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Believe it or not, MDN, not everyone is looking for a mac.

Hell, I'd even say that a mac isn't the right computer for everyone.

Do you foam at the mouth when you write your retorts?

Tell me, Art . . . why, specifically, isn't a Mac the right computer for everyone? It is already the best PC on the market (bar none, running your blessed Vista/XP/98 faster and more reliably than another other machine. AND it comes with some of the very best user-productivity software on the market in the form of iLife, already installed . . . running on OS X, without question the most advanced, reliable, secure operating system available today.

So, once again, oh wise one, why isn't a Mac the right computer for everyone? (And please don't tell me it's the $$ issue, OK. You always get what you pay for. Period. So . . . .?)

May 27, 08 - 06:46 pm Comment from: Ampar

To art_vandelay:

Kudos on missing the point entirely.

art_vandelay,
You are write... but for you to expect MDN taking your side or Lori Jantulovich's it is just as foolish.

Thank you, come again.

May 27, 08 - 06:46 pm Comment from: Toasty

If they are foaming at the mouth, someone needs to take care of them Old Yeller style.

MacDaddy . . . Vandelay is not "write" (or "right" either). And we'd all appreciate it if he would never "come" again, methinks.

May 27, 08 - 06:48 pm Comment from: oh no my shorts

@Randian

98? Someone went to the trouble of installing 98 on a Mac?

I wonder if you could run Win Me... oh, the horror!

May 27, 08 - 06:50 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Maybe USA Today should recommend Dells since they're so trustworthy. Oh, wait...

May 27, 08 - 06:50 pm Comment from: Harvey

Anyone who thinks that USA Today is a real newspaper probably deserves a PC.

My bad on the first and true on the second...
Cheers!

May 27, 08 - 06:51 pm Comment from: Ampar

"You are write"

That's just wrung.

@art_
The news article did not say whether the consumer is or is not looking for a Mac. The supposed consumer is clueless. The first question the writer or a sales associate should help the clueless person is to find out what does she want to do with her new computer. If you're equally clueless about a class of cars, do you simply decide first what brand - Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, etc. - to buy before you compare available models?

May 27, 08 - 06:54 pm Comment from: Ampar

To HMCIV: Your link had an interstitial ad for Dell. Oh, the irony.

May 27, 08 - 07:01 pm Comment from: CYxodus

art_vandelay...

"Believe it or not, MDN, not everyone is looking for a mac.

Hell, I'd even say that a mac isn't the right computer for everyone."

Yeah, I agree with that. I sat beside one of those people in my Maya class last year. He didn't want a Mac but was quite happy with doing things the hard way. He even told me that. I have found that the people who really love a PC are those who like doing things the hard way.

So you're right, a computer that is easy to use and just works isn't for everyone. By the way, those people need help.

May 27, 08 - 07:12 pm Comment from: Ampar

"By the way, those people need help."

But only if they're willing to tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon on dental floss. Blindfolded.

Screw it if people aren't going to do research between a Mac and a P.C, and end up getting a P.C screw them More Mac for Me. Do some research people Question what you buy geez.

May 27, 08 - 07:21 pm Comment from: sinclap

Randlan...iLife is not big deal today. Picasa and flikr does the same for free.

Also, the lion share of the retail laptop sales are the 15.4 screen size models that are sold under $1000, which aapl does not have such a model.

These PC laptops use similar components as the Macbook models.

May 27, 08 - 07:22 pm Comment from: Macromancer

"Believe it or not, MDN, not everyone is looking for a mac."

Obviously, because apparently not everyone is a graphic artist or enjoys unique software or design.

May 27, 08 - 07:22 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Great article and I forwarded it to all of my friends. Too much mention is made of namby pamby toy MACs if you ask me. Who cares what graphic artists like? The IT guys where I work rightfully threw out the graphics department's MAC IIfx's years ago. The graphic designers soon quit but now we have Midge and Barb who are tickled to death to be using Dells running Microsoft Publisher. They used to paste up the local church bulletin by hand—now they get to use the latest technology and best software around—thanks to Microsoft and Dell.

Anyway, buying a PC isn't really that hard. Just don't get a MAC. They don't play games.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Lori Jantulovich stands in the middle of Best Buy's computer section, flagging down a sales clerk.

Computer shopping at Best Buy is her first big mistake.

Seriously thinking she'll find a free sales clerk, much less a helpful one, is her second.

Buying a Windows machine is trickier because there are more options

Starting with several blurred "editions" of the same OS....

I don't fault USA Today for not chiming for Macs harder; anyone who consciously shops Best Buy is already beyond hope.

What USA Today DID get wrong was not mentioning the Apple Stores. Why subject yourself to the big-box hell?

slow news day. literally and figuratively...

May 27, 08 - 07:34 pm Comment from: Ampar

Midge and Barb

http://www.msdanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/barb.jpg

Well obviously we can criticize this article easily.

I think the best thing is to send her a few carefully written sentences, as politely as possible.

And lets not bag on Best Buy just yet... they are going to help bring Apple and Mac's to more folks in more places. Believe it or not, there are a lot of Best Buy stores out there in places where there are no Apple stores.

May 27, 08 - 07:38 pm Comment from: HotinPlaya

@sinclap

so you can make movies and web sites with Picasa now?

May 27, 08 - 07:42 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

@ Ampar,

That's them! You should see the company cookbook they did in Publisher. Barb's Ambrosia Salad is out of this world.

Your potential. Our passion.™

May 27, 08 - 07:43 pm Comment from: Demon

Most tech punters are Win-Tards. They come from Windows IT backgrounds and are bought and paid for by Microsoft and the PC establishment. This of course means that they are among the most close minded and bigoted group of punters on the planet. I'd put money on the fact that the writer got so free PC hardware and/or cash from the IT PC industry in exchange for writing the hack piece.

May 27, 08 - 07:55 pm Comment from: Jubei

@Demon

That article read more like and ad or promo for Wndows Vista. The reference to Apple computers for just students, graphics is the most idiotic post I have seen from a writer. Did this person just crawl out of a rock. Still living in the 80's early 90's? Never heard of iLife suite that blows away the competition? Too bad most non computer literate readers will read this crap and believe it.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of Best Buy stores out there in places where there are no Apple stores.

If a local market can support a Best Buy, it can support an Apple Store.

So what about it, Apple? You had your chance when all those CompUSA storefronts were available. How many times do you gotta learn the big-box lesson?

There are still users who like to tweak the living daylights out of their computers and a Mac just isn't suitable for that. All the fastest graphics cards and drivers are designed for Wintel machines and not Macs.

There are people that are interested in getting the least expensive computers that are sufficient enough for their work or play. A Mac is not the computer for them. Macs don't have built in fingerprint readers and SDHC storage slots. Good or bad, some people would like to have those options.

Let them enjoy that choice. Nobody should be forced into choosing a Mac.

May 27, 08 - 08:09 pm Comment from: sinclap

HotinPlaya..

Have not used iMovie in years. I doubt that many many of the mac converts have used as well.

aapl's hardware choices suck!

"So, once again, oh wise one, why isn't a Mac the right computer for everyone?"

How about the fact that even after moving to the Intel platform, they still don't build any midrange towers with real expandability? How about the fact that the vertical business plan of Apple leaves no room for enthusiasts--a significant and influential portion of the marketplace that they routinely ignore?

Only in the world of Apple and in the eyes of Macolytes is less choice seen as a benefit to the consumer. For all the railing against M$'s monopoly, you're all mighty quick to shackle yourself to Apple's corporate controls once you've had enough of the Cupertino Kool-Aid.

Meet the new boss...same as the old boss, except in a turtleneck and with my arrogance.

Clueless people should stick to licking stamps. Email is way too complicated.

Click on stamp (mail)
Choose recipient
type message
click send

May 27, 08 - 08:20 pm Comment from: sinclap

Constable Odo, amen..

Just got a Dell Inspiron Q6600 quadcore with Xp Pro, 3 GB, 500 GB and 8600 GPU with two year warranty for $820.00. Had spare flat displays. Nothing cheap component wise and the build quality is high. I thought of the intel iMac. But the cost was prohibitive when you added additional memory, VM ware and XP home. Using the $1200 iMac model(a bargain compared to the Dell One) and adding the PC needs would of brought the price to around $1600.

I have a iMac G5 that has nothing been but a lemon. I do praise aapl at the stores for replacing the mother board the third time six months after aapl care has expired. Seems that the 1.8 GHZ model has been problem plague and aapl has quietly re- fixed after warranty. Saw no reason to upgrade to a newer model since the current one works fine for now. I do have PC needs though.

May 27, 08 - 08:21 pm Comment from: Ampar

Constable Odo: However, that still misses the point about this badly written article and the overwhelming bias towards PCs.

"The first thing PC buyers must decide is whether they want an Apple or a Microsoft Windows-based computer. Apple is still in the minority — it had about 7% of the U.S. PC market in the first quarter, says Gartner — but the brand is popular with graphic artists, students and others who enjoy its unique software and design."

That's about all they say about the Mac. Notice any inaccuracies or half-truths?
Did you RTFA?

May 27, 08 - 08:23 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Have not used iMovie in years. I doubt that many many of the mac converts have used as well."

That certainly was convincing.

May 27, 08 - 08:26 pm Comment from: sinclap

not fooled...

Best Buy has nearly 1000 locations. The aapl presence are now in over 600 locations. aapl and Best Buy are happy with the results sales wise.

In the last week before xmas 07, aapl cpu sales hit 10,000 units at 270 locations for the week.

May 27, 08 - 08:27 pm Comment from: Ampar

"How about the fact that the vertical business plan of Apple leaves no room for enthusiasts--a significant and influential portion of the marketplace that they routinely ignore?"

THAT is the funniest thing I've read today. Nice job.
ZT, you have real competition.

Believe me, I am not a troll but will probably get flamed for writing this. I have owned and used Macs exclusively at home since 1987. They are wonderful machines and there is some truly great software available. Some software for the Mac is far superior to the Windoze equivilients (OSX vs Vista, iLife, etc). But the market reality is many developers simply don't create Mac versions. Often, if they bother to make a Mac version, it is a crippled shadows of the Windows version. For example: Quicken.

What if the only program available for the Mac for graphic artists was a 1984 edition of MacPaint while Windoze had the selection that is available now? Would you insist that drawings had to be done in MacPaint?

Fortunately, graphic artists have a choice. Unfortunately, many of us work in "vertical" markets where suitable software has not been written to run under Mac OSX. I am an Electrical Engineer designing embedded electronic control systems. Just try finding a microcontroller vendor whose in-circuit emulator and IDE runs on Mac OSX. The available schematic capture, circuit board layout, simulation tools that run under OSX are primitive compared to the tools available under Windows. It is like comparing MacPaint to Illustrator or Photoshop.

When you spend over 90% of your computer time using software that is written for Windows only, it doesn't make sense to maintain two OS's to run Windows in a Virtual Machine on a Mac.

If you really want to promote the Mac, get developers to write for the Mac instead of ridiculing people for suggesting there are some practical reasons for not using a Mac. Make life better for those of us stuck using Windows rather than sounding like a cult.

Uh-oh, I used the "C" word. Now I am sure to get flamed.

May 27, 08 - 08:33 pm Comment from: sinclap

Another IT Guy..

I totally agree. look at Dells site. They have all market needs covered.

The Vostro line for business needs. The Inspiron line for home users and the XP line which includes the Dell One(AIO) and the gaming rigs for the premium end.

Lets face it, aapl's focus is on the iPhone/iTouch. The firm is just milking the Mac division with sorry updates.

An Engineer,

I am also an engineer. I can see the overwhelming value of getting a universal personal computer (Mac) that runs Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows concurrently with little or no speed hit (Parallels Desktop for Mac / VMWare Fusion vs. Boot Camp). Why can't you see it?

It's quite clear that buying anything but an Apple Mac is a stupid move and a clueless waste of money.

@An Engineer

You sound way too intelligent and logical to be posting on this site.

@not fooled
Let's see, Apple Stores make more money per square foot than any other retailer. Analysts agree that Apple/Jobs understood something about retail that most others miss(ed). Meanwhile, except for Best Buy, the "Big Box" electronics retailers are either closing or hanging on by a thread.

So what is this "Big Box lesson that Apple needs to learn? Are you thinking Apple needs to learn this lesson because they are not doing so well?

Are there any lesson that you feel you might need to learn?

May 27, 08 - 08:48 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

@art,

Maybe if some of these lemmings that wanted to buy a PC and need shit like XP or Vista knew you could run those crap operating systems on a Mac, maybe THAT would make their decision EASIER? Or would they remain clueless like the author?

You are correct. Not everyone needs a Mac. Like those that continue to think a Mac is for "graphic artists, students and others" ONLY (who are the fscking OTHERS???)

May 27, 08 - 08:53 pm Comment from: Ampar

"who are the fscking OTHERS???"


Well, based on the substance of the article, it's pretty obvious.

well, i'm gonna post this and run before someone throws flaming crap at me, but here's my two cents, coming straight from an ibook g4...

macs aren't for everyone, but they're damn close. they aren't for gamers. go ahead and say "oh if you want to play games buy a wii!" (i know you'd never say an xbox 360) but the truth is, there's a market for pc gaming (otherwise, why would nvidia, ati, id software, epic games, microsoft, blizzard, etc etc even bother?) and the mac isn't quite what gamers are looking for.

i actually had this conversation with a friend earlier. i concluded that if you're not a pc gamer, there's no good reason to not get a mac. hell, even if you're what they call a "casual" gamer, the entry level imac would still be a sweet machine. but for those who really get into that kind of thing (as do i), building your own computer is the way to go for gaming... and spare me the ignorant rhetoric about how that makes it unreliable. apple doesn't MAKE "the whole widget", they DESIGN it. it's still an nvidia gpu, running in tandem with an intel board/cpu, with broadcom/atheros wifi, built by asus (for the laptops, last i knew), etc etc.

honestly, i think some mac users ARE lemmings, because instead of investigating things for themselves, they just rely on the mantra that macs are always better every time on exceptions lalala CANT HEAR YOU. i love my ibook and i love every of the nearly 100 macs i've ever owned (became a collector for awhile - loved them all, except the powermac 6200, bleh), but i came to the "sad realization" recently that macs aren't the best for gaming - and yeah kids, i KNOW macs can run windows, but most of the options for graphics cards aren't the best unless you spend a premium, and, mac pro notwithstanding, you can't upgrade the graphics. i built my gaming machine for under $500 and it is equally capable as a mac pro for gaming - not to mention i threw a blu-ray drive in there and watch BD movies with it.

i know i'm going to fall upon deaf ears but that's fine. having experienced all sides of this stupid argument, and having been a shill for both platforms at one point or another, i come away realizing that i love macs, and i tolerate windows because that's where the games and customizable hardware are. the whole point is, macs are NOT for everyone, but i really wish they were!

if apple ever makes a mac that's expandable like the pro but targets the home market, then that's the nail in the coffin for the windows PC as far as i'm concerned. then, macs WILL be for everyone.

besides, building/upgrading computers (some older macs are amazingly upgradable!) is a neat hobby. sure beats making people feel like shit for choosing the wrong box of silicon.

@ Zung Tang

Hey ZT, if Midge and Barb ask where their red stapler went.. i took it...

"Yeah ummm, Midge, I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday. And we need to talk about moving your desk down to the basement warehouse"

May 27, 08 - 09:01 pm Comment from: Tired of Retards

matt,

Nice novel. Too bad it's meaningless; we're talking laptops here, not game boxes.

By the way, Macs can boot directly into Windoze via Mac OS X Leopard's Boot Camp to play your games until you grow up, graduate, and get a job.

May 27, 08 - 09:08 pm Comment from: Connor MacBook

art, the fact people aren't "looking" for a Mac is the whole problem. The masses don't even know they have a choice, or if they do, they don't realize how viable - even superior - it is.

May 27, 08 - 09:08 pm Comment from: Micro Me

@ An Engineer. If you're buying a computer to run highly specialised software that's available only for Windoze, then by all means, get a PC.

But that's not what this woman was doing. She was buying a laptop "for her nephew", and presumably wouldn't have been doing so if he had some special software requirements.

To completely ignore Macs for daily computer use is foolish, and it's that decision that MDN is complaining about, loudly.

And it's also your decision to introduce the "c" word as flame bait.

May 27, 08 - 09:10 pm Comment from: Hentercenter

ive gotta say, ive also talked to gamers and a lot of other windoze enthusiasts, and An Engineer and matt have made the most sense out of anyone here. (well except Ampar of course!)

people who want to game, go ahead and build your machines for cheaper, but i hope that you guys realize that you wont be able to do much else on there except game. tnad thats where youll need your Mac. and people like matt will have that Mac do do their other stuff on.

Tired of Retards:
it doesnt matter what OS you can boot into if the hardware (nonupgradable for most Macs as you should know) isn't up to par with what the game needs. and we're talking about computers not just laptops. thanks for your insight but we could do without it.

May 27, 08 - 09:13 pm Comment from: Jubei

@Micro Me

Exactly I was about to point that out. Another point as many have noted. The Mac can run freaking POS Windows natively if you want. Or both at the same time, throw in Linux while your at it. The value is in the Mac. One computer to run just about an OS you want. MDN is right. That USA writer is an idiot. Now ABC is running the same idiotic story.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GadgetGuide/story?id=4934793&page=1