posted
All legal proceedings aside, I have noted a few things regarding those who prefer Macs to those who prefer Windows (anyone who uses Linix is excused from this discussion, as I view Linux as a specialized OS for specialized applications -- from what I've heard it does things neither of the above OS's can do, but you have to do a lot of legwork to get things started).
Folks who use Windows (including myself) are complainers. They do not consider this a reflection on their judgement. Windows is, shall we say, eccentric. It does things we don't expect, but once we learn how to work around (or fix) the problem it goes away and we have earned the badge of pride that comes from defeating balky software.
Folks who use Macs can't say enough good about the whole thing. The OS sparkles and the platform does everything but perform well in bed (and I suppose there's someone working on that little shortcoming even as I type ). They don't want surprises and they don't get them. At least not as often as Windows users. I don't know if any will admit it in public, but several Mac users have confided to me that there can be the occasional "problem" (no, Frank isn't one of them). Still and all, if you want trouble free computing, you can get it with a Mac. Open the box, plug it in, and begin.
What we have here is a conflict that I am intimately familiar with. Having grown up in an automotively aware household, this sounds a lot like the conflict (low level though it may be) that, well, not raged, but simmered, anyhow, between those who viewed automobiles as passionate creatures and those who viewed them as transportation appliances (judging by my phraseology, can you guess what camp I subscribe to?)
For example, those who drove a particularly reliable brand (usually upscale and expensive) would wonder aloud why anyone would drive a (low scale and cheap to buy) car when there were so many better cars to choose from. When you don't have a mink-lined wallet, you tended to choose whatever you knew how to fix (and back then they ALL needed fixing, some more often than others).
The other fellow might opine that only a passionless creature would be caught driving that reliable, boring (and somewhat premium-priced) object of transport. Sure, driving "Brand X" meant there would be a little more time invested in repairs and maintenance, but the savings in money meant more or better groceries on the shelf and a little extra left over for other passions.
Of course, not every expression of automotive passion came cheap (in fact, few did). I remember a guy who LOVED his Jaguar XKE, but did a complete tune-up every weekend. Was it 12 or 24 sparkplugs? I don't remember, but it was a 12-cylinder car that didn't just ooze sexiness, but spouted it like a fountain. Simply driving it down the main street was the automotive equivalent of wild, passionate sex in the town square. But I digress.
The main point of this ramble is that folks who are loyal to Macs are convinced, just by listening to the Windows users, that Windows is the software equivalent of the Antichrist. It will crash every five seconds. Your hard drive will self-destruct. Your children will be born with three heads (well, mine wasn't, but I heard about this guy in Cincinnatti...).
Windows loyalists Are just as convinced that the MacAddicts are loony. They're concealing from the world the pain they feel for having been duped into buying that overpriced Windows wannabee. Windows users are perfectly congizant that NO computer system could possibly work as well as the Mac users say. Their daily experience has convinced them that every computer will eventually wipe out at a crucial moment. At least with the Windows system, they know just what kind of digital mayhem to expect, and many of us either know what to do to recover or have friends who can help us out when it happens.
Conclusion? I know how to fix mine. It's cheaper than a Mac. If mine breaks I can fix it. I can bend it to my will. I can't say the same thing about a Mac, and any recommendation from a Mac user is suspect, because no computer could possibly be that good.
More conclusion? It's pointless to recommend a computer to anyone who already has a preference. It's rude to tell someone they're an idiot because they use a Mac (or a Windows-based computer). You'll use what you like to use, and you'll pay a premium to get it. In the case of Mac users, the premium is the initial outlay and smaller selection of software from which to choose. In the case of Windows users, the premium is in the form of having to exorcise the demons that come prepackaged with almost every new bit of software.
There are bonuses, however. Mac users don't want to dominate their computer. They just want it to do what they ask. Windows users, on the other hand, bear the pride of someone who has transformed an uncooperative boat anchor into an obedient servant (one that, admittedly bears watching). What you get depends largely upon what you want.
--Baloo
------------------ "Tourist comes into town, big seafood buff. He gets into a cab, asks the driver, "Where can I get scrod?" Cabbie turns around, looks at him. "Bud," he says, "I've been asked that many times, many ways. But that's the first time I ever heard it asked for in the pluperfect subjunctive." -- Old Joke http://www.geocities.com/cyrano_jones.geo/
[This message has been edited by Baloo (edited April 06, 2000).]
------------------ "Goverment exists to serve, not to lead. We do not exist by its volition, it exists by ours. Bear that in mind when you insult your neighbors for refusing to bow before it." J. Richmond, UB Student
posted
I have something of a unique perspecitve on this. I was using a computer as soon as I could sit up (if you can call things that old computers ). I started with DOS. Then got 3.1. It took me months to learn, and I still prefered DOS. Then I got '95 (why, I don't know, since my computer was so old that nothing that required '95 would run anyway). I worked with it for years, never did figure it out, and I STILL prefered DOS. Then I got a Mac. Finally, a GUI I can deal with. Took me half an hour to figure out.
If you want the easiest, most stable OS, Mac is better all around. If you want the OS you can do the most with, albeit with a bit of trouble, you want Windows. Yeah, Mac crashed on occasion, but usually due to third-party software, in my experience.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
I agree that if you are beginning to use computers or buying your first, buy a Mac. Windows are for show off-ish people like myself...I made my computers to look like a Trek LCARS system. My computers even have the signage stickers from the Trek sticker book.
Aside from that, Macs are for beginners with computers, Windows are for people who want a challange.
------------------ "Life's a bitch, then you die" -USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship
posted
Or for people who can't spell. Seriously, Macs are easily as customisable as any Windows computer, in my experience.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "People don't mind if you speak a subset of a natural language, especially if you are a child or a foreigner. (Except in Paris, of course.)" - Larry Wall
posted
As I've said before...Mac has "Newbie" written all over it.
------------------ "Goverment exists to serve, not to lead. We do not exist by its volition, it exists by ours. Bear that in mind when you insult your neighbors for refusing to bow before it." J. Richmond, UB Student
posted
And as I've said before...the one you saw must have had a custom paint job.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "People don't mind if you speak a subset of a natural language, especially if you are a child or a foreigner. (Except in Paris, of course.)" - Larry Wall
posted
Well, my car doesn't have an 8-track player, either.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "People don't mind if you speak a subset of a natural language, especially if you are a child or a foreigner. (Except in Paris, of course.)" - Larry Wall
posted
That's hardly a comparison, Frank, and you know it. Floppy 1.44 drives are still widely used. Not everyone can afford zip drives or CD-rewritables.
I, for one, use them all the time. Especially when transferring from my computer to a Lab computer.
------------------ "Goverment exists to serve, not to lead. We do not exist by its volition, it exists by ours. Bear that in mind when you insult your neighbors for refusing to bow before it." J. Richmond, UB Student
posted
It most certainly is a valid comparison. I haven't used a floppy in years, and we have the Internet and so on for network-based transfers. Besides, Zip drives are less than $100 these days, and the disks last much longer than floppies. Some floppies I've used went bad after one use, but I had a Zip disk that I used every day for a year and a half. Zips also hold more, of course. Either way, if you really need to use a floppy drive with a Mac, you can get a USB one for $80 or so, but few people have a good reason to do this.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "People don't mind if you speak a subset of a natural language, especially if you are a child or a foreigner. (Except in Paris, of course.)" - Larry Wall
posted
"When you don't have a mink-lined wallet..."
Frank, many people use floppies because they come with the computer (PCs) and the disks are cheap. Newer PCs come with optional ZIP drives, but to buy an external one is rather pricy. Sure, they may be better and all, but many people (such as myself) can't afford it. Sometimes I get sick and tired of you, Frank. You always brag about Macs and you have all the latest technological gizmos. A lot of people can't afford that. I'm damed lucky I even got a computer for Christmas. I have no idea what kind of mess this thing put my parents put through with the bank, but they got it for me anyway. Not everyone can afford everything like you can, Frank. Accept it.
------------------ Star Trek: Leeds Creator, Producer, Only Writer
posted
Fine, let's say that you use floppies to transfer files to another computer every day. Floppies are about $0.60/ea. Assuming a failure rate of one per week, you'd need to buy 52 floppies, which is about $30 a year. A Zip disk, which can last for over a year, is only $20. And, if you need to use more than floppy, multiply that $30 by the number of disks you need, up to 70. Of course, floppies aren't even an option if you use files over 1.4MB, as with graphics, DTP files, etc. Since the iMac, for example, doesn't come with a floppy drive, you can use the money you save on a Zip drive. Also, by buying the iMac, you save the cost of repairs (even parts cost money if you're a do-it-yourselfer) and tech support, and you get things like Ethernet that aren't found on most consumer PCs.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "People don't mind if you speak a subset of a natural language, especially if you are a child or a foreigner. (Except in Paris, of course.)" - Larry Wall
posted
How often do you use them, and how large are the files that you use them with?
------------------ Frank's Home Page "People don't mind if you speak a subset of a natural language, especially if you are a child or a foreigner. (Except in Paris, of course.)" - Larry Wall
). They don't want surprises and they don't get them. At least not as often as Windows users. I don't know if any will admit it in public, but several Mac users have confided to me that there can be the occasional "problem" (no, Frank isn't one of them). Still and all, if you want trouble free computing, you can get it with a Mac. Open the box, plug it in, and begin.
). I started with DOS. Then got 3.1. It took me months to learn, and I still prefered DOS. Then I got '95 (why, I don't know, since my computer was so old that nothing that required '95 would run anyway). I worked with it for years, never did figure it out, and I STILL prefered DOS. Then I got a Mac. Finally, a GUI I can deal with. Took me half an hour to figure out.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
