War Eagle,
Easy solutions to serious problems are rarely good ones. The Mac is a wonderful piece of hardware and software, and it might be better for some people than a Windows machine of any flavor (as might Linux be), but in my experience it's no more stable than the Windows side of things. Hardware fails. OS's get confused. Applications crash. It happens on all platforms (even Linux!!). Harold, A couple of things: 1. If you're putting up with that sort of thing on a regular basis, you need to get someone like me to fix it for you. My clients (small businesses, mostly, but some residential clients as well) don't put up with that kind of crap. That's why I started my company with a focus on business under 15 employees. Sorry, but I'm only in Denver (for now). Bad things happen to good computers, but when you have someone who knows how to fix things, you don't continue to put up with them. 2. Microsoft has upwards of 87% of the market: WindowsXP (75%) + WindowsVista (12%) = 87%. 3. Yes, programmers are not known for being UI experts. In fact, most of them suck at it. That's why UI experts have jobs. Most technology companies need to spend MUCH MORE on UI engineering. Palm clearly did. RIM clearly did. Microsoft clearly did not. The Vista UI is much better than XP, which was really just a UI update of Windows 2000. 4. Vista pioneers did indeed put up with SOME driver problems - not nearly as pervasive as was reported, in my experience. People who had the most problems were people who upgraded to Vista over the top of XP on older hardware. I would never recommend that people do that. I did it to myself, just to see, and it worked fine on an older, off-brand machine. Still, the best way to get Vista is on a machine specifically designed for it. We have to be so careful of being swayed by the "if it bleeds it leads" media - they do with computers what they do with Politics. Bad is Good, for them. Remember, though, that early adopters of the most recent OSX version suffered the same fate. What happens is poor coordination between the OS manufacturer (Microsoft AND Apple) and the device manufacturers. Or, it can be that the device manufacturers just don't care, or want to push new hardware. None of that is Apple's fault or Microsoft's. They both have extensive programs to include device manufacturers in the early development of, for example, new driver model compatibility (which is what got some people in trouble with Vista and Jaguar (IIRC)). It's not the OS's problem - they can't control what device manufacturers do. I cautioned my clients not to buy Vista during those first six months. Now, full speed ahead with Vista. The driver issues have been shaken out. They are known. The SP1 BETA problems recently so publicized are problems with a BETA version of a PATCH. What do people expect? The controversy about this is just silly. People who want to be on the bleeding edge - like me - better expect to bleed!! The answer, and this is obvious to me, is for people who want computers to be an invisible tool that supports doing what the PEOPLE want to do, to stay clear of the bleeding edge. Let people like me go through that pain on your behalf and jump in when things have settled down a bit - as they have now with the latest operating systems from Microsoft and Apple. 5. I have always enjoyed your (well considered, well written) rants. Keep 'em coming! To all: I've said this before, but let me say it again: The Treo 650 and the Treo 700p were NOT stable devices. They had varied, chronic stability problems that were immediately and significantly exacerbated by adding any "tricky" software to the device. It was possible to get them reasonably stable, but not without focus and time. The Treo 755p and the Centro are VERY stable devices. They do NOT reset all the time; they do NOT have strange performance problems at strange times. If you want a stable smartphone, buy a 755p or a Centro. Roger tells us that the BB line is pretty darned nifty too, but don't you DARE compare relatively ancient Treo devices to the current crop of BB devices. If you compare BB's head to head with the 755p and the Centro, you can make a decision based on two stable, current line products that both work well and do many things well. Cheers, Don -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of L Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 9:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Treo] Warning: Rant: Very Silly? (Was: Hotsync 7.0.2 or 6.0.1 for Treo 650?) Get a Mac, mac! On 2/22/08, Harold M. Goldner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > You know, once upon a time, the computer was designed to make life easier > for all of us. When did the device start dictating life? We have become so > deadened to the effect of the OS over our lives, the software publisher's > 'decisions' regarding what happens next and how, that we don't even whine > when we note software doing stuff that is sufficiently annoying if our > children did it we'd make them stand in a corner. > Tell me why I have to tolerate a Palm reset completely taking my handheld > offline for a minute or so, or random software causing resets which hand and > go nowhere? Why does my practice management software crash silently in the > background all the time (and the vendor tell me all I have to do is upgrade, > even though reports of upgraded users are 'more of the same?') Windows has > been crashing around us for years and years and years, and still as Don > points out, they have 75% of the market. The Vista pioneers are suffering > from no-device drivers and other pains or compatibility issues. > I open a brand new file dialogue box in Word and it still can't remember > which directory I just opened moments before, it plows back to the same old > darn directory every time. > Outlook wants to tell me how many emails I have and I don't even run > outlook. > Yeah, there are lots of things I could do to fix things. I could read > manuals. I could hire trainers. I could actually learn the software in > detail. But, folks, I want to practice law, not be a computer programmer. > I want to help my clients, not my vendors. I want to do what I want to do > how I want to do it and not have the darn tools get in the way. > There are times when I am convinced the Amish have it right. > Yeah, I love my Treo, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hurl it at the > wall once in a wall. I like my computers, but I also am glad my building's > windows are sealed shut. Vista? TimeMatters 9? Agendus 12? Go AWAY! I > have work to do! > End rant. (Sorry folks, new to the list and 3rd rant this week. I'm not > normally like this. Really, I'm not.) > Harold > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
