|
[an error occurred while processing this directive] Why We FightWhat preferences power our passions for platforms (and
politics)?
Dec. 5, 2000
In one of my Mac Lab Report
columns, I discussed the usual arguments that fly between passionate
users regarding the superiority of the Mac vs. the PC platform.
However, a dispassionate outside observer might listen to such an
argument and rightfully ask, "What difference does it make? Just get
on with your work," and expect that to settle the matter. Of course, it never does. The reason that people remain entrenched
in the platform wars is not because one side is right or wrong.
Clearly, the Mac side is correct in noting that the better
integration of software and hardware from one vendor has its
advantages. Yet there is just as surely a case for the economies of
scale seen in the Wintel camp. The reason the fight continues is very
simple and explains not only our passion for our favorite computing
platform, but also our stubbornness to acquiesce in the face of
ambiguous election results. The reason the fight continues, and why you still find advocates
stubbornly using older technology including Amigas and Atari STs is
that we want to reassure ourselves we made a wise
investment. This is the same motivation that makes people stubbornly hang on
to stocks when others sell them, keep repairing and bragging about a
particular brand of vehicle past all point of reason, and certainly
what motivates the lackeys of Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush to accuse each
other of unfairness and even unpatriotic behavior. It is what
motivates Evangelists to argue that Wintels are a hopelessly
inelegant technology that no one really likes but everyone uses
because they have no choice, and what motivates IT departments of
large corporations to insist that they be Apple-free because it would
difficult (for them) to maintain a cross-platform network. In the case of Apple (the side I personally support, obviously), I
find the arguments regarding the cost/benefit ratio, the integration
of hardware and operating system (for true plug n play), and the
implementation of the desktop metaphor more convincing than for the
Wintel side. Even though my motivation is to demonstrate, to myself
and others, that I did not spend my hard-earned money foolishly, I
find there are enough compelling reasons to have made the choices I
made that I can sleep well at night. One thing keeps nagging me, however. I used many of the same
arguments to justify my purchase and support of the Atari ST
computing platform. At the time it was new (ca. 1987), in my view, it
held many of the advantages of the Mac OS did regarding the
implementation of the GUI, yet it was much cheaper and utilized a
DOS-like file structure on disks. Opening a window on an Atari ST
revealed a list or icon view as in a Mac. Opening a subfolder
replaced the contents of the original window with the subfolder's
contents, reducing the clutter of windows common for new users of the
Mac OS. This is what I understand happens with OS X windows as well,
although I haven't tried the beta myself. Eventually I found myself the proud owner of a desktop computer
that had no software available in any local store, no magazine
support because the publishers couldn't pull a profit, and a
dwindling market share. What killed Atari's desktop computer (except
for those "obsessive diehards" you can still find on the Net) besides
terrible marketing was that the OS was on a chip, not on the hard
drive or a floppy, so the thing would boot even without a drive
attached. This made upgrading the OS while being backward compatible
problematic, and developers found it irritating, to say the least. I
owned three different STs - some would run this piece of software,
and some wouldn't, and so on. When the little irritations with the
product become larger than its usefulness, people will switch, like I
eventually did. Now go back and read that paragraph again, and substitute "Mac"
for "Atari". I hope I haven't made the same mistake twice. I don't think I
have. Time, Steve, and OS X will tell.
- <back to the
original article>
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject. Recent My Turn articles- Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18.
When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
- 'That's Not a Computer', 07.30.
Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
- Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02.
In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
- My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28.
The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
- More in the My Turn index.
Links for the Day- Mac of the Day: 'Sawtooth' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - Available in speeds from 350-500 MHz, 'Sawtooth' introduced AGP video to the Mac.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
- November 21 in LEM history: 00: OS upgrades, downgrades - AltiVec vs. Pentium III - 01: Saved by the clones - Computer of the future - 02: Apple Education: Let's get to it - 03: Panther lets Macs and PCs work together, - Lombard SCSI bug - 05: 3 survivors from the 1970s - Real world battery life inadequate - Windows to Mac file transfer with Zip disks - $99 alternative to Microsoft Office - 06: Parallels 1.0 far more polished than beta
Recent Content on Low End Mac- The Long Term Value of a High End Mac, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 11.21.
Low-end Macs are more affordable up front, but the flexibility and upgrade options of a top-end Mac can make it the better value in the long run.
- iPhone #1 Worldwide, Google Voice Search for iPhone, iPhone 3G Battery Pack, and More, iNews Review, 11.21.
Also British accents throw off Google voice search, lots of new iPhone apps, universal USB car charger, new protective cases, and more.
- 15 Reasons Macs Are Better, Quad-core iMac in January?, USB 3.0 Spec Finalized, and More, Mac News Review, 11.21.
Also 25 years of Macs, 'Snow Leopard' in Q1?, SimpleTech's faster and greener hard drive, Hyperspaces, StarOffice for OS X, and more.
- DisplayPort Copy Protection, Trackpad Update, Netbooks Not to Be Taken Lightly, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.21.
Also Apple set for record sales, 4-finger gestures on original MacBook Air, MacBook Apple's best consumer notebook to date, Cricket laptop stand, bargain 'Books from $490 to $2,299, and more.
- Virtualization Shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20.
Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
- Just Right: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear MacBooks, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20.
Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
- Apple Caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes Videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20.
HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19.
Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19.
The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19.
Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19.
Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20.
Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20.
Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20.
Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18.
Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18.
New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18.
Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17.
Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17.
Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17.
Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- More deals in our archive.
Entire Low End Mac site copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to the webmaster.
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Computer. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, and PowerBook are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
|
