Comments on: Why Macs still aren't right for most businesses

By: Visitor, Toronto

Visitor, Toronto — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:09:29 +0000

Jonathan Blum's review on Basecamp:
"What started out as amazingly easy gradually became costly and complex."

Jonathan Blum's review of Google Apps:
"Cheap software can become pricey when the learning curve eats into your business's productivity. "

Jonathan Blum's review of Apple Macs:
"Apple is flashy, but still more trouble than it's worth for basic computing tasks."

There are multiple comments here questioning Jonathan Blum's tech credentials. Blum's review of Basecamp, Google Apps, Macs all follow the same pattern – appreciation of some of the neat features, but confused over some of the tech features. Basecamp is confusing, Google Apps is confusing Macs are confusing, etc. Ridiculous!

By: C42D, New York City

C42D, New York City — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:53:22 +0000

This guy is a total n00b. Dude, if you can't find the power button you obviously are 1336. Yeah, it *was* designed by apple in *california* and that is why it kicks butt. The popularity of iphones, itunes, and ipods says it all: Apple is King of the modern computer interface.

If the rookie who wrote this article thinks that is not in the best interests of 80% of most businesses, then fine. We never did care and we still don't, and apple will continue to thrive.

By: Rick, Nan, BC, CA

Rick, Nan, BC, CA — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:54:49 +0000

Thank goodness for the public to have the ability to comment, otherwise, these so called professional writers would be convincing readers to buy swamp land and a good place for a retirement development.

The power button is on the back – give me a break. What kind of car do you drive? Did you find all the features, or should the steering wheel be on the right hand side.

By: Agent T

Agent T — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:53:44 +0000

A tasty mouthful of mac fanboy flame bait. Well done.

What you say isn't nearly as important as the traffic you generate.

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By: Stuart Koford Winchester Ohio

Stuart Koford Winchester Ohio — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:41:59 +0000

We have run our manufacturing business mostly on Mac's for the last 18 years. The differences we have seen with the Mac's vs. the PC's (Dell, HP, and a few others), is much better reliability with the Mac's. We have a Mac that runs a CNC machine that has been running since 1990 and has only needed a couple of minor repairs. A couple Dells we bought including a top of the line one have had serious problem, one after only 2 months that took 5 visits and one month to fix. We have never had virus problems with the mac (we don't use antivirus), we have had major virus problems with PC's even with antivirus software.

By: Brian, Los Angeles CA

Brian, Los Angeles CA — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Giving the title 'FSB Tech Guru' to Jonathan is a stretch at best.

By: Lee Graham

Lee Graham — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:36:18 +0000

just a quick question. have you read the feedback from your post?

i'm not here to bash you, but the article did seem a bit biased and unfair

Lee Graham

By: carter

carter — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:35:45 +0000

Great timing , with this article.

I am in the midst of developing a "biz cafe' concept which will feature
cnsite computers for use by our customers.

I am a Mac guy. My partner is a Vaio. We will limited the time spent on our
16 computers to roughly 1 hour and our demographic will be largely biz
types.

I think we need to be forward thinking and pushing the "experience" and my
buddy says bullshit, we need easy biz application access.

Your article has great pros/cons, but what would be your gut reaction to our
problem ?

Thanks, for any help !!!!

Carter

By: John C. Randolph

John C. Randolph — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:35:18 +0000

Jonathan, you wrote:

"Must I really sit through a full round of special effects – the
desktop slides away to reveal some mysterious star in full supernova
disappearing into infinity behind my various backups – just to find a
what I said to a client in a lost e-mail? Honestly."

Beats hunting for a file in any other backup system I've ever seen. I
can even search for previous versions using Spotlight.

What you fail to understand about Apple's back up solution, is that
they've made it obvious and easy to use, with the upshot that far more
people will actually use it than would ever go and buy a copy of
retrospect.

I know that you windows pushers are very proud of having memorized the
minutia of an accreted, rather than designed, user interface, but some
of us would rather get our work done than spend hours just coping with
Microsoft's brain damage.

What shocks me is that you actually advocate that small businesses
pour their money down the Windows drain. Maybe you just don't know
any better.

-jcr

By: steve

steve — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:34:46 +0000

is that seriously your BEST argument???
That the power button is on the back?
That the packaging "is seriously overdone"?
Not enough USB ports-have you heard of a USB hub?
Mozy *used* to not suppport it?
Control-arrow key is a complicated shortcut?
You can't just disable spaces?
The keyboard shortcuts are different?
Get new mice-who's forcing you to use mighty mice?
Also, does it matter if it LOOKS like 2 or one buttons?-it still works,
doesn't it?
Time Machine-the eye candy is a bit over the top, but why should that stop a
business from getting it?
It backs up your data, doesn't it?

Only valid points were about Citrix not working and the blackberry syncing
problems.

By: Lee Graham, Lynchburg, VA

Lee Graham, Lynchburg, VA — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:10:40 +0000

right on jade!

By: Big Eddie, Princeton, BC

Big Eddie, Princeton, BC — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:40:57 +0000

I found a typo in your article. It should read:
"Mac OS X, properly installed and used in tandem with Web-based productivity tools, is a powerful, powerful alternative.”

ps Was this article slated for April 1st and missed the deadline? :)

By: jade

jade — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:31:49 +0000

Is this seriously supposed to be an objective assessment of Macs for
business? It reads like a bad PC fanboy blog. You say you tested an iMac but
it didn't have enough USB ports? Those machines have 5 ports: 3 at the back
and 2 on the keyboard. There is NO NEED for an "Ethernet enabler" – that's the
MacBook Air, an entirely different computer meant for a very specific niche.
The imac has gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n wireless networking out of the box.
And have you ever heard of a USB hub??
The packaging is too flashy? Wow, that's a dealbreaker. The power button at
the back is a design decision that can be disputed – but I don't remember the
last time I had to use it (my Macs sleep when not in use).
Then you go on calling Apple commands "goofy". They're not goofy, they're
different. As in "another operating system". Does it involve a learning curve?
Of course it does. Any new system will force you to learn new things. Saying
the commands are goofy is the equivalent of calling non-English languages
silly. Not very professional.
You talk about driver problems but only mention Mozy. That's an app. What
actual driver problems did you have?
You also NEVER mention that you CAN run Windows on a Mac, both natively via
the included Boot Camp or via virtualization. That's a pretty huge omission
for an article that
claims to take a serious look at business computing. But then that would the
purpose of your piece wouldn't it?
I guess you'll the hits you were after. Facts? What facts?

By: Kris Selvig

Kris Selvig — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:31:12 +0000

I'm sure you won't even bother reading this since you will be inundated with
hundreds of emails commenting on the total ineptitude of your "guru" "writer".
Neither adjective suits the author of this head-shaking drivel.
You obviously don't have an editorial staff or anyone hired to read submitted
articles before they are published. If you had done so you would not be the
butt of jokes on the net. It's a shame that your lack of integrity in sourcing
your information has lost you countless followers. No one who reads this
article can take anything CNNMoney says in the future as worthwhile or
believable.

By: Chris Katz

Chris Katz — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:30:41 +0000

The author of this article clearly is does not have the level of
understanding of computer hardware and software to be considered a technology
expert. There are many, many inaccuracies in this article, but I'll just
point out one.
The desktop is divided into quadrants that extend beyond the screen's
edge.Only with some complex keyboard commands can I slide from one to another.
This is a ridiculous statement. The feature he is talking about is spaces,
and it can easily be turned off. It can also be changed to include more than
4 quadrants, something he is apparently unaware of. There are other ways to
switch quadrants, such as using a hot corner to bring up a small view of each
and picking the one you want – very handy.
Spaces is not a division of the desktop at all – it is a virtual desktop
feature that many power users like to use to keep their applications that they
are using in groups separate. It doesn't have to be used and most users don't
bother with it.
The fact that this guy doesn't understand that, is indicative of the poor
quality of the article. It is filled with misconceptions, false statements,
and a failure to identify any real problems that there are for using macs in
business – which there are some.
Please get someone with some real technical understanding to write articles
for you.

By: Carter Neal

Carter Neal — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:30:17 +0000

I'm a bit confused that the author complains about the number of USB ports,
saying that there aren't enough, but he doesn't say how many there are. By my
count, the iMac comes with three USB ports on the back, and two on the
keyboard. Granted, one of the ports on the back will be used for the
keyboard, so there are only a net total of four USB ports.
Still, I wonder how many USB ports the author feels are necessary for a
computer to contain? Or what is he using the other three ports for (after the
mouse and keyboard?)
Honestly, I think the author just didn't bother to figure out that there ARE
USB ports on the keyboard.
~Carter

By: John Lange

John Lange — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:29:38 +0000

I appreciate your article comparing the buisness needs of PC and Mac users,
but your conclusion is just not correct…
"Windows Vista, properly installed and used in tandem with Web-based
productivity tools, is a powerful, powerful alternative. "
Most people I know are trying to get XP back…and are purchasing XP on their
new machines…(clearly this is not what MS wants) …there is very little
tangible benefit for Vista…it takes what was simple and makes it very
complex…not only is there a very high cost to upgrade, but the retraining to
do the simplest tasks is the biggest hit -productivity is down and for no
logical reason. Everything that worked before should work in the new release
and it is just not so.
My son bought a mac…my brother is converting his family's Vista systems back
to XP…Apple should be paying MS for driving PC customers their way…Vista
is a huge disappointment. MS is just not getting the message and people will
continue to move towards Mac until MS stops forcing Vista on the PC community.
Why fix what was not broken?

By: Geoffrey

Geoffrey — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:29:13 +0000

This article has a descriptive, concise title that plainly exposed the
article's premise and hypothesis. Unfortunately, the title did not seem to go
with the article I read. After an opening vignette about why Macs were the
proper choice for a 25-person consulting firm, the author sets out to
illustrate why Macs are not a panacea for any business's IT needs, but picks
some of the most inane topics to base his conclusions.
The first area of concern for the author was overwrought packaging. In what
way does this contribute or detract to a computer's business value? Rarely
are employees charged with unboxing their computer, and even less rarely must
they set those computers up. In addition, the slogan "Designed by Apple in
California" was a poorly chosen whipping boy: not only does it not appear on
the outside of the box, but on the container with the iMac's included
peripherals. Where it does appear, it is set in a light gray font over a
white background. That hardly defines shouting. Thankfully, the author is
sensible in not caring; what boggles the mind is that he cared enough about
this detail to include it in an article and that it made it through the
editorial process.
The next complaint, which would be troubling if it were true, was the dearth
of USB ports. The iMac comes with 5; the Dell Optiplex I am writing this
comment on comes with 6 and new Dell's come with 6-7 exposed USB ports. The
iMac also comes with 2 Firewire ports standard.
The complains about the Spaces and Time Machine features were also specious.
Not only did the author confusingly describe Spaces as splitting up the
desktop, rather than the more natural and usual description of presenting 3
additional desktop workspaces, he also made a big deal about needing to know
complicated keyboard commands to use it. First, Spaces is completely
optional; it can be turned off, but even if it isn't, it is not a noticeable
feature. Second, the mouse can be used to change desktops (by clicking on the
menu icon associated with Spaces). The real eye-rolling winner in this
article though is the author's complaints about Time Machine. Not only is the
interface intuitive and engaging (and fun to use, which is apparently wholly
inappropriate in a business setting), but it allows for a complex and
frustrating challenge to be easy. Additionally, the 1-second fade from
Desktop to Time Machine visually cues the user to what is happening.
In all, this article set out to explain why Macs aren't right for most
businesses. However, it failed to do that by using examples that are not
important to a business setting. The reason that Shani Magosky gave for
changing from Windows to Mac was not any of the reasons given in the article.
It was that many of the tools that Microsoft sells for collaboration and
office networking (Exchange, SharePoint, etc) are very expensive for small
businesses, and Apple offers a compelling alternative in the form of their
servers and server software. The pricing scheme set up by Apple is very
friendly to small businesses and ends up costing much less. That is the
reason given for switching in the opening vignette, not beautiful packaging or
even blazing internet speed or ease of use. And yet, in the conclusion, the
author states blankly that in the same scenario, Vista is a "powerful,
powerful alternative." Nobody doubts that; the reason to choose or not choose
Macs is not based on what the author tackled in the article, but rather that a
solution necessitating Windows licenses, an Exchange server and software
licenses for SharePoint can be much more expensive than an equivalent solution
including an Apple server with Leopard Server and Apple hardware.
I was disappointed that the author could not have given some insightful
analysis on the pros and cons of Apple vs. Microsoft solutions for small
businesses. Instead, all the article stated was Macs did not outperform Dells
and therefore there is no reason to choose a Mac over Vista, properly
installed.

By: David

David — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:28:40 +0000

"We found that Citrix's (CTXS) GoToMyPC, my shop's VPN (virtual private
network) tool, was unstable on our iMac."
GoToMyPC is _not_ a VPN solution. A Virtual Private Network connects a
computer (or network) to a foreign network. It is not a system for remotely
controlling the desktop of another computer. For more information, see
wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPN
GoToMyPC is more more accurately described as a Remote Desktop service, much
like VNC.
The distinction may seem trivial to non-technical folk, but to those of us
that know the difference, such a mistake in terminology puts the entirety of
your article in question; how can I trust your judgement went you don't even
know what a VPN is?

By: Andy M

Andy M — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:35:34 +0000

Reasonable article on the Mac for business use. I'd add that if you're a
dedicated Outlook user, there is no good equivalent solution on the Mac.
Entourage is not the same and, in my experience, is slow; the Apple apps like
Mail, iCal, AddressBook, fall short (and iCal is slow if there is a lot of
data in it). Having to use something like Parallels and then Windows on top of
that, and Outlook on top of that can be fast enough (I hear), but needlessly
complex. That's why I just moved back to the PC from the Mac, and my life now
has less stress because I'm not dealing with Apple's flashy but limited apps.
Regards,
Andy