A guy on my street who always has the coolest gadgets just got a

ah, i look forward to the day when you can make a comment about a mac or pc with some OS opposing crackhead making, jus that, a crack about it. flame wars are one thing…but damn. it jus never ends…

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/os/0,39024180,39235916-5,00.htm

just to name a couple of sources.

Apple make their money from hardware so they don’t admit to this.
Oh and you would still have to buy OSX and iLife so that with the cost of the PC may be more than a Mac anyway (and can you readily buy a PC without an OS – not talking build your own?)

Maybe that’s what the ads are about:
Softening up the PC market for the day that they will version OSX for the rest of the market.

I agree there are many CIOs that rollout flawed arguments when justifying why they can’t and won’t go Mac, but again, as you paraphrased, “Winertia” has a lot to do with it.

http://www.macobserver.com/columns/hiddendimensions/2006/10/16.1.shtml

One part caught my eye:

“It’s well known that IT Managers have a strong tendency to lay down the law and outright ban Macs in the workplace. If it weren’t something trumped up, like “AppleTalk is noisy on the network” or “Macs don’t speak Ethernet,” then it would be something more creative and harder to question technically. “We can’t find anyone to support them. It costs too much to support multiple systems.” ”

From my experience this is a very valid point, having known IT managers who promote the PC knowing that Macs are cheaper to support.

Leaning Advisors (technology) versus Learning Specialists:

The last few days have seen some discussion on Learning Advisors and the use of technology.

Listed below is the URL of Corpus Christie which is located in one of the suburbs of Wollongong. One might be able to gain some slight insights?

http://www.ccchs.woll.catholic.edu.au/

Please keep in mind this is a new school which only came online at the
beginning of 2006. For the uninitiated, it is incredibly difficult to
get a new school off the ground, let alone one that has a distinct
strategy for “learning spaces” and the use of technology.

—————-
I accept that this pedogodgy is terrific for students in Year 7 – 10. It seems to me that the teachers are “general type” teachers and can get away with not knowing specifics within courses.

However, somewhere along the education continum within NSW, I adovate that Learning Advisors have to become more specialised to do the students justice for the HSC courses. I have met young teachers who have worked in schools just starting up. The one example I clearly remember was that he was teaching HSC Biology, HSC Geography and HSC Computing Studies. The workload certainly had impact upon his mental state for that year.

If a student’s goal is to go onto university, generally speaking I just can’t see how a Learning Advisor’s generalist’s strategy will be very helpful in obtaining a band 6 in any given subject. We strive for band 5 or band 6 to increase the students chances for being accepted into the Uni system.

Hence, parallel divergence may apply with Learning Advisors and technology.

But I think that the ads are unlikely to increase market share a great deal. If their funstion is to make Apple users feel smug, the they do it well. When I was Mac user I loved that feeling of superiority.

The ads are a bit like the famous 1985 “Lemmings” ad that apparently wasn’t any great success. They are insulting the very people that they are trying attract. Would anyone want to say they’ve been a fool buying a PC and then get a Mac?

Having said that, I’ve had a few people ask me about the virus-free claims for the Mac. That part seems to have really caught people’s attention.

Apple still have a problem with hubris and it shows in these ads, but yes they ARE very funny!

Maybe they should bring back this sort of thing
http://www.differentdistrict.com/movies/play.php?id=284_0_28_0_C

and have one for each of the 5 (6) iLife apps (6 counting Comic Life)?

Do people even know what iLife is? Do people know that it is free with a hardware purchase? And only $60 edu? Most Windows users I have spoken to have no idea it exists, and even fewer have tried it. Nothing in the Windows world comes near it.

Do people know how well the iLife apps work together? Do users of Acid Xpress know what they are missing out on with Garageband? or that iMovie supports HD? or that (despite it’s limitations) iWeb is just about the easiest way to publish online?

….. and so on.

Yes come on Apple tell the world!

As for me I used to work in a Windows only environment (glad to be back in a cross-platform one) and I currently run 3 different OSs on my MacBook Pro. Apple still make the best OS and their hardware is “good enough”. I’ll continue to use and promote the advantages of Macs because they are easier to set up, are (still) easier to use, break down less often, are easier to support (ie cheaper), have plenty of software (especially the stuff I use), are free of viruses and other malware (so far) and are cheaper to buy and maintain in the long term.

Why aren’t people moving to Apple? Of course the answer is never simple but much of it has to do with Winertia, and people’s general conservatism. And the misplaced notion, IMO, that schools (I’m a teacher) should teach kids the tools that are currently used in the workplace ( what will Year 7′s in 2006 be using when they are in the workforce in 2012? Google Office and Google OS maybe?) etc etc etc…

One problem with Final Cut Studio though Stu – the full install is 30+ gig!! That’s a quarter of the hd on my laptop!

One weird thing is that Apple flogs the iPod but has 80+ something % market share.
Another weird thing is that it’s not the best MP3 player!
Success has nothing to do with quality….. Same with operating systems I guess.

http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/