Re: Apple's ways

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <9khppv$e1g$1@nserve1.acs.ucalgary.ca>,
Byron Desnoyers Winmill <wbdesnoy@acs5.acs.ucalgary.ca> wrote:
 
> Supertimer (supertimer@aol.com) wrote:
> : The only competition they can see...they are ALLOWED to see...is Mac versus
> : the MYTH of Wintel.
> 
> Like it or not, a Wintel computer feels like a Wintel whether you are
> using an AMD, IBM, or Intel processor.  A Wintel computer also feels
> like a Wintel computer whether you are running DOS, Geoworks, Linux,
 
FYI: a "Wintel" computer running Linux or some other variety of Unix
is by definition not a "Wintel" computer since it's not running Windows....
 
> OS/2, or Windows.
 
Will the Wintel computer feel the same even if it runs MAC-OS?  Apparently
you think so -- thus you must be referring to the hardware: keyboard, CRT
etc.....  well they CAN be replaced if you don't like them....
 
> No, this is not an over generalization.  You are always futzing around
> with the same issues (particularly if you are looking for legacy support),
 
Well, we HAVE a legacy to support if we want!  Of course we too can
go the Macintosh way: throw away everything old and buy all new
stuff.  Doing so will of course remove legacy problems - but it will
also require a thicker wallet.
 
> and the same mentality.  The competition seems to drive the market towards
> the same low quality solutions.
> 
> As for the high price of Apple computers, it is a myth too.  If you want a PC
> which is as reliable as an Apple (at least the Apples of times past) you have
> to dump a lot of money into high quality hardware.
 
Nah - you just have to be somewhat picky of what hardware you select and not
just buy the very cheapest hardware you can get at.
 
> Even then, you are going to have to wade through a lot of marketing hype,
 
Yep -- but that's independent on what computer you're choosing....
 
> because the computer industry seems to equate quality with performance.
> Indeed, my reason for dumping my 486 (about four years back) for an Apple
> IIe was the cost of replacing a failing string of components.
 
My 486 still runs well and I've never had to replace anything (except
the CMOS battery, once).  If I would dump that and replace it with an
Apple IIe, my CPU intensive programs would run a few hundred times
slower (one particular program I run regularly would take one hour
instead of 10 seconds to run).  And I would have my 24 MB of RAM replaced
with a meager 64 KBytes .... sounds like a serious downgrading to me!
But of course it might be acceptable if you're e.g. only playing games
on that computer anyway.....
 
> The situation is not uncommon.  I often service (Wintel) machine for other
> people.  Hard drives will fail simply because an I/O board pops out of the
> slot, due to a poorly designed case.
 
That's NEVER happened to me during the 15 years I've had such computers.
Are these people throwing their computers around, or what?
 
> You also have to be more careful when servicing the machines, because
> unsocketed connectors and unkeyed cables make it an simple matter to
> incorrectly connect and mangle hardware.
 
Yes, you'll have to reconnect things the way they originally were
connected -- but that's the case for ALL hardware!  If you find the
cables/etc insufficiently marked, you can add your own marks with
e.g. electric tape.
 
> Boards are often poorly labeled and have to be removed to locate
> pin 1.  In comparison, digging inside the Macintosh is a pleasure.
 
Have fun!
 
BTW the Mac too is now moving towards IDE harddrives.  Why?  Weren't
the SCSI drives superior?  <evil grin>
 
-- 
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