Mac vs. PC in Coffee Shops
From Andrew in response to Personality Predicts Your Place
Along the Mac-PC Divide:
Great piece Charles!
I just read Ms. Song's article (my wife's maiden name is Song) and
your analysis - great stuff from both of you. I go back and forth
between Mac and PC as needed and dictated by my wants, needs, and
budget at any given time. Currently I'm all Mac (15" antiglare MacBook
Pro and Rev. B MacBook Air), but previously I was all PC or one of
each. As for the stereotypes, there are exceptions, but yeah, I think
they are pretty close.
I love Mini Coopers, and Mercedes, BMW, etc. I also like trucks
(should never have sold my F-150), but I can't stand the Dodge Charger
after a recent rental. What a rattle-trap that car was, with only 8,500
miles no less.
Where I find issue with such articles is the politics and
environmental stereotypes. I think that politics are connected to
computer choice, but not with regard to left/right, but rather
politically engaged (Mac) or party-line drone (PC). Mac users tend to
be on both parties here in the US, though more lean left, probably
because more politically engaged people are left, while the American
right seems more party-line follow-instructions.
Coffee? Well there are an awful lot of Macs at most coffee shops,
but just as many PCs, and the two seemingly in equal proportion whether
at Starbucks or McDonald's.
Just my $0.02
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Glad you enjoyed the column.
Sorry to hear you no longer have the F-150.
;-( I was thinking more in terms of the original Chargers -
the 1966
fastback model being particularly choice, but any of them up to
about 1972 - rather than the current sedan bearing the name. However,
I'm wondering if that rental you found rattle-trappish might have been
thrashed by a previous renter.
As you are probably aware, the current Charger's
chassis is based on Mercedes-Benz suspension E-Class and other M-B bits
that date back to the Daimler-Chrysler era, so the engineering should
be pretty solid. Also, in an owner feedback survey in one of the car
mags a year or so ago, the Chrysler 300, which is the same car in
Chrysler livery, got an extraordinarily high owner satisfaction and
positive "would you buy another" score. OTOH, my hotrodder daughter
tells me her police friends who use a combined fleet of police model
Chargers and Crown Vics tend to favor the Ford. She drives a Crown Vic
Police Interceptor herself, and I must concede that it's pretty
impressive, although there have been some reliability issues.
I think your analysis of the political element of the
Mac-PC dichotomy is probably on the mark. I know a lot of conservatives
who use Macs, but proportionately more who use PCs. However, people who
lean left politically do tend to be strongly represented in the Mac
community: Steve Jobs is a self-described liberal Democrat, and Al Gore
sits on the Apple board, etc. But then Rush Limbaugh is a big Mac fan
from way back (and has taken heat from some of his conservative fans
for using a "lefty" computer).
Coffee? I'm more of a green tea (or even better,
Kukitcha tea) guy myself.
Charles
Thoughts on the Mac-PC Divide
From Chris:
Greetings, Charles:
Just read "Personality Predicts Your Place Along the Mac-PC Divide",
and it made me think about an all-too-common situation I find myself
facing in Internet forums everywhere.
Where do I fall in, the mailbag readers may ask? I'm predominantly
Wintel and have been ever since I was born, though I did get a Pismo to experiment a bit with
the other side.
Why? Most of my software runs on Windows, most notably games. (Yes,
the Mac has games; no, it doesn't have nearly as many of them as
Windows, especially with the current reputation between the OSes.) I'm
also a tweaker at heart who loves to tinker and upgrade computers like
it was second nature, but I cannot even come close to affording a
Mac Pro.
Then there's Apple's lack of an official "MacPad" of sorts to
provide an OS X alternative to the Tablet PC; the Axiotron Modbook is close, but
prohibitively expensive. The iPad nails
the portability, screen, and battery life, but falls well short due to
the lack of a Wacom pen that could've made it a potent Microsoft
Courier alternative.
Do I deride Mac users, though? No, and in fact, I don't really like
it when other PC users do so - it makes them look just as snobbish and
elitist as the Mac fans supposedly are. I understand why they choose
the "bitten fruit" computer - it just happens to work better for their
uses, and not everyone uses a computer in the same fashion or cares
about the same qualities.
Many computer users don't want to tinker - they want something that
just works with a minimum of maintenance, and if something goes wrong,
have excellent service to fall back on, and they probably don't mind
not getting as much raw performance per dollar spent as the
custom-building PC enthusiast, because they don't need the speed for
their uses as much as they need the reliability and support.
Yes, I do express disdain over some of the things Apple has done,
but that only speaks for myself. If other people don't mind the issues
and find that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, more power to them.
It's an open market for a reason.
Also, not all Mac users are smug hipsters, and you're not the only
proof. A short walk to a neighbor's house reassures that - in fact,
they're the ones who got me curious enough about the Macintosh in its
various forms that I came to respect the neat touches Apple had
introduced in their computers and also dabble a bit in the Classic Mac
OS era, since they had a massive software library sitting unused. But
they were just ordinary users who had been using Macs since the
IIcx days and saw no reason to
change.
They certainly weren't power users to my degree, otherwise they
would've taught me about FireWire Target Disk Mode and
two-finger-scroll rather than the other way around. Also, they don't
feel the need to be hip enough to constantly upgrade to the latest Macs
and incur the costs that come with that; their main machines consist of
three 1.42 GHz iBook
G4s and a Core 2
Duo/GMA 950 MacBook still running OS X 10.4 Tiger (along with an
indigo iMac G3 350, a
PowerBook G3 "MainStreet", a
Power Mac 6500, and a Mac
IIcx that were no longer in active use).
For the basic Web browsing, email, and Office document stuff that
they do (and most average computer users use a computer for), those
systems are still more than capable in their current state. Apple may
have largely phased out PowerPC and Tiger by this point for new
software, but it hasn't stopped those iBooks from working one bit!
Back to the "not smug" bit, though - they don't react extremely
negatively when I bring up the topic of PCs or Windows, and in fact
thought that Tablet PCs were rather cool once I showed what something
like an old, dated HP
TC1100 can do with the right software. It's just that the Macintosh
is their computer of choice - more value through less general computer
hassle.
Anyway, I think this fanboy war, like all similar arguments, simply
boils down to a part of human behavior that makes us feel we made the
right decisions - the superior ones - and that putting down those who
chose otherwise makes us feel good lest we suffer buyer's remorse.
-Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your thoughtful and measured musings on
this topic.
I think you particularly nailed it with: "Many
computer users don't want to tinker - they want something that just
works with a minimum of maintenance," and "the Macintosh is their
computer of choice - more value through less general computer
hassle."
That fairly concisely sums up where I stand. I can
tinker if I have to, but it's not something I would choose as a pastime
(I prefer woodworking), and the general "it just works" characteristic
of the Mac combined with not having to concern oneself overmuch (at
least so far) with malware precautions, virus scanning, and the like,
is the clincher for me. I reboot my MacBook maybe once or twice a month
- most often because a software install requires it - run a few OS
maintenance routines with freeware OnyX once in a while,
and that's about it for attention paid to the tool itself rather than
what I'm using it for. Windows PCs used by friends seem to require so
much more care and feeding, so to speak.
There are also several Mac-only applications and
utilities, and things like AppleScript and Tex-Edit Plus and WindowShade X that I would find it
very hard to live without after years and years of familiarity and
intricately interwoven integration into my workflow habits.
I am a fan of the Mac user experience who is not a
particular fan of Apple the company, although it's hard to second-guess
their repeated success in the marketplace and engineering leadership
(the latter with a few quirky exceptions), and I wish them continued
growth and prosperity so they will be there to make Macs for me to
use.
Even after 18 years on the Mac OS, some of the magic
and delight ("enchantment" is a term that comes to mind) I perceived on
those first few days with a used Mac Plus back in 1992, moving from a
completely text-based user interface, still lingers. I just don't get
the same vibe with Windows.
Thanks again for sharing your interesting perspective
as one who has hands-on experience with both platforms.
Charles
Apple vs. Smut
From Walt:
Thanks for reporting on Apple's
no-porn-in-app-store. Also, the porn-harm links were outstanding.
A while back I wrote a letter to Apple's Board of Directors on this
subject, and also emailed Steve Jobs. I might have to write them again
to thank them.
Keep up the good work!
Walt
Thanks for your letter-writing efforts, Walt. Glad you
agree.
Charles
Obsolescence: Planned, Instant, and Otherwise
From Tom:
Hey Charles,
You've got correspondents out there just about as thoughtful and
insightful - and fun to read - as you are, which in my estimation is a
testament to the quality of your own work. There's been a lot of action
in your columns and elsewhere on Low End Mac about the concept and
"practice" of "planned" obsolescence - what I refer to as "instant"
obsolescence - and other forms of the same thing.
We first began to hear of planned
obsolescence, I believe, back in the 1950s, specifically with
regard to American carmakers building different body styles, options,
power plants, etc. for the same models in succeeding years to
effectively obsolete the older models and create demand for the newer
ones, a marketing and sales ploy which appeared to have worked in the
'50s and '60s (despite the great popularity of the scarcely-changing
Volkswagen models).
Seen from today's perspective, we can appreciate the differences in
makes and models of cars in those days, especially in view of the
essentially bland sameness of so many cars today. Want a classic
Impala, T-Bird, Austin-Healey, Mustang, Camaro? They were all there,
and still are, if you've got the cash to pay classic car prices.
Of course, all this relates to computers, and even Apple, today. We
are in the same reality set now, except that the majority of changes
involved are "under the hood" - this latest capability, that latest OS
revision and its many improvements. I wonder how many of us read the
various tech news sites with an odd mixture of excited anticipation and
secret dread - what will we be able to do with our Macs next, and how
far will the new stuff drive our present hardware and software down the
steep slope of "obsolescence"? (And how much time, effort, and money
will it cost us to keep up with the "latest and greatest"?)
The whole process has been speeding up in recent years so much, so
recklessly, and has become so breakneck-fast, that seemingly one has
only to get that wished-for, powerful, speedy computer of one's dreams
and use it to scan the Internet tech news sites only to find out how
the next souped-up, speedy, all-powerful model, due for release in
just a few weeks, will effectively consign your present "old"
model to the scrap heap. Of course, so many tech consumers are
following and snapping up so much new stuff (somewhat in the manner of
technological lemmings) that obsolescence has in effect moved from
"planned" to very nearly "instant".
Of course, all the foregoing has its elements of intentional humor,
and certainly I don't want all the tech-obsessed geeks out there
screaming "Luddite" at me, but at a
certain point it's necessary to wonder what all this mad rush to the
latest and greatest gadget is adding to our lives. For writers, of
course, the computer saves so much revision time that it isn't even
funny. Computers obviously aid all manner of scientific innovation and
experimentation. Access to the Internet's incredible universe of
information and instant means of communication has changed
everything.
For the better? When Facebook is on its way to being the
most popular website on the Internet, and even news broadcasters speak
of "Tweeting" information? Well, the responsibility is ours, any
technology can be used for purposes profound and profoundly shallow -
it's up to us.
But is it the best use of our time, effort, and money to join this
mad rush to keep up with the latest and greatest, lest we be "left
behind" and "left out"? This is what I see more and more on the tech
news sites. It's no longer even about what you can do with what you
have; it's about having the latest and the best.
I think it's time to call a halt, to step back and take a good look
at what we're doing and allowing to be done, and maybe ask ourselves if
it's really the best thing for us to allow ourselves to be made to
pursue the newest and most powerful gadgets out there so we can
. . . have the newest and most powerful gadgets and not be
left behind and left out?
I'm using a fine old Pismo PowerBook running
Tiger 10.4.11. It's what I can
afford at the moment, and it shows no signs of fatigue or breakdown.
Tiger is a powerful, highly competent, speedy operating system which is
four or so years old, and for which Apple has apparently dropped all
support, in quest apparently to switch us all over to Leopard and Intel Macs.
They have apparently decided that such an operating system must be
obsoleted for the sake of their "bottom line", i.e. a mad scramble for
the latest and greatest, which translates into . . . profit.
(In the words of Dan Knight, "So what?")
This is an outrage of absurd proportions and symptomatic of
everything I have been saying. But another hard fact of present-day
life seems to be that corporations can pretty much do what they please,
and we consumers have no say and no choice but to take it and like it
and play their game by their rules.
Or do we?
I found an interesting quote (in a hardcover, non-electronic book,
of all things) that can be used for a personal credo by anyone and
everyone so inclined:
"Every dollar I spend is a statement about the
kind of world I want and the quality of life I value."
"Every dollar I spend is a statement about the kind of world I want
and the quality of life I value."
This would seem to suggest a blasphemous idea in our present world,
i.e., that we, and not our corporate "betters", are in charge of and
responsible for what we allow in our lives, maybe even for the quality
of those lives, and that any other concept should be relegated to
instant obsolescence.
Anybody interested?
God Bless,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I guess that in the fast-moving world of computer
technology, I'm both gratified by and somewhat in awe of how well my
two old Pismos running OS X 10.4.11 Tiger acquit themselves. I
love my Core 2 Duo
MacBook (all that power does confer certain advantages), but I
still spend almost as much time on a Pismo most days as I do on the
MacBook. I don't think we can complain too vociferously about that much
retained usefulness in 10-year-old computers.
However, the proverbial writing is on the wall.
Mozilla.org officially announced that Tiger will not be supported in
Firefox 3.6 and later, and while the new Opera 10.50 beta for Mac does
still retain Tiger support (with some limitations), it will be for
Intel only. PPC support is being dropped.
It looks like, as happened with the Classic Mac OS,
the tipping point of usability for PPC Macs will be up-to-date browser
non-availability. I intend to keep using the Pismos as long as they
will do what I need them to, but I expect that another two years hence
they will be too compromised for general production duty, although
still more limitedly useful for certain other tasks.
However, I don't see it as entirely bleak. My Pismo
sold new for $3,500 base price. A MacBook you can buy for $2,500 less
is vastly more powerful and a pretty nice piece of equipment.
My dream laptop would, of course, be a machine that
combined the Pismo's connectivity, upgradability, versatility, and
tactile excellentness with modern Core 2 Duo or Core "i" guts.
It's interesting that three of the hottest-selling
cars in today's beleaguered automotive marketplace are form-factor
replicas of the 1960s-era Camaro and Dodge Challenger with modern
internals (the former on what amounts to version of the
Australian-built VE Holden Commodore chassis, and the latter riding on
two-generations back Mercedes-Benz E-Class suspension bits), and the
Ford Mustang, is a replica of itself circa 1965, but all with modern
engines.
I would bet that a similar concept in computers based
on the Pismo would sell well too, but I don't think retro-appreciation
is in Steve Jobs' DNA.
Charles
Charles,
Yup, you hit the nail on the head, as usual. I suppose it's
impossible to hope that older technology that is still demonstrably
viable would be honored by those whose business (and even survival) is
dependent on a breakneck quest for the fastest, most powerful new
equipment and software. Still, it is a pity, not to mention a burden to
the toxic waste dumps that have to deal with the stuff (still workable
or not) that we throw into them. So-called progress has its price.
The retro cars you mentioned (and one or two others like my
particular favorite, the Mini-Cooper) are indeed popular, and it's
great to see that style is still appreciated, not to mention the
excellence they represent right now. I'm sure some similar concept in
computers would do well, but as you pointed out, that's not in Apple's,
or Steve Jobs', agenda. Still, the attempts such as Classilla to allow retro OSes and computers
to have some kind of place in computing and communication today, show
that not everyone is sold on instant obsolescence.
To its eternal credit, Apple's new equipment is truly cutting-edge,
worth the money and then some, and beautifully designed inside and out.
It is obvious that Apple and Jobs mean to offer us the best of present
and future technology, and since we've all become Internet- and
computer-dependent in so many ways, that's something for which to be
truly appreciative and grateful. (Once the money is there, a MacBook or
13" MacBook Pro will be my choice.)
One reason I even bother to write about this is that you (and Low
End Mac) provide a commonsense, highly enjoyable, and readable forum
for ideas that would not even get a second look elsewhere. And that's
also deserving of appreciation and gratitude.
God Bless as Always,
Tom Gabriel
Hi Tom,
I'm humbled. Thanks.
As I close on the end of my first year with the
unibody aluminum MacBook, I'm becoming more and more persuaded that
it's a worthy successor to the excellence of the Pismo.
Charles
Solving WiFi Problems
From Bob:
Charles,
I was reading your January 6 article, in which you relate a discussion you had with Larry, who
is/was having WiFi problems. Like you, my experience with OS X
10.4.11 has been mostly flawless with many, many Mac laptops, including
Pismos, clamshell iBooks, G4 iBooks, and others. That experience has
been mostly with AirPort cards (original and Extreme), but with several
brands of routers, including Linksys, dLink, Netgear, Belkin, Apple,
and others.
But I did run into an iBook the other day that was giving me fits,
refusing to connect to the router despite repeated attempts to enter
the correct WEP key. Finally, as a last resort, I decided to delete the
network ID and password from my preferred networks list and then re-add
it, the problem went away! Based on that experience, I concluded that
OS X does not really support editing of the information it stores
about preferred networks. It seems to allow you to edit the info, but I
don't think it really updates it. Or perhaps it was just that entry
that was corrupted - who knows? In any event, I would now recommend to
anyone who has trouble connecting, especially to password-protected
wireless networks, that they delete the entry from the preferred list
and then re-add it.
Another thing to be aware of is that, by default, OS X checks the
preference box in the Networking tool that says to automatically store
information about networks you have connected to. In effect, it adds
them to the preferred network list. So any mistakes you make when first
trying to connect to a network for the first time from a particular
laptop are perpetuated. Another reason to delete the entry and start
over.
Cheers,
Bob
Hi Bob,
Thanks. This could be potentially valuable information
for many folks.
In my case, my WiFi issues essentially disappeared
when I installed Apple internal AirPort cards in both of my Pismos
instead of using the Buffalo WiFi PC CardBus card. They even work fine
with the Belkin router!
Charles
Best Pismo Upgrades
From David:
Hello,
I'm a publisher/PC technician in Oregon. I was just reading your
excellent web article on the Apple Pismo Laptop. I have one of these
and am trying to figure out what to do with it. Do you know if it's
possible to get it to work with USB 2.0? I'm thinking of a PCM Card or
something.
Also, what would you say is the best CPU upgrade for this machine?
I've read about the G4-550's and the G3-1000's, and both seem viable.
It's clear to me that maxing out the RAM to 1 GB is a no-brainer.
Appreciate your comments.
Have a great day,
David
Hi David,
Good on you for persevering with the old Pismo!
I understand that USB 2.0 support is an iffy issue on
Pismos. It's one hotrodding tweak I haven't tried with mine. Some folks
report success even with cheap "brand X" CardBus adapters; others have
not been able to make them work.
There is
an Apple Support thread you might find helpful.
As for the best CPU upgrade for Pismos, the choices
are getting pretty thin on the ground - the only ones I know of still
available being one from
FastMac and one
from Wegener Media.
I've installed and used both of these products
extensively and highly recommend either. I think the FastMac unit is a
bit faster than the Wegener one, but I can't verify that with any
benchmarking, and there isn't much in the difference.
The PowerLogix 900 MHz and 1000 MHz G3 BlueChip
processor upgrades have been off the market for several years now,
although you might be able to find one on
eBay. I discuss these products at some length in this 2008 article,
The 1 GHz Pismo, the Fastest
G3 Notebook Ever.
Maxing the RAM to 1 GB is indeed a no-brainer, and I
wish I'd gotten around to doing it years ago.
Charles
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