It's a very old debate and probably not that interesting outside of the community of regular computer users but I noticed an interesting article in the technology section of the BBC news site today. It's discussing how vulnerable Apple Mac computers are to viruses and malicious software generally; apparently the answer is "very". For years now consumers have been spoon fed the line that Mac's are the cool choice and PC's are for geeks (i.e. technologists) It's a quasi-religious argument, emotions run high on both sides. PC fans claim that their preferred platform is superior because of it's ability to be customised and its openness and Mac people (including many people in the industry who should know better) spout lines like "Mac's are better because they just work" (believe me, they quite often don't!).
It's all marketing (i.e. mythology), Mac's and PC's are both hugely sophisticated and complex systems, both have flaws, bugs, inconsistencies and vulnerabilities, both are infuriating in some ways and magical in others; both require a significant investment in time in order to use effectively and both are sufficiently rich and deep that it's unlikely that they would ever be completely mastered by a single person. In my work I need to use both platforms and that works just fine for me, I organise things so that there's little overlap or duplication and leverage the strengths of each platform to do tasks on it that are most efficiently done on that platform (for me!), i.e. Mac for graphics and mobile work and PC for programming and office tasks.
This non-partisan but factual account of reality is probably why I'm not in sales or marketing.
5 comments:
OK - I'll buy it...
I remember the first Mac I ever saw - in the hallowed College computer room in the mid 80s.
I was using - of all things - a BBC Micro to write a thesis on the protein structures of the Influenza virus. Meanwhile a member of the Sci Fi society was using the Mac to draw, pixel by pixel, a picture of the Starship Enterprise.
I reckon my view of the Mac hasn't changed much since.
Archdruid - so you're a biochemist?
AE, Perhaps that says more about your view of typical Mac users than Macs themselves? (I must say I often have that same view!)
CB - A molecular biophysicist if you don't mind. Therefore a former member of the Oxford Dept of Zoology. Though I don't do much biophysicking these days,
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