[X4U] Video conferencing on a PC

[Peter Krug]

On Feb 24, 2005, at 5:55 PM, Stroller wrote:

>  If they've got a clue they'll have no problem with their staff 
> plugging a single loaner Mac onto the network, secure in the knowledge 
> that it can't be used as a platform for viruses and that, since it's 
> not owned by their company, they have no responsibility for software 
> licensing or support of the actual machine.

Are you kidding?  It has been my experience (and the experience of 2 
relatives and 2 friends, all at different companies), that corporate IT 
folks will refuse to allow Macs on their networks.  My mom has been 
desperately trying to get her Powerbook online at her work, but the 
"giver" of IP addresses denies every request because they cannot be 
"proven" secure since his tools can't scan her machine.  Even when some 
sort of worm hosed all the PC's, she was forced to dial in to send an 
important email (work-related).  When everyone else saw that she was 
online via dialup, they used her Powerbook to access their webmail.  
All except for Mr. Stubborn the IT Wizard.

My dad, working at a bank headquarters (not a bank branch with money, 
tellers, etc.), got laughed out of the building by IT when he suggested 
that they let his emergency backup iBook on the network since his 
company-issued machine had gotten infected on-site and was unusable.  
He just wanted to send some excel charts to his supervisor.  He didn't 
have dialup, so he got to wait until the next day to do his work.

PC-centric IT folks know that 1) allowing macs on their networks breed 
more macs and 2) more macs mean less need for their expensive @sses.  
We know macs are about 10,000 times safer than PC's, using that as an 
argument never works, it just pisses IT folks off the edge.  From my 
experience, only PC's configured by the IT department and locked down 
are the only machines allowed on the corporate networks I've been 
exposed to.

Sorry for the rant.  One of us has some very abnormal business 
computer-related experiences.  Perhaps you were being cynical when you 
said "If they've got a clue"?

Peter

A little computer haiku:
I can't remember
the last time I restarted
I love OS X

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