Miata Mailing List: July 1998, Message #73

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Thanks for your frank comments, but I think you're missing most of my point.

Dennis B. Swaney wrote:

> Mustang = PC
>
> Miata = MacOS
>
> Richard, with my MacOS computer I can format, read from & write to PC
> floppies right out of the box. Add either SoftWindows95 or VirtualPC with
> Win95, and I have a system that is more stable then any PC running Win95.

Please don't compare the car to the OS, the engine and fuel compare to the CPU and
the OS.  If you're proud of reading and writing PC disks it must be because you are
the outcast (no insult there) using a Mac.  The reason that Mac people make this
argument is because they MUST read and write PC diskettes to get along with
others.  I don't need to read/write Mac diskettes.  I can read/write PC diskettes
too, natively.  You further make my point by stressing that you can add an emulator
to run PC software.  Btw, emulators never run as well as the original thing.  I
know; I used to be the third party problem resolution specialist at WordPerfect.
You'd be surprised how many Mac people ran WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS and then
complained to us because their PC emulator didn't emulate the PC all that well.  Of
course, there was nothing we could do for them unless the problem also existed
under DOS on a PC.

> snip
>
> >
> >Why buy PC?
> >
> >Let's see.
> >
> >IBM-PC compatibles:     93% of the market
> >Macintosh:                        6% of the market (down from 8%, and still
> >dropping)
> >All others:                         1% of the market
> >
>
> But your 93% consists of at least FOUR different OS: MS/PC-DOS, Win3.X,
> Win95/98, WinNT, and OS/2. And yes, I know that OS8 can't run on anything
> less than a 68040 or PPC chip; but I wouldn't try to run Win95 on a 386
> chip. Finally, the TCO of a MacOS machine vs a wintel machine is way lower.

Yes, it does, but Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, and OS/2 all can
run the same application software.  They also can run different software.  More
choices, not fewer.  (Virtually no one runs just DOS anymore unless in a specific
need environment.)

> >Sorry, but I own an old Mac and I know what it was like buying software for
> >it.  There just isn't the selection that there is for the PC.  We can talk
> >about software quality if you want, but that isn't the point.  No one program
> >works best for everyone.  Macintosh often has only one decent program
> >available
> >for a given task while the PC market has dozens for the same task.
> >
>
> I have no problems buying software, one call and it is delivered overnight
> right to my door. 30 seconds later it is installed and running.

You completely missed my point here.  I wasn't referring to the availability of
vendors, but the variety of applications.  There are ten or twenty times as many
applications for the PC as for the Mac in any given situation.  As I mentioned, one
"serious" database for the Mac, namely FileMaker Pro, compared to dozens for the
PC, most of which are far better databases than FileMaker Pro.

> >I worked at an office that was mostly PC, but part Mac.  We had to use a
> >database that worked on the Mac.  There was only one choice: FileMaker Pro.
> >Mac guys think this is the best thing since sliced bread, but the fact is, it
> >stinks compared to dBase, Fox Pro, Paradox, Clipper, Access, and ten other
> >PC-based databases.
> >
>
> FileMakerPro has been spun off into its own company because of the
> increased demand for it from Windows users.

That is, Windows users who must interface with Mac users.  I've used it and I
wouldn't trust my company's data to it.  It's a poor database by comparison to
others.  Of course, if you've never used anything else, it's a great database. It
has a lot of cool features, and it does WYSIWYG reports that look like desktop
publishing output, except the layout capability is really lacking.  It's just that
the program and it's creators don't apparently think there is anything out there
except FileMaker Pro.

An example.  At the company I referred to, we "sold" our membership list to vendors
for product mailings.  It was a profit center for the company.  FileMaker was
slower at exporting data than any, make that ANY, database I have ever used,
including freeware and shareware.  I would have to export the data in a comma
delimited ASCII text file or in a DBF format file (a standard that evolved from
dBase).  FileMaker would take HOURS to export a few hundred records to either
format.  So, I would do a weekly export of the entire database (just the name and
address fields that we sold along with basic selection criteria) to a DBF file and
then I could do my exports from Microsoft Access.  I could then do an export in two
or three minutes, sometimes 30 seconds, instead of one or two hours.  And to make
matters worse, FileMakerPro couldn't even do certain types of compound criteria
selection.  It was great for "all records in New York City, NY" but it simply could
not do exports like "this and this and this but not this or this, OR this and this
and this but not this or this."  The program was just extremely limited in
functionality compared to Access and other PC database programs.

> snip
>
> >
> >And please, don't tell me that Steve Jobs invented the graphical user
> >interface
> >and the mouse with the introduction of the Mac.  It just ain't true.  First,
> >Apple introduced the long-forgetten Lisa before the Mac which also had them.
> >Plus, Steve stole the graphical user interface and the mouse concept directly
> >from Xerox after his visit to Xerox's PARC facility (Palo Alto Research
> >Center).  Xerox invented and developed the technology that Mac made popular.
> >Stevie boy just stole it while Xerox was trying to figure out how to
> >market it,
> >something they probably would never have figured out.
> >
>
> Yes, and Bill Gates steals the ideas that Apple R&D comes up with and uses
> them.

You mean ideas that Apple R&D steals?  Bill Gates steals ideas and Apple steals
ideas.  They both do it.  Microsoft copied features from the Mac OS in Windows.
Apple copied Windows 95 features in the Mac OS.  I've seen it documented.  It
doesn't really matter.  The fact is there are ten times more people running PCs and
PC operating systems than Mac and Mac OS.  Even Linux (one flavor of UNIX) now has
a larger installed user base than does the Mac OS.

> I have to work with wintel machines on the job and they're always crashing
> or freezing. Hopefully we'll be able to network them soon and one problem
> will be solved.

Yes, PCs do lock up.  So do Macs.  Mine did frequently when I used it.  I hated
it.  My PC does, too.  I hate it.  The Macs we had at the company running
FileMakerPro also locked up frequently.  What's your point?  Neither system is
immune from locking up.  Actually, UNIX and Linux are far better at crash recovery
than either Mac OS or Windows.

You see, I'm not evangelizing either system.  I hate the software limitations of
the Mac, and I hate Microsoft.  I use Microsoft OS and software when it is to my
advantage.  Mac is never to my advantage.  My computer is a tool, not a romance.
My Miata is a romance!  It's a less intelligent choice as a car than almost
anything, except when the reason for selection is nostalgia and romance, fun and
excitement, recreation and entertainment.  It is not a tool.  It is not just
transportation.  My Camry was transportation.  I love my Miata much like I loved my
original Apple II, but the computer has become a necessary tool and the car is now
the entertainment.

So, if you want to buy a Macintosh because you are in love with this or that
feature, that's perfectly fine with me.  I don't think Mac owners are stupid or
uninformed.  I just think that recommendations to people who need a computer should
be task-based, not romance-based.  (Someone who loves his wife can't recommend her
to another man who is looking for his own wife!)

The Mac is a great piece of hardware.  The Mac OS is great OS software.  Too bad
that 94% of the computer world doesn't use it, or I could feel comfortable
recommending it.  At this point, with Mac marketshare dropping and software prices
higher than similar software on the PC, I would recommend Linux first, because of
1- less expensive hardware (PC clone hardware),  2- less expensive software (Linux
software is mostly free--and often better than many Mac and PC software programs),
and 3- a larger installed user base.

--
Richard Teasdale
rjt@xmission.com
White '97 PEP, "Spartacus"
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