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He says "relatively virus free"...

I think that having zero viruses would be better described as ABSOLUTELY virus free.

What about all the Macs in the science industry? Small business? Education? I wouldn't consider those "right brain" industries.

MDN beat me to my point...I will learn to finish the entire article...

"It's difficult to see what's changed since last year"

maybe somebody "asked" him to say that

I work near a Starbucks and I use a Mac. Does that count?

Hmmm.........Starbucks did he say?

Well, i guess in Starbucks they use Windows Systems, therefore having a lot of experience with Macs in the resume won't do the trick in order to get a job.

Oh well, idiocy at is finest.

In my experience, Macs are used and preferred by nearly 50% of NIH-funded biomedical scientists as well as many biotech companies, despite the paltry IT support most institutions and companies give to Mac users.

One could argue that scientists are "right-brain" types, since they must be creative, or that they are just smart enough to avoid Windows whenever possible and independent enough to do so despite the poor support.

well i am not only a left brained student, i am also lefthanded and i own a mac....
So much for research..

"Right-brain students, who tend to major in English, art history, and philosophy, are likely to wind up working at Starbucks anyway and thus are better suited to Macintoshes."

What a snobbish thing to say.

Aren't writers right-brained?

That's the old "Mac are only good for desktop publishing" argument in disguise.

Look closely and you will see different trends:

'All the best hackers I know are gradually switching to Macs.'

and

"What Are the Alpha Geeks Telling us Right Now?
1. They are choosing Mac OS X in overwhelming numbers"

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/29/1818256

Fortune Magazine: "Peter Lewis, write an article on computers, and have it on my desk in ten minutes".

Peter Lewis: "Yes sir".

No-brained students tend to steer toward working for overrated publications writing opinion articles.

"It's difficult to see what's changed since last year."

Microsoft was on-time with their payola check this year?

it's just an indication of the "Circle the wagons "mentality that's starting to take over Windows supporters. They can see the end coming. Microsoft is now the "beleaguered" company. Taking small potshots, insinuating that Microsoft is still the right choice for us "business" leaders, harumph. Expect it to continue as Microsoft supporters see the coming end of their way of life. The fight should start getting ferocious real soon. Expect straight out name calling and slander next spring. Expect the quote. "What's good for Microsoft is good for America, So don't go Mac". to be used in the near future.

On the Windows side nothing has changed except more viruses and spyware. On the Mac side everything has changed. Faster Macs with more standard features and a newer OSX called Tiger. Still NO viruses,NO spyware,NO trojans period.

Well, this would certainly explain the FBI HQ using strictly Mac OS X... or does it? They are just a bunch of philosophers and history students.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/01/28/a_visit_from_the_fbi/

i actually am appalled by Fortune. we have long stopped to measure head sizes and shapes to draw social conclusions, and their deduction from brain activity isn't too far away.
what is next, that i like to wear birkenstock makes me a friggin tree hugger?

but let me get to you on that, i have to make a double grande latte tacco supreme for this lady...

I'm an engineering student and I use a mac. I've found that those who are uncreative and rigid in how they do things are the ones most likely to work at Starbucks after college. If you (pardon the cliche) think outside the box and figure out different ways to do things, whether you're a scientist, writer, or business leader, will succeed.

Oh how I love stereotypes.

Why isn't this writer working in Starbucks?

This is from the previous page:

When shopping for a new laptop, which of the following does not belong on a list of important features and specifications?
a) At least 512MB of RAM.
b) At least 40GB of hard drive.
c) DVD/CD-R/RW combo drive.
d) IEEE 802.11 b/g (Wi-Fi).
e) A beer bong.
Correct answer: (e) a beer bong. An aftermarket upgrade, it can always be added by the student later. The rest are all highly recommended.

This guy thinks he is a comedian.
Furthermore.... the beer bong is NOT optional.

Let's see...
I've been a Mac user since '84. I've used a DOS/Windows based machine only when forced to (which is very, very rarely).
I programmed on a Mac in FORTRAN when the first compiler came out for it (Microsoft FORTRAN [actually Absoft's FORTRAN being marketed by Microsoft as its own -- where have we seen that since?] in '85), developing new analyses methods not available in IMSL, NAG, SPSS or BMDP.
I've done work for the Defense Nuclear Agency and the Department of Energy using Macs.
I did the analysis of the data from a series of experiments I did in '84-'86 on Macs -- the first ever non destructive assay of Plutonium and other transuranic elements (didn't need to see them decay nor did I need to fission the samples off).
I analyzed the effects of nuclear events on the U.S. ICBM systems on Macs. (In the 80s it was 1,000 times easier to get a Mac with a decent TEMPEST rating than a machine running DOS.)
I tested the first real implementation of the U.S. version of the next generation air traffic control systems (ARTS-IIIA) using Macs -- and it was NOT done in the U.S. In the U.S. IBM had the U.S. process totally messed up using IBM proprietary OSes and Windows.
I designed satellites ('90-'04) and specifically designed the first two way link through a satellite (to and from an individual's home) and got the first authorization for that through the FCC in '95 by using Macs.
I did the initial designs and government regulatory submissions for a nuclear based space tug on a Mac ('95-'04).

And I've never worked at Starbucks.

People thinking Macs are for "Right-brain students, who tend to major in English, art history, and philosophy..." is just pure BS.

That guy is quite possibly the biggest jackass ever.

MW few, as in "That guy has very few brain cells left."

How does this turkey know what type of people work at Starbucks? He probably slurps away at gigante double lattes while pecking at his virus ridden Dell, then waddles out to make his report to Microvista.

I think Peter Lewis' inbox is going to be rather full this evening.

"It's difficult to see what's changed since last year"

Except that OSX has got better while Windows has stayed the same...

MW=hundred, as in a hunded reasons why to switch.

Wow. Articles like this are so useful.

At least now I know what that stupid PhD in biochemistry I got is good for.

I feel so misguided for having picked the academic faculty career path.

The phrase "clueless twit" seems appropriate here.

Apart from generalizing (caused by gross ignorance), this paragraph is an old fashioned writing technique designed to sway the audience. In this case he's trying to imply that if you use a Mac, you're not suitable for the business world, you're artsy fartsy, which is somehow less than important.

Perhaps someone should remind this (total) dick just how many accountants and business people have changed the world over the centuries, compared to say artists and philosophers (and in da Vinci's case, artist and scientist.)

Considering it's appearing in "Fortune", should we expect any less? I mean, perhaps the selfish goal of making money and building pathetic monetary empires is more important to these guys, than say, making the world a better place in which to live through art, painting, writing, and to a certain extent, science as well.

ps oh, and of course, some artists get lucky and rich. Just look at J.K. Rowling and her story - she wrote parts of Harry Potter in a coffee shop. And of course, we Mac people know about Delicious Monster too, who also work out of a coffee shop. So, there's nothing wrong with working in a coffee shop, nothing at all!!

A recent series about the Mars lander showed workers at NASA using PowerBooks 4:1 to Windows laptops. If these workers are future StarBucks employees - this is probably why the coffe tastes 'out of this world'.

people! get a whiff, buy a clue! the guy is trolling for HITS and what better way to do it than to write something potentially insulting that'll be linked to a Mac site! those guys are going to have mailboxes full of pissed, angry Mac users many of whom are going to be indignant or REALLY nasty and then he'll respond by either saying "Hey, I wasn't insulting to the Mac platform or community... Look at all the nice things i wrote" or "See! Mac users ARE full of themselves!"

i say ignore the bastid.

No, some writers have NO brain at all.

I actually disagree with this article.

Most mac morons work out of Dunkin' Donuts.

A starbucks barrista is a little sophisticated for these Apple zealots.

Toodles!

"If these workers are future StarBucks employees - this is probably why the coffe tastes 'out of this world'. "

they USED to be Starbucks employees... while they were interning at JPL. once they became full staff and real live rocket scientists they just kept using their Macs.

MW: future
"Get the OS of the 'future' today... available only on Macintoshes."

Answer to Justified,

His brain stem works....

Lewis is an ignorant idiot. dont wast time on his opinion.

Tightly Integrated Gays Engineering Refuse :

TIGERZ GAYZ TIGERZ

I have an MD and an MPA, I am a CEO of a fairly large company, and I think accountants and journalists are clueless. I do frequent Starbucks, and think the company is well run, and its employees are dedicated and fairly loyal. I use a Mac, I have converted many of our machines to Macs, and I haven't heard nary a complaint about viruses, spyware, adware, or anything else.

Given that, Peter Lewis is a putz. More than that, he's a clueless journalist, and wouldn't know how to run a business, including the local Starbucks. He certainly doesn't know crap about computers.

Apparently, writting for Furtune Magazine takes about as much requirements as working at Starbucks.

Amazing.

"Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings."

Hmm...Starbucks must pay pretty well.

Waiting for MS to get Bush to say "The terrorist are using Macs. If you want to be a terrorist, get a Mac. All the rest of us God loving citizens need to use Windows. God Bless America."

Shortly there after... the sheeple will walk like mindless zombies to the nearest best buy or pc store and pick up a windows box.

MW "enough"
as in... Enough is enough... Bush has got to go.

His article is dated 'August 8, 2005' Maybe he lives in the future.

On page 5 of his article, he says, "Apple hasn't updated the iBook in nearly nine months—which means only that the Windows competitors have almost caught up to it. Apple may refresh the iBook ($1,266 for the 14-inch model, same specs) in the near future, but college students who buy one now under Apple's Student Union plan get a discount and a free iPod Mini."

He may want to make sure his facts are straight before making weird comments about Starbucks, Apple, and being right-brained.

From the article:
"Right-brain students, who tend to major in English, art history, and philosophy, are likely to wind up working at Starbucks anyway and thus are better suited to Macintoshes."

What a condescending, insulting, elitist comment. This guy reminds me of some old asshole college professor, who's salary is trumped only by his ego. I'm not sure if this is comment is really class warfare, or some political left-verus-right jab.

What's wrong with gravitating toward an OS that gets out of the @#&*ing way and lets you get to work? Most people have enough to do without their tools working against them.

Peeter Lewis - can you say: bullsh*t? All 7 of the biology research labs I've been associated with have been dominated by Macs. Surely a coincidence, right? Wrong. There may have been one PC somewhere, gathering dust next to the biohazard waste I think it was.

Do you suffer from some sort of pressure (from your boss maybe?) to write distorted articles? "Fortune Magazine - read us, make a fortune." Not.

I'm a graphic artist. I use a Mac. We don't even have Starbucks in Australia, well, not near my home town anyway.

<quote from another article> [Windows Vista] Beta 1 will not be available to the general public, at least in part because it lacks many of the user-oriented features Windows Vista will have when it ships in the second half of 2006, Microsoft officials say. "The whole canvas is not complete," says Greg Sullivan, group product manager in the Windows client division. "We've painted less than half the picture here." </quote>

Canvas? Picture? I thought Mac users where the right-brainers.

I work at Starbucks all the time. I take my PowerBook to Starbucks and work there over lunch and coffee, and then head back to my high-powered international law firm office here in Tokyo. What's wrong with that?

well I work in a hospital and lots of the labs use macs of various types as they are nice asnd reliable etc etc. The main network runs on dell pcs (sorry for using the D word) and the new ones put in less than six months ago are already cluttered with the usual collection of spyware and assorted crap which can still get through corporation sized firewalls. At home I still use a rather elderly imac on OS9.1 (remember that?) It still works perfectly - anyone know any PCs that still run six years down the line?

It's the right brained people who will shape the future. Has anyone ever heard about an accountant who was nominated for a Nobel price?

try using both halves of your brain

Duh, there they go with the right brain left brain stuff, leaving us transrationalist using, uh, Macs with Office.
Best and worse of both spheres.

MDN is right in saying that OS X is unaffected by Windows viruses and glitches. Viruses, 99.9% percent of the time are OS specific. But a Windows glitch is just that. OS X has it's own glitches, albiet they appear lesser and generally aren't of grave consequence. No code is ever perfect, and there is always a "ghost" in the code somewhere. Proof of "glitches" are right on the Apple website, the updates for Panther and Tiger.

Is this guy on drugs or does he work at Starbucks and only moonlight as a tech writer? I have a BSME (mechancial engineering), and an MBA, I don't work at "Starbucks", and I use a Mac. I switched to Mac two years ago because I could either find all of the software I used on the PC for Mac or I could find substitutes.

Macs just make more sense, are easier to use and are not prone to the viruses and nonsense that seems to plague Windows machines. You would think with all of the enginnering resources and intelligent "left brain types" Microsoft must have working for them that they would at the very least be able to write an OS that works as well as OS X. Putting down Mac users rather than attacking the slip-shot work done by Microsoft is a testament to just how little Lewis understands the consumer computer marketplace.

macs are by far the computer of choice in the life sciences. engineering students ofetn need windows for matlab, compsci people might need a windows box for some certain coding progam, but otherwise every other dicipline requires only ms office and the ability to connect to the internet.

accounting, business....? enough already

Please note:

1. The author has the whole left/right thing the wrong way round. Left hemisphere dominance indicates a tendency towards mathematics, logic, language, and other abstract and symbolic concepts (the left hemisphere is the seat of Wernicke's and Broca's areas). Right hemisphere dominance indicates improved awareness of spatial relationships. Engineers and artists are usually right-hemisphere dominant, whereas mathematicians and politicians are usually left-hemisphere dominant.

2. All of the above only applies to men. Normally, women don't specialise these faculties into different hemispheres of the brain (they don't have Wernicke's or Broca's areas).