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Gatekeeper
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United States of America
Feb 2000
time: 23:36
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**shrug** Based soley on my experience, I'd recommend a Macintosh system to a prospective buyer.
I've owned such systems since the mid-1990s and not once have I had to ship them in for repairs. Not once have I had a Macintosh go down because of an error in the OS. Once in a blue moon, a third-party app fritzes things up, but quitting out of the app and relaunching usually solves that problem. If that's not enough, rebuilding the desktop and doing some preventative maintenance keeps the error from returning. Once or twice I've had to reinstall software due to glitches, but that's because *I* screwed things up, not because of bad programming on Apple's or the third party vendor's part.
For me and I emphasize ME the Macintosh has been a solid, dependable computer system. As the CNET article states, Macs are often considered to be *premium* systems so, as such, I expect quality and have received it. If Apple can come out with a lower-priced "intro" system that people can buy for three-figure checks instead of four-figure checks, more power to them. I doubt I'd be interested in such a system, as I have my eyes on a G5 down the road, but that's just me. Then again, I also appear to be among the few who don't own an iPod, either.
This thread is disappointing, although I can't legitimately claim to be surprised. To me, computing is about more than having the fastest machine or the biggest game library. It's also about reliability and, frankly, the Macintosh has come through time and time again. Folks can say the same about their PCs as well, which leads me to believe that one's experiences with computers PCs, Macs and so on rest entirely upon their personal experiences with them. A bad first-time experience with PCs can turn a person off just as quickly it can with a Macintosh. I've had neither, but have simply decided that, at home and work, a Macintosh environment works best for my life.
But, hey, I'm just one person in a minority. And, as we know, the majority is *always* right, be it in politics, religion or computers. 
Gatekeeper
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Q Cubed
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t3h y3ll0w p3ril
Apr 1999
time: 23:36
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quote:
Troll.
Typical Mac Basher rhetoric and you know it ain't true. |
MNG, most of the **** you posted is Typical PC Basher rhetoric which isn't true.
===
Gatekeeper, as far as your experiences, more power to you. I'll admit that I'm not your regular computer user, and thus I've never had trouble running, installing, using, operating, doing whatever day-to-day tasks and what not on a rock-solid, stable, up-to-date Windows XP system. It's as solid for me as Macs are for you.
Since I don't orgasm over MacStyle like so many others (I'm not including you, gate; it's just something I've noticed. So many more people these days are saying that Apple products are sexier as a fashion statement. Which, incidentally, offends me greatly, because I don't think technology should be abused like that.)... I can't justify purchasing a Mac computer at all at the price point.
Quite frankly, the only kind of Mac I would buy is a PowerMac G5, and I don't wish to pay the premium. This sub-$500 box is as worthless to me as an ipod mini or an imac. Ugly (not too big a fan of MacStyle), pointless, crapware, and expensive.
===
Ari:   Alphas all the way! And QNX, too!
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Adrian Hon
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Living in Perplex City
Nov 2001
time: 05:36
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I've had much the same experiences as Gatekeeper, and came to Macs having used Windows PCs for many years. Again, speaking for myself, I've found using OS X to be a smoother experience than XP.
As for speed, I don't think there's much doubt that you can always buy a faster PC than a Mac, dollar for dollar (although the gap is narrowing). However, processor speeds are such that if you aren't going to play games or do things like video editing or graphics work, even the low end Macs are perfectly fine for simple stuff like web browsing, Office, photos, music, email, etc. I use an iBook G4 800mhz with 640MB RAM - you can't actually buy an iBook this slow anymore, but I haven't had any issues with speed for the tasks I mentioned above, plus light Illustrator and Freehand work - and this is compared to a 2.8ghz Pentium 4 I also use at work.
(BTW I won't comment on things like viruses, crashing and ease of use since these reports are subjective and it's impossible to get people to agree on them).
Considering that the new iMac is supposed to have a 1.25ghz processor and will probably run OS 10.4, I doubt that its target market (budget home/office users) will experience any problems with speed either. Still, we'll just have to wait and see how its sales figures perform.
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Spiffor
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CPA - Evil Clone brigade
Nov 2001
time: 06:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Kuciwalker
This theory fails miserably, though, if you look at the real world. Many, maybe even most eductational computers (at least through high school) are Macs. Few or no people go through school without exposure to Macs. Most hate them, and we don't see people rushing to buy a Mac as soon as they leave school. |
People at school are often keen to play computer games, which are almost non-existant on Mac (and even the girls, who are less interested in games than boys, generally turn to boys when it comes to knowing which computer to buy).
Mac has almost no chance to find customers among the high-school people, because of its extreme lack of games. However, Mac could look for customers among slightly older "hip" or "artsy" people, which are too old already for games, but young enough to care for fashion. This is the niche Apple seems to have been exploring recently, but that niche is quite sucky.
Mac's greatest advantage is the simplicity of the product. For hardware and for software alike, Macs are made to be easy of use, which is made possible by the Mac strategy of making all aspects of the computer. Old people (especially retirees) could appreciate Mac's effort to make their computers fool-compatible.
Should Mac offer an affordable box, it could score some points among the old, who'll gladly pay 100$ more for something that works right out of the box, and where you don't have to plug anything but the power plug 
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Adrian Hon
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Living in Perplex City
Nov 2001
time: 05:36
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I'm not entirely convinced that the Mac's lack of games completely scuppers it in the high school market. I've noticed that a lot of teenagers and twenty-somethings I know tend to do most if not all of their gaming on consoles these days, and the growth of the console market relative to PC games reflects that. Of course people still play games on PCs, but with cheap, good consoles I think the Mac's lack of games is not the deal breaker it once was.
That's not exactly a compelling reason to get a Mac though; if Apple want to break through into that market they'll have to actively market their computers to that demographic, perhaps on ease of use and so on. Depending on whether people like the new iMac, word of mouth will do the rest.
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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Agathon
I can't see why Apple would bother with a sub $500 Mac. They are doing fine as it is. The company has had a record year without actually doing very much. Next year should be a good one.
I'm about due for a new mac, but I have to find out what I'm doing first. |
The Mac marketshare is continually shrinking. The "best" years for Apple have a marginal increase in number of units sold, but they're still dropping ridiculously fast in terms of actual marketshare.
Apple has many problems with their core business, ones most Mac fans choose to ignore.
Third party support, for one, is dropping. Adobe is the most prominent example of them pulling Mac support. Many companies are switching to dual Windows + Linux development, if anything, and it makes little sense to make a Mac port too -- especially with Apple's track record of putting those products out of business later with a first-party solution after it uses them to get the market established.
Last edited by Asher on 02-01-2005 at 06:26
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Kuciwalker
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of Schmooism
Feb 2001
time: 00:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Spiffor
People at school are often keen to play computer games, which are almost non-existant on Mac (and even the girls, who are less interested in games than boys, generally turn to boys when it comes to knowing which computer to buy). |
Having no games on it isn't a good reason not to buy the system? And people don't get *gaming* experience when using the computer labs at school.
quote:
Mac has almost no chance to find customers among the high-school people, because of its extreme lack of games. However, Mac could look for customers among slightly older "hip" or "artsy" people, which are too old already for games, but young enough to care for fashion. This is the niche Apple seems to have been exploring recently, but that niche is quite sucky. |
i.e. they're playing computer illiterates for fools
quote:
Mac's greatest advantage is the simplicity of the product. For hardware and for software alike, Macs are made to be easy of use, which is made possible by the Mac strategy of making all aspects of the computer. Old people (especially retirees) could appreciate Mac's effort to make their computers fool-compatible. |
So is Windows, in fact. Boot it up, click "start".
quote:
Should Mac offer an affordable box, it could score some points among the old, who'll gladly pay 100$ more for something that works right out of the box, and where you don't have to plug anything but the power plug |
You don't have to do that for windows either.
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02-01-2005 01:54
) in some ways and think like a PC user in some ways. This will allow them to hang on to their niche market while at the same time work towards swaying millions of potential switchers to switch.
I don't believe I've ever met a more inflated egomaniac than you; nor one with less cause to be so.
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