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US University Dumps Windows to go All Mac
MacKeyser passed us a link to a MacWorld article about a University doing things a little differently. Instead of sticking with their inefficient mix of Apple and PC systems, the college is doing a 'total technology refresh', and adopting an all-Mac policy on the campus. Previously, a class at Wilkes University would be outfitted with something like 20 Macs and 20 PCs, to allow for individual preferences in software and OS use. With Boot Camp students at the Pennsylvania liberal arts college will be able to switch between Windows and OSX, choosing which applications and OS to use at any given time. "[Scott Byers, vice president for finance and the head of campus IT said] 'We think it will save $150,000 directly, in buying fewer units - even though the Macs cost more per unit than PCs.' The school, which enrolls about 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students, will reduce its inventory from nearly 1,700 computers to around 1,450 after the change over. Other costs savings, however, will be harder to measure. 'By standardizing, the IT department should be more productive,' Byers said."
You're right. He is wrong to generalize in that fashion. The fact that some of us have the personal experience that all Mac users we have encountered are the (to be polite, I'll silently lip the first part) "....who just tend to listen to the marketing hype" folks may be a coincidence.
You got that right.
I used to work for a small publishing firm that had Macs in the customer service department. The Macs were used for maintaining the subscription database using an application from a small time developer. The guy that made the decision to buy Macs to do this job was biased in favor of Macs just because they weren't PCs. The Macs sucked at maintaining this type of data and were tossed out shortly after I started there.
The graphics department was all Macs of course, and for good reason. Back then, Pagemaker, Photoshop and other graphics apps weren't available or ready for the PC platform. Today, the graphics people still use Macs, even though the current state of PC apps is every bit as good as the Mac versions, and some of the graphics guys even told me that. It's just that they feel PCs are souless, corporate machines, and everyone knows, graphics people are so hip and progressive yet just as closed minded as the college described in the article.
== First cross river, then insult alligator.
No, actually he's a senior employee. He needed the data off that floppy NOW for a presentation. It was your job to make sure there was the infrastructure in place to meet any eventuality.
You're fired.
The fact that sales are increasing in a world dominated by Windows is kinda cool.
I'd agree with that if it wasn't Apple. Apple Computer 'drove' the market towards Microsoft dominanace in the PC-based graphical-interface market.
You see, they did Microsoft's work for them, suing and driving out of business all of the PC-based GUI competitors. It wasn't until 'deep pockets' Microsoft came along and prevailed in court that Apple backed down. So, fuckin' Apple Computer can be blamed for the situation we now live with, one where a single monolith controls most of the Computer OS market. Apple and their fuckin' love affair with lawyers. It's a shame they couldn't innovate instead of sue, back in the 80's. But Apple is about marketing hype and legal muscle, and always has been.
...that Wilkes University doesn't have a school of engineering.