OT Re: Guru needed

[Michael Zamarocy <mhdavion@earthlink.net>]

First off, I will no longer answer these posts cause they are senseless
(everyone has their own preferences) anyway, and I don't want to get busted
(nor do any of you) for posting non-Audi remarks. But after saying that, I
just want to address a few points, then shut up on this subject.

At 01:01 PM 8/10/98 -0400, Phil and Judy Rose wrote:
>Charles may have been stretching things quite a bit with some gratuitous
>remarks about Audi/Macintosh. But Mike, I'd guess that you are better
>informed about Audis than you may be about Mac software. Unless of course,
>your main interest in computers is games, in which case you have a point.

As for personal use, yes I play games, and the PC, as well as WIN (98 now,
I was a beta tester for it) is the platform of choice. After all, TOCA is
for the PC (or Playstation), so I get to drive an Audi A4 <G>! So in that
aspect, there IS some Audi content, ha ha ha!

One thing folks don't really see or realize, is that it is NOT the business
world that pushes computers to its limits, nor forces upgrades (after all,
just HOW fast CAN you run a word processor???), it is the gaming industry.
You might thing it is childish to play games, but the figures are proof.
Think about it, a company might buy a few hundred + software packages, and
then keep using it for years before ever considering buying a new product.
But the typical gamer will buy tons of games per year. Where is the real
money then? And as for pushing upgrades, everybody used to be happy with a
plain jane 486, till around came Origin's Wing Commander IV game - PENTIUM
REQUIRED. BAM went the sales of P-chips! Then came 3D, and on and on and
on, . . . . 


And as for games being not important? Then why did Gates decide to support
it big time (and create DIRECTX) and promote it, as well as start producing
games if it was small change?

So watch your comment about "if you only want to play games", cause it is a
billion dollar industry worldwide!

>
>And what's wrong about using a computer whose software may become as hard
>to find as Audi spare parts? :)

Cause you can't get what you want, you have to be happy with what you can
find.

Now, as for business use, there is a niche for the MAC, but that has shrunk
in the last few years as the PC has gotten better. There are still
holdouts, but not as many as you'd like to think. I work in the MIS
department, so I work on, fix, and install computer hardware/software. And
there are few companies that I know of that use MAC's anymore. A lot are
switching over to NT Servers, and now there is a push towards LINUX that is
FREE!

And, Apple DID in fact shoot themselves big time in the foot many years ago
when they would not allow clones to be made. If you wanted an Apple, you
had to go to them, and pay the stiff prices they demanded. Same went with
the accessories, very few 3rd party. The same ting even happened to IBM and
Microchannel - it WAS a good idea (perhaps even the "father" of PCI???),
but because they kept it to themselves, it floundered. Only Kingston still
makes some MCA parts. Heck, even Matrox and 3Dfx have pretty much given up
on MAC hardware. And there are not too many 3D cards (for either CAD or
games) coming out for the MAC like there is for the PC. And now recently
Apple has allowed some clones to be made, but it is too little too late to
make much of an impact as the PC has already intrenched itself into homes
and industry.

Also, I found it funny years ago that Apple was suing MicroSquash for its
likeness to the MAC OS. It did not look that alike. But my old Atari 1040ST
sure had almost the same look, even down to the infamous "bombs". But they
never even took notice of Atari, . . . . 

Lastly, and a slight comparison to Audi, . . . you make fun of Windows, and
sure in the past it was buggy and needed fixing like an older Audi. But
today's WIN98 is way much better, but boring too! Unlike the older Audi
where you could pop open the hood and tweak (so too the old Windows), the
newer WIN98 is quite solid, and there isn't really much to do unless you
"chip it" like the newer Audi A4's. Sure there are problems yet, but that
mainly has more to do with unsupported hardware. And I am sure this too
would happen to the MAC's if the doors were thrown wide open to 3rd party
(as in Taiwan) hardware as well. There is a lot of JUNK out on the market
that causes tons of problems. And the comment about 12000+ software, hey,
that's cool. But with the PC, we talk in millions of software. And it does
not matter if you get it in some crappy store, or a computer superstore -
you CAN get it, and have a choice in what you want.

Now, after saying all this, I will be silent. So If I do not answer you
back, its not cause I can't, but because I don't want to set off others who
will be complaining about these posts. I have nothing against MAC's at all.
I don't hate them, but I admit I don't work on them or know how to (as much
as I do a PC). I think they are probably a great PC, just not for me. But I
can not stand evangelists who think theirs is better than others. I had to
go through that with a bunch of OS/2 preachers for too many years. That
bunch will drive ANYONE nuts! Even you MAC guys! <G>

----------------------------------------------
Thanks
Mike Z