the end all? mac vs pc

I found this while doing homework for another class, and well I just thought it was well done.  Perhaps you NewMedia kids will enjoy

Mac vs Windows?

My day to day job is multimedia design. If you see something that moves around or is interactive in any way, shape or form online, that's the sort of thing I do. In the late 90's I got a grant from The Princes' Trust and started printing skatewear t-shirts and moved on from there. When I started out I needed a computer so I bought a Mac. I chose a Mac primarily because I had a friend that knew about them and could help me fix it if it went wrong. I've been using them ever since and am now the bloke my friends with Macs call when theirs goes wrong. Contrary to what Apple would like you to believe, just like Windows machines, Macs throw a wobbler on occasion too.

Currently on my desk at work I have a Windows XP box and an iMac. I don't really use the Windows machine. It's not because I have any objection to the fact it's Windows, I just know how to get around the Mac better. Other folk I work with that also have the same set-up work the other way round, with the Mac hardly getting touched. Again, it's just about what they are familiar with and prefer. I find the whole frothing at the mouth evangelism some Mac users have a bit sad. I like using my Mac but I don't see why somebody who is perfectly happy with their Windows machine should be ranted at for their preference. I think the PC fanatic who rants with equal candour against the Mac is also misguided, and often misinformed. Both operating systems do similar things equally well, but there are some things a Mac does better, and some things Windows machines do better. Bizzarely, I find Microsoft Office is better on the Mac and one of my creative mainstays, Adobe Flash, is better on a PC. On a Mac it runs slower and is more processor hungry. Annoying but true.

But here is the thing. I'm glad Microsoft has the market dominance. I can't help but feel that if Apple had the same domination that Microsoft has they would be a lot more ruthless - to the detriment of the consumer. When Apple had market dominance way back in the late 80s and early 90s, the computers were astoundingly expensive. Bill Gates wanted to licence the Mac OS but was told where to go, so he made Windows. Apple responded to the new threat with arrogance and didn't work on giving people a better deal with Windows machines running at thousands of pounds cheaper than the Macs of the time. By the time Apple realised what they had done Microsoft had stormed ahead to where it's the system the majority of you are using now. Similarly, Quark was once the dominant force in publishing software, but has now been supplanted by Adobe InDesign because Quark didn't listen to it's consumers or understand the threat from the competition. Apple lost out for the same reason.

As far as figureheads go, I think Steve Jobs is an influential and charismatic leader as well as a great company figurehead, but I think Bill Gates comes across as a nicer - if geekier - bloke. I know he's been replaced by Steve Balmer as the head of the company, but I think most people still see him as the lead guy. I think the charitable trust he and his wife set up is great and his general ethos on the staggering wealth he has is a good one. I tend to imagine Steve Jobs may well sleep in a coffin, albeit a very nicely designed one.

Comment by all means but please don't prove the point of the article. Save the Mac and PC flaming for Engadget. Don't forget, even if you hate the other operating system to the one you use, the fact it exists means there is competition that will push forward the development on your favoured system. Consumers benefit and lower blood pressure all round.

Yes, I know Unix and Linux are players in the market too, but it's going to be an online OS we are all going to end up using in the future anyway. The Google ramraiding will continue.

Don't get me wrong, I love using my Mac and don't want to change operating systems. I just think some of the Apple users out there need to have a little more perspective about their beloved Apple, and to just chill out a bit. We should be more relaxed, we are running the better system after all. But then, I would say that, wouldn't I?

POSTED BY DAVID HUTCHINSON ON APRIL 17, 2008 AT 12:19 PM | PERMALINK

Bliss

I'm without my bliss .... (at the moment?)

to be honest

its a personal thing

but to be honest again, i was really hoping this assignment would happen around finals because that was the time i was hoping for


*this is what you probably expected to hear*
i guess i was hoping that i could just step out of class and go snowboarding or water skiing ... either way its been too long since Ive done anything that gives you a rush and calming affect all at the same time, and i guess that might be interesting to read about

but to say that those things are my bliss... i just dont know, when i was younger i would have said yes in a heartbeat, but as i've grown, i know in the end its the people i care for




but to be really really honest, my bliss truly lies in someone else

and well, the fall/winter season holds a lot of importance to me bc of this person, so when i truly thought about bliss i have to say that what i want most is out of my reach until later, my bliss has to wait...

rather, i have to wait for her

interesting?

thought maybe some of you might like this

maybe not?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101000728.html?wpisrc=newsletter

what the bleep?

lifetime presents quantum theory with a side of WTF moments

ok seriously, this movie has great ambitions but there seemed to me that there was about 10 mins worth of theory and the rest seemed like an oprah presents deaf woman with some personal issues

not that its a bad way to express the ideas, but it seemed to really take some twisted turns with the approach... the wedding scene especially

i guess i was expecting something else...

however, the ideas around quantum theory are interesting


i forget who said this, and i have to paraphrase

"but science points to god and god points to science"

i liked the take on religion and spirituality, and even if i dont agree or agree, i thought it was refreshing to have such an open concept that preaches tolerance and love (which is what god IS? right? across most of the religions of the world is he not? funny that more lives have been taken in the word of peace and love, but anyways i degress)

so maybe its not refreshing, but saying the same old thing in a new way

retro is hip again?

anyways, scraping the void that is the future, looking out into the frontier is always exciting and usuallypresents hope

but i wonder, knowledge and well i guess everything always has its relation to a harmony that exists within pros and cons, good and evil , etc etc

so yea

i suppose when we get into this, we could talk forever, but what really interests me is where do we want to take it, where will we go?

i guess its not the road, but the journey that matters

sort of

anyways

before we get to a point where we can do things, should we not brace ourselves for the decisions we will have to face


we are at point when our decisions, our actions can impact the world instantaneously

i guess, if anything, we must be ready


wow i sound totally *the end is nigh* right now, but ill quote spider man to regain my youth

with great power, comes great responsibility

but damn, how amazing this power could be


~j

WATCH THIS!!!

since im no techno wiz.... yet

im posting this link

my sister found this, and that in itself raises questions

BUT

its funny, its newmedia to a T, and we all might learn something


check it:

http://shaveeverywhere.com/

"for cereal" ~ al gore

does anyone else ever get a right bit pissed when they come across someone thats toooo much like themselves

i've had this happen lately and it reminds me of the seinfeld episode where jerry is trying to get this other comedian from riding on his coat tails, errr his success

anyways, im not sure what causes this phenomnenon... it seems so counter intuitive at times

shouldn't we want to find people that are similiar? or do we not like them bc they are stealing our thunder, raining on our parade, or making us look more dull and common?


also, id like to raise a "glass" *wink* to the guy that really wants to be like me in new jersey who is racking up some major credit debt on my card

i think it would be a fun assignment to go to atlantic city and pretend we are some enforcers for ...

ok i cant be creative but lets go gamble, and maybe break some thumbs :p




apologies for yelling


~j

is there more,? MUCH MORE! slc punk for ya

so yea i forgot about the 6th sense thing

i suppose we could go on and on, but does deja vu count? every so often i get a major helping of it and it does freak me out

for me it happens in a certain type of way most often

step one

have a really vivid dream, but it doesnt seem to make sense

step two

time goes by

step three

holy F*** batman, its deja vu


id love to get into this more, but i have a feeling we are going to talk about it at some point in the future

haha

or

????

im not mad, just dissapointed

dont you F**.. (ill be good) hate that phrase, anyways it has nothing to do with this blog, but its on my mind so thought id share


anyways, i first want to apologize to beth bc i know you are the only one who really sits down and reads this blogs on a normal basis, and im behind. lo siento senorita

i actually started to right down a blog the other night, and i was trying to do it in a free association method... not so much by writting and not looking down, but more like writing and not stopping to edit, mainly focusing on my ideas as they flowed and trying to get my fingers to keep up

nevertheless, it was a mess, and when i went back to re-read the thing, i felt like it would only make sense to me, so maybe when i get some time ill work on posting the original and the "edited" version

but this made me think of senses, and i guess i have a very different view of what a sense can be

overall, i think that we do have our primary senses, but whats more is that they are intrinsically intangible ( i hope i worded that right) but yea, they are linked in variations to form something more, i guess what we could call the human experience


the funny thing, when we discussed senses, and our favorites, and we explored them,

i was a little surprised that no one mentioned things like adrenaline rushes, or blushing or that kinda SENSE

my favorite sense, is my heartbeat

strange isn't it?

there's something to it thought that i cant quite place, i love it when it races and when i get exited, its something that flows throughout my body and its so immersive

i guess its a thrill, but i love the way it feels even if its a slow build up, or fast and insanely intense

i guess i like adrenaline rushes, but really its more just the way my heart feels, and its strange but i love it when its physical or emotional

i also happen to be one of those people who think to much, and its really strange sometimes to think how worked up i can get on my own, like pumped up for something or well almost clinically depressed, but thru all of that, i feel it with my heart, or at least what i can SENSE as my heart

i dont want to sound emo, so im going to refrain from love, but there definitely is something otherworldly about it


moving on, i tried doing the assignment in regards to seeking out our senses, and it was really hard for me, i think im just wired differently than other people

i had a really hard time limiting myself to experiences in only one fashion

however, ill try to list somethings now that i am thinking back


vision: i went to go see "how to lose friends and alienate people" on saturday night, and aside from the movie being everything that is awesome bc simon pegg is a badass mofo, i had a unique experience, i was the only one in the theatre

i took a pic on my cell phone, but im not hip and my phone is li-z-ame

it was surreal to have a private showing, but then late into the beginning some people walked in, but still, going to the movies by yourself and having the place to yourself is well ... try it


taste/smell: i normally dont smoke, and i dont condone it, however, i do feel that there is something to it, something calming and re-assuring, and i guess there is a positive to it in some regards, especially if you are orally fixated like i am

moving on, (sorry for rants, and run ons, its just the way i think and write)

i decided to have a few this weekend with one of my friends as we caught up and talked about our love lives, and i must admit, sometimes having something on fire in your hand can make you feel better about the world

but cancer is a bad boy, so stay away children

nevertheless, its an odd experience if you aren't familiar, the way it goes from your mouth to your lungs and all that jazz, even the flavor

and i know its ash and chemicals and nasty junk, but i recommend it to the curious (maybe try hookah) to just experience it


taste ~ food: my heart is very close to my stomach, if i didn't know better id say it lived there at times

i love how food brings people together, and how much you can get out of a pint


touch: so i have to get a lil pansy rific ( its my blog, and i dont feel that i have to explain everything) but to make it understandable, i recently went from a 3yr relationship to being solo

and well, i realized that im a very physical person (you keep it clean and i will) but i miss the way our hands fit into each others, we always thought it was really unique, and if we ever laid next to each other we kinda molded into one another, and well we fit in ways that just seemed unique


hearing: i really appreciate the fact that im not quite deaf yet, going to concerts when i was younger and making sure i got close to the stage probably wasnt the best decision in hindsight when it comes to me and not wearing hearing aides when i get older, but ya know you only live once right ... right

i noticed how music seems to be very important to everyone under the sun, but i guess it hasnt been until recently for me that i actualy started listening to things again

i guess its hard for me bc i cant just put something on in the background usually, i tend to focus on it and well i cant get anything else done... save for driving

but there is something magical about the whole thing, how it actually works and how it makes us feel, and i dont know if its because we respond to the beat on some primordial level or if its that it helps us connect to each other, or if its something else, or a crazy combination (im banking its probably everthing)

instead of going further into how awesome it is, i wanted to ask if anyone ever had one of those momenets where you felt like your life was being played out in song

its happened to me a few times, and i almost hate it, bc i feel that either A) someone said it better than i could or B) i feel cheated in a way bc i dont feel that my experience was as unique as i thought it was C) the song is either by a band or a singer that i just dont want to acknowledge as having talent, and there they are singing whats going on in my head

i also was wondering, but does anyone like just instrumental ? sometimes i prefer it bc the song can then truly become yours, you can take it with you and make it mean whatever you want it to... and its crazy, but sometimes its meaning changes with time


ok, i know that i have a few other things to list out for my assignments so im going to get thru them fast so this doesnt become a novel


thoughts on class, i love this class, and i wish we had more time to just sit around and do what we do... break the mold, fight the power, sing cuumbuy ya (sp?) and looking at art... we are so damn trendy it hurts

but i think we should consider ourselves fortunate, as i said to beth (in a matter of speaking) bc everyone in this class in my eyes doesnt need it, we already seem to understand what beth is getting at, at opening our minds to new experiences and that life doesnt end when you dont get an A ... etc etc

i really wish we had some people in the class that we could help, i suppose we should go out for a pyschology grant since we are basically a self help group... we could even get a grant


but yea i love our class, it gives me something to look forward to, and i like that beth encourages to get everyone involved since some are shy, we dont need to spotlight on anyone particular and thats badass i must say



ok uhm lets see i think theres one last thing i have to mention, BETH BOUGHT ME FOOD which in my world = BETH IS MY FAVORITE PROF

so we had lunch the day she assigned us to just do something, and we ate at Bazbeaux Pizza, truly one of the best pizza places in indy fo shiz (as i mentioned before, my heart is linked to food, so when she mentioned do whatever we want this idea hit me hard, well that and going to circle center to re live some arcade action)

id been hoping to get to talk to beth about somethings, so it just kinda worked out, i know most of you already have some connection with her, but since im a rookie it was ne-ice to get caught up on somethings



ok well i think im all caught up, if anyone is curious or wants to know more then step up, be a big kid, and ask

i bite, but thats if you get lucky so ...




forever and always
~j