Tiger's Out This Week. No Bull.

Newsweek ^ | 04/25/2006 | Steven Levy

[papertyger]

Did you actually read this thread? Perhaps you'd care to revise your in light of the first real comment here, post #5. For crying out loud, the first post out of the gate was a MacMoonie slamming on someone else

Therein lies the problem. You see you candyasses get a little "chiding," and you immediately go straight to "demeaning." If you call #5 slamming, I suppose calling you a candyass is attempted murder.

[general_re]

If you call #5 slamming, I suppose calling you a candyass is attempted murder.

No, but it does sort of put to the lie this notion that you guys have unscented s***, doesn't it? There's plenty of that stuff to go around, on all sides, so I don't really care if you indulge or not, but I don't feel like giving free passes to anyone pretending to be on the side of the angels. There is no such thing around here. Deal with it.

[papertyger]

I dispute this because one has to be thoroughly steeped in the Apple mythos to believe that the Mac offers an essentially "other" computer experience, on the level of exhilaration. Apple has a better corporate identity shell, but they aren't offering quantum leaps in user experience analogous to an M3 vs. Intrepid.

You simply don't know what you are talking about. The exhilaration comes from the protracted computing experience without any episodes of BLIND PANIC because Joe Six-Pack doesn't know .dll means "driver." When a Mac throws up a dialog box, it actually tells you what the problem is.

[rlmorel]

LOL. Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up Glue Sniffing...

[papertyger]

I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were aiming for the "Curmudgeon of the Week" award. ... Good luck in the contest.

Piffle! I own elmer ;o)

[papertyger]

Okay (as long as you're that "original commentator").

PeeWee Herman "I know you are, but what am I" alert!

[softwarecreator]

but these windows bastards

Sounds like someone has some real deep seated emotional issues that he/she should address before being allowed in a public forum.

[general_re]

"He's coming right at us!!!!"

[devolve]

powered by MSNTV

- no viruses - no popups - no problemos -

[softwarecreator]

The difference is that you learned to bend your behavior and train your brain to deal with Windows.

How do you know what I adapted to?  I'm sorry ... have we met?  Do you know me personally or are you just generalizing?

Actually, if you read my earlier posts, I started off in Apple and upgraded myself to windows. And yes, I PERSONALLY consider it an upgrade, I could care less what computer you think I should use.

I am very happy using windows and if that make me a knuckle-dragging Troglodyte, then so be it.

[softwarecreator]

That's pretty cool!

[newgeezer]

PeeWee Herman "I know you are, but what am I" alert!

Hmm.

Honestly, I included the parenthetical qualifier because, as far as I can see, the statement of mine which you quoted was unquestionably relevant to the previous post; thus, it could not be termed a non sequitur.

Therefore, if the "original commentator" was not me, that left only you.

The obfuscation grows ever deeper.

[softwarecreator]

Now see, that's the way to make a point.  Very legible, no name calling and intelligently thought-out.

Your statements I read all the way through and agree with most of them.  Once someone starts the name-calling and getting all ugly, I stop reading and move on.

Thanks for the information, it's something I will think about next time I decide to add another computer to my office.

[papertyger]

Sounds like someone has some real deep seated emotional issues that he/she should address before being allowed in a public forum.

Actually, I'm addressing them IN the public forum. Have you ever recommended a windows box to a noobie, and KNEW it was a completely discretionary expense? Did you offer them open ended support if they followed that advice?

If you answer yes to the first question, and no to the second you fit the profile.

Why would a anyone recommend a tool that doesn't fit the users needs, particularly when there's no financial gain involved?

[softwarecreator]

Again, same thing.  You brought up some very good and accurate points without resorting to ranting and raving.

People like you and frgoff (post #103) are the type that will make Windows users stop and listen to what you have to say.  No one is going to listen to someone screaming at them as they turn purple with anger  Who can take that person seriously?

[frgoff]

Those are good points, though I believe a few of them are no longer the exclusive province of Macs. For example, my laptop has been utterly reliable on hibernation,

This isn't hibernation, where the contents are dumped to disk (which can take a LOT longer than 7 or 8 seconds on a 1 GB RAM system). This is sleep, or in PC parlance, standby. A feature that I have never seen work reliably on the PC side of the fence.

Run an application with full handwriting recognition (TabletPC) that actually works

Inkwell. It's slick. Uses the Newton handwriting recognition software that has been improved over the years. Plug in a graphics tablet, and the technology is enabled.

(I think this factor may drive Macs out of education at the college level.

I doubt it. Handwriting is a horrible input method. Slow and inefficient. It has its specialized applications.

- Create a professional, data-driven web site with user authentication, caching, sophisticated themes and menus, etc. - in less than an hour (ASP.NET 1.0 is pretty good, but 2.0 is amazing - you won't believe what can you do until you try it)

Not my field, so I'll have to pass on comment, though Web Objects is supposed to be pretty amazing.

- Easily develop smart client programs that can run on a large majority of the desktops out there with a high degree of usability, yet get their data via Web Services from anywhere on the Internet. This enables highly distributed systems to function with the almost all the usability of local systems.

This sounds like marketing speak for thin clients. We'll see. Bandwidth is a bear with these sorts of solutions.

Plug in just about anything that one can buy at CompUSA or Office Max, and know that the device drivers are available for XP, and it will almost certainly run right out of the box.

I'll throw all of your usability points away to save the experience of trying to buy and install peripherals from a much smaller set of options. In my long microcomputer experience, working with peripherals has easily been the source of the most frustrating episodes.

Because you use Windows. You sort of contradicted yourself, here, and the driver implementation on Windows stinks.

I plug in a USB mouse on my Mac and it works immediately. I unplug it and plug it into a different port, and it works immediately. I plug in a second mouse, or a different mouse, and it works immediately.

I plug in a mouse in WinXP, and I have to wait while a wizard launches and runs through the whole searching for drivers for your new hardware device wizard. Yeah, it runs automatically, but I'm twiddling my thumbs while the process goes on.

Unplug my mouse and plug it into a different USB port, and guess what? It does it again.

Plug in a different mouse and it does it again.

I bought an external USB 2.0 hard drive for my Mac. It came with a Windows driver disk. A driver for an external hard drive?!?! Sure enough, it wouldn't recognize until I ran and installed the driver.

There is one area where the Mac is clearly ahead, and it is of major consequence. You are quite correct to emphasize the ease of installation of software on Macs. Dependence on COM in Windows

And that Spawn of Satan known as the Registry.

The objective conclusion here is that the Mac user experience is overall superior to the Windows experience. There may be specialized markets where Windows is required, but if you ask most people why they use Windows you'll get one of the following answers (your arguments are on this list)

1. Everyone else uses it.
2. The IT deparment has mandated it, because everyone else uses it.
3. Because I use one at work because IT mandated it because everyone else uses it.
4. I use my computer for games.
5. I require a piece of hardware or software that is only available for Windows (The least cited, but most legitimate reason).

   Personally, I'm happy to be off the Windows juggernaut, and have no desire to go back, but to each their own.

[Joe Bonforte]

Sounds like you've never actually used a Tablet PC.

"Plug in a graphics tablet, and the technology is enabled."

Kind of hard to tote around a graphics tablet to class or to patient's rooms.

Handwriting is a horrible input method. Slow and inefficient. It has its specialized applications.

For notes, handwriting is the best input method that's ever been developed. I've now stopped using paper notebooks, and always keep notes on the Tablet. They are searchable, easy to back up, easy to email to anyone who needs to see them...

I've conceded advantages to the Mac for certain things. You need to do the same for the areas Windows is clearly ahead. And programs with a handwriting interface is clearly one of them.

[softwarecreator]

Why would a anyone recommend a tool that doesn't fit the users needs, particularly when there's no financial gain involved?

Because it is all part of a BIG conspiracy.  We are all out to get you non-windows users.  We have meetings every Tuesday where Billy G gives us a map of Apple homes and we go door-to-door and preach the benefits of Microsoft.  We are very effective, as you can see by our market-share.

Give in, resistance is futile.

We'll stay at your house until you give in ... many days, if needed.

I had a Salesman come to the door last week and once my conversion started ... he bought a PC from me.

We are the only ones who could make a Jehova's Witness say "Well, I gotta get going now ..."

[papertyger]

We are the only ones who could make a Jehova's Witness say "Well, I gotta get going now ..."

I bow before greatness.

;o)

[devolve]

 

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