Re: macintosh advice sought
EDTECH Editor-Hogan
Sharon,
Thank you for responding to my post in detail. I'll return the favor.
I can see that you dissected my message. That is fine and good, but I feel
like you missed the forest for the trees. I run a network that is about
50% Macintosh. However, I don't think I have drunk the Apple Kool-aid.
Please allow me to expatiate.
First, my objection to the mini-display port is that it is now the third
(fourth, if you count the MICRO-displayport on the MacBook Air) such
mini-adapter in the past four years. And yes, its inclusion of DRM
(digital rights management) technology, is a very big deal both to me and
to anyone who values a level of freedom not dictated by Hollywood. Apple
is not required to include the DRM features, it chooses to do so, probably
because Steve Jobs is the biggest stockholder of Disney. Apple is
supporting the closure of the "analog hole." As for my complaint about
needing to keep an inventory of the various adapters, it really is a
problem. Perhaps not to you, but as the person who needs to keep everyone
happy and running smoothly, it is a challenge to me, both logistically and
financially. Your observation that change in technology is inevitable is
true, but the changes occur much more rapidly than the
replacement/turnover cycle, especially in a school setting in the current
fiscal climate. In a school setting, it is common for computers to be used
for five or more years. Thus I must support technologies such as mini-VGA
which aren't current, but certainly haven't vanished. I'm not going to
dispose of perfectly good MacBooks just because Apple has chosen to kiss
the feet of the movie and music industries. Your comment about not keeping
port technologies forever is correct; however, Apple has had USB ports on
its computers for 12 years, and prior to that, they had SCSI ports for a
dozen years. They kept mini-VGA for about two years and mini-DVI for only
two years. It is certainly possible for Apple to keep a port technology
for more than a year or two.
Second, firewire, IEEE/1394. "I'm not sure why this is an "abuse", since
all but two models include one." To me, yes this is an abuse by Apple (a
term I chose carefully), for two reasons. One, like many Mac users and
administrators (I'm both) I have a large investment in firewire
peripherals, mostly external hard drives, but also video cameras. Two, and
much more important, I have a substantial number of Mac laptops, and over
time I am buying more. Intel-based Macs can boot to USB (PowerPCs can only
boot to Firewire) as an external source, but USB us significantly slower
than Firewire. Firewire 400 is a 400mb/sec technology; USB2.0 is a
480mb/sec technology. However, for USB it is a burst speed, while for
Firewire, it is a sustained speed. So actual throughput is drastically
different. The most disconcerting result of the removal of Firewire is the
concomitant elimination of "target disk mode," which is supported only on
Macs with Firewire. If you don't use target mode, you wouldn't miss it,
but it is a critical feature for those of us who do use it. TGM allows
simple Mac-to-mac cloning without the use of a network or an external hard
drive. Unfortunately, the Macs most often purchased by schools, MacBooks,
are the very ones now lacking Firewire, and thus target disk mode. The
fact that only a couple of models lack Firewire is very important since
one of those models is Apple's biggest selling computer, both to schools
and consumers.
Third, ExpressCard: At this point in time, I do not intend to upgrade to a
17" MacBookPro, so its status as the sole model with ExpressCard isn't
much consolation. I'll also bet you a milkshake that the next iteration of
the 17" MBP will not have the ExpressCard slot either. The 17" MBP was not
nearly as extensively remodeled as the other Apple laptops. The real
advantage of ExpressCard is that it runs at full bus speed, unlike either
Firewire or USB. Thus it supports some really fast technologies such as
e-SATA 3.0. Lots of Win/PC laptops have e-SATA ports, but not Apple, so
the only way to get eSATA on a Mac is via the ExpressCard port.
These are examples of Apple deciding what I need, rather than asking what
I need, a stance for which Apple is famous (or infamous). It is a major
reason why Apple has such a small presence in enterprise computing. They
introduce and discard technologies rapidly, and give no warning of either.
As for your last comment that "the computer buying public seems to prefer
to buy computers that keep up with the
latest technologies," I could not agree less. Otherwise, the
computer-buying public would be buying Apple computers rather than the
latest Netbook from HP or Acer, or whatever they can find in Sam's Club
for $450. Apple's still small market share tells me I'm right.
If you read this far, thanks for your time.
M G Durrant, M.Ed.
Technology Director/CTE Director
Daggett School District
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