>I realize that you haven't the advantages of an historical viewpoint,
>however there are some things you should know about Apple, and specifically
>Macintosh computers.
Well, since I have been involved with computers since 1983, I think I do
share some benefit from the historical viewpoint.
>1. Apple created the first really effective and widespread personal
computer.
That's a dubious claim. The Apple I was a failure. The Apple II, The
Commodore 64, and the Atari 400/800 series all had nice market shares.
Atari was killed by Coleco in the mid-80s, so C64 and Apple were left
duking it out. You may be suprised to note that software development still
continues for the C64s (albeit mostly in the hacker underground) while most
Apples get sold in garage sales.
The only thing that Apple had going for them in the early days was that
they had a program in which schools and educational institutions could buy
them nearly at cost. Apple's educational program, while helping them, also
killed them, as no active support was done to make them marketable to a
wide audience. This is evident in that only "special" groups use the Mac -
publishers, graphic artists, and some schools. My college recently upgraded
their Apples and older PCs to Pentiums, and no one really misses those old
Apples.
>2. Macintosh redefined the entire computer world.
How? By stealing the GUI from Xerox? By using a mouse? Yes, Apple took
things from the research lab and put them in homes. However, Apple hasn't
done much beyond that. It's the continuing development of a platform -any
platform- that ensures it's success. More software vendors develop for PCs
than they do for Mac. In my area, very few people (including myself)
service Macintosh computers. Parts all have to be ordered mail-order, as
well as most of the software.
>3. Macintoshes were developed for people who have lives.
Again, a subjective statement. You can say that about anything. Toyota was
designed for people who have lives - people who don't like to tinker with
their cars like we do with our LBCs.
>4. Macintosh defined user-friendly.
Hah! Nothing "user-friendly" about AppleTalk networks, getting Apples to
run as web servers, getting software for it, support, service, etc.
>5. Modern PCs, in all of their iterations, are all Macintosh clones when
>defined by functionality.
Right. You may think that because Windows 95 looks vaugely like a Mac
desktop that the machine is a clone. Fortunately, that's not the case. Most
PCs are made of modular parts - say for example my network card shorted or
became inoperable, well, all I have to do is pull it out and replace it
with another one. Same with any other component in my system. With a mac,
most everything is encapsulated on the system board. If something gues bad,
you have to pull the board, send it back to Apple for service, and basicly
suck wind for a week (at least) whilest they ship it back to you. Yeah - a
user friendly computer, so friendly, you can't use it!
Both a Mac and a PC can send email just the same. They can write to
floppies the same way. You can publish HTML the same way. If you look from
an application standpoint, yes, they do similar things. I could easly say
that MacOS 8 is a clone of Win95, or even OS/2!
>6. A very tiny portion of the world's computer users gives a damn about
>how or why computers work. For the remainder, see point 3.
I build and service computers for a living. If that means that I have no
life, well then, so be it. I'm sure that my girlfriend would disagree! =)
Seriously, I am paid to know how things work, and I know how a Mac and a PC
work. I am stating that the Mac, from a hardware standpoint, is an inferior
machine. From a software side, it's more subjective. If you like the look
and feel of Mac, then great - use Mac. Me, I hate it. I like having at
least two buttons on my mouse!
I'm paid to sell, support, and service both. I don't sell Mac unless
someone specificaly askes for it.
BEN RUSET
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89 Mercury Cougar
78 MGB Roadster
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Crossroads - http://www.monmouth.com/~bruset
Safety Fast! - http://www.infi-pos.com/~oasis
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