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The Back Page - Newspaper Columnist: No Sympathy For Teachers Losing Macs
by - December 1st, 2004
Rich Brooks of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has no sympathy for teachers who are protesting the local school board's decision to replace its Macs with PCs running Windows. We know this right from the get-go of his latest column, titled "The Mac attack: No sympathy here for teachers polishing Apples."
At issue is a decision by the Sarasota, Florida school district to replace several thousand Macs with Windows PCs.
It seems that though Mr. Brooks has never used a Mac, though the local teachers who actually have to teach local students say they need those Macs, and though the closest thing to Mac experience he has is a near-miss with buying a Mac five years ago, it's obvious to him that schools should be running Windows.
Why?
"With PCs locking in 97 percent of the market," he writes in his column, "deciding what kind of computers to use in a school system is a no-brainer."
That's the lemming argument writ large.
He also talks at length, and in ignorance, about compatible software, the importance of floppy drives, and the fact that it was more important for schools to match what businesses used, than it was for parents to buy the computer their kids use in school.
Opining with the wit of a broken 2 x 4, he notes:
Thinking back to that initial meeting in the high school library [with a teacher who recommended I buy a Mac], I see now that for all their postulating about technology, the teachers really didn't understand its applications in the educational environment.
Sure, they could write programs, create Web sites and surf the Internet, but they didn't realize that computer technology is a tool to use at home and school.
That's right, it's the teacher who doesn't understand the role of a computer in education, while Mr. Brooks, in all his righteous ignorance, does.
The Mac platform has come a long way in recent years, especially in terms of perception. Mac OS X, the G5 processor, the iMac G5, the Xserve, Virginia Tech's System X supercomputing cluster, and even the iPod have all contributed to make the Mac less of the odd-man out.
While it's true that Apple has lost market share during the course of all those events, the fact is that the Mac user base has steadily grown, more developers have come to the platform, and more people than ever are apparently considering buying a Mac.
Accordingly, I find it a tad disheartening, if unsurprising, that ignorance such as Mr. Brooks' thrives in the midst of that environment.
So be it.
In the meanwhile, a couple of our forum members wrote to Mr. Brooks, and this was his (apparently) carbon-copy response to them:
Like most Mac users who wrote to me, you missed the point.
Macs may be superior to PCs in many ways, but the fact that two versions of the same programs are needed to share files makes it for me. The school district must maintain two separate platforms to accommodate Macs and PCs. It's expensive and unnecessary when one considers that Macs have only a 3 percent share of the home computer market.
I said it before, and I stand by it: the decision to phase out Macs and replace them with PCs is a no brainer.
Yeah, and you're still wrong, Mr. Brooks.
If you want to write him yourself, you can get his e-mail address at the end of his two-page column. I'd post that address here, but IMNHO, you shouldn't write him unless you read first hand what he said. I would also advise anyone writing him to be respectful, or at least courteous, as the drubbing he deserves will fall on deaf, or ignored, ears.
began using Apple computers in 1983 in a high school BASIC programming class. He started using Macs in 1990 when the Kinko's guy taught him how to use Aldus PageMaker, finally buying a Power Computing Power 100 in 1995. Today, Bryan is the Editor of The Mac Observer, and has contributed to the print versions of MacAddict and MacFormat (UK).
You can send your comments directly to him, or you can also post your comments below.
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Observer Comments
Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:57 pm Subject: Check yourself
Macs aren't overpriced as the myth goes. What some people fail to realize is the Mac doesn't play in the sub $1200 - $1000 market. The eMac is their best offering in the low end market. Which is a good computer in it's own right, but only a have hearted attempt in the tight low end market.
Should Apple be in that market with more of an effort? That's a debate for another day.
Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:03 pm Subject: my letter, FWIW
+
I wrote to Rich Brooks on Monday morning, but never did receive even a boilerplate reply. I'm pasting in that email in its entirety for the benefit of Guest #1 and others who come here with opinions on the Mac that may have once been true, but certainly are no longer true. I'm also pasting it in for anyone with questions of Mac compatibility in the modern-day Windows-run corporation (where I work -- happily -- on a Mac). TMO, if this is too long let me know:
+
Mr. Brooks,
I'm writing in response to your "Mac attack" article. I'm sure by now you've heard from a number of Macintosh users, many
of whom, no doubt, have been downright hostile in their response. I'm also a Mac user, and while I share in the passion
common to all of us who use Macs, I promise to keep this reply cordial.
My main concern is the number of fallacies in your article, the most important of which concerns compatibility with Windows
PCs. In the business world, of which I am a part, the most commonly-used software is Microsoft Office: Word for
documents, Excel for spreadsheets, and PowerPoint for presentations. Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU)
publishes Office:mac 2004, the Macintosh version of Microsoft Office. All files creates in Office:mac are 100% compatible
with Windows Office software. Believe me, as the lone Macintosh user in a worldwide corporation of 1000+ people, I rely on
this compatibility every day. As the manager of corporate communications, I've created countless documents in Word that
are routinely opened by Windows users. I've created hundreds of PowerPoint presentations for senior management,
including our founder, chairman, and CEO, that are presented on Windows laptops. I manage our budget in Excel, and
routinely share an Excel workbook with our marketing communications coordinator. As software goes, Office is the
cornerstone of business workflow today. And despite my being on a Mac, I am seamlessly integrated into this workflow.
As a brief aside, note that the Macs of 5 years ago -- those your son used in school -- bear little resemblance to the Macs
of today. Several years ago, Apple unveiled a revolutionary new operating system, named OS X. Based on BSD UNIX, the
operating system has gone through a number of improvements. It's current version, OS X 10.3 Panther, is considered the
most stable, virus-free operating system in existence. And it's also the most compatible Mac OS ever, when it comes to
integrating with Windows. But don't take my word for it. Instead, read what The Wall Street Journal has to say on the subject:
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20031023.html
Let's address compatibility again. The company I work for, II-VI Incorporated, uses Windows for our corporate computing
network. Printer access, email, file sharing...it's all Windows. Yet my Mac integrates seamlessly with it, simply by plugging in
an Ethernet cable. The compatibility issues I've had with using a Mac in an all-Windows environment are absolutely zero. I
couldn't manage corporate and marketing communications for a worldwide organization if there were any compatibility
issues.
The above addresses Mac and Windows compatibility; again, when using typical business software, there are no
compatibility issues. Now I'd like to address the benefits of using a Mac. For starters, let's talk market share. Your article
states that PCs have 97% market share. That's true, but only when looking at all computers being used in all fields. There
are certain fields, however, where the Mac not only dominates, but is practically a requirement for entry. Nowhere is this
more prevalent than in the "content creation" fields: graphic design, multimedia, video production, website design, etc. In
these fields that Mac is the undisputed leader.
I create all of II-VI's print advertisements, and submit them electronically to technical journals in the fields of metals
fabrication, laser optics, and opto-photonics. Many of these high-tech publications recommend that all advertisements
submitted electronically be created on a Mac. Some explicitly state they cannot guarantee output from Windows PC files.
And some refuse to even accept files created on a Windows PC.
There are a number of reasons -- very technical reasons -- for this. Font, or typeface management, is one. However, the
most important is color management -- the ability to reproduce on paper the exact same colors seen on a computer screen.
This requires a high level of calibration between a computer's operating system, graphics software, and hardware, to re-
create an image initially displayed on a screen in the RGB color palette -- exactly -- using the ink-and-paper CMYK palette.
Color
management in Windows is a nightmare. On the Mac, it's extremely easy using Apple's ColorSync technology. To understand
how much the Mac dominates the field of print, just look at the equipment list of Copy Craft printers, one of the nation's
largest offset presses:
http://www.copycraft.com/equipment.html
Yes, that's 90 Macs versus 15 PCs...so if any high school student considers a career in the creative commercial arts, by your
own market-share logic, it's a no-brainer: Use a Mac. That's why the 135-member in-house creative department at Staples
relies on an all-Mac workflow:
http://www.apple.com/pro/design/staples/
That's why Reader's Digest relies on Macs (especially for color management):
http://www.apple.com/uk/pro/design/readersdigest/
Macs are also being used more and more in the fields of science:
http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/cellsignaling/
....and even supercomputing:
http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/story/0,10801,96933,00..html
Enjoy the Star Wars Trilogy DVD Extras? Thank the Mac:
http://www.apple.com/pro/video/levacurren/
The list could go on and on. However, my point is this: Macs are not only 100% compatible with Windows in terms of
everyday computing use -- including using 100% identical CD-ROM formats, so I can burn CDs and hand them out to my
Windows-using co-workers -- but they are also better suited to certain fields, especially content creation.
I build websites for II-VI, including this one for our core business unit:
http://www.iiviinfrared.com
On it you'll find a number of publications in PDF format, all created on a Mac:
http://www.iiviinfrared.com/pdffiles.html
Could I create publications that well on a PC? Not a chance.
Macs and PCs may be compatible, but they are not equal. In every way, Macs are better: Virus-free, truly plug-and-play, and
feature-for-feature (despite popular opinion) even less expensive than Windows PCs:
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/Macintoshes-Are-More-Expensive-Right-38083.html
Your article, unfortunately, continues to perpetuate myths about the Mac that are ill-informed at best, completely false at
worst. From your claim that Macs and PCs can't share the same disks (untrue: I share CDs all the time with Windows users),
to files and work created on a Mac not easily being transferred to Windows (untrue: see previous comments about Microsoft
Office), to "That process of copying projects and files to a floppy disk and using the stored files at home and work is similar
to what happens millions of times a day at offices throughout the world." (untrue: does anyone use floppy disks in 2004?
CDs and USB keyring drives are what we use, and both are Mac/PC compatible, so when a senior VP hands me his USB drive,
I know it will work just fine. Oh...Apple invented USB, FWIW), to the market-share argument meaning its a "no-brainer" to
use Windows (untrue: it depends on what field one is interested in pursuing), your article falls far short of journalistic
accuracy.
I say again, the Macs of today, running OS X, are far different than those of five years ago. Do a little research, and you'll see
for yourself. They are wonderful, stable, powerful, virus-free computers easily integrated with any number of Windows
machines. And despite their overall small market share, they continue to dominate many professions, including mine.
Sincerely,
Michael R. McKinney
Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:13 pm Subject: never required
I've never been required to work on a PC at any of the companies that I've worked for, nor have they been available for me to use.
It's silly to think that you need to use constantly Windows to prepare for the furture. Learning Windows takes a few hours, so does learning to use a Mac (perfecting... now that's another story) After that, everything's pretty similar from a user standpoint, except for the aggrivation caused by Windows.
Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:17 pm Subject: How much are they really going to pay?
First there is the up front costs of the PCs -v- the Mac. Since the eMac is a rather good value the schools are going to be spending $7 million dollars to dump the Macs - money better spent on new books, lab equipment, repairing school buildings - all those trivial things that $7 million could pay for.
Then there is on-going support costs. Do they really believe that the Macs are more expensive?
Let's not even mention the teachers? They are trusted to teach our kids for 12 years, but a guy who has never used a Mac doesn't trust them to be able to evaluate which tools are best to HELP them teach their kids?
So the schools are gong to increase their IT budgets - maybe they can drop art, music and, say, chemistry in order to pay for all the addition costs they will be facing - now and in the future.
In terms of an eMacs cost, by the way, compare it to the cheapest PCs they will be able to find with the cheapest components available. Know which is going to last longer and have a lower annual costs? That is a no brainer.
For the general public, recent stats show that the average PC sold cost about $630. How far away is an eMac with an educational discount? Again, a no brainer for people that can get over the ancient saying that Macs are too expensive.
It looks to me like Rich is either totally out of it, or RC's relative.
"Oh...Apple invented USB, FWIW" - No, they didn't. Nor were they the first to release machines with USB - many PC motherboards had USB ports before the Mac did... they just weren't used.
What Apple did was deliver a machine where USB use was (1) mandatory and (2) ubiquitous, thus kick-starting market adoption.
You might be confusing USB with IEEE1394 / "FireWire", which Apple did invent.
We need to prepare future worker drones to use PCs that are prone to virus, worms, and crashes, so yes students should use Wintel systems in schools. Heaven forbid we should have a workplace with reliable PCs. I was going to use "prole" instead of "drone", but prole is so 1984
Sidebar - I used Sherlock to check the definition of "drone" and this was one of the definitions:
"drone
n. Ignorant sales or customer service personnel incomputer or electronics superstores. Characterized by a lack ofeven superficial knowledge about the products they sell, yetpossessed of the conviction that they are more competent than theirhacker customers. Usage: "That video board probably sucks, it wasrecommended by a drone at Fry's" In the year 2000, their naturalhabitats include Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, and CompUSA."
Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:52 pm Subject: He's absolutely right!
The decision to phase out Macs and replace them with PCs really is a no brainer. However, for those of us who actually do use our brains, we'll realize this is an extremely bad decision.
If it's too expensive for a school district to support both Macs and PCs, here's an intelligent decision: phase out PCs.
Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:43 pm Subject: No brains education / USB
"Macs may be superior to PCs in many ways" he is quoted writing in a response (acknowledging PC's are second rate in many ways) and then continues to argue that PC's are the way to go in education.
He actually argues that in education there's no need for the best equipment, second rate will do just fine.
That is indeed a "no brains" argument.
BTW, Intel invented USB, Apple invented the market for it. The statement was not all wrong .
Paul.
Quote"With PCs locking in 97 percent of the market," he writes in his column, "deciding what kind of computers to use in a school system is a no-brainer."
The key factor in his view is "97% of the market". Simply arguing that Mac is superior (virtually virus free, stable, lower TCO, it-just-works) or dominance in certain fields or more suited for education do not diminish the "97% of the market" implication. We need to come up with a substantive counter-argument.
One argument is the platform of choice in the future office. However, that platform could be Linux not Mac, unless we can prove that future office applications are very graphics and multimedia intensive.
Another argument is that the platform of choice in the home is Mac because home entertainment/digital lifestyle applications run very well on Mac. Some figures on Mac market share in this segment would be helpful. Halo effect would help a lot in this positioning too. This position means school should have both Mac and PC coexisting.
Any views on how to counter the 97% marketshare implication?
Noticed that this is the only argument that SJ had not knocked down. Arguments like Apple will soon be history, Mac is too expensive, there are not many applications for Mac, hard to fit in a Mac in a Windows dominated environment, ... are no longer valid anymore.
Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:08 pm Subject: Letters to the Editor
QuoteNom wrote:
"Oh...Apple invented USB, FWIW" - No, they didn't. Nor were they the first to release machines with USB - many PC motherboards had USB ports before the Mac did... they just weren't used.
What Apple did was deliver a machine where USB use was (1) mandatory and (2) ubiquitous, thus kick-starting market adoption.
You might be confusing USB with IEEE1394 / "FireWire", which Apple did invent.
actually, as my memory serves, apple did play a role in inventing USB (it may not have been as big a role as FireWire or even Fibre, but apple did play a role in the invention process)
My favorite is how numbers dont add up-- especially since Windows holds 97% of the market, apple holds 3% of the market and no one ever uses any *ix system... but that is just being nit picky
it is unfortunate, but the district i am a product of recently switched to the wintel world, and here is the percentage breakdown. at any given time, 40% of the computers are in operating condition (they dont have the money for an IT budget, and only have one person on IT staff). No class can go into the ocmputer lab, and not have to double or triple up on computers. since IT is spending all her time fixing busted computers, teachers are on a troubleshooting by comittee basis, so if something happens with the software, the teacher had better know how to fix it.
on top of this, because they had never needed a serious IT budget with the macs, every teacher was given one of these. out of the box, maybe 20% of the computers worked. my dad who teaches there, gave that winbox away and rescued a couple of the all in one unit G3's. he currently has running in his room two apple ][ gs's, three unit G3's and a performa 6xxx with no problems.
i have had to use windows because i have been away from my mac. i loathe every minute of it. as a math major, i need symbollic operators and when i can simply press option-b to get ? or option-, or option-. for ?? then my life is made infinitely simpler. there is so much built into the keyboard on a mac (just open key caps and press option to see) that they are designed for education.
¿Qué usted piensa?
TRO
Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:41 pm Subject: Low Mac Market Share Leads To Further Decline
Wed Dec 01, 2004 10:03 pm Subject: Lets get a real reality check
I wish someone would sponsor a real survey of home computer use. It would not be that hard, and it would cost next to nothing (except for time) for someone with one of those flat rate monthly long distance phone plans.
Starting with a survey question list, and the first 50 "smiths" in the phone directory for each state, call and find out what computer people actually use (not just have collecting dust) at home and at work. Get 10 responses from real computer users per state --500 responses in all.
It would actually give a real world computer use statistic that we could all use in these arguments. My own personal experience is that about 1/4 of the people I bump into use a Mac.
"It's expensive and unnecessary when one considers that Macs have only a 3 percent share of the home computer market."
This is not quite right. Macs have a 3% share of ALL computers sold, not just home computers:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2002/07/03/marketshare/
Apple has a higher percentage of the home market...
Nice, we now have some indications of Apple marketshare in the home market.
However, I would like to make an alternative way to estimate market share in America.
From Jan-Sep 04, Apple sold 1321 to Americas + 244 via retail making a total of 1565. Assuming the retail is of similar ratio of America/other i.e. 2/1, then total sales in Americas = 1321 + 244*2/3 = 1484. Assuming the same sale momentum then total sales for 2004 is 1484x4/3 = 1979.
If education is 10%, then consumer market share is 1.979*0.9/26.4 = 6.7%
If education is 20%, then consumer market share is 1.979*0.8/26.4 = 6.0%
If I use your estimate of 655 for Oct-Dec 04, then the figure would be (1484+655)*0.9/26.4 = 7.3% and 6.5%.
Ok, I reckon we can safely say is about 6-8%.
We can revisit these numbers when we have the actual figures for Mac sales.
Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:03 am Subject: Re: Market Share vs Computers in Use
QuoteThat is what we are computing. 6-8%.Anonymous wrote:
I wonder what the numbers would be if you factored out all computers sold for non home use?
As for installed base (computers still in use), should be around 10-12%.
Marketshare is more important than installed base because usually new computer buyers tend to buy more new software as opposed to existing computer users.
Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:10 am Subject: What took RC so long?
I thought he would be on this one sooner.
As for market share (RC isn't interested in profitability) Apple is selling every computer they can make while Intel has warehouses full of unsold chips. The big question of the day is which PC companies will be out of business in 2010. Not the ones that are the fastest to copy Apple's innovation - following the leader is rather important in this industry . . . just ask MS.
I agree with his comment on supporting two platforms. The only thing RC doesn't understand is that Macs in schools really don't need support - they can just get a Mac lover to help out now and then. It's the PCs that require the big support dollars.
Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:41 am Subject: What I wrote in my spare time...
Dear sir,
While more talented people would give better arguments, I'd really like to give you some of my opinions on your mac-pc arguments in education...
1) If you really want to think about the future, all school systems should be Unix or Linux. Since Macs are Unix, there's no change necessary.
2) One of the real costs when having multiple computers is maintenance and keeping them clean. Go look at the amount of known virusses and worms on the mac: zero.
3) Since you don't know the mac, you really should go to an apple store and sit down a couple of minutes before judging windows better suited in educational environments.
4) In the real world, there's a lot of things we don't necessarily wish upon our children, so talking about the market share of computers in order to choose windows can hardly be the only criteria, especially when you see how many macs are in universities and science labs.
5) And speaking of market share, yes a lot of areas have pc's. but take into account that market share includes also cash registers and dumb one trick ponies. While some areas are almost exclusively mac. just looking at the market share and saying your kids are most likely to end up behind some dumb cash register is not a very positive attitude 
This said I do emphasize with the problems of compatibility. But that's another reason for you to go to an apple store and talk to some people. there's lots of ways to have real compatibility. I have many friends with (virus-ridden) PC's, we exchange lots of materials (I maintain their kid's websites and such), we don't have any problems. And who knows, maybe just maybe you'll find you do want to spend some extra on a mac after all. There must be a reason why teachers, academics, scientists and lots of creative people get frantic when you threaten to take away their mac...
Cordially,
Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:33 am Subject: "Market Share" Should Rule All Educational Decisio
And I thought the purpose of an educational institution was to provide an education. Better start getting rid of all those fringe courses that don't have a large "market share." Those educational "zealots" should just stop going on about providing a diverse education. Who wants to pay the "support costs" of teaching languages other than English? Or history about countries and cultures outside of the USA? Or