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[Dr. Steed]

Hey, all;

Posting this here as it's the "talk about whatever" part of the forums that's most likely to be read by everyone.

I have a job opportinuty in northern NJ. My company needs an Apple/Mac field-technician for on-site residential and small-business work. Must be available 9-5, M-F. Must reside in NJ state and be able to drive to client locations (reimbursement for fuel is available).

If you're a Mac tech in NJ looking for a new gig, or know of one such person, drop me a line at adam.parnau@gmail.com.

Thanks.


Addendum: Just FYI, we mainly operate out of the Morris/Union/Essex County area.

[`_100003005030 (Zero)]

Macs need techs?

(Ducks under table)

Linda

[Salvius]

Macs need techs?

(Ducks under table)

Linda

Not very many of them. I always like to recount the story of Dillon Read's Equity Research Department during the years 1992 - 1996. I took care of a department of 30 people, including Equity analysts and their assistants using Mac SE/30s which were then upgraded to Mac IICIs. I did this by myself, on a part time basis because I shared my time among my clients, which also included Scientific American where I am almost full time now.

There was one particular analyst who came into the department in 1996 who was insistent that the Macs should be replaced by PC, and for months he was ignored until the director of the department moved jobs and was replaced by a total asshole who had no clue what he was doing. So the PC-centric Analyst got his way, and I had to help the entire department convert (about 30 Macs) to PCs, including their server.

They also decided that since I was Mac-based (I have far more knowledge of PCs now than I did at the time), that they didn;t need me anymore, so once they were done, my services were no longer needed.

I had occasion to visit them 5 months later in 1997, and discovered that my job of keeping them technologically afloat was taken over by no less than FIVE FULL TIME MIS people, and according to some of my friends in the department, nothing worked anywhere near as efficiently as it did when they had Macs.

So to answer your question seriously, a Mac tech enables Mac users to utilize the wonders of his or her computer in hundreds of ways. A PC tech enables PC users to patch and work around hundreds of problems that do nothing except slow them down in the process of trying to get their job done - at a far more minimal pace than a Mac user.

Hey Windows users, wanna see what you'll be doing in three years? Get a Mac tomorrow.

>>>Vinny

[Fox McCloud]

See Alf i told you macs were better!!!   

[GM John]

Well my mileage most definitely varies.  

The one Mac I have likes to freeze up after running an hour in a way no PC ever has: the only way to turn it off is to unplug it and wait for the laptop battery to run out.  Even closing the laptop doesn't turn off the screen, so it would heat up terribly if I left it that way.

Unlike with PC's I have never been able to figure out how to get it (or any other Mac) to do anything on my own, I've always needed Geoff's or Vinny's help.  But with PC's I can function way better than the average office jockey, fixing them, modifying them, figuring out why they're doing what they're doing, and generally operating like the brilliant guy the not-so-tech-savvy people keep telling me I am.

And just yesterday I was in a photographer's study as he was trying to get his expensive Mac to recognize his expensive printer.  The one it always recognized before.  

So, as much as I love their new commercials on a humorous and artistic level, they really make me mad when they say "it just works" and then show the PC freezing up as if Macs don't.

I know it's all just personal experience, but whenever I'm around Macs they have more problems than PCs do.  

Maybe I'm a MacJinx.

[Socket]

From my expirience, it all depends.  Most of the PCs I take care of at work end up slow, clogged with spy/malware, freeze and crash randomly, and all manor of other problems.  And almost all of these problems are caused by the users (these are the kinds of people who call in to say that they don't understand why they can't send an email to a fax number).  My personal PCs don't end up this way, but I'm not an average user.

The Macs I take care of at work, 90% of the time need absolutely no attention what-so-ever.  There are a few that have crapped out repeatedly (fairly new dual core G5s) that continue to amaze me and everyone in the graphics department.  My ex's iPod has crapped out at least 4 times in the last year.  She recently went to an Apple store and they gave up and handed her a brand new one.

My ex's dad was always calling me to fix his PC.  It would be slow, stupid, and pretty much anything that could go wrong did.  When we replaced the last of the older G4s at work, I kidnapped one for him, set him up with all the software he could need, showed him how to do his basic stuff and didn't get a call for a couple months.  Then he called and said "its too confusing, so I went and bought a PC".  Apparently the only real issue he had was trying to do video chats over one IM client or another (the video feed was jerky and he didn't have sound).  I blame that one on a poor internet connection, but who ever listens to the sys admin?

So I'd say it really comes down to: PCs break because users are dumb; Macs break because of random quality controll issues.

Actually, now that I think about it, replace "PCs" with "Windows PCs" above.  I have yet to have an issue with a Linux PC once its running.

[GM John]

So I'd say it really comes down to: PCs break because users are dumb; Macs break because of random quality controll issues.

Now THAT explains a lot.  I don't have problems with PCs because of my lack of stupidity, and the problems I have with Macs, being greater than zero, stand out by comparison.

Still, when they say they're so easy, why can't I figure things out?  "So easy a child can do it" shouldn't mean that ONLY a child can do it...

[Dr. Steed]

Another grenade lobbed in the ongoing Mac/PC war.

Having used and supported both, I have certain issues with each - both in use and in maintenance. I respect both PCs and Macs, though each has its own niche.

In terms of use, my experience is that Macs are not as well suited to software development (primary experience is C / C++) or gaming as PCs. PCs, on the other hand, aren't nearly as good as a Mac when it comes to multimedia development. If I'm coding, I want a PC. If I'm doing A/V work, I want a Mac. If I'm gaming, I kind of *need* a PC (not Mac's fault - mainly that I've seen a lot of software houses shy away from Mac porting to take more advantage of PC deployment).

In terms of maintenance in software, Mac has the lead - simply because there are infinitely fewer malware issues with a Mac. Basically, Windows sucks.

In terms of hardware work, PCs are king. If I want to refit a PC, I can buy anything I want from anybody I want, open the case with a screwdriver, plug stuff in, and it just works once the drivers are installed. Macs, on the other hand, are a closed hardware system (or were, until Intel got into the Mac game - more on this once I actually work on a Mactel machine). ONLY Apple makes the hardware, which means your incremental upgrade path with a Mac is severely stunted, as opposed to the open standard of PC x86 architecture. And common varieties of Macs are not user-servicable, requiring breaking into the chassis (iMacs) or using a special case-cracking tool (a lot of the PowerPC variants I've seen) to even open the box. As a hardware guy, I hate that - I can't stand it when a company goes to such lengths to keep me away from the hardware. I buy a Dell machine, I unscrew one screw, push a tab, and I'm in - 10 seconds flat. With a Mac, I have to hope that either it's a screw-in non-sealed machine, or that I happen to have a slim-jim (the tool, not the snack) to crack it open.

But I'm mainly talking hardware archietectures here. In hardware, Macs are superior for media processing, if you don't mind having a "black box" computer. PCs are superior for ease of maintenance and upgrade, so long as you don't mind your machine being "good at a bunch of stuff, expert at nothing". It just depends on where your priorities are.

But now we get into software - the operating system.

OK. Windows is crap, but it's highly available crap. Most software apps are built for Windows, meaning your Windows toolkit will be larger by default. You can do more with Windows, but not as well.

Mac - again - is a multimedia system. I haven't played with OSX yet (I know it's based on BSD UNIX, which earns a TON of respect in my view, but I don't know it personally). My main problem with MacOS is that it keeps you away from the "bare metal" of the system. Even in Windows, I can get an unrestricted command-prompt and do things that aren't supported by the GUI. In MacOS 9, no such animal - you're constrained to the interface that Apple provides for you, and can only go outside that if you're a master wizard (like Vinny, the best Mac op-tech I've ever seen).

Linux, the "third child" of the OS world, is my preference. It does everything equally well, is completely non-specialized, and can be learned openly (since the software is open-source, anybody can do pretty much whatever they want with it). I like Linux for its stability (the US gov't rates it as the most stable and secure public OS out there, and I've found that to be true in live-use) and it's "hey, I'm an infinitely big toolbox - I can do whatever you want, just plug it in!" modular nature.


So, in summary of my opinions:

Macs - "user-proof" office apps and high-end multimedia work.
PCs - upgradeability, gaming, server-level apps.

MacOS - same as above.
Windows - gaming and expandable office apps.
Linux - server apps, development.

In my ideal world - everyday home-users use Macs, offices use a mix of Macs and PCs as determined by the jobs of the users, and the servers are all PCs running Linux.

[Sinkuu]

GREAT op-ed piece.  two thumbs up, should submit to C|net.  they'd love it.

[Eriska Steed]

Thanks, Sinkuu!

Really - I used to be anti-Mac (as Vinny and Avie will tell you!), but I figured out that each - Mac and PC - are suited to certain tasks. That's the point of my op-ed - figure out what your priorities are, then choose the system that best fits those priorities. Just good ol' down-home engineering common sense.

Not sure about submitting to C-net, though...

[Dr. Steed]

ACK! Sorry about that. The account Eriska Steed is also my account. I play Eriska in the Nexus just as I play Dr. Steed in the Nexus. I have an account for each, and I forgot to change accounts before I posted. Sorry for the confusion. 

[GM John]

Just to be clear, I'm not anti-Mac, as much as it sounds that way.  I'm just anti (John+Mac)

And having been in the photographers studio again yesterday he admitted the problem I mentioned earlier was liekly an Epson problem not a Mac problem.

And Vinny's plusMac field must be strong enough to negate my minusMac field when I pass by the Nexus Computer.