Mac-bashing: An American sport?

September 13, 1998

Please correct me if I'm wrong here - but I happen to think Mac-bashing is a sport which is peculiar to Americans. Outside of the US, Mac-bashers seem thankfully a very rare species (as are compulsive Windows-bashers like myself, I suppose). Where I'm from, people don't usually get worked-up and emotional about whether Macs are cool or Windows sucks, and choosing a computer is typically a decision based on pragmatic and practical reasons. Or so it seems. The problem persists that consumers in the computer market are still easily swayed by one or more of a number of widely-held notions, which should be summarily debunked:

Everyone uses Windows, so it must be the best platform

As we have seen in these last few months, Microsoft's dominion over the world's software market has evidently arisen out of highly questionable circumstances. It has all but forced itself upon the computing industry (developers, vendors, and consumers included) at the virtual exclusion of all other platforms. It is intent on making Windows the de facto global standard at all costs. Does it really merit its present position in the world? Is adopting the dominant computing platform really worth the constant hassles and frustrations of getting your computer to work THE WAY YOU WANT TO WORK? Is having an OS that's purportedly good enough, really good enough? I think not.

The personal computer revolution is a phenomenon that hasn't been with us for very long, less than two decades in fact. Yet, at the phenomenal rate that the industry has grown, that seems like an eternity. But now, especially with the recent explosion of the Internet, we realize we have a long journey ahead of us yet. So arguably, we all still have a chance - and a vested interest - to chart the course which our computing environment should take. (Now might actually be a good time to play that '2 Roads' iMac ad.) And we can do that by exercising our freedom of choice in picking the computing environment that we feel most at ease with, not the one that is thrust upon us because we are held to ransom by a perceived lack of software or any other such notions. You know what I'm talking about. (Incidentally, if ever there was an appropriate instance to use the term 'herd instinct', this would be it, Mr Fred Langa.)

And here is where the Mac OS comes in. It offers you an alternative. Yes, it's not by any means the dominant platform, but it is indisputably the option which offers far greater ease of use, (although Erik Barzeski might disagree with me on this point) and works the way you intuitively think it should work. And although Apple might not have invented it, the graphical user interface gained widespread acceptance because of the Mac. The Mac also introduced the mouse, and true plug-and-play before that even became a buzzword. In short, the paradigm of the personal computer that we associate with today was created by Apple way back in 1984, which was the original Mac.

Okay, let's not talk anymore about history, you say. Fine. Let's talk about the future then. Not too long ago, Apple didn't seem to have one. But as Steve Jobs remarked at the start of his recent Seybold keynote, "What a difference a year makes." Yes, in just twelve months, the prodigal son, whose return had also signaled the second coming of the company he co-founded, has finally brought focus and renewed confidence back to Apple. With three consecutive profitable quarters behind it, and now making its audacious reentry into the consumer arena, it appears Apple has finally managed to shake off the bad karma that had plagued the company in the past. The adjective 'beleaguered' no longer applies to the company. And whereas it was once like NATO (No Action, Talk Only) at Apple, we now see decisiveness - and results - as Mac OS 8.5 is released early next month, and Mac OS X looks set to arrive before the end of next year. These, and the company's promising lineup of new-look hardware products that the iMac has heralded, are signs that point to a resurgence, in contrast to other ongoing events now that indicate an imminent breakup of the Microsoft empire. If ever there was a right time to jump ship, it's now.

Macs are incompatible with PCs

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ironically, the reverse is true. PC-compatibility is a feature built into the MacOS. It comes in the form of PC Exchange and Mac OS Easy Open, control panels which are proprietary to Apple, and in addition MacLinkPlus, a suite of software provided by Dataviz. Remember: All these come standard with the Mac OS. With these software enabled, Mac users are able to read from and write to PC documents, and convert files between the two formats easily. Furthermore, by using ZDNet Mac's preconfigured PC Exchange preference file, Mac users will be further able to open documents originating from a host of PC formats. So in reality, Macs come PC-compatible right out of the box. Unfortunately, PCs cannot make the converse claim.

Moreover, applications like SoftWindows, RealPC, and Virtual PC are available for the Mac to enable it to emulate PCs and hence run even in the latest Windows environment. When this article first appeared, I had erroneously remarked that PCs "have absolutely no way" of running Mac software. This has since been brought to my attention as being untrue, and so I unreservedly apologize for the incorrect remark I made. I also plan to explore my new-found discovery a little further in a subsequent article, hopefully for the benefit of those who are as ignorant of this fact as I was. Whatever the case, it remains that compatibility between Macs and PCs is no longer an issue - at least, not qualitatively speaking.

Still, especially as we look back to the past efforts of Apple to regain wider acceptance (remember the dual-platform PowerPCs?) one senses this constant need by Apple to bend itself backwards to assure computer users of its compatibility, when it never really needed to. You may argue that, well, it's really in the interest of the pro-Mac camp to play catch-up with the world's dominant computing platform in order for the Mac to stay viable. But in any case, that must surely be far more laudable than what Microsoft does. I understand from this article, for instance, that files written in Word 8 cannot be deciphered by earlier versions of Microsoft's popular word-processing application. What does that tell you about Microsoft, aside from the fact that here is a company clearly intent on compelling you to upgrade your software, or else. (Now that, Mr Hiawatha Bray, is what I call spitting on your faithful customers and convincing them it's rain.) But be that as it may, the truth remains: Macs come PC-compatible right out of the box, and not vice versa.

Not enough software for the Mac

Most if not all of the major software titles that are available in the market, are available on the Mac. Want to talk about numbers? Roughly over twelve thousand software titles are available for the Mac, and I for one will never know half of them in my lifetime.

On the other hand, if you're seeking a much more esoteric software application - like for example, a killer webpage design tool that will also go online and track all your website's hyperlinks, identify those that have been orphaned and then automatically update your links in the background, while fixing you a tuna sandwich and a cup of decaffe - and the Mac hasn't got it, it's unfortunate. But how viable do you figure the potential market you represent would be to any platform, not just the Mac OS? And what about software that's available on the Mac that the Wintel world hasn't got? (Hmm... let's see now - Office 98? Only because I can't think of a better example.) The thing is that supply is determined by demand, a fundamental economic principle. So it would be naive for a minority group of users who don't form enough of a critical mass to expect software to be readily available to meet their more particular needs. (I know what you're thinking right now, but there's a slight difference in scale we're talking about here.) More importantly, the situation shouldn't be allowed to be blown out of proportion - especially by those politically motivated - to the point where it is used to paint an overall picture that there isn't enough software for the Mac. So it bears repeating: over 12,000 software titles available on the Macintosh, and if you can't find even a dozen amongst those that suits your needs, tough.

It means you've got to get Virtual PC or SoftWindows.

---

More Articles:

Upgraded Twice Over — And Grateful [Oct 10, 2001]

Welcome To The Future [Mar 21, 2001]

iM2 — Incredible Milestones of The iMac NewsPage [Jun 1, 2000]

What's to like about Netscape 6? Quite a bit [Apr 17, 2000]

Dealing with IE5's font and resolution settings [Mar 28, 2000]

Free Internet Arrives in Singapore [Dec 12, 1999]

Mac sales in Japan (Dec 1999) [Dec 9, 1999]

Mac sales in Japan (Nov 8-14) - iMac DV SE, iBook still #1 [Nov 23, 1999]

Adding Movies To QuickTime Favorites [Nov 23, 1999]

Black Magix: Try saying hocus-bogus [Nov 19, 1999]

Mac sales in Japan (Oct 25-31) [Nov 11, 1999]

QuickTime Live! Conference Keynote Highlights [Nov 10, 1999]

Update on Mac sales in Japan — All iMacs, iBooks among Top 10 [Nov 10, 1999]

Apple tops October PC sales in Japan [Nov 7, 1999]

About that mysterious Magix freeze [Nov 7, 1999]

Magix Miscellany [Nov 7, 1999]

Make Kihei while the Sun shines [Nov 3, 1999]

Apples in Eden — The Singapore iBook Launch [Nov 1, 1999]

One Country, Two Systems — The Apple Store (Hongkong) Opens [Oct 28, 1999]

Apple Store Singapore Opens — Right On Time [Oct 20, 1999]

Mac sales in Japan remain strong [Oct 26, 1999]

Magix For The Mac — The Unofficial FAQ [Oct 25, 1999]

Macs outsell all other computers in Japan [Oct 21, 1999]

Asia Apple Stores to open in Singapore and Hongkong [Oct 20, 1999]

Magix Broadband for Macintosh — for just $48! [Oct 20, 1999]

Asia Apple Store Update [Oct 18, 1999]

New iMacs as quiet as Jobs claims [Oct 12, 1999]

New iMacs quieter than Jobs claims? [Oct 10, 1999]

Asia Apple Store Seeks Tech Support Temp [Sep 23, 1999]

G4 — the Real Story? [Sep 17, 1999]

Sorenson Broadcaster™ Press Release [Sep 15, 1999]

Magix for iMac Update [Sep 10, 1999]

Magix for iMac Update [Aug 30, 1999]

PC Fairy Tales: Jobs And The Binstock [Aug 20, 1999]

AirPort Delays: More Revelations [Aug 12, 1999]

Stand Up For Macintosh [Aug 12, 1999]

AirPort Delays: What's Not Causing It [Aug 11, 1999]

Dumb iBook Remarks [Aug 9, 1999]

The Avon Lady's Back [Aug 9, 1999]

The IEEE 802.11 Standard — in English [Jul 29, 1999]

Everybody's Free (To Buy iBook) [Jul 26, 1999]

AirPort Fallacies [Jul 24, 1999]

iBook and iMac: Sibling Rivalry? [Jul 23, 1999]

Just The FAQs, Man [Jul 22, 1999]

Hooray for AirPort — But Remember the McPiper? [Jul 21, 1999]

Additional Notes on Magix ADSL [Jul 20, 1999]

Apple, SingTel Magix team up to bring ADSL to iMacs [Jul 20, 1999]

DuoPen & e-Pad coming to the Mac [Jul 9, 1999]

Macworld is out, Publish! World is in [Jul 5, 1999]

Discovery Channel giving away iMacs [Jun 28, 1999]

TIME Asia giving away Apple computers [Jun 28, 1999]

Diamond Rio makes a play for iMac [Jun 26, 1999]

Magix for iMac [Jun 25, 1999]

Why would Apple want 30,000 McPipers? [Jun 24, 1999]

Singapore Macworld Expo Cancelled [Jun 20, 1999]

The Sunscreen Song [Jun 20, 1999]

Coming Soon: A USB Cordless Phone For Your iMac [Jun 19, 1999]

Third Voice: Boon or Bane? [Jun 14, 1999]

I2: The Internet Of The Future [Jun 5, 1999]

Taming Your Round Mouse: What The Manual Doesn't Say [Jun 4, 1999]

UniTrap: Contour Enhancement for the iMac Mouse [Jun 1, 1999]

iMacs to ship in Taiwan with free Chinese software [May 31, 1999]

Where The Truth Lies [May 23, 1999]

QuickTime 4: New Features Added [May 8, 1999]

QuickTime 4: The Beta Just Got Better [May 5, 1999]

Rev A or B, Your iMac's Still Good [Apr 30, 1999]

Griffin Revs Up iMate, iPort, and gPort [Apr 26, 1999]

Quick! Time 4 A Movie! [Apr 23, 1999]

Message in a Bottle: A Present for the Future [Apr 22, 1999]

Start a Hand-Me-Down Program For iMacs [Apr 13, 1999]

First Signs Of Y2K Bug May Appear Tomorrow [Apr 8, 1999]

Langa's Cruisin' For A Bruisin' [Apr 1, 1999]

Tales From The Dark Side [Mar 31, 1999]

Has The Age of Disposable Computers Arrived? [Mar 30, 1999]

A Solution For The iMac's Mouse: Simple As A Dimple [Mar 24, 1999]

Steve Jobs Interview on Channel NewsAsia [Mar 14, 1999]

Good-Buy, Bondi [Mar 6, 1999]

Tokyo Tidbits: Carbon iMacs and Cool Colored Speakers [Feb 27, 1999]

The iMac Book [Feb 26, 1999]

iCab: Readers Views [Feb 25, 1999]

Review: iCab Preview 1.1 (US) [Feb 24, 1999]

iCab: Why Bloat When You Can Float? [Feb 22, 1999]

Disney Rumor Echoes Blast From The Past [Feb 19, 1999]

Disney Blast and the iMac's Circular Mouse [Feb 18, 1999]

HAL Freezes Over [Feb 1, 1999]

Another Look at Internet Explorer 4.5 [Jan 19, 1999]

Old Wine In New Bottles? [Jan 16, 1999]

The Unofficial iMac Web Ads [Jan 15, 1999]

AroMac Therapy [Jan 12, 1999]

Theft of an iMac: A Victim's Story [Jan 8, 1999]

Multi-Colored iMacs A Reality [Jan 2, 1999]

Yosemites spotted [Dec 25, 1998]

Time's Man Of The Year? [Dec 15, 1998]

Another Reset Button Solution for iMac Owners [Dec 9, 1998]

2,000 in 2 days - and then what? [Nov 1, 1998]

Product Review: iMacFloppy.com [Oct 24, 1998]

Brace Yourself! [Oct 16, 1998]

Singapore's iMac Pre-Launch Bash [Oct 15, 1998]

iMac to launch with Mac OS 8.5 in Singapore [Oct 15, 1998]

Steve Jobs October 14 Event [Oct 14, 1998]

Dances With Wolves in Sheep's Clothing [Oct 4, 1998]

iMac: Thinking Different in Asia [Sep 22, 1998]

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs [Sep 17, 1998]

Mac-bashing: An American sport? [Sep 10, 1998]

Steve Jobs Seybold Keynote '98 [Sep 1, 1998]

One day more! [Aug 28, 1998]

iMac to be released in Singapore in October [Aug 22, 1998]

Reality, not rumors! [Aug 8, 1998]

iMac says G'day Australia: 31 days and counting! [Aug 5, 1998]

Famous Myths Revisited [Aug 3, 1998]

The Countdown Begins! [Aug 1, 1998]

If not now, when? [July 26, 1998]

Four Great Programs? [July 26, 1998]

MacWorld Expo Singapore - Day 2 Report [Jul 25, 1998]

MacWorld Expo Singapore - Day 1 Report [Jul 24, 1998]

Enter The iMacGotcha [Jul 16, 1998]

iMac's for the rest of us, not just US [Jul 1, 1998]

---