Re: PC or Mac?

["Byron Q. Desnoyers Winmill" <byron@b60z27hbb464i.ab.hsia.telus.net>]

In article <a3cb67$r8k$1@merope.saaf.se>, Paul Schlyter wrote:
>> By this logic, Sony is a monopoly because only Sony makes the Viao.
> Will they run Mac software?  <g>

Will Macs only run Mac software?  I usually don't think of kegs or
xephem as Mac applications.  BTW, my friend's Viao will run kegs and
xephem too.

> What are my options?  Note that I still want to run my Mac software.

Depends upon what this Mac software is.  If it is older, you can use
a second hand machine.

> Not all computers are alike -- they're not like e.g. CD or DVD players
> which share one common standard.

Those are options which can be added to, or removed from, any computer.
But I haven't the slightest idea of what you mean by CD or DVD players
sharing one common standard.

> Trying to oput together parts from different generations of hardware
> within the same case may indeed be somewhat difficult.

So this problem with the Mac exists for the PC.  The only difference is
one of degree.  There is not a huge difference there either.

> :-) ....computer retailers are naturally uninterested in longevity
> of computers, because they want to sell

To a point perhaps.  When consumers get sick of upgrading their
computers this performance at all costs is going to hit certain
retailers hard.  And it will happen.  Consumers are going to get bored
of computers at some point, and go on to the next great thing.

> True, however you do have more than one alternative.

For certain parts, sure.  As for most peripherals, there are plenty of
options in the Mac world.  Heck, if you want to upgrade your machine
without buying a new machine, many users have the option of accelerator
cards.  This option does not seem to be all that common in the PC
world, which may be why it is so often neglected.

> Probably true - the major advantage of building your own is that you
> can customize it, and also that you get so familiar with it that you're
> better prepared to repair it if there should be some trouble - that
> too can save you some costs in the long run.

And I can become familiar with how my Mac is built.  I am quite familiar
with what is installed inside my Quadra 950.  Most of the parts do not
even come from Apple.

> It is different whether you buy one brand because you've had previous
> good experience with it, or whether you buy it because it's the only
> available brand.

Lots of users have good experiences with Apple.

If somebody gets tired of Apple, they can go elsewhere.  They may not
get a Mac but that is their choice.  It is not as though they have to
leave computers behind altogether.

>> (Why are 3D video cards required for people who are interested in
>> web browsing, word processing, and email?)
> 
> Who told you so?  I sometimes browse the web, write email and do
> word processing even in text mode, i.e. no graphics at all!

Sure.  I know that.  You know that.  But why is it so difficult to find
machines without 3D video?  I would gladly pay less for a computer without
features which I will never use.

> There once was:  back in the early 1980'es [...] Yep, you had more
> choices back then, but first these systems cost an arm and a leg,
> and second they didn't communicate well with one another.

So it is acceptable to have a handful of companies dictating how we
use our computers because it is cheaper and easier to exchange data?

> In turn, Apple has borrowed some other ideas because they were
> good:  expansion slots (missing in early Mac's), IDE harddisks
> (cheaper), and the PC diskette format (good because then you can
> transfer diskettes between machines).

Expansion slots were in the Apple II.  The Macintosh Plus offered
external expansion capabilities.  And SCSI has some advantages over
IDE (namely the number and variety of devices which can be attached
to a single bus).  Apple never really switched over to PC format
floppies.  All floppies are formatted with the Macintosh filesystem
by default, but we can read PC floppies.  (Not that I would ever use
them.  I usually send the output from tar to the raw device, then
read that tarball with SunTar.)

> Was the GUI ever patented?

Who knows?  From what I hear the mouse, colour graphics, and alpha
channels are patented so it would not surprise me if the GUI was as
well.  Maybe the courts even overturned the latter.  The patent on the
computer was overturned after all.

Byron.