[ale] mac v pc

[Dow Hurst]

The bottom line here is that to equip a PC to the same level of hardware
a Mac comes stock with, you will end up spending around the same
amount.  So the differences are really in compatibility and ease of
use.  From my experience, Mac people focus on productivity while Win/PC
people focus on lack of productivity.  ;)  I had to say that...

Really, it is fascinating to talk to a Mac based workgroup versus a PC
based workgroup.  The Mac people tend to talk about how to use their
applications to accomplish tasks (similar to Linux/Unix users) while
Win/PC workgroups tend to talk about how to work around problems to get
work accomplished.

For a non-geek user looking for a new machine, I always recommend that
they look at a Mac.  But, then I qualify that by asking how much they
can afford!  ;)

My two cents,
Dow



"D. Alan Stewart" wrote:
> 
> How 'closed'? Anyone can develop and sell a PCI board, an ATA device, a
> USB or Firewire peripheral, or software for Apple systems. There's no pound
> of flesh you have to give first and the information you need to do it is not hard
> to come by. As for the computer and operating system, Apple tried 'opening'
> that up and it almost put them out of business.
> 
> I respect their right to make a profit. I can understand the desire to maximize
> that profit. I try to get as much as I can for my work too! I've benefited greatly
> from their work. What is a fair price is decided jointly by me, Apple, and the
> market. There is a place in the world for propietary software and hardware.
> Whether you want to buy it or not is up to you, there are plenty of people
> who do.
> 
> The integration and control Apple has over their platform is an advantage to
> those that want 'no-hassle' computing. It also has allowed Apple to be
> innovative, introducing new technology to the mass market such as: SCSI
> (1986), 24-bit color (1987), generalized support for mulitple displays (1987), a
> 32-bit OS (OS 7 in 1990), Quicktime, Quicktime 3D. It's allowed them to
> make changes in their architecture that would be near impossible to achieve
> in the Intel market: switching keyboard and mouse interfaces to ADB and
> then to USB, switching the expansion bus from NuBus to PCI, switching
> processor families from 68xxx to PowerPC, and now to fundamentally
> different operating system.
> 
> BTW, I'm the author of mtf, Linux software for reading Microsoft Tape Format
> (NT Backup) tapes, and it is released under an open source license. My time
> was paid for by my company. I have for 10+ years had a job writing
> proprietary software (for Unix, DOS, Windows, and Linux). For years that has
> been for internal use only, but within a month we will have a
> software/hardware product for sale at $20K (and up). It's Linux-based.
> 
> > Apple hasn't done any better -- they've just refused to allow anyone else
> > to even enter the market in any meaningful way.  All closed systems (IBM
> > mainframes, for example) are the same....  Intel may have compatibility
> > problems, but that's the price you pay for the advantage of being able to
> > choose between multiple vendors.
> >
> 
> D. Alan Stewart
> Senior Software Developer
> Layton Graphics, Inc.
> 155 Woolco Dr.
> Marietta, GA 30062
> Voice: 770/973-4312
> Fax: 800/367-8192
> FTP: ftp.layton-graphics.com
> WWW: www.layton-graphics.com
> 
> "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they
> are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do
> not refer to reality." - Albert Einstein
> 
> ---
> This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list.
> See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be
> sent to listmaster at ale dot org.

-- 
__________________________________________________________
Dow Hurst                   Office: 770-499-3428
Systems Support Specialist  Fax:    770-423-6744
1000 Chastain Rd.
Chemistry Department SC428  Email:dhurst at kennesaw.edu
Kennesaw State University         Dow.Hurst at mindspring.com
Kennesaw, GA 30144
*********************************
*Computational Chemistry is fun!*
*********************************

---
This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list.
See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be 
sent to listmaster at ale dot org.