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Apple Doesn't Compete with WinTel Boxes
Everyone insists on comparing Macs with cheap WinTel boxes, but the domains of the two platforms overlap minorly, if at all. The vast majority of Macintoshes are purchased as business workhorse machines (like the G5 my friend the print shop owner bought last week) and are severely used, heavy-duty income generators, rather than the lightly used desk accessories that the vast majority of Windows boxes function as. And for you IT types: pushin' 2K of tab-delimited database over a wire on a $2,000 order from your XP box ain't Heavy Duty Computing...pushing 2.5 gigs of Postscript files from a single machine to a half-million-dollar imagesetter on a $5,000,000 print job due on press in 8 hours is.

Macs completely and totally own the third-largest manufacturing sector in the U.S., the graphic arts industry (which includes printing, publishing and advertising among other sub-industries), and has owned such since around 1985 or so. WinTel never really made a dent here, although a few years back people were experimenting with NT servers in the Mac publishing/pre-press workflow networks. They never really caught on, and I don't hear any serious talk these days about Microsoft OSs in large production environments. I own one of the few decent cross-platform graphics setups that I'm aware of in a greater metropolitan area of 4 million (running Win, Mac and Linux boxes).

How complete is the Mac domination? Consider this: if you wish to provide your own ad design for the print version of ZD's own PC Magazine...it has to be done on a Mac, according to their own advertising guidelines. Sorry, no PC submissions to a PC magazine. And as a guy who likes to live on the dangerous edge and do much of his graphic design on a PC (I'm really fond of that piece of ShovelWare called CorelDraw), you wouldn't believe the things I have to do to disguise my Windows-made stuff submitted to Mac-only Production Departments. There's good reason for all this--Windows still doesn't have a decent, unified color management system that works across all apps like Kodak's ColorSync for the Mac. So, doing professional color on Windows is a pain in the posterior. Plus, we Windows folk have an annoying habit of attempting to submit ads for professional publications in silly formats like Microsoft Publisher or, even worse, Print Shop Pro (joke making the rounds in Mac shops: "What do you call 5 Publisher users at the bottom of the ocean?" "A: A good start."). I guess I can't blame them.

Veering slightly off-topic, but still relevant: I laugh heartily at all these claims that Windows has --% of the desktop market (insert any figure that tickles your fancy--90%, 95%, 97.85693%--whatever). What I find from servicing my clients, is that: at least 30 percent...I'll repeat this...30 PERCENT of my clients who own Windows boxes never use 'em. The Boss bought 'em a box from CompUSA and there it sits on the desk, but by God and Gravy, they're happy with a legal pad and a pocket calculator. Are these folks counted as "Windows users," when in fact they don't use any personal computer at all? I'm certain they are. In fact, I'd LOVE, to see Gartner or somebody do an honest computer usage survey that asked: "In fact, have you actually turned the bloody machine on at all? Even if just to knock the dust off the blades of the case ventilation fan?" I have a feeling a whole lot of otherwise knowledgeable folks in the IT industry would really get depressed if they saw an honest survey like this.

Finally, a mini-rant which veers dangerously off-topic but still has relevance: Why--when there are three storefront PC service shops within a mile, a couple of independent work-from-home techs in the local Yellow Pages, and Microsoft has a major help desk center less than 50 miles away--do Windows users come to me, an artsy-fartsy Advertising Guy, to fix their blasted broken Windows boxes? Could it be that support for Windows, basically, sucks? You know, it was kinda ego-stroking at first, to have advertising clients approach me with lines like "I can't get any satisfaction from Microsoft on this" or "the local PC shop just screwed up my system so bad even they don't know how to fix it...can you?" Now, it's just bothersome trying to do for my customers what in all rights Microsoft or a PC builder is supposed to be doing, but apparently is unable to. You should have seen the sad, googly eyes on one of my clients (a small private religious school) when I told her that I wouldn't be supporting Windows XP, installed on her 25 boxes by a board member who works for Microsoft, without consulting with me first (he screwed up their email in so doing and I had to ride to the rescue on that one...'nuff said). I'll tell you what--you buy a Mac, you've got about a 50-50 shot at getting help over the phone. But with Windows, it's probably less than 10%. And since 90% of U.S. businesses are small businesses (less than 100 employees, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce) and usually don't have any IT people in-house...well, this pretty much explains why 30% of my Windows clients don't actually use their machines. In fact, it's a bizarrely ironic reverse on what many Windows people say about Linux: Windows is too difficult to install, debug and maintain to be really useful for a good percentage of Just Business Folks who would like to gain benefit from a personal computer. Back to that good 'ol yellow legal pad and the Olivetti.
Posted by: Yen_z   Posted on: 10/15/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Way to go Apple  Xon_z | 10/15/03
Apple: Twenty years alive and still dieing wink  CooCooCaChoo | 10/15/03
Apple Is Next To Useless Now  andyhayes1 | 10/15/03
not entirely  doh123 | 10/15/03
Why Does Everyone Always Accuse of Ghz #s  andyhayes1 | 10/15/03
yep  doh123 | 10/15/03
RE: Apple is next to useless...  bgoss@... | 10/15/03
Apple still looks good  MarcB_z | 10/15/03
Price vs. Value & GHz vs. Speed  Aphelion | 10/15/03
For those with double a digit I.Q.  Rick_K | 10/15/03
Its Ok we don't want you  Richard Flude | 10/15/03
Apple Doesn't Compete with WinTel Boxes  Yen_z | 10/15/03
Wow, Mac zealots are fun, eh?  Fred Fredrickson | 10/15/03
just another day  alpha11@... | 10/16/03
Build-a-box  solid_z | 10/16/03
Sounds like you built a $1500 wannabe Xbox...  Yen_z | 10/16/03
Home Macs are inferior  macdonalds | 11/02/03
Mac zealots didn't start this thread...  solid_z | 10/16/03
zealots  alpha11@... | 10/16/03
To Alpha...  solid_z | 10/16/03
If you can't attack the message...  Beatrix Kiddo | 10/16/03
Apple Is Next To Useless Now - Wrong  FirstNLastN | 10/16/03
Market Speaks For Itself  andyhayes1 | 10/16/03
what i would like to see for fun  alpha11@... | 10/16/03
Apple true to itself again  mlindl | 10/16/03
Reminds me of...  Yen_z | 10/16/03
AMD's technology has a hand in this  zeusfuse | 10/25/03
Apple is learning to be competitive  macdonalds | 11/02/03

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