The Story Of The University Chancellor Who Kept Macs At School

The TCU Daily Skiff ran a report about TCUis (Texas Christian University) computer situation that we think will be of interest to Mac users everywhere. The story is about how the universityis chancellor, Michael Ferarri, reversed an effort that under way to rid the school of Macs. From the article:

English department chairman David Vanderwerken, who attributes an increase in Mac users to Ferrariis personal preference, said his department has an equal number of Macs and IBM-compatible computers.

Ferarri said students have needs and preferences for both Mac and IBM-compatible computers, so both platforms are needed at the university. "When I came to TCU, I emphasized that we should have and would have a multi-platform environment for computing on our campus," Ferrari said.

Rinewalt said the computer science department switched to platform-neutral Java software, which runs on both computer platforms, three years ago. "We emphasize developing software rather than just learning it," he said. "So itis essential to us that our graduates have exposure to every platform, because thatis what theyill have to deal with when they get out in the real world."

Richard Bonner, a sales development executive at Mac, said the company has had a rebirth since the iMac, a desktop computer, was released and Steve Jobs became CEO in 1998. Bonner said faster speed, lower prices and innovative technology have helped to increase the popularity of Macs. "Macs are more user-friendly," he said.

We will assume that Mr. Bonner works for Apple, since there is no company called "Mac" that we know of. There is more information in the article, and aside from not very good writing, itis a good read.