Re: Results: PC vs Mac

[Tom <eagles -at- CONNECTION -dot- COM>]

A few comments from one who has worked on and
purchased for both, and a request to be set
straight if I'm wrong in assuming I know of what I
speak <g>:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruce Conway
> Sent: December 19, 1998 3:20 PM
> Subject: Re: Results: PC vs Mac
>
>
> Actually, the PC is not cheaper.
> Comparable Macs and PCs (OK, PC's -
> note the Chicago Style Manual
> apostrophe there) are about the same in
> price.

Comparable?  Unless you consider an IMAC
comparable to a Pentium II 350 fully loaded. $1899
Cdn for an IMAC (wasn't there an Apple mail order
retailer with that name not long ago?) buys you a
pretty amazing PC. And who wants to work on a 15"
screen?

> More software?  You'll have to look at
> the studies.  In 1993, for
> example, there were twice as many Mac
> software titles as for Windows (in
> all categories? overall? not sure....).

1993!  Why not go all the way back to the Jurassic
era!

>  I've heard this argument many
> times.  I've also seen the quality of
> PC software versus Mac software.

Please tell me how FrameMaker for the Mac is
better than FrameMaker for the PC. Tell me what
you can do on a Mac that you can't do cheaper on a
PC today. I haven't had any trouble finding a
service bureau that will accept my PDFs or
Postscript files created on a PC. But maybe I just
haven't been exposed to some of the aspects that
aren't apparent to me. So what have I missed by
switching over to the PC?

> Another major  category:      About 65%
> of *** WEB DEVELOPMENT ***  is
> done on Macintoshes.

This I'd like to see proof of.  Was this in 1993
as well?

> Another interesting fact: There are
> about 5,000 known viruses on the
> PC.  Only about 50 on the Mac.

As of... ?  That just goes to show how widely-used
PCs are. If I heard this and I was a Mac user, I'd
be worried that I was working on a platform that
is terminal (pun intended) and soon to be extinct
(sorry 'bout the mixed metaphor). If it wasn't for
concerns about anti-trust, Gates would probably
just buy Apple to give it a quiet death.

> Remember, VHS outnumbers BETA.  But,
> which has better picture quality,
> and which do the professionals use?

Last I heard, Beta is dead. You can still find
tapes in remainder bins, tho'. <g>

 *********************

> Emily Davidson wrote:
> > Well, the results are in and the
> consensus (almost unanimous) was this:
> >
> > PC: cheaper, more software, and much
> more proliferate than the Mac in
> > the business world in general.  Most
> writers used one.

Gotta say that this sounds more sensible. But
aren't those little IMACs cute? <G>

> > Mac: better for layout and graphics.
> Used almost exclusively by
> > people working in these fields.

Better? How? Please - maybe I just don't know -
but what does the Mac do that the PC does not or
cannot do?  What software is there for the Mac
that doesn't exist (from either a competitor or by
the same company) for the PC?  By the turn of the
century, don't be surprised if the tables have
turned and it's Macs that are rarely used by
professionals in the field (just call me Nossie).

> > However, most people also agreed that
> the most important thing is to
> > learn the software, and then it isn't
> hard to switch from one
> > operating system to the other.

It's not hard to adapt software written for one
platform to another, either... witness Office 98
for the Mac. Many think it's better than Office 97
for the PC. But what's out there on the Mac that
isn't already on the PC? Illustrator? No, that's
available on PC. FrameMaker? No. Quark? No.
PageMaker? No. PhotoShop? No. CorelDraw? No.
RoboHelp? No. PostScript (version whatever -
they're usually released concurrently). What have
I missed that the tech writer would be concerned
about (keeping in mind tech writers usually aren't
working in service bureaus, too)?

> > This is probably stuff most of you
> already knew (judging by the kind
> > of response I got), but thank you for
> helping me out.
> >
> > Emily Davidson
> > emilyfisher -at- yahoo -dot- com

TTFN.

Tom Eagles
Communications Coordinator
Black & McDonald Limited
Toronto


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