Posted on 06/20/2005 8:42:07 PM PDT by quidnunc
Not since Walter Mondale suggested that he might raise taxes have I had such a terrible, sick, sinking sensation deep in the pit of my stomach.
Things like the Michael Jackson verdict, using Christina Aguilera’s music to torture prisoners at Gitmo and the rising cost of gasoline are inconsequential compared to Apple Computers’ abrupt surrender to Intel.
This is serious business. To put things into perspective, my devotion to the Macintosh is of an intensity similar to Paul Greenberg’s feelings for "the South."
This has been going on since 1987. I think my first Mac was called an SE, and it had one full MB of RAM and two floppy disk drives. There was no internal hard drive, so you had to save whatever you did on floppies.
Of course, there was a keyboard and the trademark mouse. IBM people just detested the mouse. Somehow, using that thing made traditionalist computer geeks feel less professional and superior, but Mac people never cared. We just wanted to get our work done.
I paid $3,400 for that first system, and that was in 1987 dollars. We’re talking real money, folks. There was not much software for the Macintosh, but Mac-Draw and MacPaint made ordinary people into (drum roll, please!) MacArtists. The word processing program was known as—what else?—MacWrite, and it set the standard for a decade.
All the while, IBM folks were scrambling to learn weird and incomprehensible codes. Life was good.
After awhile, I decided to add on a 20 MB external hard drive. That cost $400, but it was so much more convenient than shuffling all those dadgum floppies. I vividly recall the serene sense of empowerment derived from possessing such unprecedented storage capacity. The 10-inch screen and processor fit in a case, and the display was black-andwhite.
Mac users become personally involved in the life of their computer and are always trying to improve its operating environment. In due time, I also expanded the RAM to 4 MB, and that probably cost $300.
When you pop open the case of one of those old Macs, the signatures of the original design team are represented on the interior surface, including that of Apple’s founder, Mr. Steve Jobs, the traitor.
Jobs may someday be excused for crossing over to the dark side, but those of us who have come up through the ranks are not happy people. While we were paying more for a more stable and useful operating system, those rascals on the other team were stealing the clever desktop analogy. They even added a mouse.
We went through a lot to stay loyal to the superior computer. My present iMac G3 is the first Macintosh I have ever owned that had an internal modem. Friends, this little puppy has a 500-MHz processor, which was scalding hot when it was new three years ago. If you watched the Apple commercials, you know that it was registered as a national defense secret or something like that. That is one reason this switcheroo is so bewildering.
The iMac G5 desktop computer is a thing of beauty. Its PowerPC processor is an engineering triumph, except for one little thing. It’s too darned hot. That really matters on laptops, which are supposedly the biggest selling models.
Macintosh has been held back one full generation with a G4 PowerBook, which is just a cat’s hair slower.
It is a business decision for Apple to make nice with Intel, but I don’t have to like it. Usually, when I am informed that some action was purely a "business decision," I have just gotten the shaft, so excuse the skepticism.
When you think about brand loyalty, remember Macintosh, "the computer for the rest of us." Its superior operating system and amazing stability have far outweighed the expense and inconvenience, but it would be nice to see the corporation display a tiny bit of sensitivity to the folks who consistently give this company a 3 percent share of the personal computer market. That may not sound like much, but Steve Jobs seems to be doing OK.
We mere customers are now left to wonder about whether our software will work on the next generation. Should I buy a Mac to replace this aging G3? These are also provocative business decisions.
Memo to Mr. Jobs: Change is always bad. Uncertainty is worse.
I mean, if you go with Windows you get Microsoft along for the ride. You also get an amazing variety of hardware and software. If you go with Apple you get fewer options all the way down the line.
In my opinion, this is about the stupidest decision Apple could have made. What's laughable is that Jobs actually thinks OSX is so wildly superior to anything out there that it's worth betting the farm on.
Most engineering programs don't run on the Mac.
I understand that it is to be proprietary.
What's funny is Apple would make a killing porting it to the PC platform.
They still want to be in the hardware business. That was the same mistake they made back in the 80's. Had they ported their operating system to the PC then they'd be the Microsoft of today.
On the otherhand, mac users will buy ANYTHING that will run on a Mac, even if it's a garbage space invaders game, just so they can fill the empty CD oganizer nailed to the wall beside their Mac someone had bought them for Christmas 10 years ago....
Such bitterness - let me guess, you were abused with a Mac mouse as a child, or...you're a Windows fanboi?
It wasn't a choice.
The Power PC chips are at their end.
Provide a means for a decent conversation, you know, their primary function. Blackbird.
This Mac nerd sure is depressed. I think he should just hit CTR-ALT-DEL and end it all right now.
I still don't get what Apple is doing. What can they offer that Microsoft can't on the Intel platform? The answer? A snazzy GUI on top of BSD subsystem?
That "snazzy GUI" is the guts of the issue. Try it out, you might see why it's so importtant.
I mean, if you go with Windows you get Microsoft along for the ride. You also get an amazing variety of hardware and software. If you go with Apple you get fewer options all the way down the line.
This is somewhat untrue, it's gotten VASTLY better the last couple of years. There are very few peripherals at CompUSA that won't work with a Mac - many times the box fails to mention it'll work witha Mac, or that Mac drivers are available on their website, or, they don't need drivers for Macs. Software? Outside of engineering and CAD, most of the important titles exist, or there are equivalent titles available. Most of the software issues are games, and stuff nobody really buys anyway - like the 40 different versions of family tree software. The *good* ones were ported to Mac.
And then, on top of that, we've got Final Cut Pro, Motion, Shake...
In my opinion, this is about the stupidest decision Apple could have made. What's laughable is that Jobs actually thinks OSX is so wildly superior to anything out there that it's worth betting the farm on.
Have you tried Mac OS X, especially the current build, Tiger? I somehow think you have'nt, if you say that. The "Mac" has evolved from hardware tightly integrated into an OS, into a platform, and it runs rings around Windows in many, many areas. I doubt it'll ever capture more than 25% of the market, but I think they can reach that goal, now that the Intel factor is in place.
All of the current comments about the Intel migration are identical to the PPC migration Apple made years ago. We've been through this before.
CTR-ALT-DEL is a Windows thang, useless on a Mac. :)
I've been a Mac user since the Mac II, before that I had an Amiga, and I've used Windows machines since version 1, that my father ran, and the PC Jr. running DOS before that. Right now I own a dual 2ghz G5, a G4 Cube, a 2.8 ghz Toshiba laptop running Windows XP, and Wallstreet and Lombard Powerbooks sitting in a drawer, because I can't decided what to use them for.
I've been hearing the usual idiocy for the whole time "Macs suck!" - yeah, well so do you, Sparky - anyone who blurts that out like they have tourettes is instantly put on my /ignore list, so babble away, buddy. I indulged in the OS wars for years, before realizing how pointless it is, and it's the same damned eternal arguement between Chevy and Ford gearheads.
I have to say, tho, the only place I encounter the same kind of bitterness, sneering elitism and boorish behavior of the anti-Mac crowd is with liberals.
Me, I judge people by what they can DO. Anyone can go buy a computer, be it a Mac, or a Windows machine. I use my computers to create artwork for rock bands, get paid a decent amount of money to do it, and I have a lot of fun doing it. I'm a Photoshop junky, have been since version 1 (before it was called Photoshop), and I'm going to get my Expert Certification this year, finally - I've been putting it off, I havent had time. I'll put my Photoshop skills up against anyone. I'll put my Illustrator skills against anyone.
What's that? Macs suck? What do you do with your computer? Surf the web, answer e-mail, play games? Sure, Macs suck, buddy. Now go away, and come back when you can DO something with your computer.
I actually think without Rish Limbaugh, there would be no Apple.
Sorry.
R-U-S-H.
Wow.
I have two iMacs and I thought I was cool.
I have this G3 that I am typing on right now. I also have an original BONDI blue imac that is currently unplugged. I NEVER have virus/adware/worm issues with the Macs.
HOWEVER, my daughter was desperate for a PC so we bought a Dell last fall. Had to re-install the OS 4 complete times. Just getting on the internet caused us to acquire so many computer diseases the whole thing was non-functional.
Dell's reps are all outsourced to India or Pakistan or even Mexico, so good luck trying to explain something in vernacular American to these guys whose English is good but unintelligible.
I HATE PC's.
Too funny!!!!
Actually, to find "the same kind of bitterness, sneering elitism and boorish behavior" one needs to look no further than the Mac snobs.
Heck, just look at the article which started this thread, for example.
...because the hacker kiddies don't bother writing their toys for systems that make up a tiny fraction of the computers on the internet.
HOWEVER, my daughter was desperate for a PC so we bought a Dell last fall. Had to re-install the OS 4 complete times. Just getting on the internet caused us to acquire so many computer diseases the whole thing was non-functional.
Odd, I've been on computer networks with PCs for decades, and I've never once had that problem.
But if Macs were the dominant system on the internet, then *they'd* be the target of the hackers.
I HATE PC's.
Why? It's not the PC's fault.
Which means he likely isnt running OS X, he's a smoke blower about the subject and is writing a weenie hangwringer column to fill a quota.
Mac is on it's third or fourth processor and this lib thinks it's the end of the world cause he's lost some of his precious elitist caché. Hope his next puter comes with a sticker: "Sorry, your too stupid to open this box."
That is sooo romantic! I love a geek romance story.
Cheers ! CC :)
To be honest, Macintosh and Windows both stole the "clever desktop analogy" from X. Apple made the windowed desktop usable (as opposed to the CDE *shudder*). Microsoft made it cheap.
All my Mac friends act like someone shot their dog and stole their wife. Cheer up, folks. Look at it this way: Between Linux on x86 and IA64 and Intel Macs, maybe we've got enough voice to convince Intel that Bill Gates and his 640K don't constitute the entire computing universe. Welcome aboard.
There are just some things that still require a woman; at least until someone invents a working Orgasmatron.
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