Posted on 03/08/2005 12:06:04 PM PST by r5boston
Nearly a decade ago, just a few months after Microsoft shipped Windows 95, I asked Bill Gates if it was a conscious decision in the development of that product to give Windows more of a Mac look and feel. Of course I knew he'd say it wasn't, but I couldn't resist asking. "There was no goal even to compete with Macintosh," Gates proclaimed. "We don't even think of Macintosh as a competitor."
That was a crock, so I pressed the issue a little. I asked him how he accounted for the widespread perception that Windows 95 looked a lot like Mac 88, and whether the similarity was just a coincidence. I didn't expect a sobbing confession of mimicry, but I thought it would be cool to see how he'd respond. Surprisingly enough, Gates shifted gears and became more forthcoming.
(Excerpt) Read more at macworld.com ...
There's usually no need to buy that stuff. Most people already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse that came with their old PC - just plug them into the Mac.
With a KVM switch, it's easy to use the monitor/keyboard/mouse on either the Mac or the PC with the push of a button. Or just get rid of the PC.
Most people will find the $499 Mac to be a major improvement over their Windows PC.
Close. IBM wanted to enter the microcomputer market. The Apple II was the model for the open architecture computer. IBM made a better Apple II and then Apple abandoned the open architecture model and embraced the closed-world, one-company one-computer one-fuhrer 1984 model and has been losing market share ever since. Until IBM came on the seen, microcomputers were not viable in the office and had very little presence
IBM found Paul Allen and Bill Gates ready to take their money for a disk operating system, which neither wrote.
Close. IBM was planning on using Digital Research's CP/M but DR decided to jerk IBM around because they thought they were the only game in town. A young upstart company that had a history of buying products and making them better was chosen.
Surprisingly, the Gum't decided to do business with IBM, for desktop computers, rather than two guys in a garage.
Nonsense. Apple was not in the running for business computers and the government was slow to embrace the Microcomputer. Mainframes (and terminals) along with Word Processors (minicomputers) were dominate in the government until the later 1980's. The Apple II was never in the running and the Mac missed the market. I worked at DOE during the heyday of the Mac (late 1980's) and I never once saw a Mac.
He was sued successfully by Apple, for copyright infringement and subsequently bought 20% of Apple.
BS. Apple LOST its copyright infringement lawsuit in 1994. Microsoft invested 150M in Apple in 1997. I guess we have entered Mac-Fantasyland
What Apple stole from Microsoft: tabbed dialogs, the OS x dock is a ripoff of the Windows task bar.
More Apple-Fantasyland.
I own a Creative Labs Nomad Zen Xtra 40GB. You can buy an ipod with half the disk space for twice the price (the standard Apple pricing model). While the ipod has a better user interface the ipod is an expensive disposable toy - when the battery goes you get to throw it away (word on the street is that is about 18 months). The Nomad has a replaceable battery and it supports all formats - my computer music library is in multi-formats so the ipod is not really an option. The ipod is a vehicle to support Apple's on-line music sales scheme - the ipod is good device but very expensive and limited (the standard Apple model)
The iPod's battery is replaceable. About fifty bucks for a new one.
I found the Ipod too limited.
It is just easier and cheeper to buy a memory chip for my PDA just for music.
It is still a fact of life that if you want to do business you have to use a machine that runs windows applications. The only potential exception is linus for servers.
You nailed it. For graphics/video Mac is unfortunately still the better/prefered but for BUISNESS/ACCOUNTING, TAX, WORD PROCESSING Microsoft wins hands down. So for the Hollywood elite Mac wins. For the productive end of society its Windows. BTW Rush Limbaugh is a bigtime Mac Advocate and they won't advertise with him because he is conservative. Had they taken Rush's advertising pitchess starting in 1988 I'm sure their market share would be at least a little ahead of 5%.
If Rush endorsed Macs then Hollyweird would have a collective stroke and have their "life coaches" throw them out the window.
I think we have returned to MacFantasyland
Being that Mac's hold 3% of the market - the overwhelming majority of computer users don't even consider the Mac a viable computer.
Make that $200+ to replace the hard-wired battery which can only be surgically removed (unless they redesigned the ipod since last Christmas). There are I HATE IPODS websites out there - look them up. The Creative Nomad battery is really replaceable - the top pops open and you can go to Best Buy and get a new one (or pay twice as much for half the disk space and get yourself an ipod comrade and if you have any WMV files you are SOL)
Being that Mac's hold 3% of the market - the overwhelming majority of computer users don't even consider the Mac a viable computer.
Nailed it again. The Mac clan behaves like a religeon. I have no problem with somebody choosing Mac but stop throwing rocks at the 96% of society that has chosen an alternative. Mac made several business mistakes and lost to a competitor that may/may not be better. Its the marketplace and the American way. Life goes on.
Seen them. They're wrong.
And they're not hard-wired. They have a tiny plug, like a cordless phone.
Both of these batteries are under $30.
Your information is wildly inaccurate.
If Mac would make a better product that would appeal to more than 3% of the market I'd be all for it. Competition breeds better product. The fact that after 20 years Mac hasn't gotten more than 3% means that someone else needs to jump into the pool.
That myth is pure Microsoft propaganda. Most folks know that Macs are better than Windows PC, but said that Macs were too expensive for their budget. Now that Apple is selling a $499 Mac, a lot of Windows users can afford to upgrade to Macs.
By the way, the article at the top of this thread ("Apple: Here to Stay") was written by Don Tennant, the editor-in-chief of Computerworld. If you're not familar with the publication, it is the most trusted news source for senior IT professionals for 37 years. Frankly, Tennant's credentials to ascertain the commercial viability of Macs are far better than Last Visible Dog's.
Plenty of astroturf on this thread, eh?
As for Apple fantasy land, it's the only Apple product I own, and I purchased it only after comparing first hand the competing products. I was actually sort of biased towards the Creative, since my flash player is a Muvo, but the Zen's just hold up to my first hand listening tests.
False again. It's less than $100 to replace the battery through Apple, and the average battery life is better than 3 years. The 18 month figure is for constant use. Or, if you're technically inclined at all, you can put a new battery in yourself for $50.
Mac Ping. Apple here to stay...
If you want to stay in the Mac Ping list... do nothing... If you want to get it or get out... freepmail me.
Wrong, the iMac debuted in early 1998 with USB as its only device connector, while Microsoft's first full USB support (although to be later patched) came out in Windows 98 a month later. But at that time, there was no incentive for PCs to use it since everyone still used the other connectors available. It's no coincidence that most of the early USB devices had colors complimentary to the iMac. I still have one of the first Agfa USB scanners for my PC -- in bondi-blue.
Programing is programing... and any of them could program an Apple.
Apple provided excellent tech support and programer's tools for anyone who wanted to develop for the Mac. It is now even less "proprietary" in that there are libraries of routines available to any developer to use.
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