On 2/15/03 12:13 PM, "Steve Kidd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Agree with a lot of what you say, but there are a few points: > >> until Quark gets its act together > > Of course that's not Apple's problem, Well, all the design and print shops that do use Quark are holding off on upgrading to OS X (and possibly newer hardware in the process) until Quark for X comes out. Shortcomings of Quark-or any advantages with InDesign--notwithstanding, Quark is still the de facto standard. It's the last piece of the puzzle for a LARGE segment of Mac users putting OS 9 to bed and moving onto OS X and, to a lesser extent, newer hardware (especially now that new Powermacs are not booting into 9 anymore). > but why do people cling to > Quark? I know it stole a march on Pagemaker years ago, but it is the > most overpriced, buggy, out-of-date software out there, and Quark > shows no sign of improving the situation. Gee. Sounds a hell of a lot like Windows, doesn't it? Yet, there it is. > We switched to InDesign at the paper some time ago, and there are no > complaints; does everything Quark and Pagemaker do, plus is far more > flexible. Get out from under the tyranny of Quark!!!! "Get out of your Windows World!" ;) >> A pumped up original G3 iMac design (of which, if I recall >> correctly, in their last quarterly report HALF OF THEIR IMAC SALES WERE OF >> THE ORIGINAL G3 DESIGN!!!) with 1GHz G3, PC133, USB II, NO FIREWIRE, 15" >> CRT, CDRW, 256MB RAM, 20GB drive. Those specs would work very well as a >> straight-ahead classroom solution, > > I'm not sure CDRW is the best idea in a classroom situation - you > don't neccessarily want to encourage the buggers to download MP3's , > after all. ;7) After watching the way other students work at > University, unfortunately, I'd have to reccomend a floppy drive for > the package. These PC users still use floppies all the time. You're right. CDRWs are not usually needed for typical scholastic uses. You're right about floppies, and I can see how people don't "get it" with working in a floppiless world. >> D) Apple has to accept the fact that not all computer users need a computer >> as feature rich as even the eMac. > > Definitely - there should be a Cdn $500-1000 basic iMac available. > Over Christmas, I noticed the local computer shop was selling new, > way low-end PC's, starting at $300 - hard to convince those shoppers > that quality counts, and they should pay $1500 for a basic iMac. Yes. I was going easy on Apple on my sub-$1k price. For institutional sales, they should be $500/unit. For consumer sales, I don't think that Apple has to hit the mat COMPLETELY and compete with ther no name fly-by-nights or MDG Computers http://mdg.ca/ where you don't even get Windows installed on some of their "fantastically priced" PCs. They should give Dell a big ole can of whup a$$, however. Mikey Dell derserves no less :-D >> E) Recent iApps (iMovie 3, iPhoto 2) are WAY TOO DAMNED SLOW!!! And iMovie >> is particularly buggy. > > There's a big issue - these things are near useless. And not just > because of the slowness. iPhoto, which you would think that I as a > photographer and Mac evangelist would love, just doesn't have the > features necessary. Apple has really aimed it at beginning users with > out leaving any room to grow. Oh, I disagree, heartily. iPhoto and iMovie are quite feature rich for FREE APPS! Like, come on, man. iView costs CAN$137.00! It's not fair to diss the free iApps-of which iPhoto can do some things that iView cannot (at least from what I saw of the tour on their website). Sure, iView can on the other hand do some things that iPhoto can't but for CONSUMERS, whom all the iApps are designed for, they rock. Period. They are just to damned slow. As for iPhotoi's surprisingly labrintine folder heirarchy, I sooin learned to ignore what it's doing behind the scenes and embrace it's mannerisms (grudgingly at first, but coming to appreciate it's convenience, later). For instance, if you want to grab a photo that you see in iPhoto and move it to the desktop, orwhatever, you don't have to wade through that rediculous folder sturcture of chronilogically created sub folders and thumbnails. Just grab the picture in iphoto's display and drag it to the Desktop. Iphoto will make a copy of the original pic (NOT the thumbnail) on the Desktop for you. For searching, deleting and moving files, I have come to do it iPhoto's way, which is way more convenient than perusing your library in iPhoto, AND THEN trying the typical way to find it via the Finder. Just drag off of iPhoto and drop. As a matter of fact, I just tried dragging and dropping an MP3 from iTunes' library to the Desktop, and it ccopied the MP3 there, too! I find that wonderfully convenient, as you're using the same UI that you found and manipulated the media file (be it a sound of graphic file) to acquire the file for transmission or some other manipulation that would typically have required digging through the Finder. But, I have to say that I had to unlearn the typical ways a pro user thinks about file manipulation. Apple has dumped several established norms that, if you aren't aware of it, can befuddle a pro but might seem very intuitive to a consumer. For example, when applying an effect to a picture (say, go Black & White), iPhoto doesn't ask you if you want to save the change; it assumes that, by you exiting out of iPhoto's edit mode and going to Book mode, for example, that you're finished. Also, when you want to redo a ken Burns effect or some other effect in iMovie, you don't have to undo do it: Just do it again. But it is risky move by Apple, as they're starting to break their own UI rules which give Mac OS and Mac OS apps a great consistency. What's interesting is that, as I use Windows (usually my two sisters' and their usual PC problems), I have found that there are differences in the way that each OS treats the end user. Windows is RIDICULOUSLY OVERLY ASSISTIVE IN EVERYTHING YOU DO and is truly always in your face! And yet, this overt help doesn't make the OS easier to use. Also, Windows and Windows apps are criminally irresponsible by breaking UI rules left, right and center! Windows media player minimizes down to this floating toolbar THAT COVERS THE TASK BAR AND ANY MINIMIZED WINDOWS THAT MIGHT BE THERE! You have to move IT to get to an underlying minimized Window in the Task Bar (iTunes' Dock icon_IS_also it's minimized controller, all in one, and respectful of the positioning of other Docked apps and windows). Plus, it's window sizing widgets are not standard design and I had to really scrutinize the cryptic little markings to find it's maximize button. Plus, WMP has large permanent Mode buttons on it's left side, but it also shows you redundant Mode controls in it's main window. Bottom line is that WMP is a bloated P.O.S.! Opening up a new browser window in IE LOADS THE SAME PAGE THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE OPEN AND TOPMOST! WHEN would you EVER need that?! You open a new browser window to GO TO ANOTHER PAGE; NOT THE ONE YOU JUST PLACED IN THE BACKGROUND VIA THE CREATION OF A NEW WINDOW! Ridiculous. IE's favorites handling is intrusive as well, where many Mac web browsers allow for slimmer toolbar favorites that can also be folders of favorites. That is WAY more efficient. Anyway, getting back to an overview of Windows vs Mac OS, Windows is intrusive and Mac OS is a lot more subtle in it's behavior with the end user. You know, looking one of the first "Switch" ads Aaron Adams' ad says it all! <http://www.apple.com/switch/ads/aaronadams.html> Also, here is a very excellent usability comparison between XP and Mac OS X. Thrill to the level of detail this guy goes into! One thing I like about Windows is the ability to resize a Window from any side or corner. One of the (several) things I hate about Windows is it's stupid use of redundant, windows specific menus! just how much screen real estate does THAT waste? http://www.webmastermac.com/macintosh/whymac/xvsxp/index.shtml > iPhoto is too fancy a program to be so feature poor and slow. It's slow, but I do not find it feature poor. GG -- Mac Canada is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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