Good advice! (was: Re: [Ti] Windows compatable)

[Ronald Woodland]

Your point is well made, Chris.  And I hear it a lot.  For many,  
Windows is their best choice for what they want to do or for the  
software their company uses.  I won't bother to address the issue  
that 99.99% of the software a company needs is actually available on  
the Mac, too.  That's another topic.  My point here is when these  
same people come to me because they want to learn how to shoot and  
edit video or make cool DVDs and i tell them that the best software  
to do that runs on a Mac, they aren't willing to accept that.  They  
are willing to suffer using inferior software on a flawed platform  
rather than choose the best for the task.

If your assertion is correct, then so is mine.  You can talk all you  
want about the choice of software driving the hardware choice, and  
you can chide Mac users for their zealousness, but I have seen as  
much and more on the Windows side too.  Platform investment and  
infrastructure to support that choice colors all subsequent  
decisions, even in the face of superior alternatives.  When it comes  
to platform bigotry, Windows users can be the worst.

Apple has worked very hard to be compatible in a Windows world.  They  
have succeeded (and are thriving) because they offer a premium  
experience and innovative tools.  Their users may be a small  
percentage of the total market, but they are mindful of the need to  
promote compatibility and open standards.  They have been willing to  
coexist because they have to.  Microsoft and it's users don't even  
try to be compatible because they don't have to.  Instead they are  
proprietary and exclusionary.  I can't count how many times I've run  
into this, especially on the Web  ...a supposedly platform-agnostic  
environment.  Arrogance will be the downfall of Microsoft some day.   
Those who are willing to be open minded have noticed the "sea change"  
in the market.  It will be interesting to see what the next 10 years  
brings.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Ronald Woodland, Assistant  
Professor                                    435.652.7970
Director of Visual Technologies Program
Dixie State College - St. George, Utah  84770

woodland at dixie.edu                                                       
    http://cit.cs.dixie.edu
woodland at infowest.com
------------------------------------------------------------------


=======================================
On Jan 13, 2006, at 10:26 PM, Chris Olson wrote:

On Jan 13, 2006, at 9:50 PM, Thomas Fulton wrote:

> So you are saying I should spend my whole computerized life in a  
> Windoze environment just because one software  product won't port  
> to the right OS........Amazing case of dramatic missed the point  
> syndrome, eh?

It depends on what that software application is.  Because otherwise  
you could have an amazing case of dramatic missed the boat syndrome.

Example:
If you're an engineer, and your main application is AutoCAD I'd say  
you're loony of you try to tell me "it's the only Windows application  
I use so I'll run it in VirtualPC on my Mac, or run it in WINE on  
Mandriva Linux".  You belong on a Windows machine.

Business and Enterprise works the same way - companies buy software  
solutions and get support from vendors like AutoDesk or ESRI.  They  
don't rush to the Apple Store and buy 250 Macs for the engineering  
dept just because they think they're better than Windows.  Then throw  
their hands in the air and complain because ESRI ArcView isn't  
available for Mac.  They buy a software solution from ESRI to do the  
job, and they compare many different vendors and bids before making a  
purchase decision and signing support agreements.  The software  
solution dictates the operating environment required to run it, both  
client and client/server.

The fact is, you can call it Windoze, M$, or what ever other little  
grammatical slurs you want to throw at it, and it doesn't change the  
fact that the business world runs on Microsoft software, and millions  
upon millions of people use it every day to get the job done.   
Usually without any of the horrible consequences that platform  
evangelists like to portray.  The Mac is merely an alternative  
operating environment that works well for maybe 3-5% of the computing  
population.  The day I can go to my local OfficeMax and see as many  
software titles on the shelf for Mac as I do Windows is the day the  
Mac will be a VIABLE alternative for the general computing population.

-- 
Chris

-------------------------
PGP Key:  http://astcomm.net/~chris/PGP_Public_Key/
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