Posted on 08/05/2005 9:35:38 PM PDT by Swordmaker
A few days ago, I read that Apple is supplying 30,000 iBooks, the company's consumer-level laptop computer, to the Broward County public school system in Florida's Fort Lauderdale area.
A day later, an upset parent showed me a note from a Central New York college official discouraging the use of Macintoshes on campus.
Apple's sales to school districts have reached legendary status. All students in Maine public schools get iBooks, and many other areas provide Apple laptops to students, too.
I have to wonder what those students from Maine or the kids in Broward County will think if they apply to that Upstate university - the one that doesn't want Macs on campus.
Here's what the college official told the parents of a prospective student who wanted to bring her iBook to college:
"The problems a student will encounter using the Apple system are the result of incompatibility. Since none of the faculty in the business school (that I know of) use the Apple system, we really do not know the extent of the difficulties a student will encounter using an Apple."
There's more.
"In her freshman year class she'll be expected to use the classroom computer to create presentation visuals. Sometime students need to e-mail papers to professors or other students and not all such work can be interpreted by the Windows system."
Macs can't send e-mail to a Windows PC? That's nonsense, of course. What can this kind of statement possibly mean? That the attachments will have some sort of foreign objects?
As most of you already know, students who write their papers in Microsoft Word - which is part of Office 2004 for the Mac - probably meet any requirement for work that "can be interpreted by the Windows system."
There was a lot more in the letter. I'll spare you the rest. The point is already clear. Windows is so pervasive that many of us, institutions and individuals alike, assign some sort of vital force to it.
It doesn't matter that Windows is badly designed from the standpoint of safety. All too often, the alternatives to Windows are simply dismissed.
So what should Mac users do? Grin and bear it, maybe. Apple's Mac sales are up by more than 30 percent, and many of those sales are going to former Windows users - maybe even in the offices of college officials.
We can only hope.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Are these the ones with the exploding batteries?
Thanks for the heads up...
Swordmaker
Or is it the 250,000 batteries recalled in June by Fujitsu for the same problem???
Or perhaps you are referring to the 28,000 Powerbook batteries recalled by Apple because of ONE overheating and fire incident in 2001... at the same time that Dell recalled 280,000 batteries for overheating and fires?
Gee, JS, do you think it might just be a problem with the battery manufacturer (LG Chem of Korea) that makes the batteries for all three companies and many more???
Are your the one with the exploding head? Just asking.
Apple users are 2% for a reason...
30% of 2% is ummm...
Sigh.
Reuters - (7/18/2005) . . . Among individual PC companies, Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) unit shipments in the second quarter rose at twice the rate of the overall market and gained market share in the United States. . .. . . Apple, too, increased its share of the U.S. PC market during the second quarter, rising to 4.5 percent from 3.7 percent a year ago, as global unit shipments rose more than 37 percent, IDC said.
Wow.
Doesn't matter what it is because many college kids, like my son, have purchased an ibook on the basis of their experience with their ipods. Look out Gotham, Apple is here!
The real question is why do you PC users feel so threatened by Apple that you have to invade EVERY thread about Macs with negative comments and false information?
That is what this article is about... the college sent out a letter filled with falsehoods and ignorance.
I have an iMac, with 10.1.5. I am getting ready to install Tiger, and get an iPod so I can download pod casts.
I have owned Apples since 1986 when I got my Apple IIc. My grandsons love to play games on it. I have just had my first problem - my mouse started going dead, then my keyboard. I now have my new ones - really did not like having to wait three days to get it - and having to go to the library and its PCs to check e-mail and freep. I would love to see Apple grow to the point that even here in the piiney woods of ETX, I could go to a store and get what I need.
There are plenty of iPods, tho. I noticed the ones in Sams are PC only. iPod + hp.
"Macs can't send e-mail to a Windows PC? That's nonsense, of course. What can this kind of statement possibly mean? That the attachments will have some sort of foreign objects?"
What it means is, another triumph for the US educational system [not!].
Bought my college student son a Powerbook last year and he loves it. It replaced the Dell from Hell that I dumped on him. No problems with presentations, classwork, etc. of course.
I use a fujitsu - do you have a source for this recall? I'm curious whether my battery also qualifies as a Class II - Other Destructive Device. Thanks!
Try this link...
Gee.. I'd like to see your graphic... but hotlinks are forbidden at blogography.com
As has been shown you, that's 4.5% of sales. Since Macs tend to be used longer, the installed user base is higher.
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