Re: Computers

["Paul Camp" <pjcamp@coastal.edu>]

> On weekends I work with a bunch of PC experts.  Weekends are filled with
> tales of problems overcome.  This last month one of them erased the EPROM
> in his modem.  Solution: buy a new one.  One of them accidently set the
> monitor to all black while adjusting its resolution, but was able to
> recover by blindly moving the mouse to where he remembered the control was.
> Another inadvertantly erased the BIOS whatever the heck those are.  People
> come to these guys for help because they are the experts.   And I can't
> tell you how many friends have PCs but are unable to use (pick one) the
> CD-ROM, the modem, the printer, the internet, etc.

This is a curious definition of "expert." 8-)

> I sometimes feel left out with a Mac.  There is no challege to using any of
> these things.  No tales of harrowing trouble-shooting to share.  Plug and
> play.
I spent two weeks in a Mac lab last summer at Dickinson College where 
they do a great deal of video analysis along with MBL stuff -- 
supposedly the Mac's strengths. They were forever rebooting the 
machines because something trod on something else's memory space or 
because some mysterious glitch caused the whole shebang to head 
south. I think it is amusing to hear Mac acolytes sing the praises of 
their machines while they reboot system 7.5.whatever.

Computers are tools and, as with most tools, it is good to have more 
than one in your toolbox. Macs are better for some things, PCs are 
better for others. Most of the latest software appears on PCs these 
days and later is ported to the Mac, if at all. That in itself is 
reason to take a long look at the PC tool. There are, however, still 
some areas in which the Mac has a slight edge. You have to decide 
what your task is and then pick the tool that fits. In this religion, 
I am an agnostic.

On the other hand, from a business perspective Apple has serious 
problems and it is not yet clear that they will be able to dig their 
way out. The last significant technology to come out of Apple 
research was Quicktime, five years ago. They spent four years working 
on the next generation operating system only to fail and hastily 
purchase another failed OS as a replacement. They have until recently 
had serious quality control problems. In this regard, profits *are* an 
issue since a company in trouble technically and financially probably 
has an unsustainable business model. Macs are useful. Macs are cute. 
But I wonder if they are cute like CDs or cute like 8-tracks. 

Technically, both systems are about on a par. They are about equally 
stable (or if you run NT then Windows has the edge but that's 
expensive). They are about equally easy to use. The Mac is somewhat 
better at plug&play but Windows has better memory management. In the 
end, choosing between them is largely a matter of (a) taste, (b) 
price, or (c) tool availability. I firmly believe that in any 
computer acquisition, the *proper* considerations should be: what job 
do I want to do? Then, what software will do that job best? Then (and 
only then) what hardware will run my software? Religious 
controversies should play no role.

 
Paul J. Camp                   "The Beauty of the Universe
Assistant Professor of Physics  consists not only of unity
Coastal Carolina University     in variety but also of 
Conway, SC   29528              variety in unity.
pjcamp@coastal.edu                    --Umberto Eco
pjcamp@postoffice.worldnet.att.net    The Name of the Rose
(803)349-2227                         
fax: (803)349-2926