Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pauland
Following that philosophy, you'd probably have a house full of stuff from the local supermarket - the cheapest TV, the cheapest HiFi, a no-name MP3 player, the ugliest most uncomfortable furniture going, and so on.
The important thing is that the price is right.
Well, not cheapest --- "best/most bang for the buck"... It's most evident in laptops... A $2000 Mac is nothing more than a $899 HP one, but with a crappier graphics card and screen --- but granted, the MAC one is white... :D (Which might perhaps look better with your Latte at your local café). But hurray --- the Mac comes with preconfigured shopping from iTunes, and Keynote (even more ridiculous effects than PowerPoint (effects that would make you look like a clown if used for any major business).
Oh, yes, the Mac often always comes with a cool looking, but unusable mouse... :rolleyes:
The thing I fail understand: Why are Macs more expensive than the pieces your pick up from the curb and put together? It also seem to be the same reasoning for local schools --- there are no Macs anymore... They were donated as raffle prices for the fundraiser Bingo a couple of years ago.
What am I missing? I have used my fair share of Macs, and to me they are no more than weak-performing (but cool looking) PCs? :confused:
Risto
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
I think that the PC benefits from economies of scale - lots of expertise and manufacturing capacity for PC standard hardware selling into a huge market, while Apple are a niche.
I'm beginning to feel that you're not too keen on Macs Risto!
Seems to me that if most Mac users had your experience then Apple would have been out of business, long ago.
As far as "best bang for a buck" goes, it's a policy I tend to follow, but it's not applicable to everything. It's not a strategy that will give you exactly what you want - it may be the most money efficient, but it's not going to give you the best experience or product (whether that's a PC, Mac or anything else).
Some people will be happy to spend their $$ on a Mac because it gives them what they want, others will get the experience they want by being guided by "best Bang for the Buck" and enjoying their purchases knowing full well they haven't spent more than they need to.
I think it's important every now and again to abandon the the "Best bang.." strategy and just buy what you aspire to (and can afford, or just about afford) because that means that you are more important than having money sitting in a bank.
This is getting away from the purpose of the thread..
Paul
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
um a mac is also a pc. because pc stands for "personal computer". a mac is ALSO a computer. and it can also be PERSONAL. So I dont get the question. maybe you meant Windows
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
heidigirl1606
um a mac is also a pc. because pc stands for "personal computer". a mac is ALSO a computer. and it can also be PERSONAL. So I dont get the question. maybe you meant Windows
I think most people interpret PC as a computer descended from the IBM PC architecture. PCs can also run other operating systems, so while they usually run Windows, they can also run other operating systems such as Linux or Unix.
There's no suggestion that macs aren't personal, nor is there any reason not to continue to use PC to describe descendants of the IBM PC architecture (it's just like calling a vacuum cleaner a Hoover, even if it's really a Dyson..).
Paul
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
I see the move to an Intel platform for the Mac as an attempt by Apple to help lower the cost of their hardware. Wheather or not Apple will pass on the savings to their customers is another matter.
Apple likes their higher prices because there are those in the world that think paying a higher price indicates greater affluence. Not necessarily greater value.
The few Mac computers that have been allowed to be setup on the network were I have worked have been the source of more hardware failures than any comparable number of computers running Microsoft Windows. The Macs have also required more support hours. Even after isolating them to a native Apple network there have been more issues with the MacIntosh computers.
Three out of the first ten we purchased had to be returned to the factory because they would not even power up.
BTW the only application used on the Mac computers (other than the basic web browser) is Adobe Photoshop. The Macs are used only by the advertising/graphics department. The photographers take photos of the client's products and the graphics department hits them with some plug-ins then supplies them as .jpg images for the web developers.
Just my 2 cents towards the Mac debate going on in this thread.
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
Risto, I have a good reason for going this route and if you choose to be offended that it your problem.
Windows XP that I have has been anything but stable. Unlike the blithering idiot you seem to take me for, we have built and configured all except two of the computers we bought until the MAC. I also am looking into doing some video editing when I get around to it, is a better platform to do it on. I want to do things such as Z-Brush and getting the right setup to do so just makes sense. Besides, many of the programs I run can also run on MAC, I deal with a lot of MAC people and it does help to be able to be on the same page.
You don't have to run an Apple mouse unless you want to. The right click does not support the drag and duplicate I always do it that way, but I can do that with my tablet too that I use all the time. Rather than getting bogged down with it, I just plug in a different mouse. Pressure sensitivity is better, color is better. Printing to my Canon wide berth i9900 is superb, even BETTER. Life is about learning and making the most of one's opportunities to live and improve. Why spend more time as time really costs more than the investment in equipment in the long run, it just makes sense.
Getting insulting is only required when you can't win an argument with the facts. What you choose to do is fine for you. If others take another route, is it your money that they are spending, what skin is it off your nose, anyway?
Xara runs excellently under Parallels, I have had some problem with lag with CorelDRAW but found out how to resolve that today on my own. It is just a different sort of learning but much the same sort of reasoning to solve problems on a MAC anyway. As it is, to know MAC as well in this industry adds onto one's employability, and does not subtract from it.
Being able to talk eye to eye with others and to work things out and problem solve is key to my job.
Far from MAC going out of business and being put under by PCs, they now own Disney. Really sounds like they are closing their doors.
We put people on the moon, you suppose that the redundant translation which makes Windows unstable and in which few ever even go into DOS is any longer required? It is a throw back to the way things were done. In order to keep up with the speed of things in the future, how you going to do that?
On the one hand, one who has that experience has the more valued opinion as they are basing their knowledge on their direct experience not a bunch of good ol' boys hype. Besides what are you afraid of? Sounds a bit parochical from my stand point, and really is quite funny watching you blow your sprocket, it couldn't be good for your health.
It was a choice here between running Linux and MAC, two of the four computers here is running Linux, and one is runinng MAC. Who cares!
If Xara didn't find is interesting, why would they decide to port to Linux and ulitmately, to MAC if there isn't a market for their software? Far from being old fashioned the U.S. government uses Linux and not Microsoft for computers which they don't want to fail. They also use Windows for other office systems. Could be they have a reason in trusting our defense systems to Linux instead, gee, that is a no brainer. Since it is quite similar to the Unix based OS of MAC...hmmm.
Everytime there is change there are people always upset. And more and more changes are happening faster and faster. We cannot stop change only try to make it less painful for ourselves to fit into the new tomorrow. And why is that? So we have JOBS.
That is the whole point of trying to make Xara professional software, so people can work. Adobe products, if you own all of them, there is a lot less of anything else to own. But that yes there are things which are convenient and nice to use on the MAC system is also true. I could care less about iTunes, though I do like recording with Garage Band, but I also do the same with Cakewalk, but the instruments are really fun in GarageBand. My kids use MAC and it is part of the parent in me not to foster and maintain the generation gap which existed between and my parents generation. In fact they did much to convince me of the hours of greater family fun and togetherness that making this transition could provide.
It doesn't hurt to expand one's horizons. I tell people what I have found out, it is always their choice. It has to be what makes sense to each of us, not "oh, you are so stupid to do ....." Really. Hard to do what I do and figure that I am laboring under stupidity too, I'd start believing in miracles then.
Oops, I'd get banned for that one. Just kidding.
All kidding aside, we all find ourselves in a time of flux. And all decisions cost money. No matter how much or little one spends in hardware, it takes more RAM and speed to continue to push an ever bloating OS. Somehow if Xara can manage to be efficient, then it is humanly possible. Isn't it!?!
Bill Gates may have marketed a blanket stuffed with Dummit Down, but I do think that this latest and greatest is just too much to sneeze at. And OS that makes sense, there are two popular ones, I chose the one which makes more sense to me in my line of work.
Around here are serious lifelong Xara addicts, rather than threatening the success of Xara software it rather insures it that even if a port to MAC isn' forthcoming, the user gets what they want: Xara on a MAC.
Sometimes it costs more to get what you want.
But it is worth it.
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
Hi,
I must agree with both Sally and Risto,uhm
I think back,when computers were introduced there was a difference in what they were for ;Windows was an office computer and a Mac was graphics computer.
Until MS was smart enough to make it for personal use and bought everything to make it complete
The thing is this;in those days even Apple was a monopolist
and even nowadays people who are learning graphics only work with Mac,because this the standard??
So have to agree with Sally,cause you must know what you're talking about if you're in this line of work with people who work only with Mac
Also agree with Risto,cause even now Mac seems to dictate the market in graphics,but it's not the greatest computer
And there's more software for windows to use
@Sally,if the Xara version for Mac is importent why is there no priority in completing a build.
Win 2000 is the same as XP,without the personal whistles and better used if it's your work instead of a hobby
Besides I can make my PC better every day by buying better hardware components just going to a local store
As for statistics
Mac platform use 4% - Win platform 86%
Safari 1.3% - win platform (moz.FF,NS,IE) the rest
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
So you might be right that printers and graphic designers work with Mac
But the consumers and potential clients are not
This is MHO,Hans
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
haakoo
So you might be right that printers and graphic designers work with Mac
But the consumers and potential clients are not
Chances are that for professional graphics work, your professional clients will also be Mac users, so while the PC will still outweigh the Mac I don't think it's as wide a margin as for 'general' computer users.
It really comes down to the mix of your customers and what you are comfortable with. Most of my (non-graphics) life I've hardly ever seen a Mac, but recently as I've gravitated towards Flash they've become commonplace in the media companies I've been to.
I have to say that the PCs I have have been very stable under W2K and WXP - an OS crash is very rare and a program fault is also very rare.
I have a G4 also - it's lightly used solely because my software is mostly for windows and it's not nearly as fast as my younger windows machines. I do enjoy using it and I am really impressed by the design of the hardware itself.
I remember some TV programme comparing buying a PC and Mac and how long it took to set up the machines and get online - the Mac won by a huge margin. We can all debate whether that's a useful benchmark or not, but it does illustrate one thing: Apples commitment to the user experience, something I feel that Microsoft has never quite got right.
We bought our son a laptop recently and it runs Vista. We're already upgrading the memory and it's so tempting to install WXP. We all wish it had come with WXP in the first place.
Why didn't we buy him a Mac?
1) Ristos "bang for buck"
2) He does like playing football games - mostly only available on PC.
Paul
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pauland
I have to say that the PCs I have have been very stable under W2K and WXP
Paul
I agree on that, as I remember what nightmare 98 could be. Then again you have to do quite a lot of maintenance and management to keep it perky.
My solution is to make an image of a clean install disk with Norton ghost and to revert the minute something is not to my taste.
I am tempted to switch on my next machine, as now processors change every six months and so I will have to change the whole bazaar anyway. I have respect for apple's work on their platform.
What irritates me is that mac seems to head towards more and more gadgets and fireworks with Leopard. The same can be said about vista, so hardware updates mainly serves 'user experience' and less the on applications.
I wish Os could become much lighter, simpler and more logic. A couple of lessons could be learned out of the Xara interface. :-)
-Coco
Re: Apple Mac - what's that?
I don't think either windows or mac machines have much to differentiate between them apart from hype and cost. That's why I'll stick with PC's.
Never bought a pair if Nike trainers either. I hate being taken for a ride.