Steve Fearson went on a Big Mac Attack in his blog on January 15th (Steve's post in italics):

Why do people still buy macs?

Why would someone buy a computer that isn’t compatible with so many things?

You’ll hear mac users saying, “macs are superior for graphics”. No they’re not. Maybe 20 years ago they were but not today. And how many of you mac users are actually working on the next Toy Story anyway?

OK, so far this is a pretty typical rant against the Macintosh. So far, my answer would be, "If you feel this way about Macs, then don't buy one."

Less than 1% of my visitors are mac users, yet they account for about 50% of my customer service because of compatibility issues.

There's only two effective answers to this problem:

1) Work on minimizing (or better yet, eliminating) the compatibility problems between your ebook format and Macs, or . . .

2) Don't offer Mac support. Promote your site as a source of downloadble magic ebooks for Windows users. According to your own words, this would only reduce sales by 1% (or less), while reducing the number of customer complaints by 50%.

It’s like buying a diesel car and complaining everywhere that you can’t get the right gas. And then insisting that diesel is the superior system.

There are Mac zealots out there, who will evangelize the Mac day and night. However, to imply that all Mac users are this way is nothing more than stereotyping.

Magicians, as we're all aware, often bring a negative stereotype to the minds of the public, and there are bad magicians who fit that stereotypical image well, but that isn't the whole picture.

The most shocking thing about this post isn't the rant against Macs. That is ultimately neither here nor there. Rather, it's that it comes across as a company owner degrading a group of his own customers for a particular choice they made. This is both bad business, and poor people handling.

Absolutely right.

Magixx

PS: ANd if you have ever used a Mac, you will know that he is superior!

I use a mac at school and they are far more stable then a pc. Try renderings on both machines. You will see which one will crash and which one won't....I just started useing a mac...A bit different then the PC....but still a very nice machine. I use there G5 machines. Those are VERY nice...

Michael

And there REAL purdy looking....

I use a mac at school and they are far more stable then a pc. Try renderings on both machines.
What was the render you tested on both platforms? and have the PC's been installed correctly?

Pc's are only really good for people who know about computers. If you are computer illiterate then go for an apple.

If the new Mini-Macs are anything like Ipods, PCs are in trouble.

That's true. To get any halfway decent results from a PC, you do have to know plenty about computers. When doing the same task on a Mac, it lets you do what you want or need to do, whether or not you're a computer expert.

Quick ideas for showing off your Mac:

1. Quick Application switching: Hold down the Command key, and then hit the Tab key. Use the Tab key to select the application you want to bring to the front. Even cooler: select an open application this way, keeping the command key down, and then hit the "Q" button (right next to the Tab key), to quit an application without having to go into it!

2. Start a movie in Quicktime Player, then click the yellow button at the upper left of the window to send the video into the Dock (extra show-off points if you've set up the "Genie Effect" in the Dock preferences). Bring up your Dock, and show that the video is still playing in the Dock.

3. Try idea #2 with the visualizer in iTunes (or both, for that matter).

4. Start a movie (or iTunes visualizer, or both) and press F9 to bring up Exposé. Again they're still playing!

5. Try #4, but with Shift-F9. I won't ruin the moment by telling you what happens.



Does anybody else have any cool show-off stunts for their Windows, Mac or Linux system?

I saw the new mac today everyone, this post just reminded me! its really nice
you can see it here http://www.apple.com/macmini/ very good specs and extremely cheap!!!!

Tom

Never owned a Mac; BUT have spent some time on one. They are just great; and that backward lad called Forrest Gump who fought in the Vietnam War with his pal who wanted to own fishing boats. It's all such a moving story isn't it?

(It is True isn't it??)

Tony.

I've supported both.

For business applications... sorry it's still a PC.

For graphics and fun... okay the Mac

The biggest support issue was folks dropping fonts all over the place and the memory issues of those nice graphics programs. I can deal with computers named "cheezewiz" and the like.

I am a Computer Technician by trade...here are my thoughts...from experience.

Cons of a Mac:

- Trying to Repair and Troubleshoot a Mac: Forget it, and throw it out the window.
- The hardware design is TERRIBLE. The mouses are made for small female hands, the keyboards are the same.
- Compatibly is NIL. Just to run stuff a PC can, they have to simulate a PC.
- Hardware replacement, repair....forget it.
- The cost of a MAC is almost Double that of a PC

Pros of a MAC:

-I use one for Graphic Design and I love it in that aspect. That is all.

Curse you mac users, with all your fancy...virus immunities!!

I've had Macs for years, and I've never had to get one repaired (Apple repairmen are similar to Maytag repairmen in that respect), but I've never seen anyone have trouble just taking it into their local Apple Store and getting it fixed.



So? Use any USB keyboard and mouse that suits you.



True, if you want to run the PC version of a program. Of course, if PC users want to run a stuff that Mac can, they have to go out and buy a full Mac.

BTW, about a year and a half ago, an independent consulting firm ran a test. They took a brand new, top of the line Pentium computer, and loaded it with Windows XP. They also took a brand new, top of the line Power Mac G5, loaded it with Connectix' Virtual PC 6, and the same version of Windows XP. They then ran the same benchmark tests on both computers (graphic, computational and many other kinds of benchmarks).

The result? The Power Mac G5 ran the benchmarks faster than the Pentium computer! Of course, this is hardly fair. The Power Mac G5 is a 64-bit computer, while even the most advanced Pentium is still only a 32-bit computer.

(Shortly after these test results were announced, Microsoft bought Connectix, and released Virtual PC 7. It was almost the same, but the speed advantage mysteriously disappeared.)

First, who said the system was supposed to compatible? The idea is to be effective. What kind of data can you create on a Wintel machine that you can't create on a Mac? PDF? JPG? TIFF? HTML? TXT? FLASH? XML? PowerPoint? Excel? MOV? PNG? AAC? MP3? MPEG-2? MPEG-4? H.264? DV? What?

I probably shouldn't mention that I'm working on a computer program for magicians (to be released soon), which is being written on a Mac, but runs flawlessly on a PC, as well (yes, the PC version is a standard .EXE file). I think you would be surprised at how many programs PC users use that were written on a Mac.



Have you told the Apple Stores this? When they do get repairs, they perform them quickly and effectively. Have you told them that what they do is impossible?



Since most of these arguments were debunked long before Mac OS X was released, I guess we probably shouldn't tell him about the Mac Mini.

Oh, but forget trying to repair it! It's impossible! You need special exotic tools, like a putty knife and screwdriver. Who the heck has those kinds of things?



At least you've found one good thing!

I believe all computers, the one I am currently in the process of typing upon not unincluded, to be evil. My computer just bit me.

If the PC (Windows) is superior, why does Windows try to make the PC function like a Mac?

My experience with Macs is this: (as I write on a mac ibook):

They're expensive (despite the hype of the mini mac, which I fear will be pretty junky. See the next sentence.)

The hardware quality control has gotten notoriously bad on Macs in the last few years--as bad as some PCs.

Given that, I use a Mac because:

The software and operating system on a Mac crash far less frequently than on a PC.

Apple Customer support is generally a lot more responsive than Dell, etc.

As noted above, virus problems are many times fewer on a Mac than a PC.

Security in general on Mac OS X is a lot better than on WIndows--less vulnerable to hacking.

The design of most of the software and hardware seems to me to be more elegant and easier to use.


But as has been noted in several other places, we're not really talking computers here, we're talking religion


Jack Shalom

I love Macs. My first home computer was one of those monochrome Apple IIs. Macs do graphics better. Macs almost never crash...

I own a PC. My current home computer is a PC. PCs are cheaper. Software compatibility is never a problem...

A Mac is like a sports car. A PC is like a mini-van.

My wife won't let me buy a sports car either...(sigh).

I think with Windows XP and a fast processor it can compete with a MAC

Magic Blinds, I guess if you limited the Mac to having to be one of the 32-bit ones, just to make it fair to the Pentium, or waited for Intel to complete work on its 64-bit chip to compete with the current top of the line 64-bit Macs, we could have a fair contest to determine whether or not that was true.

If you really want a hint about the comparable speed of the two operation systems, check out Top 500, which lists the top 500 fastest supercomputers in the world, and is usually updated 2-3 times a year. On the current list (November 2004), the first appearance of a Windows-based supercomputer is at 194 (originally introduced at 68). Where is the first appearance of an OS X-based system? At number 7 (Originally introduced at 3, Click here for more details)!