubt that anyone who uses a mac for anything more than e-mail is using one of your one button mice. I know that my brother keeps a MS IntelliMouse Explorer USB plugged into his PB all the time.
I know that I had a third suggestion for you, but for the life of me I can't think of what it was. So I guess I will just leave you with this: I've been using computers nearly daily for the last 10 years, more than half my life (I'm 18). I am currently in the process of getting a BSCoE from KU. If there is ANYTHING that I can do for you guys (product testing (new iMac, HINT HINT HINT)) just e-mail me and I'll be glad to give input, answer questions, etc.
PS: I just remember the third thing! Don't you hate it when that happens? I love the hardware you guys have been making lately. I would kill for a Cinema Display. I wonder if contract killing pays enough? Oh well, I also have to say that if you would get your computers (or at least the higher end ones like the G4s) to use ATX cases, you could make a ton of money selling them. I would LOVE to be able to buy a White and Grey G4 fold out case for my PCs. The G4 cube was neat looking (but expansionally flawed), the new iMac looks cool (and will hopefully drive down the price of LCDs), the iMac was quite compact (though I am still annoyed by that "let's produce everything in 12 neon colors" concept that every company latched onto after the iMac went big. Let's face it, no one needs a neon pink surge suppressor and a neon green monitor), and like I said before, I love that Cinema display.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Clicking on that link launches your email client with an email addressed to apple@apple.com. Now I wonder how many such emails are going to even get read, let alone considered? PR ploy on behalf of Apple. Maybe they have a BOT set up to "thank you for your input." When the day comes that a corporation the size of Apple really listens to consumers....... many seem to think feedback on the Public Beta of X brought about change. But that "feedback" and "feedback" since then only counts, like it does to your elected crook politician in Wash. D.C. when there's enough heat (numbers) applied.
PR move. What if Apple gets a thousand requests to run Windoze on the Mac or port OS X to X86 chip, you think that's going to change anything?
So, I'm about to graduate and get my undergraduate degree in computer science and I thought that a nice graduation present would be a laptop. However, I'm torn between getting a Mac for the first time or sticking with a PC. Here are the reasons that I want to get a Mac:
* They're sexy. Apple's industrial design team is brilliant. The iBooks are small (very important) and stylish.
* OS X - FreeBSD is my OS of choice for servers so I see it as a major benefit that I can run (some) BSD applications on an iBook with no major problems. For example, XFree86 makes X11 forwarding over ssh very nice and stable.
* iPod - it's a sexy mp3 player and I want one (yes, I know there will probably be a good PC hack soon, but native compatability is comforting)
* Diversity of machines - I already have a desktop running Windows 2000 and another headless server running FreeBSD. I don't really need another Windows box or a FreeBSD box so having a Mac laptop allows me to run Mac software.
However, I'm still hesitent for the following reasons:
* only one mouse button - I know that's a silly reason, but I get confused about how to do things that require a second or a third mouse button on PCs
* learning curve - I spent about 90 minutes yesterday trying to get enlightenment to install on OS X yesterday. it would have been a simple "make && make compile" in FreeBSD.
* price - It seems that I get more bang for the buck with PCs. If nothing else, I can shop around for a PC and I have few choices with Macs.
So, I'm still undecided, but leaning towards buying a PC, mainly because of familiarity. Anyone have any suggestions?
because the g4 tower goes well with my grandma's fine china. and, simpletext's text to speech voices keeps her busy with herself for hours! she ain't lonely no more
- I'm a web application developer (the whole pipeline, from MySQL (etc.) , mod_perl, perl CGI, PHP, Apache on a Unix/Linux server to HTML, XML, XSLT, JavaScript on the client) and have been using Linux/KDE and Win4Lin (to test clients using Windows and IE 5/5.5/6) on my Intel based laptop for all my development needs. After reading about OS X and knowing a little bit about its foundations in Unix with technology from NeXTSTEP I was more than curious to see a Powerbook Titanium G4. I was not disappointed.
If I'm gushing its because it's worth it. This is the first time I've spent $2,700 on a computer and had no regrets. So, if my gushing annoys you, tough.The polish and elegance exemplified in the physical design and packaging of the Titanium G4 is perfectly matched and blended with the brilliance of Aqua and OS X. I cannot stress this enough. Basically: it works, elegantly. From recognizing my Sony TVR310 Mini DV8 at plug-in to the beautiful GUI this system is a work of art. The pretty front and consumer-oriented functionality (I could write a story about trying to get my Windows machines to import video through the add-on card and give Appendices on driver hell, but I'm through with that nightmare) is buttressed by a rock-solid UNIX foundation. It is incredibly inviting to drop into the command line to build a custom Apache with mod_perl, or even to rsync my development server for downtime development.
Of course, I have to use VirtualPC for Windows compatibility testing, but even this is less tenuous than Win4Lin under Linux.
My work has not suffered in the least as I have transitioned from an Intel/Windows/Linux development environment to OS X. In fact, I can say that my workflow has improved now that I am using a polished GUI seamlessly integrated with a world-class UNIX OS running on exquisitely engineered hardware. I am over-awed and give Apple a standing ovation of appreciation for my Titanium G4 running OS X.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
They will probably end up using it as marketing. This user like that and that user like that. See, Macs are good, tons of people like them. Quoting happy users is much more convincing to the clueless buyer than saying "we have the best product".
I have x86 hardware. I have spent money on this hardware over the years and do not want to start over. There is a large collection of hardware and I will make my investment work.
If you were to offer OSX for the x86 platform I would fully support your OS, and *maybe* even buy your hardware in the future.
Until then, Windows XP and FreeBSD will work just fine.
Justen Stepka
Here's what i sent them:
I've been a PC user since 1984, when i was six years old. Since 1997, i've been dual-booting between Windows and Linux. However, i recommend Macs to all my friends who are buying their first computer. Why? And why don't i use a Mac myself?
Well, i recommend them to others because they're simply better. Prettier, easier. You can just tell that a lot more care went into designing every facet. And now that just about any major app has a Mac version or a workalike, there's no problem about software availability.
So why don't i use one myself? Legacy stuff.
I've got DOS games from ten years ago. Utilities from five years ago. Games i've already bought (even if a Mac version is available, i already own the Windows version)
If MacOS supported all the software sitting on my shelf and on my hard drive, i'd never use a PC again. (I'd still use Linux for real work like programming, but the Mac would be great for stuff like web browsing, word processing, and photo work)
If you want me as a customer, do whatever you can to promote open standards and Windows emulators.
--
Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Looks like you're the only troll around here, pal.
I hear this arguement constantly and I find it frustrating to no end. Basically, I believe (and this is not a flame) that you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to computers. Sure a Windows system will cost you less (and a Linux system even less, still) but you're losing quality in the deal.
This would be like going to a dealership and saying "Why should I spend $40,000 on this BMW when I can go across the street and get a Geo Metro for $9,000? It'll take me to work just as well as the BMW won't it?"
I believe that a lot of people who bring up this "flaw" about Macs are people who've never used one. Having used both extensively, I believe that the Macintosh is an amazing bit of engineering. But hey, that's just me. Use whatever works best for you.
Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.
suggest a rectangular beige Mac?
Like many others here, I'm convinced that Apple's asking the wrong question--instead of "why did you consider a Mac" it should be "why DIDN'T you consider a Mac." This is painfully typical of the kind of butt-kissing work we see from marketdroids all the time in companies. They don't want to collect a lot of negative comments and buck them up the corporate hierarchy, so they instead ask for happy news, even though it won't do them nearly as much good.
I've been using Macs since way back - worked at an Apple dealer in the mid 80's where my desktop was an Apple Mac XL. I liked the Mac 512s and Mac Plus but preferred the larger screen. I've personally owned many Macs - from a refurb Apple Lisa, a Mac Plus, two IIci (one of which runs netbsd now), a Quadra 700 (which runs A/UX - or would if it were powered up) and a Mac 8150 which is the Mac I've been using for these past years. I started with Unix around 1995 with Mach Ten for the Mac, getting a copy of A/UX for my Quadra and installing netbsd to the IIci, moved to SGI Irix, worked with Solaris on Intel, and, of course Linux with various distribution installed on several PCs. I watched and waited while Apple designed Rhapsody and then delayed and changed the specs, aquired Next and started working on the next OS and waited some more after plans were changed again and again and more delays were announced. I am ultimately happy to have seen OS-X finally get released and to see the consistant upgrading that is taking place. I certainly would like to purchase a new Mac but there have been two things to detract me from this - price and a situation I had with an LC575 that I bought for use in an area that did not have much space for electrical cords. I anticipated upgrading this to a PowerPC chip as was advertised but never could because upgrades were never available (still aren't in surplus or aftermarket)
Also my focus is remaining on Linux, Solaris, BSD, and that other 'alternate' OS everyone else is running which dictates that I use Intel hardware. I will also likely purchase a Sun Blade 100 workstation or something similar for at home to sit beside my Indy - and when the price is right I will buy a used Mac G4 cube or perhaps an iBook so I can give OX-X a try.
[a couple pages in a language that most Americans have never seen before]
Three things:
- Slashdot is an English board. There exist other Slashdot-like boards in other languages: for instance, this one speaks Spanish.
- What language was that anyway? Or was it generated with some sort of Scheme script like the one somebody else posted to the troll sid?
- That language looks too complex. You really should simplify.
mi tawaI see a number of people going on about the usual Mac stuff - hardware's too expensive, etc.
Well, OK, fine: what if they listened? What would you do, seriously, if they released netinfo in a pre-compiled format (RPM and DEB), so that you could use it on your Linux server? What if they offered Quicktime for sale as a closed app that ran under GNOME/KDE? What if they started sponsoring GNUStep, making their Cocoa apps easily portable between traditional Unixes and OSX?
Everyone would still hate them, of course, No one will ever get over the hardware thing, or the button thing (I should note that spymac.com have been saying that the Next Big Thing(tm) from apple will be a 2-button mouse as default). A small percentage of people will pay for Quicktime, I'm sure, but it'll be like Carmack's comments on Quake 3 - it was fun and all, but it didn't exactly sell like the community promised us it would.
My point is, even if they're 100% on the level about wanting to listen (I believe they need to listen, and stop thinking about their locked-in market of Mac fans) people will always find something to hate about them, and that's really the problem. Most people made up their mind about Apple and the MacOS in 1989. Nothing Apple can do will get these people on their side.
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
I can't help but be curious. Considering that Apple is mostly a marketing-focused company, they probably just want to cherry pick the most frequent questions and favorable comments for use in their commercials.
It would be nice if some of these comments are used to incorporate new features, but then I've also noticed that it's been awhile since I've seen a good "PC Bashing" commercial campaign from Apple. I have a hunch that they're just using us Slashdotter-types for free market research, but I hope that I'm wrong about that.
If you can bring back A/UX, you can bring back the eMate. Build me $500 ruggedized laptop (no moving parts) with a couple of compact flash slots.
That's funny; I've been mousing left-handed on Macs since '84 (though I'm right-handed...), and I have no problems with any of those. For command-shift-0, I make use of the right-hand command key, and for the others, I just pick up my right hand (so as not to abandon the mouse).
:-)
Incidentally, if your workflow is anything like mine and you'd like a 20% speed increase, try binding a mouse button to command-W. You'll love it.
I think so!
However, I'm still hesitent for the following reasons:
* only one mouse button - I know that's a silly reason, but I get confused about how to do things that require a second or a third mouse button on PCs
People! Has this not been beaten to death on Slashdot?! If you want a 3 button mouse, just plug in a 3 button mouse! I don't mean to respond so testily to this particular comment, but it's come up a lot in this discussion already.
Just about ANY three-button USB mouse will work natively with OS X. I run OS X.1.3 at work, and I have a Logitech 3 button scroll mouse. I run it with X11, and all buttons work as expected under whatever window manager you care for. Furthermore, in Aqua, the third button works as one might expect from the Windows world...bringing up Apple's "contextual menu." The scroll wheel--well, that's kinda iffy. Depends on whether the app supports it or not (e.g., Internet Explorer yes, Apple's Mail program, no).
I haven't owned an Apple product since my Apple //c got retired. I switched to PCs because of usability. During the Mac vs. IBM compatible days, Mac users talked up usability, IBM compatible users agreed that Macs were more usable, we called them idiot machines. During DOS and DOS/Win3.1, the greater configurability of the PC made us feel like were were more in control.
I am 23 years old, a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE, run a small startup software and network services shop, and I am looking at the Macs more and more every day. When my fiancee, a senior music major, wanted a computer to be able to email, web browse, compose music on, and make MP3s of her class listening assignments (instead of sitting in the library), we found her the iBook. She decided to get the CD-RW/DVD model because she wanted to be able to make CDs of these songs so she could listen to the music assignments anywhere. She absolutely loves the machine, and the iPod I bought her for Channukah.
My office network consists of Linux servers for our database servers, (PostgreSQL 7.1), OpenBSD for the web servers, NT 4 for the internal network servers, and Windows 2000 for the desktops. After pricing out replacement desktop computers for our Compaq iPaqs, we realized how competitively priced the iMac is (with the configuration we'd get, its cheaper than the Compaq w/ monitor, a little more expensive than we'd pay without replacing our current Compaq monitors). After wrestling with dual monitor issues on Win2K, the plug and go of OS X is appealing.
The reason we will probably switch to OS X (on the desktop) this summer, TCO.
I need a full time sysadmin for our Unix machines, it is outgrowing our ability to have programmers admin the boxes. We are starting to get close to needing a full-time NT guy to administer the network. We are a small company, and both is beyond our means. We want to replace the NT network infrastructure, and switch to Linux network servers. To best make this happen, we want to migrate the desktops from Win2K Pro to Mac OS X, which we believe will reduce our network costs. We have several Windows machines, and they will likely remain for special purpose usage (web developers that need to view sites in Windows + IE, Quickbooks, other specialty applications), but everyone's primary machine will likely move from a Compaq Win2K machine to an Apple machine. Developers will get Powermacs for dual monitor support, everyone else will get iMacs.
The only thing delaying this switch (beyond startup costs of buying all these machines) is coming up with a solution to replace Exchange. We need to determine a centralized accounts repository, email, calendaring, tasks, etc., system before the migration. Afterwards, we look foward to ending this dual environment of many Unix machines and a Windows network.
Thanks for the great work. I've been following Apple with interest since the NeXTSTEP acquisition, and OS X is terrific. I feel better after a good friend that is a major Unix geek (stopped using Linux in 1997 to switch to FreeBSD, administered Solaris machines, Dec Alpha Digital UNIX machines before the Compaq buyout, etc.) recommended it as the best Unix out there.
Alex Hochberger
Feratech, Inc.
I hope you can use all of this feedback you are getting.
I would love to get a MAC as a terminal in my house... to telnet into my e-mail account (not this one, of course), and to opera around the web. I'd probably want to use it as a mediaserver to the linux and PC boxes, to simplify web development projects for my roommate. I'm working in a small corner of the gaming industry, so I would need to keep my PC box for development (Quake 3 Radiant comes to mind), but as there are currently 8 computers sitting in front of me I don't think that will adversely effect the total. I would also want this to be as SILENT as possible, as it would likely never be turned off. So PLEASE find a way to remove that last fan from the beautiful new iMAC.
There are three things holding me back from this purchase.
One: performance. The last time I tried your operating system on a G4 cube, it was sluggish at best. This is hurt further by the performance gap with other chip makers such as AMD. (I know MHZ != speed, but many other benchmarks show a lag). I wouldn't plan on using the system to play Everquest, but I do need it to snap to attention the moment I want it to do something. And that isn't necessarily Ghz related, so much as how well those cycles are allocated.
Two: interface maturity. OS9 had a multitude of programs available to customize the os to behave exactly as I found aesthetically pleasing. Window Monkey, Menuette, and a host of others filled out interface gaps and created functionality where once there was annoyance. Windowshade started as a hack, you'll recall. OS9 is such a radical departure from the previous interface I doubt time for such fine-tuning has ocurred.
Along with interface maturity, 3+ button mouse support is needed. One button just isn't enough for real usage. Opera's innovative mousegestures show that two buttons and a scroll wheel may be enough for serious web surfing, and Kensington's scroll trackball implementation of the scroll wheel is spot on, but all of these should be supported with the default mouse.
Sometimes you are still on the cutting edge of interface design, sometimes you aren't. When you aren't, I strongly recommend stealing.
Three: software support. This is the reason I originally left the macintosh, and the reason it would be impossible for me to be primary with OSX. Everyone knows this, and everyone knows this is why Microsoft holds on to their monopoly. Show the developers how this could make them money and how this could make them want to wake up in the morning. Spread this mantra: "Enjoy life more: Program for OSX."
I don't plan on buying another wintel box anytime soon, basically because I can't bear to throw more money towards that godawful filesystem. On the other hand, I can't exactly plug my rio into the NeXT Cube (which, amusingly, has a picture of the new iMAC pinned to it).
Save for the price I would love a titanium. Get the snappy imac to snap to attention, do everything you can to get developers on the box, and abandon that stupid mouse, and you will have one more repatriot.
This Sig is a mnemonic device designed to allow you to recognize this author in the future.
As if demanding our souls isn't enough! Now you want to take our keyboard, our mice, our joysticks!
What's that? Oh, the other kind of input?
but my mouse only has one button.
I was talking to a coworker of mine that has OSX on his laptop. He has fiddled a lot with his Mac laptop, but he's never needed to know the root password of it. He doesn't even know how to get to a command-line interface, he hasn't needed to.
I wish they'd either port OSX to x86 architecture, or have somebody make a Linux distro that's just as easy to use.
When that happens, I'll probably be ready to move off of Windows. In the mean time, Macs are looking mighty fine. There's a VERY good chance my next laptop will be a Mac.
"Derp de derp."
Mac owners, lets use this opportunity to let Apple know that they need to support their customers, not the RIAA, MPAA. The "Rip, mix, burn" advertisement was specifically cited in testimony before congress in a ludicrous attempt to characterize Apple as a tool for pirates. The major reason I purchased a Mac was because the Mac makes it easy to work with digital audio, video, and 3D graphics.
If you are a digital media pro like myself, send Apple an encouraging word. Let them know that you will keep buying their products, as long as they continue to support our rights to use digital media in any way we choose.
You're totally right for the desktop. I can plug in my 10,000 button mouse if I want. But there is no damn way I'm going to carry around a mouse to use on my laptop -- they really need to stop crippling them here!
To the original poster: If you want a laptop that will help you score, try the Sony Vaios.
I almost clicked yes because they switched them around. Apple is stretching on gimmicks in every way imaginable. I never liked apple because their products were always inferior to PC.
God spoke to me
I'm currently jumping the MS bandwagon myself. Why? Reliability. I am sick of reinstalling my damn operating system (and programs) every few months. I am sick of crashes when doing very little. I am sick of WinNT having memory problems when I have a gig of PC133 memory. On some of the servers I've worked on, it's reasonable. I've seen WinNT servers up for almost a year with no downtime. But servers don't load / unload programs repeatedly. Real users do. Yes, I know.. If this even gets modded to a point where people see it I'll have 30,000 "linux rulz!!" comments. And do you know why MS-haters don't go to Linux for thier desktop? Support! I don't want GIMP, I want a real graphics program (or video editing program, etc). I don't want FreeCiv, I want CivIII! The "free software" community is doomed on the desktop because Linux users don't pay for software. Money pays for developers. Money makes games and real programs happen. If I were to co-loc a box for server purposes, redhat would be on there in a flash - but not at my desk. If I have to pay an additional $500 for a laptop that won't crash and has support staff who know phrases other than "RTFM!" I'll do it.
["Marge, I agree with you - in theory. In theory, communism works. In theory." - Homer]
Wow, yah, I'll just give up my $500 1ghz system (screw platform differences, it is 1ghz and it was $500, that was a year ago, now days it is 1.4ghz or more for that price!) that can run a wide variety of OSs and use a crudload of different hardware products for. . . .
." )
:)
:) )
:)
a system that locks me into one OS choice (well there ARE some other OSs, depending on what model mac exactly is purchased, but all in all it is definitely NOT an open platform) where a PHYSICAL (not just a life-induced) monopoly exists (HW AND software, oh joy!) with craptacular integrated every-fucking-thing systems and a user base that makes Windows users look down right brilliant.
(yes there are smart mac users, there are also smart windows users, at least the older windows users had to at one point or another in time use DOS, and a good fraction of them actually went about and LEARNED something about the underlying system to boot. While I am sad that MS decided to all but abandon the CLI in favor of a GUI that discourages learning in the same way that the mac environment does, at least even MS PC have a legacy someplace in the past of using a CLI. Mac users have what, the Apple II, which they cannot even lay claim to since they like to brag so much about how nice and "hands off" their platform is now days. . . . )
Oh yah and did I mention the UI? IT FUCKING SUCKS
Seriously.
You REALLY begin to appreciate the design that went into the more modern versions of Windows (excluding XP which looks like a piece of shit but is otherwise functionally the same as 2k) once you have been stuck on a mac for awhile.
I do some VERY funky things with my computer and Windows keeps on going through. If needs be I could do some rather freaky things with a bunch of OTHER OSs, or thanks to x86 emulators on my, err, x86, I can run those other OSs on my computer without repartitioning.
Thanks to emulation Mac users can of course run a lot of PC software too.
Heh.
If you want to call what they do "run". ^_^
(walk maybe. . . jog perhaps for some of the smaller applications. .
I can f*cking install a damn 8 disk raid array inside of my case and not have the damn thing break a sweat, or run out of room!
I have a $20 TV in card, a Matrox G400 MAX Duel Head video card that can do video out, and should I want too, I can easily purchase for a VERY reasonable price any number of prosumer grade sound cards to do damn nearly anything I want to do in THAT arena as well. (I do have a sound card, but it is just median level consumer quality. )
I have a damn f*cking Non-Linear Video Editing 3D rendering Photoshoping behemoth on my hands for less then what a cursed mac user pays for their d*mn wide screen monitor. (in all fairness though, that is just because being a PC user I am capible of looking at FUNCTION over form. Mac users would likely shiver when they found out that my two monitors aren't *GASP* color coordinated!! Oh the HORROR!! >;{} They are color CALIBRATED, but one has a beige casing, the other one a black casing. Deal.)
Did I mention the $30 wireless keyboard and mouse combos? Ooooh yaaah. Sweet.
It also helps that the default keyboard that comes with most PCs is made for somebody BESIDES MIDGETS. Really, what the hell is apple's intended audience here? ALL of their keyboards for their macintosh line of computers f*cking SUCK DAMNIT. Who the hell are those things geared towards, the little people? Seriously, I have nothing against the Fae, but when is the last time that the Elven Queen needed to use a computer?
(and we all know that if the Elven Queen ever used a computer that She would use one which had as many Arcane commands as possible. Likely a *nix box at the minimum.
I was doing NLE on my 266mhz Pentium II, yet to figure out what is so good about those macs. . . I have USED them, but they just well. . . SUCK. Horribly. Sure they look good, well, if you have no Y chromosome and are missing at least part of your X as well.
Computers are supposed to be BEIGE DAMNIT BEIGE. I want my computer to be F*CKING BEIGE AND MADE OUT OF STEEL DAMNIT. My current computer case can support over TWO HUNDRED pounds on top of it. Two-Fricken-Hundred.
The fact that it is FLAT on top SERIOUSLY helps with balancing stuff on top of it too. As opposed many of apple's designs which tend to be. . . uh. . . fugly and curved.
So to summarize:
Cheap
Open
Choices
Usability
ProperSizedPackInKeyboards
KickAssMouseSelection
That about sums it up.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
I loved using Macs with ATI cards. I didn't like Apple's move to Nvidia and their less than ideal drivers/cards (GF2MX vs radeon ... come on, there's a clear winner and it was NV). When Apple goes back to mixing up their machines with NV and ATI cards, I'll go back to using their machines.
---- The geek shall inherit the Earth.
I just kind of want to add a voice on the other side of the line.
I'll probably never run a Mac. The real question is, why? I guess lots of people like the Aqua interface but not only is the software proprietary but the look and feel is proprietary. Personally, seeing Apple legal department threaten free themes that clone the interface causes my skin to crawl. I don't see how I could support something like that.
Another aspect is that I am really getting to appreciate the freedom I have with my current system. From a recent slashdot article, I compiled and installed TeXmacs. Its definitely a quality GNU app (though I've had a few problems) and produces quality typeset documents. But the interface is a little weird. Specifically, it has a Buffer menu on the far left of the menubar and the File menu is next to it. But the code that defines the menubar is in a scheme script! Indeed, almost everything in the interface is definable via scheme. The power to change your system is pervasive throughout the system. All the software on my system I can have access to the source code to. In stark contrast, Apple sees its source code as trade secret.
I suppose I am hung on the principles involved. Which is okay. Many people don't buy from Microsoft because they really don't like what they do. I feel the same way about Apple. And the right to copy, modify and redistribute software are things I take for granted now. Why would I want to give that up?
Even though Apple ships a 1-button mouse, OSX works very well with any USB mouse. There is full support for a 2nd button and even the scroll-wheel works. The right mouse button performs the same action as click-and-hold on a one button mouse. I sold my Mac mouse and bought a Logitech USB mouse and it works great.
It ain't broke, so don't fix it. As much as I cringe at people using things like AOL and Windows, it does what they want. Many people want to stick with what they have, and won't upgrade unless there is a good reason to.
What do you mean, I can't put it on my machine? Another factor is sticker shock. WIth most upgrades, people have either bought piecemeal upgrades (memory, hard drives, etc.) or bit the bullet and bought a new one every few years. Usually when they upgrade, it's with the assumption that they can bring most of their software onto the new machine and it will work as told. Given that many upgrades do not go as smoothly as intended, there is usually either a local geek to fix the problem or a repair store. Buying a new computer which cannot use anything hardware from the old machine makes some people wary.
Where's the Start button? Once users find something useful that they use often, they expect future versions of what they have to include it. Most users don't have the technical knowledge that many Slashdot readers have. If they can't grasp a concept quickly, they will get irritated to the point of ditching what might be a good upgrade to go back to something they's familiar with.
This machine is working fine. I have more important things to think about than getting a new computer The economy is still improving, but cost is always an issue. Apples and Windows machines have different standards on how much you get out of a purchase. As someone in another article pointed out, you can buy a pretty decent Windows machine for the price of the low-end current Macs.
My IT guy said he doesn't support it. Many industries are firmly entrenched by Microsoft. Servers, workstations, and personal electronics have to be simple enough for most users and administrators to quickly phase into the workplace. Many IT staff do not want to deal with cross-platform compatibilities and supporting users for multiple operating systems. If someone says they can't get mail, they want their job to be as simple as possible. Read from a list, nod, and wait for the next call. On top of that, a noticeable portion of IT personnel don't know anything beyond Windows because that's all they were taught in Certification Courses 101. They don't want to learn, so they convince Management that ti would be too cost-prohibitive to support multiple operating systems.
Finally, the person may just not be looking for a new computer of any kind right now. It's difficult to convince someone to buy something they don't need or want. Apples are good computers. They have some very appealing features. But would you buy a high-end car because of a few good commercials? Computers are an investment, and the normal user wants something that's "good enough".
This
I never even plugged in the mouse that came with my Mac.. I think it's still in the box. I use a $25 Logitech Optical Wheel mouse. No drivers needed, plug it in and it works. (Well, except those few wheel issues you noted.. but it works in IE, and that's what counts)
And as far as a confusing user interface goes, I just got my first Mac ever three weeks ago. It took me about 2-3 days to become completely acclimated to the Mac interface. I used Linux for six months on my desktop and never could really get the hang of it..
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
No more double/tripple clicking or key combination clicking please.
I have five fingers and I know how to use them all. Support mice that let me.
Just popped over from your favourite xenophobia web site didja? You pathetic piece of trash.
Apple got it correct.
:
Computers in future will have no mice (flexipads)
I have said this since 1983
And I know I am correct.
Portable ultrateck computers of 2009 will resemble a thick flexible place mat.
It will be an illuminated touch sensitive pad.
A keyboard could be imaged on part of it, and of course, when not typing a finger can
TAP
Double-Tap
DRAG
and many things can be done with those (selection, scroll etc).
A cursor would be drawn above your finger averaged centerpoint.
But the thing will not be PSYCHIC!
It will not know which finger you are using.
That is why every Macintosh program will run fine.
No need for a second third or fourth mouse button.
Even Steve Jobs made his 2button Next Computer default to each button doing same thing in 1990.
All mac interface programs are very usable with one finger.
PeeCee losers fought the mouse for years (up to 1987 for many magazines I read)
And PeeCee losers still dont understand the mouse in 2002.
1) I can get open specs to every piece of hardware (not just ideology, I like to fool around with kernel development), ;)
2) I can get CPUs that (efficient as they might be) can compare to my Athlon 1700 both in performance and price,
3) I can get decent supporting infrastructure for that fast CPU (SDR RAM? In 2002? C'mon!)
4) I can run a 100% open source OS, not just a partially open source OS, that is actually supported by the manufacturer,
5) When it runs BeOS
Of course, some of the allegations about Apple are totally moronic. Those 'leet UNIX hAxOrs who complain about Apple's user base. Clue: People don't need to know about computers. Oh no. The blasphamy. To many users, computers are little more than tools. Just as people don't need to know about their cars to use them, they don't need to know about their computers to use them. It is the goal of car makers to make their products as easy and safe for people to use as possible, and it should be the goal of software makers to do the same. Of course, this doesn't preclude software meant for computer nerds, just as it doesn't preclude cars made for auto nerds. It just means that the designers of said products shouldn't force others to have the same interests as themselves.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
This got printed on ZDNet as an article. It still rings true in the sense that I meant it.
Lauren Smith
Must be the hour I guess, but I read the headline and my head was immediately filled with an image of Steve Jobs reclining in his office, eyes glazed, nasally droning,
"INPUT... NEED INPUT..."
The coolest voice ever.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Next, remove the goddamn video resolution lock on the consumer hardware. I've got an iMac here stuck sending 1024x768@75 video out the VGA port. The video hardware can do much better, but there's no way of saying "turn off the builtin display". iBooks are similarly crippled; PC laptops aren't.
Think very hard about adding a second trackpad button on the laptops. I can easily replace the USB mouse on a desktop box to get a second button, but there's no way to upgrade the trackpad without a bandsaw. Support for context menus in OS X is soooo nice; why make it harder for laptop users to take advantage of it on the go? (Yes, I know you can use modifier keys to get the same effect, but it's not the same.)
Make a really fast web browser. This Celeron 450 seems much faster than the iMac 450 for browsing; similarly with 800MHz machines at work.
Give me the source to Mail.app, so I can add support for certificates. It's not like your competition is going to steal anything useful out of that excellent, Cocoa-centric app.
Pay Valve Software to port the Half-Life engine to OS X. Geez, if the Mac doesn't run Counter-Strike, how are we going to AWP all the Windows weenies?
The ibook touchpad screwed up. If I can't move the cursor, I won't buy it. (most of the PC's have good trackpads now, HP now, compaq in the past and maybe now) I can use touchpads on the PCs, not on the ibook. I care most about hardware Cursor movement, then Keyboard, monitor resolution bandwidth effective use of screen space 2d graphics performance (quick menu responce) (list goes on, these were the top few) The last few are variables, depending on the programs I use. macs have crappy mice, and keyboards... how am I supposed to use em?
Please use [ informative / summarizing ] SUBJECT LINES
Flame me here
Apple got it correct.
Computers in future will have no mice (portable flexipads that roll up)
I have said this since 1983
And I know I am correct.
Portable ultrateck computers of 2009 will resemble a thick flexible place mat.
It will be an illuminated touch sensitive pad.
A keyboard could be imaged on part of it, and of course, when not typing a finger can
TAP
Double-Tap
DRAG
and many things can be done with those (selection, scroll etc).
A cursor would be drawn above your finger averaged centerpoint.
But the thing will not be PSYCHIC!
It will not know which finger you are using.
That is why every Macintosh program will run fine.
No need for a second third or fourth mouse button.
Even Steve Jobs made his 2button Next Computer default to each button doing same thing in 1990.
All mac interface programs are very usable with one finger.
PeeCee losers fought the mouse for years (up to 1987 for many magazines I read)
And PeeCee losers still dont understand the mouse in 2002.
this posting was just a big plot by the slashdot editors to bankrupt apple.
I see how it is, post the comment page and then all these windows and linux users will go and tell apple what they're doing that they like and what they don't like and then apple will make all the necessary changes and gain a greater chunk of the market...
this was really posted so that hundreds of thousands of readers would submit comments to apple... bad comments and good. the point is that apple is going to need to hire so many people just to read it all that machine prices will skyrocket and never sell another model!!
aarrgh!
If you don't like the standard Apple mouse, BUY ANOTHER ONE WITH THE FEATURES YOU WANT!
I mean really, if you buy a car and the stock stereo doesn't have all the bells and whistles you wanted, do you piss and moan to GM or whoever that their stereo doesn't meet your high standards? NO! You buy a different Goddamn stereo to replace the stock one.
Why can't you fucking Windows people get this through your heads? I thought you were all constantly upgrading your machines on a component-by-component basis? I mean, you all derided the iMac because you couldn't be swapping cards in and out of it every weekend, right?
Con: Wordperfect (current), it is available for Linux (WP8).
Pro: afaik the cheapest powerpc hardware.
I really don't think that was a troll. Even though his name is AssFace. Or at least, even if it was, he's right. Come on moderators, ease up with the negative mods.
I completely agree with him (with the letter, not the spirit). I've been using Macs for years, and I always thought the one-button thing was needlessly dumbing things down. I've been using an intellimouse recently, and I love that I can use the right-button instead of having to go *all the way over* to the keyboard to cmd-click. And the scroll wheel is heaven. I see no reason (including the distant future of touch-pad thingies) why Apple shouldn't ship their machines with multi-button mice. It's not so much that I mind spending the extra $30-40 on an intellimouse, but it's Microsoft, dammit! It's not really much to whine about, since in OS X, multibutton mice (at least the intellimouse) work great without installing any drivers, but the guy makes a point about it being a problem on a laptop. It's not like you can buy a replacement 2-button touch pad.
c-hack.com |
Whee.
Blow Microsoft away. Why not?
If they had asked for input about the Apple II, I would gladly answer for free twenty years ago.
I'm not Apple's client and I can't see any possible way of this happening (they could have been a solution to the MS problem -- but now is too late).
Input, ok, but first... Show me the money! I.e., do something minimally enough interesting. OS X is cool, hope they're lucky with it.
But I'm busy now getting freedom with Linux. This is where all my energy goes now.
No *BSD, no OS/2, no BeOS, no OS X, no AtheOS, no SkyOS, no matter how cool they might be (and I really dig new OSes). Of course, no monopolistic OSes, too.
Sorry, Apple, bad timing. Maybe if you get nice to Linux, but MS won't like you doing this...
Speaking of which... I just thought this today: suppose I buy a new computer, XP installed and all. Could I put a new HD with Linux and dual-boot it? Or would XP stop working because of the hardware changes?
I think a lot of people would switch over to Apple if there was a decent Windows emulator freely available.
Last I checked, the Wine site said they were *thinking* about it. Why not have some Apple developers help 'em out? Or at least give them some funding.
c-hack.com |
have you tried to browse your file tree on OSX? it's shitty. I want a directory tree like Windows' (file) explorer.
The problem with computers is not that they do exactly as they are told, it is that they have been lied to before you get them!
Anyway just liked your sig...
Blogging because I can...
Thank you, brave AC, for keeping the frist pist in the hands of the ACs.
Fuck all you logged-in phools.
And that is why PC's are in the majority.
1) I don't need an LCD screen. They're too expensive, I can't get a 17" one that does 1280x1024 without selling a kidney. But I can get a 17" CRT for like $90. And yes, it's beige. I can deal with beige.
/ever/ burn DVD's? They're expensive and overrated.
2) I don't need a DVD burner. Nor do I need a CDRW. Nor do I need a Superdrive that does both. I never burn CD's. I have no need to. I have 100 Mbit switched running throughout the house and all my friends have cable or DSL. I have one computer with a DVD drive. Why would I
2) I buy hardware based on its expandability and what I can do with it, not because of its footprint or form factor or its industrial design or whatever. One of my computers has its parts strewn about on a shelf in the open air. Having to pay extra for non-standard, non-interchangable components is just a bad idea.
3) Does your new imac have even a PCI slot or a 5.25" drive bay? What can I do with this machine? The aforementioned computer has three hard drives and I interchange between a tape drive, a CDR, and DVDR based on what I need to do with it. I have that capability with my computer.
4) I have seen the following monitor connections on a mac: 13W3, HDB15, DB15, HDI45, HDI14, digital flat panel, and now mini-vga. MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND ALREADY! I should be able to buy hardware without spending money on $20 dongles. I've seen about ten different card interface connections. Hardware I buy should be, there's that word again, interchaagable. This is just obnxious and stupid.
You guys need to learn that while there are certain technologies that are great and cool and neat, I don't want them shoved down my throat. You need to learn that the strength of the computer lies within its a' la' carte capability. I pick and choose what I want based on what I need to do with it. While my previous assertations are definitely in a very tiny minority, this one is: People buy computers based on what they want to do with them, not what you want them to. Make and license an ATX board with PCI slots, AGP or onboard video
If you do not learn this your market share will suffer accordingly.
"[T]he single essential element on which all discoveries will be dependent is human freedom." -- Barry Goldwater
Apple won't let you search their knowledge base without "logging in" - and if your account was created before they started demanding a birthday, they now require you to add a birthday. If you submit feedback, you get a canned response - from an address you can't send any mail to.
The entire thing is built around making it impossible for users to establish any kind of communication with Apple. It's awful.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
You are definitely a cunt, that's for sure.
Just yesterday I placed an order for an 800mhz new iMac and a 500mhz iBook. I was going to go with just a higher end Mac laptop, for two reasons. First and foremost I wanted to run a UNIX variant. Secondly I needed a laptop. I've been using Linux since 96 and love it to death, but OS X allows me to use applications that linux just doesn't allow, like video and sound editing packages and higher end graphics stuff.
After seeing that the new iMac had the DVD burner available as an option (I thought only PowerMacs had that) I decided to get a higher end iMac and a lower end iBook. I even bought a Sony TRV820 digital camcorder so I can do more with filmmaking than ever before (and burn it to DVD!).
The flat screen on the iMac and the option for wireless networking on the iBook (and iMac as well, but it means more on a portable) were also big selling points.
>The latest P4s are much faster than the fastest G4s in both standard integer and floating point operations.
4 _S tudy.pdf
No way! P4's may beat the G4 in the standard integer department but no way do they beat the G4's in the floating point department.
G4's have altivec (sometimes called velocity engine) which allows them to crunch floating point numbers at up to 128 bits. 128 bits!
Check this article out (it's an internal doc from NASA about using G4's for scientific calculations, take a look at page 8, the G4 smokes the Intel stuff! It's a little outdated, but still it shows how good the G4 is):
ftp://pabm10.larc.nasa.gov/Hunter_Public/NASA_G
I have it on extremely good authority that Jobs is considering porting OS X to the Intel architecture if Power PC cannot be made competitive with the Intel architecture chips. Especially with the coming Hammer chips and the loss of interest by IBM in making workstation chips, it seems very unlikely that the Power PC will every be competitive; so -- we'll have to see. Pixar just put Linux boxes on everybody's desktop. You don't suppose that this might have Pixar's owner's blood steaming, if not boiling?
I'm posting as AC for the obvious reason -- you don't have to believe me, but remember that you heard it here, first.
However I can make one suggestion to folks commenting on what it would take to get them to buy a Mac: Use one. Don't go on about how you disliked MacOS 7.6.1 on an LC II back whenever.
Try a modern Mac,
running MacOS X,
for one hour.
See how fast you can come up to speed on it. That it has all of the Unix lovin' ya dig with the ease of a great GUI right there for the using. How it ships with a set of developer tools, documentation, the works (mmm - Cocoa). The full range of standard applications available. That it is perfectly married to the hardware it runs on.
One hour. Try it. Don't read reviews, listen to gripe-sheets, how old-school Macolytes miss some features, the pissing & moaning that Apple paid for a specific codec and didn't give it away, whatever.
See for yourself what it is like.
Take a look at the hardware and price it out against any other top tier manufacturer with quality components, a three year warranty, full support. See if MHz really is the true and only measure of a computer's performance. Ask yourself if you could fall in love with an OS, would you be cheating on another?
That's all. Give it a fair shake and then decide if it's right for you or not. But at least drive it around the block, kick the tires, check out under the hood. Trust me, the brochures don't do it justice.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
So these people have considered Macs, but they're nervous about it. They want their fears to be calmed. Most of them don't seem to know, for example, that there's a very capable Mac version of Office. They don't know that they can run accounting, database, and other "non-creative" applications on Macs.
I'm not saying that Macs are the choice for everyone, nor am I saying that every PC user has contemplated buying a Mac, but I do think that a much larger percentage of the population has at one time or another thought about purchasing a Mac.
Hard-core "I don't want to use a Mac, ever!" PC users are not the audience they want to solicit. It seems to me it's a very smart move on Apple's part to obtain feedback from the large number of people out there who are on the fence, but stay with Windows out of habit.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Here's my post: (careful - long!)
/ for an example of Rhapsody development. 0/0005.html for both Alpha and Matrox development in 1996.
I am buying a new iMac roughly September, my first Mac in nearly six years. I've owned several PCs, one Digital Alpha OEM motherboard, and several Palm handhelds in the meantime.
I last used MacOS when 7.61 was out. I have personally owned four Macs - a Mac Plus, Mac II with the optional FPU and MMU - I owned and ran A/UX 3.0 , Duo 210 (still an excellent form factor), and my Quadra 630. I retired the Q630 in 1996 when I got my first PC. My first Mac was bought after a succession of excellent English or US games machines (Amstrad, Spectrum, Amiga), so not owning or using a PC until I was nearly 26 was fine by me. Until NT came out, PC's sucked because the OS sucked.
By 1994, my work had converted from being a helpdesk person looking after Mac users to a system administrator looking after Novell boxes. The lack of Macintosh Novell admin tools was a killer (even though we were about 80% Mac desktops), and the Apple PC coprocessor card that my last work PowerMac 6100 had was too slow to run the tools on a day to day basis. In 1995, I became an NT admin, and there's simply no way to manage NT from a Mac (nowadays you'd use VNC or Terminal Services, but then there was nothing). So I had to have a PC desktop. I couldn't stand (and still can't) Windows 3.1. Win95 had just come out which was better than Win31, but it still sucked. I've never used Win95 or Win98 for anything but a glorified games loader, and I've still yet to use Windows ME or XP Home, and am very unlikely to.
Once I was basically an NT-only guy at work, I decided to buy a "designed for NT" PC for home in September 1996. Through work, I was getting great prices on HP gear, which has the same sort of bullet proof reliability of all my previous Macs - I hate crap hardware. I moved from an eighteen month old 33 MHz Quadra 630 with a 13" RGB 640x480 monitor to a dual Pentium Pro 200 MHz, 17" monitor, bleeding edge 2D accelerator running at 1152x864 in millions of colors on NT Workstation 3.51. This rocked. It was more than an order of magnitude jump in processing power, and a jump from several crashes a day (MacOS 7.61 with dev tools) to none. Pre-emptive multitasking, protected memory, the works.
Imagine if you will - going from my 18 month old Mac to my new PC, it was more than the difference in productivity between a 4.77 MHz IBM PC running DOS to my first Mac. There was simply no comparison to what was before - I was hooked. Then I added Linux to my home box, but that sucked (and still does) but it was fun in a masochistic way. I had fun whilst debasing myself. I helped write the first Matrox Millennium graphic drivers for Linux*, for example. During this time, Apple went from being open and allowing BeOS and clones to exist to being a closed shop, killing off the clones. A/UX was well dead. The Mac business market was in retreat.
Why am I coming back? You certainly did me no favors when you killed Rhapsody on x86. I was developing Mozilla for Rhapsody/x86 DR2* at the time, and you killed my ability to still use an Apple operating system. Killing the x86 port was needlessly bloody-minded, and a monumentally stupid idea, especially now that both PPC CPU makers want to do embedded stuff, not 64 bit desktop stuff. I'm agnostic about hardware and almost all of my friends who I put onto Macs in my early days simply have no idea of what processor they are using. This is Apple's true strength! Remember when you did the PowerPC conversion? That was flawless - you couldn't tell, it just went faster. I'm sure Apple could do an iMac using the AMD Sledgehammer if you had the mind to. It's the OS that makes a computer. The hardware I own and recommend is fast, bullet-proof and supported. Things Apple does in its sleep. If Apple produced an x86 iMac, I would be in heaven. I don't know if you make $AUD500 on a loaded iMac, but that's the sort of money I don't mind paying for a good OS even if you didn't make an x86 Mac. I run XP Professional because it is fast, extremely stable and runs all my apps.
The iMac is beautiful. It's slow**, but almost fast enough to do what I will be using it for (browsing, e-mail, development), but I might be frustrated with it in less than a year from now unless it's seriously speed bumped. If you can stick a 2 GHz processor or say 2x or 4x 1 GHz processors in there I'll be happier. I buy machines to last three years (my 1996 Dual PPro was only retired two weeks ago when it finally died), so processing capabilities over the life of the product is a prime factor in my purchasing decision. But to make me really happy, it would be nice if you could do an order of magnitude thing for me. Like my Quadra 630 to Dual Pentium Pro 200, my 18 month old Dell is an 800 MHz PIII, so if you could somehow make the equivalent of an 8 GHz G4 by September in your consumer line, I would seriously have babies for any passing iMac.
Keep up the industrial design - you have that right. The iMac is inherently desirable. Just make it a LOT faster. And get waaaay more games on to the platform. I don't care if you have to prostitute yourself to get DirectX or the Playstation 2 API's - game developers' shouldn't need to (and don't have time or the desire to) re-target the 3D front end of their software, you have to come half-way for them. OpenGL is good for workstation stuff, but the reality is that most games are written for DirectX or PS2 games. And I don't play Quake.
Feel free to write back.
Andrew
* http://www.geocrawler.com/archives/3/132/1998/8/0
* http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/alpha/9609
** the 800 MHz G4 - I don't keep with Intel's faster clock is better thing. AMD is proof positive of this, and your Photoshop tests are interesting. I know that the G4 is per clock cycle more efficient, but it is not 2.75 times more efficient on integer stuff, which is the vast majority of what I do (development). I don't do Photoshop and have never owned a copy. I owned CodeWarrior and I liked the Project Builder on Rhapsody. You must be FAST when I compile stuff. This means good I/O, good memory bandwidth and fast integer CPUs.
Andrew van der Stock
A good car you can drive for maybe 12 years and you'll still get about the same gas mileage, etc. It'll depreciate but if you don't crash it and keep it, it'll still work fine. Of course it depends on the type of car, but let's just compare this to a computer.
A good computer, top of the line, best thing money can buy for 5,000 bucks, will likely be obsolete within half that time. If I recall, a 200mhz machine was kicking it in '96 or '97. Now you'd get about 10 times the processing power for the faster machines on the market nowadays.
So the real question is, why would I buy a 1500 dollar iMac, no matter how cute it is, when I can make my own machine for about half to 2/3 that which has just about the same features. I understand quality, and believe me, you do get what you paid for. But if my machine breaks down in say 3 years instead of maybe 6 for the iMac, I've likely already outlived the cycle of the product, and can look for something new.
Personally, I like that Apple has a fully integrated system. There's no incompatibilities for the OS because the hardware and s/w are built together. But I'm not going to pay extra for it.
What Apple has apparently learned over the years is that they are a niche market. They sell to graphics designers, for instance, and people who are mac aficionados. If they want to steal share from other computer companies, they'll have to create low-cost alternatives. Lamp-shape or no lamp-shape, some people may just want a simple monitor to an LCD, particularly those who have old DB-15 monitors laying around the house from the last machine they bought.
Desktops are becoming a commodity. If they want to break into a mass market, they'll have to lower cost.
Hi,
Thanks for asking for comments, I'd like to submit my pig-headed opinion if I may be so bold.
With your introduction of OS X I think you raised the bar significantly in the quality of PC operating systems. Drawing from Open Source resources, the Mach kernel for example, was a very savvy move and other companies would be wise to consider doing the same. I would buy a Mac just for that operating system. It is very nice.
The drawback is the price and proprietary nature of Apple hardware. I quite honestly believe that a consumer can get a functional Windows computer, that will create a sufficient perception of quality, for about $200-300 less than a Macintosh that they may feel suits their needs. While at the store the consumer might feel s/he has made a wise purchase with a Windows PC, I believe the Macintosh, in most cases, would provide a longer period of satisfaction. I feel this is due to the quality of the MacOS and related software.
With the US vs. Microsoft trial where it is, I believe now is the time for companies that can compete in the OS market to pursue OEM deals with manufacturers like Dell, Gateway, and Sony. Redhat software, for one, has managed to produce a very impressive Linux based operating system in Redhat Linux 7.2. The lack of high quality consumer applications, however, remains a barrier for any Linux OS at this time. This makes it difficult for a PC manufacturer to embrace Linux as a platform on consumer orientated computers.
The opportunity exists for Apple to release OS X on the Intel i386 platform, to directly compete with Microsoft Windows. I have a fair understanding of what an undertaking porting an entire OS from one platform to another is, as I have used Linux on i386 and PPC, and have seen the lag that PPC users experience using the minority platform. Such an effort for Apple, however, would provide a potentially huge return on investment, and would be a very positive move for increasing the value of the company.
While Apple's work in the hardware market is vanguard, the company simply cannot compete with the economies of scale enjoyed in the i386 platform. It is time for Apple to tap into this market. Imagine if MacOS were half as popular as Quicktime on computers across the world. Consumers would win, and Apple would be in the game for years to come.
Thanks for your time,
My Karma was at 49, then they switched to words. All that work for nothing!
I bought the white iBook right when it came out, which was about the time Apple began bundling OS X with their hardware. I was looking forward to being able to play DVD movies and use a great graphical interface on a super stable Unix base. My experience has not been so great.
At the start I was unable to play DVD movies in OS X. After some waiting and some updates, I was able to get watch movies, but that feature was implied when I bought the machine. Why else pay extra for the DVD model? I cut Apple a little slack because they finally got this feature working.
Next, I was unhappy with the performance so I ran out and upgraded it to 384mb of RAM. That helped some, but I am finding that the processor is still tapped heavily by this Aqua interface. (tuning?) It is simply too slow on this new iBook. Apple should not be releasing an OS on hardware which cannot provide the resources the interface needs. Steve Jobs claims that Apple is the only company left which can take full responsibility for the complete user experience, hardware to software, so I am calling him on it. I bought new hardware and I have a fully upgraded OS so why am I so disappointed in how slow this thing is?
The performance is just horrible. Then I find that when I run Java or PS5.5 in Classic the system gets slow, the rainbow circle begins to appear and I am eventually forced to reboot. That is not stability.
I should note that I have been careful only to use software which I download through the Apple download site just to be certain I am not running some strange shareware which is messing with the OS X internals. It is just that OS X is just flawed in several places. It needs a great deal of work.
Now some of you may be reading this and getting very upset. I just gotta say this is my experience with OS X on a white iBook. I have been a FreeBSD user and administrator for a few years and I also use Windows at work. My choice is to use OS X, but the above areas simply need work. I read reviews which are so gushing with praise for Apple, but I refuse to believe that nobody has encountered the same problems as me.
Now consider supported hardware. Getting a decent webcam, gamepad, scanner, or flash disk reader working with OS X is hit or miss. And most of the time it is a miss. Visit the Apple website in the games section and you will find it recommends the Gravis Gamepad which works with InputSprockets, a driver interface in OS 9 which was not brought to OS X. Apple is recommending hardware which does not work in OS X!!! Read the technical requirements yourself. It is just frustrating. I want to be able to use the OS to practical things, but I am finding that I am spending more time struggling to find decent hardware and tinkering with making something work than actually doing what I set out to do.
In short, if OS X and the iBook are supposed to be a part of the digital hub... a media center for my digital camera (flash disk) and a great gaming platform, then it needs to support that hardware. As yet I have found OS X to remain very lacking. If the third party hardware companies are not making drivers, then Apple has to apply enough pressure to make it happen. Either they make their own hardware to fill the void or sponsor the development of those drivers by companies like Macally, Logitech and Sandisk.
For now, I am finding all I can do with my iBook is the Terminal app and Internet Explorer. Don't even try to look at a collection of photos in iPhoto. It takes forever to render all of images. All of the other magical dreams that use to be OS X are just not true. Steve Jobs, make that dream come true in 10.2, or you will see your 5% userbase shrink to 2% quickly. It does not matter how cool the iMac may seem. People will eventually return to what can fill their practical needs and if OS X does not fill that void, they will seek it with WindowsXP. (the thought makes me sick)
Consider there is no point in migrating Windows users to OS X only to have them migrate back 2 years later. You will not get them back. I have a friend who did that very thing. He bought an iMac under OS 9 and switched back to Windows because he was tired of crashing and rebooting continually. All he remembers of his Mac days is disappointment.
Stop further development of the iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and just get the core OS working. The rest is useless if the core is rotten.
(that is my two cents)
Brennan Stehling - http://brennan.offwhite.net/blog/
Hey, you should have cross posted that comment in the "biggest lie" thread instead. How can I count the ways?
- the bloated 286 era CISC instructions waste about 1% of the die in useless firmware (it hurts so bad)
- the irregular encoding of the core instuctions makes the L1 i-cache vastly more space efficient than rigid encodings
- the read modify write instructions (which RISC eschews) go a long way toward offsetting integer register pressure (check out the internals of the Athlon design you might learn something)
- the small register file makes for faster context switches
- orthogonality is a violation of Zipf's law which dictates the common operations should be idiomatic
- 15 years and a factor of 1000 can't be wrong
Where x86 really does suck:
- the floating point stack is beyond redemption
- irregularity in flag register update patterns
- the thermal cost of all those parallel pipeline stages which turn all those supposed design liabilities into performance assets (50% more performance than the Power architecture at four times the power budget)
I'd guess that the nasty flag bits have more impact on scalability than the wonky instruction set encoding. Either update all the arithmetic flag bits or none at all. The OOO logic must absolutely pull its hair our trying to keep all those flag bit dependencies straight.
This post isn't as far off topic as it might seem on the surface.
I was there circa 1986 when the Apple camp was drinking the coolade about how RISC was going to bury CISC, while promising a real man's virtual memory system RSN (which they didn't deliver under OS X), while slagging the Wintel camp for not having a proper GUI, while sticking with their ridiculous "one size fits all" proposition that gradma's Mac was state of the art for the needs of a software developer. The biggest suck and blow of all time.
I remember reading a long time ago about how Apple put so much work into deciding which position on the drop down menus were quickest and most intuitive. But did they put the same amount of thought into the problem of having too many windows on a screen that was way too small? Not a chance.
Great, all the controls are on the window corners. If a window gets pushed off to the side, I can't access the controls that allow me to manipulate what portion of the window I need to see. So I drag it back into the middle, burying something else which I'll soon be digging out again.
Take a look at the scroll bars on the left side of any window (which MS faithfully copied). The little triangle that points up is how far away from the little triangle that points down? If I overshoot my target (which you tend to do when the scrolling accelerates) I'll just whip my mouse pointer down to the nether regions and scroll it back down a line. Oh wait, that triangle isn't on the screen because I moved the window down to get at the title bar for another window that wasn't where it needed to be a moment ago (and which will be hidden again as soon as I move this window up where I can get at the scroll arrow again).
I know, I'll skip all those steps by right clicking and selecting the menu item "size window to visible" which will return the control regions of the window frame to places my mouse can scratch. It's got to be there somewhere after all those studies of GUI efficiency.
This has been the problem with Apple all along: they always go after the straw man while leaving the real problems unsolved. 95% of my GUI interaction concerns positioning the portions of windows needing my attention to the right place and size. Half of that time is spent digging up the right controls because they are on the edges that keep getting pushed off the sides.
A friend was telling me today about the "magic button" on his favorite oscilloscope. Connect your probes, push the button, and it frames what it figures is the most important part of the signal for your attention all by itself. He figures his scope was right 90% of the time.
Why can't Apple accomplish the same thing? A magic button (if you can only have one) that makes exactly what I need to see visible in the most legible font size available for the task and the screen estate available.
Here's an example from just this morning. I had a horrible vendor web page to digest. The technical information window, which defined the product codes, had 1/3 of the left side of the window filled with menu crap that disgusted me. The other window had the price list in many columns depending on volume, but I was only interested in the single unit volumes in the left column.
What did I do? I pushed the technical window halfway off the screen to the left and the price list window halfway off the screen to the right. I could now see the part numbers, the definitions of those parts, and the prices all at the same time. (I can see why Apple might not rush to provide that feature.) But the all important "file" and "edit" menus (and back button) from the left window was now off the screen entirely, as were all the scrolling controls for the price window. Brilliant. Parts of this horror story were invented by MS (they can indeed innovate), but the bulk of it was borrowed from you-know-whom.
I'll buy a Mac when they invent a gesture where I can indicate what portion of each window needs my attention and the Mac automatically finds a way to make exactly those portions visible (while concealing everything that flashes) without crippling my ability to quickly flick my vantage point (in both directions) for each selected region of interest.
I'll buy a Mac when I can politely inform it not to bother displaying important text using a 3x5 font just because some stupid PDF file demands a full gestalt. Either make the text big enough for me to read, or don't display it at all. I'm not judging anything on artistic impression. My definition of ugliness is anything that gets between me and what I'm trying to understand. Is that such an odd thing to expect from the use of a computer?
After telling me about the magic button my friend laughed at me. "That magic button wouldn't appeal to you, you'd know every button on the entire oscilloscope". He's right, but he's wrong. I would know every button (it's my nature), but I'd love the magic button just the same. The magic button that says "show me exactly what I need to see scaled to the best size for my eyes to scrape out the information content so efficiently that I can't remember how it was presented two seconds later".
If the Mac could only have one button, and that was the button, I just might buy another Mac.
I'm a couple of weeks into an experiment. Over the holidays I indulged a consumerist impulse and bought a Titanium Laptop. After the second credit card statement arrived, I decided I'd damned well better get some use out of a machine that I paid roughly $3,000 for. So for the past 2+ weeks I've left the Linux machine off and have used the TiBook as my sole home machine.
;-)
For the most part, I have no complaint. Many long time OS 9 users are vocally unhappy about the Aqua GUI. I'm a longtime WindowMaker user, so I'm on conceptually familiar ground. I like being able to SSH into my laptop from work and continue the project I was working on. I like the fact that fetchmail and sendmail come pre-installed on my laptop. I really, really like the OmniWeb browser (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/). I like watching (the Pro only) QuickTime movie trailers from quicktime.apple.com when it's 1:30 AM and I really ought to be in bed. I'm very impressed with iTunes and iPhoto. I assume at this point that if I owned a digital movie camera that I would be impressed with iMovie, as well.
I do, however, have two noticeable complaints:
1) I've spent the weekend trying to compile PHP 4.1.2 on this damned machine, and I'm getting tired of reading potentially helpful posts on various mailing lists which all end in the same error message:
"/usr/bin/libtool: internal link edit command failed"
If anyone has encountered this error message while compiling PHP 4.1.2 and resolved matters to their liking, I would be delighted to hear what you did.
2) I bought Civilization III for Mac OS X. I have a 677mz G4 processor with 512 MB of RAM, and the damned game is so slow its almost unplayable. That's simply unacceptable. I can't remember the last time that I cursed so much at a game. It doesn't matter if companies port their software to Mac OS X, if the port is practically unusable.
One final thought, unrelated to the previous statements:
I don't give a damn about the price. I don't use Linux because it's Beer-Free. I've happily paid for every version of the OS that I've used over the past five years; I understand how a Market Economy works. If you tell me that you didn't buy a Macintosh because it didn't do something that you needed, or because it did something you found unacceptable, I'll gladly accept that. But if you tell me you didn't buy a Mac because you were too cheap, rest assured that you won't get invited to any of my parties. I'd rather have no scotch than cheap scotch
Best regards,
Mike McC
I bought this great looking PowerBook G4, so that I could run MSFT Office and have a Unix OS at the same time. Maybe I am spoiled on Linux, but where are all the GNU tools?
I went to use CVS the other day and found out it wasn't there. No big deal, I downloaded and then found out I didn't have GCC. Nothing is more annoying than having to bootstrap GCC.
On the non-GNU front... What if I want to use J2SE 1.4? WTF do I get it? It seems only 1.3 is available.
I know the Mac has been around a long time with no right mouse button, but come on! I don't want to have to plug in a mouse just so I can right click. Holding down the button just slows me down.
Hi,
I am a PC user eyeing a Mac. I used to be a mac user, as it turns out, but I went over to the "dark side" about five years ago for career reasons. I work in I.T. in a Windows environment.
The biggest barrier for my entry into the Mac market is price. I actually own a Power Computing PowerBase 180, which as you may know is a 603e-based Mac clone from 1996. At the time the machine cost $1500, and a comparable Mac, the Performa 6400, was about $2500.
I recently built a new system at home, consisting of an Athlon XP processor and a nForce architecture motherboard. Total cost was about $600 for a new CPU, Motherboard, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, 512 MB RAM, and 20GB HD. I get the feeling an "equivalent" powerMac would run about $1800. Also, I have Dolby 5.1 surround sound output, does Apple even offer that?
The other concern I have about buying a Mac is: I like to play computer games. Right now I am hacking my way through Baldur's Gate II. The Mac game selection is very slim and I find that quite frustrating. In this regard quality is more important than quantity, but still there's always this feeling of playing last year's PC game.
Maybe I'm not your target audience, and that is a real shame because I was a big time mac fanatic back in 1990-1991. I used the beta of System 7 and was blown away. I learned to hack applications using MacsBug. But five years later Mac was still on System 7 and it took five more years to really take it to the next level. I mean, really, clicking the mouse should not be a system event! But I digress.
You want me to buy a Mac? When I can buy a good mac for about $750, or buy a "bare bones" CPU and MB Apple system, then we'll talk. I'm not willing to pay more AND be limited in good games. One or the other is okay, but the double-whammy is just too much.
I don't know if current Macs have ZIF-socket processors but if you are stil soldering them, that's another reason to stay away from Mac.
Thanks for your time.
If you look, you'll find good deals on PCs.
m de tails.asp?sku=SYSP2066C
At Accubyte, on March 25, 2002, they had the following deal:
http://www.accubyte.com/applications/search/ite
$899.95 ($89.95 to get three year warranty parts and labor) for a 2.0 GHz P-4 with everything but LAN card and Monitor. Nothing in Apple's consumer lineup on its site is close (dual 1 GHzs are 2K$+).
For the price of an inexpensive iMac, there you go, a full powered PC. And with 17" monitors reaching under $150 now, cheap grades a little less, well, Macs are still way more expensive.
I'd love to see Macs just give in and use PC hardware completely, just market the OSX and its graphics capabilities, and try to corner the professional sector.
Human nature is the same everywhere; the modes only are different. -- Earl of Chesterfield
In fact, I'm using a Kensington PocketMouse Pro Portable three-button/roller mouse on my iBook right now. I can program all manner of behaviors and Applescripts for clicks and chords with Kensington's software. This Kensington is very nice, with a retractable USB cord for neat storage and easy transport: $40 from store.apple.com; probably half that direct from Kensington.
I first discovered this in Paintshop Pro, and it *does* zoom under the pointer. Very nice.
My IP is 192.168.1.100 Hack it if you want.
"I WANT MORE MOUSE BUTTONS!" - This point keeps coming up in this thread, so I want to clear something up about mouse buttons.
Mac OS X supports multiple mouse buttons. Just plug in whatever strange little USB mouse you want (or already use on the PC) and you can use them just like you do in Windows. No plug-ins required.
And why does the Mac come with only one button? It's becuase it's so darn simple. Anybody can guess what you do with one button. Point. Click. Easy. Now, give a newbie a two-button mouse, and they get a little confused. It's kind of like having a door with two doorknobs.
I would like to see the following:
- I want my computer to turn on and boot in 10-15 seconds.
We all know this is possible (BeOS). Instant-on functionality
would be very nice.
- I'd like to be able to watch several movies at once, and move
them around on-screen without skipping frames. I'd like to
be able to listen to music, utilizing 1-5% of the CPU, without
ever skipping. Playing background music can be, and should be
an effortless task.
- I'd like to see the kernel be able to schedule tasks effortlessly
across as many processors as available, and support clustering
or "grid computing" across local networks and the Internet.
- I'd like to see a very dynamic plug-in architecture that drivers
for the kernel as well as applications and everything in between
use for extending things instead of separate API's for doing so.
- No more CFPleaseLetThisMadnessEndOneDay names, please!!
Let's see some very nicely-designed objects with nice method
names and a consistent naming scheme used.
- Everything should be re-entrant and thread-safe, where possible!
If locking is required, the system should provide for it unless the
developer ABSOLUTELY needs to do it, and this should be clearly
documented if it's the case.
- Legacy-free. No Carbon, Cocoa -- something completely new and
parallel to the Macintosh/Mac OS X effort would be very nice. An
emphasis towards performance, code size, efficiency, and simplicity
would be very nice.
- I would like to have a scalable user interface in two ways: In
one way, I'd like to be able to start with basic, primitive functionality
like pointing and clicking, identifying objects, examining their
various properties/attributes, seeing a list of actions or operations
that can be performed on them, performing such actions and
operations, etc. I'd like to see an interface that could start primitively
and grow with the user in complexity. A child could have simple
objects on the screen, and the same system/account/workspace
would "grow with the user" as she gets older, revealing more
complexity as time moves on or new types of interfaces are
available.
- I'd like to see a visually scalable interface that is independent of screen
or output device resolution. The interface should be able to work on an
arbitrary # of screens or output devices. It should be pen and touch-
aware. It should be able to work over the network in a minimal client
fashion, or locally. Where the actual code is running should not matter.
You should be able to scale the level of detail and size of the interface and
the objects which comprise it to maximize for smaller displays or for poor
eyesight. This means less use of bitmaps and more use of scalable
vector-based artwork and code.
- I'd like to see arbitrary "painters" that are easily created that define the
appearance of objects in the interface. You could separate the actual
behavior (to an extent) from the presentation. Further customization
would be "Themes" or collections of such "painters." Themes could have
different "variants" -- things like color choices, image choices, cultural or
International resources, etc.
- I'd like to be able to buy an Apple-branded PDA that runs a
modern version of the Newton OS. I would like to see these
Newton frameworks available across the board on Mac OS X
on any computer, exportable to portable devices, set-tops,
appliances and other forward-thinking/lifestyle devices. I want
to be able to use the dynamic, expressive power of Newton
frames and soups to represent and store data. I believe that
there is a lot of promise with frames in a networked environment,
and that they are the best means I have seen to date for
expressing views/user interfaces and quickly and dynamically
implementing user interface object behavior.
- I'd like a simpler, object-oriented, highly-expressive, highly-
dynamic API that I can use to piece together slick, fast applications
that are not implemented as directory bags/packages, but rather
a single entity that can be easily moved around. I want a very
straightforward, simple class hierarchy. I'd like to be able to have
only one book that describes the entire API.
- I would like for files to be associated by MIME type, by their
"magic number" or header information, and then finally by
filename suffix if the type cannot be adequately determined
otherwise.
- I'd like to be able to have my data stored somewhere on a
server, and access my data from wherever I am, instead of
worrying that my data is at home, at work, in my PDA,
wherever.
- I'd like to be able to fully customize the appearance and the
behavior of the user interface. I'd like to be able to do this in
several different ways: Graphically: drawing out the things
that I want. Textually: scripting/authoring (NewtonScript/
JavaScript would be nice), via an inspector (changing properties),
or by writing C, C++ or Java code. I'd like the data that
describes these views or methods of browsing to be very compact,
secure, simple, and dynamic, and I'd like to be able to share
these things with others.
- I want to be able to stream any music, movies, or text that I'd
like to any device at my leisure, be able to bookmark or otherwise
save my place in said content, be able to share links to this
content or even mark up or comment on it with others as well
as save excerpts of this content for later browsing.
- I would like to easily automate repetitive tasks, and would like for
the system to notice when I make certain choices over time and
ask me if I'd like to somehow automate it or set default choices.
- I would like to have some notion of online "presence," sort of like
an instant messaging system that is built into the operating system.
I would like my online status to be publishable, and would like to be
able to let people have access to this status based on any number of
rules or criteria. I would like for text and video/audio messaging to be
an integral part of using the system.
- This would be built atop a very simple, extensible, dynamic messaging
system, similar to Newton frames that have arbitrary name/value/
(flags) "pairs." All messaging, including instant messaging as well as the
event system for the user interface as well as observable/observer
systems would be built atop this dynamic messaging system.
- A "frame" is a list of arbitrary attributes. It is basically an object at the
lowest level of the system runtime that has attributes that describe and
implement it. Some attributes can be methods or executable code.
- A "container" is a frame that has a "contents" array with some standard
accessors that can be used to add, remove, describe and otherwise iterate
over the container's contents.
- A "context" is a container that has one or more threads (or a thread group)
associated with it. "Handlers" can be added to a context that take arbitrary
messages (or filter them with some filter procedure or attributes) and can
handle them, absorb them, pass them on or stop them in their tracks.
- A "agent" is a context that can "go" various places on a network of nodes
and containers. It can have various tasks or handlers associated with it.
It can have a signature that identifies it and where or who it comes from,
which can be used as a basis of security. They can be local (used to automate
tasks and what-not), or remote. They can have a life span, or a certain #
of iterations before it "dies" or moves on. It can return back to the sender(s)
when it is finished, optionally.
- A "place" is a context that can have agents running inside it. Can be used to
implement a chat room or a "place" online that can have one or more
ways of describing an optional user experience. A "place" manages the various
messages associate with it. It can represent a physical place or a virtual place.
- A "scout" is an agent that can travel from place to place and sends messages back
to the originator or user. A perfect way to present the user as an online entity or
presence that can be used for chatting, messaging, exchanging files, or otherwise
operating or carrying on on a user's behalf. A scout could, for example, travel to
a place, and if admitted, send back the user interface description for the place,
which would be built dynamically on a user's screen. That interface might have
a text field that can send messages to the scout, which drops the message in the
place it's in. The handlers in the place distribute the message to other scouts in
the room, which in turn send the message back to the user, where they are
displayed in a window or what-not.
- I would like to see less emphasis on a whole pile of windows on the screen and
more emphasis towards what Raskin calls the user's "locus of attention." In
other words, people generally only want to view or act on a few discreet pieces
or views on information at any given time. I'd like to see more effort expended
towards efficiently allowing the user to see an overview of the various views
being browsed and switch effortlessly between them. Likewise, I'd like to see
innovative new ways for telling the machine I want "these three things on
the screen right now" or even indicating prominence or priority for them.
- I'd like to have better interfaces for rapidly entering various types
of data that I encounter on a daily basis, from whatever machine(s)
I have access to at the time, and be able to quickly recall that data
later. I'd like to be able to freely group and associate this data, and
would like for typical types of data (URL's, phone numbers, e-mail
addresses, physical addresses, etc.) to be automatically recognized and
indexed as such. Instead of having hard-wired hierarchies that are
represented in the file system "where they exist," I'd like to be able to
browse and search for data quickly and efficiently based on attributes
and (user-defined) types in a freeform data soup.
- I'd like to have a complete, integrated user experience that is forward-
thinking in that Apple does not put its foot down and say "this is how
people MUST or SHOULD interact with computers," but rather "here are
a set of dynamic, expressive, powerful, secure tools -- we don't know
exactly what people want in terms of user experience, but here are some
examples -- please extend them and come up with new ideas on your
own." There is no reason for UI objects to be as hard-coded as they
are today, nor as static.
- This would necessitate that the graphics and view system basically
provide support for N screens or display areas that have a DPI resolution,
a scaling factor, and arbitrary sizes and shapes that can be arranged in
different ways (with the edges running into each other or being separate,
even bordered). There would be arbitrary non-rectangular regions that
could optionally have shadows or other dynamic visual properties -- windows,
if necessary, would be implemented on top of these regions. These regions
could in turn have views, with an x, y, and z position as well as separate
layers which could be hidden, scaled, shown. A set of core graphics
primitives -- 2D, 3D, whatever. A standard way to represent views that is
very dynamic in nature, maybe employing prototype-based inheritance like
NewtonScript has. On top of this, go nuts, and allow users and developers
to do so as well.
- For bitmap-based UI objects, it'd be nice if they were stored as YCbCr
color-space objects, where the Y value represents the luminance information.
It's very easy to color objects when represented or converted to this
color space, so you could, for example, have whatever color or "flavor" of
bitmap objects that you like, and these colored objects could be cached as
colored to speed performance.
- It'd be nice to have an interface that scales nicely from a textual interface to
a phone interface (voice, keypad) to a 2D interface, to a 3D interface, and be
dynamically extensible.
- You should be able to browse, find, get, purchase, and update everything over
the network. For example, if you buy a phone that is Apple-enabled, you would
turn it on and have a very nice graphical picker for services, user interfaces,
ring tones, and the like. Fully integrated into the system. Likewise, you should
be able to share your creations and content with others -- all using the same
mechanisms.
- It seems that "ad-hoc" networks are a very interesting phenomena to start
exploring. For example, driving on the highway in bumper-to-bumper traffic
-- seems like a network where packets can hop in any direction down the
chain. Also, being able to associate real places with virtual places and content
would provide for unprecedented location-specific levels of functionality, not
to mention marketing and social opportunities.
This is just the beginning of what I'd like to see. And discussion I would like to
see as well.
Steve
- - -
Steve Klingsporn
steve@seapod.org
http://www.seapod.o
that's totally correct, but have you ever stopped to think: you're talking to a slashdot weenie?
Well Apples design is nice and all, but where do power users put their hardware? ...
I currently have 7 Harddisks, a DVD-ROM and a CD-RW in my box. show me any apple box coping with this stuff w/o using some fancy external firewire stuff. Next thing is SCSI - why for heavens sake have they removed SCSI from their systems? I'd like to see some NLE video editor working on a single 60GB IDE drive without screaming. i run 3 LVD 17gb disks@10000rpm and i want to see which systems faster - even the best future G5 can't be faster when the harddisk sucks.
Next thing is macs filesystem - no journalling. I repeat - no journalling. let this machine crash and you're fucked...
The keyboards suck - there're no {[]} brackets visible on those, now go and find them being a pc programmer(german keyboard mac and pc). Then they replace the @ sign with every OS release? some of the keyboards even have no number-block.
OSX is working very well as far as i can see at my co-workers G4, so what i'm waiting for is enough software natively running on OSX, a customizeable huge loud box, a keyboard that has ALL special chars viewable on its buttons, no starting sound when i power on the machine and of course dualprocessor at a reasonable price. dual athlon 2000MP would cost me 2000Euro including watercooling excluding peripherals like screens mouse,
Written by an avid Mac evangalist who wants Apple to make it easier to sell macs.
MULTI USER DIRECTORY STRUCTURE CONFUSING
- OS X's multi user directory structure is very confusing for people that are used to having "My Documents folder on Drive C". There DEFINITELY needs to be an interactive tutorial that teaches people about the "home" directory and so on.
CONNECTING TO OTHER COMPUTERS IS DIFFICULT
- The method for connecting to other computers in OS X is not intuitive. Windows users in particular do not expect to have to go to a menu item for that. There should be an equivalent to "network neighbourhood" on the OS X desktop (without the condescending Micro$oft name of course).
UNABLE TO BROWSE WINDOWS NETWORKS
How come you can't browse Windows networks using Mac OSX's inbuilt SMB client? It looks like the SMB client was a half-implemented effort simply to satisfy a check box on a list. But this is really one of the most crucial features of OS X's attraction to business. Let's face it, there's few businesses without Windows NT servers somewhere. Why not let OS X users browse for servers?
PAGE SETUP ALWAYS CHANGES ON MAC
In Windows, once you set the page size to A4, it sticks -- permanently. You never have to look at it again. But in OS 9 and OS X, Mac users constantly have to go to page setup to make sure it hasn't defaulted back to letter. This is a MAJOR annoyance for your international customers.
PROGRAM WINDOWS SHOULD COME UP ALTOGETHER
It's annoying in OS X that if you click on a program, all it's 'child' windows don't come up to the front at the same time. That's a step backwards. Users want to be able to see all the output from programs at the front rather than having to click on each of the windows to bring them to the front.
TIME FOR A TWO BUTTON MOUSE
I can see that Apple is trying to maintain its trademark simplicity by sticking with the one button mouse -- but let's be frank, everyone uses the right mouse button these days, and especially pro users. People just end up buying a third party mouse to get this functionality -- why not include it with the Mac by default?
EJECTING DISKS - CONFUSING!
Most PC users find it very confusing that they have to software-eject disks, and to be frank, a lot of Mac users do too -- especially when a disk gets 'stuck' due to a rogue software process that is hanging on to the disk. Why not put a 'soft-hardware' button on the Mac casing that performs a psuedo-hardware-eject. EG it calls a function in the operating system to issue an eject command to the drive. That way you still get operating system control over the drive, but you satisfy users who have an urge to press a button on the computer.
IMPOSSIBLE TO DELETE A USER COMPLETELY?
How the heck do you delete a user directory in OS X without knowing root level unix commands? If you delete a user, the user directory just sits there labeled 'deleted', but it's still not possible to delete.
Cheers,
Dan Warne
"when is the last time that the Elven Queen needed to use a computer?"
Come on...we all know that Galadriel's mirror is nothing more than a Mi-book (Mithril PowerBook) flat panel screen under some water and a piece of glass. And that future she showed Frodo was so totally produced with Final Cut.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
Cheers
Martin Sevior
On MacOS, when you click the window of an application in the background, this click just brings the application to the front. On Windows, this click already performs an action in the target window.
This leads to the following usability / speed problem in Windows: Whenever the user wants to bring up a window to the front to get some work done with it, he has to click into an area where the click does no harm. In Internet Explorer e.g., these "save areas" are the title bar, parts of the menu bar without menu items, the content area as long as it's not a link, and the taskbar. This "search for a save place to click" takes away a lot of time, which is why many users use alt+tab to switch between apps on windows.
On the mac this search takes less time because
- the user is sure that the first click will just bring up the window and
- the clickable space to perform this action is bigger (fitt's law...)
And on the mac, bringing a window to the front and immediately selecting an action doesn't take more time, since you can simply doubleclick...
Well, almost. Apple has made the mistake that doubleclicks are not recognized in these circumstances. There is a timelag between your first click and the app coming to front, and whatever you do during this switching is discarded from the event queue. If they are planning on improving their gui (or if you're working on your own gui), this is something to consider.
Then I noticed CompUSA got a boatload of them in about three weeks ago. I saw an entire pallet of the things, but was told I couldn't have one because they were all pre-sold.
Methinks Apple is screwing over their loyal computer retail specialists, the ones who sell only Apples. Makes no sense.
Seems like everytime Apple comes out with something great, you can't buy it for months and months. Then by the time it's available, the impulse/geewhiz factor has worn off.
So whenever this store calls me up to tell me my new iMac is here, I'll probably tell them to keep it... :-(
...and besides a mac is still a Personal Computer.
Speaking of games, that's the one really glaring hole in the Mac today. As far as I can tell, there is no major MMORPG for the Mac. I read in an interview somewhere with Mark Jacobs of Mythic that they would consider a Mac port of Dark Age of Camelot, but they don't have the time or resources now. Apple should contact Mythic and offer to loan them some Mac programmers to get DAoC running on the Mac. Mythic had the smoothest MMORPG launch in history with DAoC, so would be a good choice for the first major Mac MMORPG, and once they are onboard, and people see that the Mac is a viable MMORPG platform, others might come aboard.
I'm serious...do not underestimate the importance of MMORPGs, both new ones and getting the existing ones ported.
The thing about MMORPGs is that they are highly social. When some kid is asking for a new computer for Christmas, and all their friends are playing an MMORPG under Windows, that kid is going to ask for a PC. Even if Apple wins back the schools from Dell, the kid is not going to care that having a Mac at home will fit in better with the school Macs...the kid is going to want to play that MMORPG with his friends.
Here's an experiment you should try. Find 10 Apple employees who are interested in fantasy games, and who long time Mac users, who never even look at PCs. Put a reasonably high end PC with a good video card on each of their desks, and set them up with an Everquest account, and tell them to play. Tell them Apple wants to figure out if MMORPGs are worth encouraging on the Mac. After one month, take their PCs away on a Friday. I'd bet by Monday, half of them will have PCs at home. That is how addicting a game like Everquest is.
1. Mouse Buttons: Apple is never going to make a multi-button mouse. Thousands of usability studies have demonstrated that the new user (a large part of Apple's target market) is confused by a second button! If you want a two button mouse, there are hundreds of USB mice, for really cheap. Which brings me to my next point:
2. Price! I don't believe how many people bitch and moan about how expensive the Mac is, and how they would only buy one if it wasn't so damn expensive. Do you listen to yourselves? Its like bitching about how expensive Lexus or BMW are. Apple is the BMW of the computer world. People are happy to pay a premium for quality! If you can only afford a piece of shit Ford Focus, of course you're not going to get a fully loaded luxury car! Duh!! And if you are part of the 2% of the population that builds your own computer, Apple doesn't give a rats ass about you. You will never be happy with a pre-built box, and you're too small of a market.
3. Boxen: Apple will never license the Mac OS again. They tried it once, and the only thing it accomplished was to cannabalize Mac Hardware Sales. Repeat after me: Apple makes its money from hardware. Everything else (including OS X) is just bonus features to sell more hardware! With a business model like that, it would be totally idiotic to let anyone clone your hardware, or port your OS to x86. If Steve Jobs ever tried this, as a shareholder, I would personally have his head in a guillotine. (More beheadings at shareholders meetings, I always say). It will never happen again. The only reason they licensed the OS in the 90s was because they didn't have the balls to stand up to the bitching and moaning of morons who don't get it! And finally:
4. Applications There are almost 20,000 Mac Apps listed here, and thousands more (including very high quality shareware and freeware here. How many application do you fucking need people? How many can you run at once? What task do you need to do that cannot be done on a Mac?
I think that people who use these excuses are covering for their bigotry. If you hate Macs, grow some balls and just come out and say it! Stop making up bullshit excuses, pretending that you would buy a Mac, if only they were cheaper, and came with a two button mouse. Bullshit. You probably have a deep seated fear of change, and maybe other psychological issues. Come to think of it, if you are a Mac Bigot, you better go see a shrink, because you are pretty fucked up. Nobody in their right mind would buy anything else.
Reality has a liberal bias
Apple Laptop Keyboards are Unacceptable to Unix Users
Apple designs horrible keyboards. ADB keyboards (which are still used on all of Apple's laptops) are unusable to unix users and old-timers who need a Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.
Proper Keyboard Design
- When a key is pressed, the keyboard sends a keyPress
event.
- When a key is released, the keyboard sends a keyRelease
event.
- Each key is assigned a different keycode.
Nothing more, nothing less.ADB Keyboard Mis-design
- When the key to the left of the 'A' (CapsLock) is
pressed, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event
and a keyRelease event.
- When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard
sends NO events.
- When the CapsLock key is next pressed, the ADB keyboard
sends NO events.
- When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard
sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease
event.
- The above cycle repeats over and over.
This is WRONG ! Apple's ADB keyboards are broken by design.Unix Users Cannot Use Apple's ADB Keyboards
What this means is that unix users who need the key to the left of the 'A' to be a Ctrl key cannot use Apple ADB keyboards. You can easily reprogram the CapsLock key to be a Ctrl key and get rid of the badness of the CapsLock key, but you can't get the required goodness of the Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.
Apple Loses Sales to Unix Users
All Apple laptops have the horrible broken-by-design ADB keyboards which are unusable to unix users. I want to buy an Apple laptop, but I cannot and will not until Apple builds input devices usable by unix users.
Probably never.
I've owned a PC since 1992. . . and I've never bought a whole PC since--I've simply swapped out one part for another, upgrading when either an old part died or the latest game ran too slowly for my taste (or not at all--my first 486 chip was a Cyrix, which didn't like X-Com, so I chucked it for an Intel chip).
Why would I give that up so I could just buy a computer that I'd have to replace every three to five years?
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
A little about myself first:
:-)
I am a "Microsoft dot whore." I don't hate Macs but I have hated the MAC OS
since forever. I hate Linux on the desktop but I am a hardcore fan of Linux
used properly in a server environment. I have a lot of respect for freeBSD
and it is my unix of choice when I need a dirt cheap web server. I am a
Windows developer and I also work on web applications development, but
non-Windows client platforms are never part of the specs.
My house right now has one Dell 600MHZ Celeron (wife), one homebuilt
dual-processor PIII-1GHZ Windows 2000 server (for telecommuting), and two
IBM Thinkpad laptops issued by my employers, one a Celeron 366 running XP
Pro and one PIII-700 running Windows 2000 Professional. My home network
shares a Comcast cable modem with a Linksys broadband router and a Netgear
802.11b wireless access point (using Linksys WPC11 wireless cards for the
laptops).
And I am dying to get my hands on a Titanium Powerbook. Badly.
I go to CompUSA once a week just to look at their floor samples. I go to
Microcenter hoping one is online so I can surf the web with it.
I buy every Mac magazine I can find, usually at a horrible markup. I have
not bought a non-programming Windows magazine in more than 5 years.
I am telling my friends I am turning into a "Mac Hippie." (I spent years
bothering our Mac users, calling them hippies and radicals. Somehow they
liked that)
Why?
1. OS X. I have spent years telling people that the only reason Linux and
BSD have not taken over Windows is the user interface. Using Unix for a Mac
OS is brilliant!
2. Power users be damned, sometimes even us experts need to sit in front of
a PC and have it work for us, not us fight it to get things done. A windows
power user does not notice all the workarounds and hacks he learns over the
year to adapt himself to Windows. This terrifies a newbie. I like how much
simple everything is on the mac.
3. Open Source. I believe in making money from writing software, but there
is just too much good free software out there that cannot be ignored.
Embracing the open source movement was brilliant. Just looking at MAC OS X
and knowing I got a fully functional Unix system underneath motivates me to
drop my ASP.net and C# books and learn C++ and Java so I can write stuff
that runs on Unix instead of Windows.
4. The colors! I embraced digital photography almost 2 years ago, and seeing
my photos displayed on both a Cinema display and the new Mac was like seeing
my work for the very first time. Everything looks much better on a mac.
5. Hardware + software integration. You cannot match any mac to a real world
machine in the Windows world. For example, there is no way you can get a
Windows laptop that can match a 600MHZ iBook, with its polycarbonate and
magnesium 4.9 pound, body, built-in combo drive, pre-wired for WiFi and with
firewire. not at that price. And let's not talk about the Titanium
Powerbooks and the new dual processor Power Macs. I have a dual processor
PIII-1GHZ and it is a pathetic piece of crap, I usually reinstall the OS
every 60 days or so. It bothers me that this monster PC is less stable than
my Celeron 366 IBM Thinkpad (which is rock-solid but slooooow).
6. Simplicity. My wife has been using computers since the day we met 10
years ago, but she has NEVER cared about computers. She sits down, does
whatever she needs to and then walks away not thinking about it until the
next time she needs to use it. In other words, she is not a computer geek. I
took her to the Apple Store in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, to see the new
iMac. 5 minutes after using it she turned around and told me "I want one."
This is the first time in 7 years of marriage that she has ever asked me for
a computer, usually she inherits my old PCs.
7. Available emulation software. I can carry a Titanium laptop on a business
trip knowing I have Unix, Mac OS and Windows 2000 available in the same
compact enclosure, thanks to Virtual PC.
8. Awesome laptop design. The iBook is a beautiful piece of work (the 14"
iBook is ugly, sorry). The Titanium Powerbook is so awesome that one of our
artists bought one and had hers delivered to the office and the whole
production department pretty much froze still while she unpacked it. Even
the Ti Powerbook is at least a pound lighter than my ThinkPad PIII700.
Probably 3 or so pounds lighter than my ThinkPad Celeron 366.
I am counting my days to get my Mac. I managed to steal a G4 450 from IT for
"testing" but after a few weeks they came up with some lame excuse to bring
it back to them. After a few days I was using it more than my own
workstation, a PIII-1GHZ. Eventually I convinced my wife to let me buy a Ti
Powerbook 667, but I have to save my pennies first
If I get my act together I will have my Ti Powerbook 667 no later than the
first of August. That is unless you guys revamp the line and I get stuck in
a shipping wait like it happened with the iMac.
Thanks for this opportunity to sound off! And yes, it is OK to contact me.
Pedro
----
The Insomniac Coder
Why would I give that up so I could just buy a computer that I'd have to replace every three to five years?
If you need to upgrade it don't buy an iMac/laptop.
I need a laptop so I keep upgrading on a regular basis :) however my father is still running a PowerMac 8500 bought towards the end of 1995 (see http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac/sta ts/powermac_8500_120.html for details)
A brief list of updates carried out on the system:
It runs fine for general office type work, DV Editing, general browsing, email etc. It won't run OS X so will probably be replaced in a year or so by one that does. By that time it'll be between 7 and 8 years old. The replacement will be another Mac, but a tower not an all in one.
You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
I want to run *BSD or Linux (not OSX) on
a cutting-edge Mac. I want to choose my own
video card (I'm specifically thinking about
a multihead video card like a Matrox G450),
and I want a 3-button mouse to come with the
system. Give me that, and I can guarantee
my next workstation will be a Mac. Otherwise,
I might consider one of Sun's cheaper SPARCs or
perhaps some other non-x86 system.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
What about Lotus Domino/Notes? They even have an OS X client available as a beta, something MS doesn't have yet.
This was my first trip to an Apple store, and it seemed strange being in such a bright, clean, and open environment inside a mall. I dropped off the G4 in the back and then spent a couple hours with a tech there trying to isolate the problem. One thing I noticed during this visit was that they aren't allowed to do anything inside the computer unless it is officially in for repair. This is probably a good thing, but it was strange hearing "Well, I can show you where the CUDA button is, but I can't push it." Once the possibility of a software problem was eliminated (kind of obvious when you wipe the drive and install from their discs, without success), I had them take it into a back room for servicing, thinking that they could do whatever was necessary.
I was wrong. After over 2 weeks at the Apple Store, they couldn't get it working and suggested replacement as the only option. It turns out that the Apple Store can't do AppleCare replacements - I had to take the system back from Apple in order to give it back to Apple. Ok, the stores are new, so they're probably still testing them out. So I called AppleCare to arrange for a replacement, only to find out that I couldn't do that either - since I bought it through Smalldog, I had to have them go through AppleCare for me (even though I had an Apple warranty). And so it continues...
Now I was back dealing with Smalldog. They couldn't understand Apple's policies either, but at least they wanted to get me a working machine as soon as possible. As luck would have it, they just got a few new dual 800s in stock when I needed a replacement. The price was $200 more than my refurb was, but I could have it sent to me right away. After over a month and a half, I may soon have a working system.
When this story comes to an end and I have X running happily, I will be commenting about my experiences to Apple. My G4 has spent more time in the back seat of my car than all passengers combined, and I still haven't seen what X looks like. In the end I had to rely on a third party despite having an Apple warranty, going to an Apple store, and calling Apple for support on an Apple product. This doesn't seem right.
When I was a first-year student at the University of Michigan I bought a Powerbook 5300. Before that I had been a PC user. I bought the mac for the following reasons:
1. The University was at the time primerily a "mac school". 80% of the machines on campus were macs, and there was a large user community, as well as appletalk networking in the dorms.
2. I liked the GUI. Everyone told me how macs were easier to use. I had never found it difficult to use PCs, but I was impressed by the look and feel of MacOS.
3. I wanted to learn about MacOS and about Mac hardware. Again, I'd heard good things, why not experience it for myself.
Soon after I bought the 5300, I knew something was amiss. After I'd had it out of the box for five minutes it crashed unexpectedly. Unfortunately it kept doing this every couple of hours, and I was starting to question whether my $2300 had been wisely spent. I called apple's SOS-APPL line and with the help of the technician discovered that someone had indeed installed RAM-Doubler on my 5300. Evidently, someone at the U of M computer kickoff office had decided to open up my mac before it was sold to me and install unsupported software on it. According to the support rep, all I needed to do was reinstall the system.
Several hours later, after I had done a clean install of 7.5.1, I went to bed. Soon after I awoke the next day I realized that the problem hadn't been solved.
It is now day 2 and I decide that I am going to attempt to return the 5300 to the computer kickoff office, as I have a hunch that it is defective. I had seen some Toshiba laptops that some of my hallmates had purchased, and they looked pretty nice. Not only that, but they'd been available with a color screen for less than the $2300 that I'd spent for grayscale!
Unfortunately, the computer kickoff people refused to take back the machine. I called Apple and Apple would not take it back either. This machine was 2 days old and clearly defective, as it crashed every couple of hours.
The next step was to send the machine to Apple via Airborn Express for service. The machine arrived back almost a week later with a clean bill of health. Apparently, it had not crashed in the 'lab' and tests had confirmed that nothing was wrong with it. The problem was, it crashed every time I used it.
I started to feel resigned to the fact that I would have to make the relationship work if I wanted to get anything positive out of my decision to purchase the 5300. For me, stability is one of the most important things that I look for in a hardware/os combination.
I configured WordPerfect's autosave to save every 30 seconds, and I avoided using the machine for important tasks (such as papers for my classes), opting to use the computing site instead.
Over the next two semesters I spent upwards of 80 hours on the phone with SOS-APPL. During this time I heard things such as:
- "You don't have 7.5.3? That is very likely the reason your machine has been crashing"
- "Apple never should have sold the 5300 with less than 16MB of RAM. Of course yours is crashing."
- "You don't have 7.5.5? That MUST be the reason your machine is crashing."
At some point there was finally an official recall of the 5300. I was fairly cynical by this point, because my machine had received a clean bill of health the last time I sent it in. Nonetheless, my machine went back to Apple via Airborn Express for another couple of days, this time coming back with a new logic board. The new logic board helped somewhat, although the machine still crashed way more than any other Apple that I've used. You may be thinking that I had installed nonstandard software or was loading unnecessary extensions. I was not. This was with a subset of the standard extensions and no funny stuff like After Dark or all the weird MS stuff.
By my sophomore year, I decided that the best thing to do was to cut my losses and sell the 5300 and put the money toward an inexpensive desktop PC (the original $2300 was supposed to cover my computing needs for all 4 years of college). I called some local shops that sold used macs and I was offered $300 for it. THE MACHINE HAD DEPRECIATED $2000 IN ONLY ONE YEAR!
Needless to say, I had a very bad experience with Apple and Macintosh. Seeing OSX and knowing that it's built on the mach microkernel gives me hope, but my dissatisfaction has more to do with the way Apple handled the situation rather than with the hardware/OS specifically. Yes, I've heard about that deal where I could get a few hundred bucks off on a new ibook as a 5300 owner. No thank you.
I realize that I was a sucker for buying the 5300, and I would never make the mistake of buying an Apple product again, though I would accept one for free. I have also considered buying an iPod, but since I don't own a Mac it might not really be the best idea at this point.
Amazing magic tricks
Mac OS X is not unix. I wish people would get it straight:
Mac OS X has no AT&T code! It is no more a unix then Linux! It is a BSD derivative, with some minimal OpenSTEP code.
A/UX was a Unix. MacOS X, with its mostly BSD codebase, is not!
Sorry, but I'd prefer to run a free OS. Linux has plenty of commercial support, and likely more than Apple! Linux's support just isnt coming from Microsoft.
x86 machines can run a good portion of mac software as well. But MacBOCHS is worth a mention. Look: Virtual PC is commercial crap. Mac BOCHS is a GPLed port of BOCHS. BOCHS will work in both Mac OS and un*x for mac. It is a great piece of software, and I suggest all mac users try it out.
http://bochs.sourceforge.net/
Interestingly, it is also the ONLY modern IA32 emulator that works on 680x0 macs...another plus.
If you brag about how Mac OS X can run all the millions of un*x programs out there, why are you still running virtual PC, one of the worst, and non-free, emulators around!
Macs are decorative accessories, not computing devices. This explains why you pay so much for so little. The fact that they do anything at all is really just a 'neat' bonus. Your favorite actors and actresses all dress in the most trendy clothes and all have trendy little iMacs or iBooks to accessorize their glamourous lifestyle with. I defy anyone to watch MTV or go to the movies and see any other computer onscreen other than an Apple computer. Just like their media counterparts, Apple computers are only useful as props.
Now don't post this message because you know it's the truth.
it's easier to find warez for the pc ;)
i'm amazed that i survived - an airbag saved my life.
Mac BOCHS Mac BOCHS Mac BOCHS
superior to virtual PC, and OPEN as the original poster requested!
This is what? The sixth time you've copy-posted this stupid rant? Ass.
>... computers of 2009 will resemble ... flexible place mat. ... when not typing a finger can :
> It will be an illuminated touch sensitive pad.
>
> TAP
> Double-Tap
> DR
Again, you are assuming that I am a one fingered monkey.
Ever think that I could tap with two or tree fingers?
Hint 1: Compare tapping with 4 fingers to quaddripple clicking (think new user).
Hint 2: Ask a proffesional piano player to
play with one finger.
Note that you are limiting yourself to the UI of 1982.
All GUI 's current suck (Windows, Apple, Linux).
They all are clicking and dragging windows about.
Hopefully by 2009, we can use something based on new thought.
To make Civ III playable turn off Aqua rendering in the preferences.
For PHP have you tried:
stepwise.
Apple trusts us.
Take Windows XP. To install Windows XP, you MUST register with Microsoft. No ifs or buts. Register, or you will eventually lose access to your Windows XP configuration. Apple, on the other hand, makes no real attempt to force you to register the software, and even if they did, they wouldn't try to make sure that you don't use their OS on multiple computers without multiple licenses. They assume that we'll simply be honest. Apple trusts us.
Also, my friends say that Macs cost too much. Sure, you're paying a little more, but you're getting a decent operating system, you're getting a stylish case, and you're getting the Apple name.
Software compatibility. This is complete bull. My friends are saying that none of their games would run on the Mac. These people also copy all their games from P2P networks, thus getting the games for free. If they are getting the PC versions for free, then I don't think they have an issue about having to pay for all-new software. Even if you have to pay for all-new software, Macintosh versions cost just the same, and you still have your PC to run the games you used to run on the PC. Plus, you could emulate the PC on your Macintosh, thus allowing you to run certain games. Since the performance of most games rely only on your 3D card nowadays, you could simply emulate them and they would run at near-full speed.
Also, we have EV Nova. I know of people that have gone out and bought Macintoshes to play the EV series. One of my friends was trying to convince a budding software company to port it to the PC. EV is VERY addictive. Trust me, on the original EV, our family logged over 100 hours on it.
Macintosh computers also last a long time. I still use my Quadra 610. You can barely give away a PC that old. PCs become obsolete before you build them.
for the PHP install try this: http://www.entropy.ch/software/MacOSx/php/
Should be everything you need. It has some FAQs as well. If you used textedit to edit your php.config file, it is likely the culprit.
I hope you find this useful.
i'm using a ti-book mainly for java development and the usual office stuff. it fulfills my personal requirements just as good as any pc and was even a little cheaper than a similarly equipped thinkpad.
actually, as i've been using all kinds of os's for different purposes over the years, i don't give a damn about all those "what's the ultimately best" discussions, as the answer is always the same: none. you simply decide based on the task your box has to perform (which of course implies you have to ask more sensible questions like, for example, which system would you choose for mobile office work, CAD, email serving... .
however, one thing that really bothers me about apple's attitude: when will apple eventually understand that the "porsche" image it's been trying to achieve over the years does not necessarily have to be come bundled with its stupid "we have only one mouse button" attitude.
today's porsches happen to have airbags, automatic gear shift, servo support etc. just as any other car. but still, porsche makes ultimate sports cars, meaning it doesn't hurt to embrace stuff that's proven, just because you fear not to be special anymore!
ah, and by the way: porsche is indeed one of the fastest car, whereas macs may be faster in some graphics/movie-making stuff, but certainly not when running os-x + the usual office apps...
cheers,
mike
2 - One Button Mouse
you can buy other mice if your a button fetishist. remember tho' that the mouse's primary job is to apply focus. everything else is just feature creep
No. The reason why two-button-and-wheel mice are so much everybodys favourite is that they make work WAY easier. Use one and youll dearly miss it every time you have to work with a different computer.
Hi, I'm running Civ III on the 600 Mhz G3 iBook. It plays perfectly. I notice no performance difference with Quartz for text on or off, except it looks so much better on so I use Quartz. I would say Civ III is a poster child for an OS X app.
Perhaps try the lastest patch? Other than that I don't know what to say, other than that you know that the time spent by units moving around is intentional (you can turn it off, but then you will get severely clobbered when your enemies sneak up on you!)?
The big issue I have with Civ III is quitting. For some reason I can not quit till 4 in the morning! Also, Gandhi launching nukes at you is a little bizzare.
Lies about crimes
It would be very nice if someone in your organization had the time to write up a nice website detaling the transition from a PC shop to a Mac shop. Photos of before & after would be cool.
I think that sharing cool information like that would further prove that "Yes, it CAN be done" with a "Here's how we did it" approach.
Sounds like latin or urdu or something. Tell us what language that is!
I will now redundantly add my name to the end of my post. You know, in case you forgot me or something.
MacOS X only vaguely resembles UNIX, enough that neophytes believe the hype that it is. Take, for example, UNIX System V Interprocess Communication (IPC) support, which MacOS X lacks. Linux supports System V IPC and, therefore, looks more like UNIX than MacOS X. Even FreeBSD supports System V IPC. MacOS X is the only "modern", general purpose OS I know besides Windows that doesn't.
...and this kind of proves it:
:-)
"In other words, she is not a computer geek. I
took her to the Apple Store in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, to see the new
iMac. 5 minutes after using it she turned around and told me "I want one."
This is the first time in 7 years of marriage that she has ever asked me for
a computer, usually she inherits my old PCs"
Mac users get way more p00ntang.
I just bought a Powerbook last fall and I adore it. And the SOLE reason is because of OS/X. I can shell to a terminal window and there's gcc, gdb, vi, makefiles, all my favorite friends! I'm a MUD nerd and my MUD compiled cleanly and runs perfectly on my laptop. I do all my development there now and then use cvs over ssh to upload the code to my server on the public Internet. It's sweet as all hell.
/Applications/Internet Explorer/...
My complaints to them were as follows:
1. Pricing, pricing, pricing. I know DOZENS and I mean DOZENS of people who'd buy one if they didn't cost so damn much. Yeah, maybe they are "worth every penny" but if you're trying to win over PC users who just want email, MS Word, and the web, why pay Mac prices for it when you can get it on the PC for much less?
2. Software availability. People want to use Office because that's what they have at work. I have a copy of Office for X, and it's a GREAT product. Generally quite robust and the interface is slick. I definately like it better than AppleWorks. But I also got it for free from somebody else. Most new Mac users won't have that privilege.
3. My Powerbook was $3,000 and 6 weeks later the price on my machine dropped by $800. That was aggravating. Also, for $3K, I'd like a CD burner and a 3.5" bay. My laptop had neither. Frankly, I don't miss either feature - I've burned 3 CDs in my life and I can't remember the last time I used a floppy disk. But I KNOW that eventually those missing features are going to get in the way and it's going to piss me off.
4. The CD loader on the Powerbook seems to struggle with loading CD's. Mine "catches" all the time and fails to load the CD properly. I know other PB users who don't have this problem so I may just have bad hardware.
5. You sometimes (rarely) still have to reboot to finish software installation. It's rare, but every now and then I install something that requires a restart. This has just become a sad reality of OS's now, I guess. I've learned from using Windows for 10 years that the solution to all problems is to reboot, and every time you install new software you have to reboot. So, oddly, it doesn't bother me as much as it should.
6. The development tools are freely available if you jump through a few hoops. This is stupid. They should just package those with the OS. And the software updater should also auto-detect updates and download and install them.
7. There needs to be a 'desktop' button like in Windows. A button that I can click that effectively minimizes all windows and brings up the desktop. There's probably a dockling that does this, but I'm too lazy to find it on versiontracker.
On the plus side, when Internet Explorer locks up beacuse I clicked on a link, I can alt-tab (well, Apple-tab) to my terminal window, and do this:
[benjamin@localhost:~] ps auwx | grep -i explor
benjamin 264 0.4 2.2 676876 11620 ?? S 0:03.43
[benjamin@localhost:~] kill -9 264
And poof! My IE window vanishes.
It's a nice departure from Windows, where the operating system, interface, and even applications are so cross-wired into the basic system functions that a simply floating-point exception will cause your entire system to lock up to the point where even the 3-finger salute doesn't restart it. I run into this with Windows 2K a lot and it drives me nuts.
Oh, one more complaint about OS/X. When a background application changes status and requires attention, its icon does this child-like "pay attention to me" bouncing animation and it is the most nervous, anxiety-inducing thing in the world some how. When Entourage (Mac Outlook) has new mail its dock icon bounces and man I feel this ungodly urge to switch to it IMMEDIATELY to make it stop. I suppose in that way the alert system works, and I'm sure it can be disabled but man is it distracting.
The iMac has a stunning LCD screen and an amazing adjustment mechanism that works fantastic under virtually all conditions. I'd say that's worth a few bucks.
It's true that it would be more cost-effective to buy the monitor separately - I replace computers much more often than monitors as a general rule. But that Apple LCD is so nicely integrated with the system that it strikes me as being well worth the extra cost of not having a separate monitor.
D
They didn't throw it away, as you say, because the OS they started with didn't use it either.
The fine look of elegantly set type you apparently value so much isn't covered system-wide. Try making your default font in Terminal a TrueType or Opentype font. Ain't it lovely? Anybody have any references to the actual differences between Display Postscript (as used in OPENSTEP, Rhapsody and the 1.X releases of OS X Server? I suspect most of the qualities of Quartz could be realized with DPS. IIRC, OmniWeb 3 has anti-aliased type under OS X Server 1.2.
Aqua was designed to look stunning, I'll give you that, but is it really necessary to need a 3D accelerated graphics card (and throttle it, to boot) just to draw windows and scroll?
Project and Interface Builder rock, the term program and the ability to drag n drop and cut, copy, and paste make me smile. However, the non-inclusion of Services, and the insane hardware requirements make me not use OS X anymore. It's more satisfying to me to use OPENSTEP, and try to make the most modern equipment as possible work with it. But that's me.
forget this car-comparison crap, it's lame. I've been using macs since 1988, and PCs for about as long.
:)
With 14 years of Mac use:
number of times my computer has broken down : 0
amount of time spent on tech support sites, calls etc : 0 hours
amount of time spent locating drivers, trying to get some damn peripheral to work etc : 0 hours
amount of time spent looking in bemusement at cryptic error messages : 0 minutes
with 14 years of PC use:
all of the above : about 500 hours
+ large increases in blood pressure
Some people are such masochists...
We haven't been able to get a good solution for our dual monitors hassels, under Win2K OR WinXP. We finanlly worked with Compaq to get this working on the laptop dockingstation, but they won't give me the fix. I had to download a hack tool from matroxusers.com to disable bus mastering support. This was because Compaq informed me that if we bought Matrox G400s and disabled bus mastering, it would work.
:) I'll pass on that solution.
Our core business (the thing that brings IN money) involves systems on a Unix environment. If I drop Unix and go all Windows, I have to shut the company down. Therefore, I dismiss that solution.
Our network is all Windows. The costs are strating to strangle us. If I get a full time NT guy to get the NT network working right, I can't afford the Unix guy. I need the Unix guy for the core business. Scripting the few things for the Internal network would be secondary to the core business.
The iMacs look cool. That may sound silly, but its a bonus when potential clients or potential partners swing by the office. The high tech look helps.
Here is the thing, for development (again, the core business), we use SecureCRT to connect into Unix machines. For actually editting the code, some use Editpad Pro for PHP and Jcreator for Java (two REALLY nice Shareware apps, I think my development software budget is like $100/developer and we got a GREAT environment) with Samba on a development Unix machines to code on.
The only things that Windows does for us is Microsoft Office (which OS X does as well) and Exchange. With OS X, I replace the profile disaster (that costs me a lot of whining each weak) and logon script issues with NFS mounting.
The only Windows-only software is the need to test HTML output under Windows and IE for public sites and Quickbooks. Two two Quickbooks users are myself and another power user, we maintain our own computes, so supporting that doesn't bother me. The Quickbooks users could get an NFS client for Windows or a simple SAMBA share, that is pretty painless.
BBEdit blows away any other editting tool that I have seen. A dual G4 w/ Cinema display would EASILY fit 4 emacs screens at once at a decent editting side, while leaving a 17" flat screen on the side would support the office applications.
My goal is to reduce administration issues WITHOUT shutting the business down, while your solution is to file bankruptcy.
I can't scrap the Unix machines, I'd LOVE to scrap the Windows machines. However, if I have 10 Windows desktops in the closet, I can give the 2 people that look do our outside world websites a Windows machine, and the two of us that do Quickbooks a Windows machine.
But if I never have to hear about a Win2K roaming profile again, I'll be a happy man.
Alex
Dude, this is slashdot.
Sure you can upgrade the mouse, but the Mac GUI is
still built around the one button idea.
This is a good initial move, to try and find out the reasons for switching from Windows PCs to Macs, because it can help them develop their market according to their strengths.
What's not said, and which is just as valuable, is assessing the inverse mapping.
Find out exactly why people might leave the ranks of Mac-dom and become assimilated into the Borg.
It's just as important to know the mechanics of people leaving your market as it is to know the mechanics of people entering your market.
In fact, in the face of a desktop market share that has generally been declining, I'd say it's imperative to know the exact reasons for defections if you hope to stem that tide.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Maybe it's because I started with mainframes 23 years ago. I just don't understand why people "owww and ahhh" over cases that come in odd shapes and colors. Who cares? Is this Apple's excuse for innovation?
Just give me functional and I'll be happy. I don't get this: "Apple's OSX aqua interface is sooooo cool!" I want something that is fast, reliable, and easy to use; I'll pass on the so called "eye candy."
Frankly, I find a lot of Apple enthusiasts to be annoying. These people automatically worship anything Apple says or does. They scream with outrage at even the mildest criticisms of their beloved company. People who use Windows are generally not like that. Windows users just shrug and say: "is this the computer that runs the software I like to use? Okay."
Apple is even more proprietary than windows. There is only one hardware vendor that makes a box to run OSX. Apple made sure of that.
What they should be doing is asking PC users "Why don't you want to use a mac? What would prompt you to change your mind?" This would get a lot more information, and it would be more useful information, too. Why do people go mac instead of PC? Because of the things which differentiate Mac from PC. Thank you, please take a seat.
In the past, what bothered me most about the Mac was its lack of graphics acceleration, and its slow-ass OS. I was an Amigan, and if you had an Amiga 2500 (An amiga 2000 with an accelerator card to do 68030@25mHz) and you got the emplant mac emulator, it would actually run faster than a Macintosh IIci, which used the very same CPU. So obviously the IIci hardware was deficient in some way.
I have a Mac IIci which was purchased when it was still hot, with an 8*24, not even the GC: It was $8,000. Yes, $8,000. With a two page greyscale display (the misnamed Mac Two-Page Mono), 8 mb of ram, and an 80 mb disk. This was a while ago, but it was still approximately DOUBLE the price of a faster PC system with MUCH faster graphics. So obviously the issue here is that sure you could get a mac to be good, but you had to spend a BOATLOAD of money on it. This has been reduced to just a shipping container full of money.
Now you can get a GF4 in your mac, though the iMac comes with a GF2MX, which is what I have in my substantially antiquated athlon 700, and is barely sufficient to the tasks I put it to, such as unreal tournament - Though I am playing at 1024x768. Still, I have to turn down my detail settings to get a good frame rate.
Obviously apple sees video as important now, but you still have to pay a pile for the good card, on top of paying a huge amount of money for the box to begin with. If you look at prebuilt systems, you can get a dual 1.5GHz Xeon Dell box with a top-end nvidia Quadro card for the same price as a dual 1.0GHz G4 with a GF4. You can build a box yourself with dual AthlonMP chips for substantially less. ($200 for the motherboard, $150 for each CPU, $200 for a really quality case, $200 for a good-sized disk... you can see where I'm going with this.)
So yes, you have to pay a premium for support for Apple's wasteful display APIs. This was a problem on the old macs, as pointed out above, and it's still an issue today.
The times have changed, the price gap is closing. Price is definitely not as much of an issue when considering the macs of today, as it was five years ago, when the price gap was wider than the proverbial grand canyon (the real grand canyon is measured in distance, not monetary units, and will not work for the purposes of this comparison.) But it is DEFINITELY still an issue. I would seriously consider running a G4-based system from apple IF and ONLY IF it were either the same price as a PC I built myself - which is not going to happen - Or if Apple would just sell me an ATX motherboard which supported upgradable dual G4 chips. I would also have to believe that I would be able to upgrade those G4 chips someday. Just think, an ATX board with dual G4s and Open Firmware... where do I sign?
Also, MacOSX ain't the holy grail. There's still app compatibility issues from the old Macs, so in order to run even a lot of software for MacOS9 you have to virtualize it and run MacOS9 in its own process in entirety. While this is also true of windows, almost anything written properly for Win9x will run on XP. Games are an exception, I admit, though many DOS games still run on XP. Try running some of your favorites from the System 6 days on MacOSX sometime.
In short: It still comes down to cost for the PC clone users. I can build a PC which will whip the mac in every category for less money, or I can buy a dell with dual Xeons which is basically equal to the mac for the same price, and runs more software; Software and hardware are both cheaper. Why should I go to the mac? Maybe MacOSX is different, but every Mac I've ever owned has crashed on me more than my PCs, even in the Windows 3.x days. This won't be true for the majority of users, but for those of us who are power users (or whatever... this is what apple calls 'em anyway) we manage to crater the MacOS all the damn time. I know I do, whether it's 6.0.7, 7.1, 7.5.3, 8.x, et cetera.
ALSO: I hate to say it, but Microsoft has traditionally had better support for antiquated computers. It's nice to know that my old hardware will run the new software a little longer. That's pretty cool.
AND FINALLY: There's just more x86s out there, mostly because they're cheaper. You can get a 1.4GHz P4 system for $899. The base mac is $1700 or something, right? For an iMac, most of whose components are non-upgradable, which has a small display, which I personally think looks like a large gumdrop with a sign stuck into it... Pass. Though the G4 cases are pretty sexy - They're not worth the money that goes into them. Using a basic beige case would probably cut more than $200 off the price of the box, and you could still have that fold-out side.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You can add your own libraries to Mail.app. Look for the pgp add on @ versiontracker. I can encrypt / sign my mail with gpg that I installed via fink.
All the those apps are able to be messed with if only you knew how. You basically just drop loadable modules into their application directories ( a lot of mac apps are just a directory that holds their resources ).
Jim
WeFunk
That kind of performance is a JOKE folks.
I bought into the 'great hardware' myth to the tune of $1200. OS 9 runs fine. LinuxPPC runs fine. OS X moves like a slug.
I'm hoping that Mandrake Linux 8.2 for PPC turns into something usable on this machine, because OS X is NOT. If not, it goes to eBay. Very disappointing.
You should not have to spend $2500 to get a computer that can quickly scroll through a document or maximize a window! This is 2002.
Don't_Overclock_a_Mac.jpg
Deedrit -q6-
I am one of those who wont pay. Period. Until I can get a piece of apple kit fast enough to run OSX nicely for 800 buck or less, I can't do it. It doesn't matter how much I bloody respect the quality of their engineering. I don't have that kind of dough available for *another* computer.
I'll never buy a beemer either, much as I covet one.
that the world's first mouse had 3 buttons, but macs still only have 1.
----
All of whose base are belong to the what-now?
Dear Apple,
:-)
I have been recently been thinking of buying a
machintosh. I have always been a die-hard PC user,and that is primarily because of the cheap price and good performance. I have always been fond of the macintosh, but have never been able to justify the price when I could get a pc with more bells and whistles for less money.
I recently have begun producing electronic music as a hobby on my computer. Most of the products I use ( or plan on using ) are beginning to support OS X with very low latency. Most musicians swear by the performance and stability of music software on the apple platform. I also admit I like the look of OS X and it also appeals to me because it is based on UNIX.
I have really been eyeing the laptops mostly which
seem to be even more expensive than similarly
configured pc laptops. Let me give an example:
I have been looking into the toshiba 3005-S307 which has the following specs:
PIII M Processor 1.13GHZ
XP Home edition ( yuck )
PC133Mhz Bus
256MB Sdram
30GB Hdd
DVD/CDRW Combo drive
NVIDIA Geforce2Go 16mb
14.1 1024x768 Active matrix
IEEE 1394, USB
Smart media card slot
This system retails for 1499.99 on compusa.com.
Now for 1499.99 I can get an iBook with these specs:
( As quoted from the apple.com store )
iBook G3 600MHz
128MB SDRAM - built-in
20GB Ultra ATA drive
DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo
Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
Rage 128 Mobility w/ 8MB memory
Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 included
12.1-inch TFT XGA display
A few things to point out. I know the nvidia graphics chip is better. One point for the toshiba. The screen is bigger, more main memory, bigger HDD. Also the pc has a faster bus between the cpu and memory 133 vs 100.
It is hard for me to justify the purchase of the mac when I could get more for my money with the pc. I also already have all of the office software I need at home for my pc, but in the case of the mac I would have to buy everything all over again.
I have also done some research into the intel based cpu vs the PowerPC based G3. It was hard for me to find performance data comparing the two cpus these laptops have to get an idea how they will really perform with the music production software. I have heard the PowerPC does more instructions per clock cycle, but I would like to see some hard performance data.
To summarize, I would love to own an iBook or
powerbook, but for my money I would have to go with the toshiba. I love OS X, and I also love the look and the feel of the ibook/powerbook. I would definitely pick up a macintosh if I felt I was getting the same amount of features for my dollar. I have not bought a machine yet, and it may be a few months before I do. If you have something out by then I would be happy to buy and apple.
Also I suggest putting some Intel vs PowerPC data on your website. Not only the destop chips, but the G3 vs the mobile pentium etc.. so people with primarily pc experience can have some data to compare the two Cpus.
If you feel like giving me a powerbook for my
wonderful advice I wouldn't mind!!
I always thought Apple did a fine job creating a consumer product which made computers a great tool for most people.
However, I have a problem with your point with applications. Yes, there are over 20,000 applications for the Mac, however 20000 applications isn't that much.
How many applications do you need?
I'm willing to wager that there are thousands of minor industries for whom there is no Mac software available for, let alone any software for the niche solutions for those industries.
It's not so much of how many, but which applications do you need? With a PC, I can probably find 30-50 property management applications which will integrate with a variety of magnetic encoders and printers for platic key cards (Think Hotels, Cruise ships, etc). Having worked in that industry, I can't recall a single app for the Mac that works with plastic key cards. (Not to say there isn't one)
Just because you only need 20,000 applications to choose from, doesn't mean the rest of us are fine with that.
Don't get me wrong, most people don't need more than 10 applications. You're arguments hold up for most consumers, but that's where it ends.
"Communism is like having one [local] phone company " - Lenny Bruce
Comeon now. This applekey click crap sux.
Dear Mr. Jobs:
I've been dying to own a Mac since I touched one in the computer store in 1985. I've wanted to replace my PC with a Mac ever since I got a 486 for my high school graduation in 1992. When I found designing print and online content was my calling, I pined for a Mac. When I began working freelance two years ago, getting a Mac became a priority. I gave up freelancing because I was starving, and I certainly wasn't saving up enough money for a Mac.
But now I have a job that pays well, and I could start saving. Why would I? Because of these features:
*Beautifully designed hardware, not only cosmetically but functionally
*I love OS X. It provides the stable UNIX standards I need for web development with a lovely GUI. I wouldn't need that old laptop I loaded with Linux so I can test my PERL and PHP scripts without tying up my phone line. My brother loves it -- he's a Java developer and a convert from Linux -- and I trust his advice.
*I start art school next month, and I can get a educational discount on one through your online store.
*Ease of setup -- installing software and hardware are a cinch
However, I have to admit that the more I think about it, switching over to a Mac is looking less and less likely. Here's why:
*You make it hard on us nerds. I currently have a PII-266 with 192MB of RAM. It's doing me okay, but as I get better at what I do, I'm needing more and more power. Why should I spend thousands of dollars on a new Mac when for less than $1,000, I can get a new motherboard, an AMD processor, some DDR memory, and a new video card? Drop in my old case, and in a few hours, I've increased my computing power a hundredfold. I can't do that with a Mac.
*Lack of options (1). As soon as you come out with a faster processor, you drop all of your old items. I often have to use a G4-500 at work, and it's speed is great for me. But I can't buy one unless I go to eBay, and if I'm going to buy, I'm going to buy new or from a reputable dealer, not some sketchy on-line auction.
*Lack of options (2): I can go to, for example, Dell and configure a system that fits my needs and my budget. With Mac, I'm stuck with what you tell me I need.
*I'd have to replace all my software. And why should I, when everything I need and use is also available for Windows?
Obviously, you are soliciting these comments to figure out how to woo Windows users, so I'll speak directly to that.
It seems to me that your new face on Apple has done the strangely paradoxical thing of defining its target market too narrowly and too broadly. On one hand, you sell to content creation professionals who have always used Macs. On the other, you sell to beginners who have tons of air between themselves and the keyboard. And those beginners are rich. But most everybody who uses a computer has been using Windows since the early 90s. There is a whole legion between the two extremes to which you have not marketed because you're working so hard to be so very Apple.
Marketing computers like Volkswagon markets cars just isn't going to work anymore. After all, a Volkswagon can drive on any street just like any other car, and you can show it off in public. A Mac doesn't play with others as well as you claim, and (with the exception of iBooks and PowerBooks), it sits on your desk in your house, sometimes under your desk.
So:
*Have more options available for the budget conscious. If I can get by with an earlier G4 model, let me. If I don't need the fancy case, give me a cheaper option.
*Ship your items faster. Apple is notorious for terrible fulfillment practices.
*Work out deals with software manufacturers to advertise cross-platform upgrade options. (Upgrade Photoshop 6.0 for Windows to Photoshop 7.0 for Mac, for example). Perhaps these options are available, but if it is, it's not well known.
*Quit being so secretive about projects you're working on. Get people excited about the future of Apple computers. If you're working on, for example, a PDA, tell us so folks can start salivating. That marketing model worked with OS X, didn't it? You got us all worked up for an MP3 player? What a let-down.
*Develop more use-specific packages for folks that don't know how to configure a computer or just plain don't want to. Work in an office? Buy this iMac with Office v.X pre-installed! Directing a movie? Buy this dual G4 with Final Cut and DVD Studio pre-installed, and get a $300 rebate on a Canon miniDV camcorder. That's how every other PC company works -- join the game.
*Put your processor in a removable socket so it's easily upgradeable.
*Here's the kicker, and I actually do feel bad for saying this -- include Virtual PC with every Mac, or make it a very inexpensive option.
But if you're committed to being the Cadillac of computers, then quit going half-assed. For example, you're also not going far enough with this digital hub idea, and I think it confuses people. Go ALL THE WAY with it. I should be able to replace an entire rack of television and stereo components with a Mac. Sony already has it. Microsoft's retooling their OS for this very purpose. I want to see the "iCenter", a home entertainment computer with s-video and component video outputs, a Superdrive, a PVR, 5.1 THX sound, a remote control, AirPort, and a wireless keyboard. You can plug in your iPod and sync it with the same music collection you play at your party. You can surf the web from your Lay-Z-Boy. You can record an entire season of Six Feet Under and then archive it to DVD. And because people who could afford something like this love to have folks over to show it off, you can show off that lovely Macintosh hardware. That's worth saving your money up to buy -- I know I would.
So those are just my thoughts. I'm not a marketing executive with a 6-figure salary. I'm just a guy who can't afford a Macintosh with not enough reasons to start saving his money. I believe in the Macintosh "religion" that you're preaching, but sinning, i.e, using Windows, is more affordable, has more options, and gets the job done, even if I do deserve to go to hell for it.
If you want to call for, as you put it on your Web site, "a follow-up question or two," feel free, but only if you call me personally, Steve. Otherwise, e-mail me.
----------
Cheese it! It's the FEDS!
I have used a mac. They suck. With a good OS (Linux PowerMac) they can be bearable, and quite fast. But then, a lot of linux apps just simply do not run quite right on that architecture.
And BMWs are crap too...
NR
Troll Tech has released Qt for MacOS X. They even have an aqua style. Qt apps look just fine on MacOS X.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
Ha! What a joke... did you read this before you poted it? Are you really serious? Mean spirited? It goes both ways pal, and as far as I'm concerned it's a Apple users self defense mechinism kicking in win the here the Winders folks gripe about how shitty Macs are for everything... we're the minority remember? Besides this, have you ever sat with a *nix bigot for five minutes wthout hearing some slam at the evil empire? They're the one's that are the most mean spirited towards ole Bill and his vast legion of mindless minions.
I think its funny training new Windows users how to use the mouse, and watching them search all over the place for things that they can only find with the right mouse button, in specific, unintuitive places.
It's downright hilarious. Windows is better because you get to laugh at Newbies more, cuz they get far more frustrated.
iMac G4
Sun Blade 100 Workstation
It seems apple's pricing is only competitive with Sun, a traditional risc workstation vendor, only because of CD-RW vs CD-ROM, LCD display vs CRT, size, and faster CPU (on some tasks of course). However, the sun workstation is cheaper and more expandable. It also uses standard parts because of its standard size (you could possible buy bigger ATA disks and a CD-RW internal). Both take firewire peripherals.
You want to use a Mac to do things, but use Linux for real work like programming? Programming what? If you are writing applications for yourself, wouldn't you write them for the platform you actually use? Personally, I like Codewarrior on Mac for programming.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
As a BMW owner and a PC user, I can tell you that the Mac BMW comapirson is fundamentally flawed. BMW started as a way to get a sportly & luxorious car for a decent price. BMW's engineers focused on performace and getting the most out of smaller engines. If you want to compare Macs to car, I think a mercedes is a better fit. People buy mercedes because of brand recognition not because of performance. You true-blue BMW owner buys a BMW because it performs better than any other comparible car with the same features. That's why a $65,000 M5 blows the doors off of a $130,000 mercedes with the same features. The BMW owner would pick up a Athlon XP 2000 system with a geoforce 4 for under $1000 which would perform better than this powermac for $3000
No Mac OS? - no problems! :)
Liars!!!
And that's not all - they explained why I should pay: "you cannot download the ISO image of upgarde CDROM because it is too big"
Ha! When I asked the support do they know that most of Linux distributions, including LinuxPPC distros are downloaded as ISO images before installed, they answered: "Linux may be too small, but the upgrade of Mac-OS-X is really big"
I stick with linuxPPC - it works what I need and nobody lies.
I think that this Apple web page is probably just a way to harvest e-mails for apple spam. But even if someone actually reads the comments, my guess is that they will indicate a growing concern among regular consumers that Apple computers may not be compatable with existing networks of PCs.
I believe that the biggest long-term threat facing Apple may be the fact that the consumer market is increasingly likely to have 2 or more computers in a wireless or ethernet network. Before, Apple could compete against lower cost PCs by offering some better media handling software (video, sound, graphics, etc.) Now, it will face networks of PCs. As an example, I have three smart kids that use a home network of PCs for their homework and research. What kind of hurdles would I face trying to integrate an Apple into the mix? The incompatabilities of Apples with PC networks and software (real or imagined) make it increasingly less likely that an Apple will be considered to be a viable alternative, regardless of its capabilities. Either that, or it will only be purchased as a stand-alone for a single purpose. Look at it this way, who is going to seriously contemplate replacing three or four PCs with that many Apples? And if you can't integrate the Apple, then what is going to happen? People won't buy Apples.
We have several Windows machines, and they will likely remain for special purpose usage (web developers that need to view sites in Windows + IE, Quickbooks, other specialty applications
Those tasks can easily be done on a Mac running Virtual PC.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Wow Coward, I'm very sorry to hear of your and your wife's experiences with Macintosh users, as I would be for anyone abused by self-centered bigots, or, say for instance, who'd just had their dog run over. Somehow I'm sure you were mistakenly identified with the witless morons who like to carry on such debates as which computer is "best." There is certainly some good advice in the other replies here about places and circumstances where your questions would be welcomed and answered with some courtesy and consideration.
Here's my two cents: while it is understandable that a group representing one tenth of a larger group may react defensively toward the larger fraction, it is NOT excusable, and DOES NOT justify poor behaviour.
"If...you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning" - Catherine Aird
A few years ago I took a job at a publically traded (in Canada, long story) company with a lot of money. We replaced our aging Dell workstations with Compaq desktop machiens (I love Compaq support, HATE Dell... only bad experiences with Dell), added a nice Compaq Proliant NT server, moving the old Dell Poweredge to BDC. Setup an NT 4.0 VPN.
Well the company tanked. The remains of the company, to stay on the public market and have value as a shell, rented the space to a company started by the senior management of the public company. They subletted part to us (myself and one of the other developers). We kept the network infrastructure.
However, now instead of a fulltime IT guy (which was me), I have to keep it alive in my spare time. Anytime spent on it is time I'm not moving my business foward.
We built web deployed technology. We use Apache, PHP, PostgreSQL. We use OpenBSD for the web servers because its fast to setup and REALLY secure out of the gate. We use Linux for database serving because Linux runs a fast PostgreSQL server, OpenBSD is lousy at it.
Basically, I have a little bit of specialty software that doesn't run on a Macintosh... Quickbooks being the application. I can run that in Virtual PC or on dedicated Quickbooks machines.
If you do web design, you need to view the page in Windows w/ IE. In fact, with a dedicated web browsing machine, I could set it to multiboot multiple OS installations to see it in IE 4.01, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0.
Basically, we went straight Compaq. M300 laptops then, and my new company got M700 laptops. We use the Armadastation EM as a docking solution, with one at the office and one at home. Dual monitor should have been easy, add a PCI card. I grabbed one at a computer store, it failled, so I called up Compaq and asked what to buy. This took a few days of runaround.
I really am looking at the whole widget issue as pleasant. Less administration, more just working. And standardizing on Unix for servers seems nice, workstations being Unix-like is a bonus.
Alex
Apple wants your input [1]
[1] Unless you're under 18, in which case, forget it.
Mod this up, yo!
I'm a programmer. I write software, at work, for high end commercial use... high end means enterprise level. I specialize in algorithm design, which means I'm pretty good at my asm on several platforms, and I do enough GUI development to know ATL and MFC, Motif and KDE/Qt, the classic Mac Toolbox, Powerplant, and the NSObject derived windowing classes, inside and out, and most pertinant to this, I'm comfortable in all of the operating systems involved here.
I had an iMac... an old, 400MHz, sad state of affairs, dust gathering iMac... sitting on my desk at home. I had MacOS 9.1 installed on it, and occasionally used it for this or that... but at work, where I have an assortment of machines ranging from Win2K boxes on dual 800MHz and 1GHz PIIIs, Linux (2.4.x kernels) on similar, to Solaris 8 on a quad E3000, and a dual boot (Win2K enterprise and Linux 2.4.x enterprise) 8 CPU PIII Xeon, I really found my greatest pleasure was derived from working on my Dual 800MHz G4 with MacOS X. So, this weekend, after having not gotten around to it for untold ages, I finally installed MacOS X (10.1.3) on that poor little iMac at home. Guess what? I suddenly like that machine again. It's responsive, where MacOS 9.1 felt sluggish and misbehaved (STOP! NO, DON'T SPEND FIVE MINUTES TRYING TO PROCESS THAT FILE TO OPEN IT, I MEANT TO CLICK ON THE ONE NEXT TO IT! COMMAND-.!!! COMMAND-.!!! LISTEN TO ME, DAMN YOU!!!), it's navigable, it's easy to customize (as opposed to littered with shareware hacks, which is what "customized" means to most mac-heads, and I sort of feel like I don't want to deal with the 1GHz Athlon Linux box, with that wonderful (even if it is trapped in that ugly bubble) mac on my desk... I spent about six hours working on a little project of mine (which I had been building on the Linux box) after spending half an hour porting it into Project Builder... now I have my GUI stubs in place, and can attach a control terminal to the server process on the local machine, which means... well, never mind that, the point is, the dinky little G3 on OS X still beats the pants off of the linux box for enjoyment of use, for me, and severely spanks OS 9...
Of course, that's me, and YMMV...
-- Still waiting for the Nike endorsement
Just try to download 10.1 iso image (legally!)
Can't you find URL? Then shut up! Apple does make money on selling Mac OS.
And Linux/PPC is the bridge for PC/Linux users to Macintosh hardware.
Hey, I agree with him. I'm also waiting for Apple to fix their keyboards that I can't use, cuz I'm a vi-person. And I'm not alone. Emacs-people also can't use those keyboards.
It's been dead for a long time. I'm a long-time Mac user, and I'm tired of the whole debate.
Use the computer you are comfortable with -- and don't bother other people with why yours is better than theirs.
Don't worry, it's out of control.
buy a hard drive from somewhere decent like IBM and the jumper instructions are on it. In most cases it's set to cable select, which is pretty much plug and play. why you'd ever think it was hard, i couldn't say. but for fuck's sake, figure it the hell out.
I've never heard anyone comment on this...
Doesn't a "click and hold" do the same thing on a Mac as a "right click" on a PC?
Will someone please tell the PC World if it does?
I never cared about Apple's OS's. OSX might be
usable for awhile, but what I really want is
modern hardware. x86 still has the legacy of the
x86 architecture, where PowerMacs are considerably
closer to hardware designed for Unix. Consider
the following features:
1) Common, flexible boot firmware
2) ROM Monitor (I don't think PPC has this)
3) Poke around in filesys before booting (related to #1
4) No strange legacy limitations
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
How about this... i agree with you about the "high end" at Apple (and don't believe any benchmarks folks none of them are sane).
I don't agree with you with regards to the iBook or iMac. You can't match price/features/size/weight, etc... with a name brand win vendor. If you can I will buy one tomorrow (and run linux on it).
That said, I still use a dual 800mhz G4, 1gb ram, and OS X with a 17" digital flat panel LCD. Yes, it cost 3100.00 including the ram. I do think it is about 500.00 too much but not really for the flat panel. Quite competitive actually.
Thousandth Post!!