“The blood feud of the tech world is the Mac vs. the PC,” Jonathan Blum writes for TheStreet.com. “It’s been decades of fear, loathing and nighttime attacks, duking it out over which computer does what better; but with Microsoft’s fortunes fading and Apple on the rise, it may be time for this little nerd fight to take a cue from Belfast, Ireland: Getting along is now in everyone’s interest.”
“Last week, I had the temerity, impudence and crudeness to recommend a mere PC — in this case an Alienware m5550 laptop — over a comparable Apple product,” Blum writes. “From what I then heard from Apple fans, you’d have thought I was boiling children alive.”
“I’m sure there are other people out there who’ve owned and used more Macs, I have yet to meet them,” Blum writes and then goes through his Apple II – Mac Quadra history and writes, “although I don’t use a Mac at home now, the designers and some of the word shufflers in my shop do; we swear by them. The studio that produces my radio show uses Macs. And I will probably pull the trigger on a new MacPro sometime soon. Given this history, I believe I can safely say I know what Macs do — and what they don’t do.”
MacDailyNews Take: Why is “getting along now in everyone’s interest?” Getting a Mac is in everyone’s best interest, Mr. Blum, you appeaser. The Alienware m5550 laptop cannot compete with a comparable Apple product, as we pointed out after your first ludicrous article. Using Macs up through a Mac Quadra (last model discontinued in September 1994, Mac OS 7.1) is nice, but Blum shows little, if any, knowledge of current Macs running Mac OS X and what they can do, what they offer, and the advantages of today’s Macs over competing platforms that are losing share to Macintosh. If Blum has yet to meet other people who’ve owned and used more Macs, he needs to get out more often.
Blum continues, “Back in the day, Apples really were superior… But alas, those days of Apple’s idiosyncratic greatness are over. Apple is now a mainstream brand. And a rather bland one.”
“Apple products run on the same parts as other computers do: Intel chips, the same displays made somewhere in the Pacific Rim, and similar video cards; they run the same software, such as Microsoft Office, use the same Internet and have the same versions of games like Quake,” Blum writes. “And Apple’s desktop machines, matched with its iLife media tools and proprietary networking standard Firewire, offer the easiest way to build a home media server, other than having a pro installer step in and do it for you.”
MacDailyNews Take: Blum’s ignorance shines through. While FireWire, with the help of software, is nicely-suited for creating ad-hoc computer networks (we use it ourselves), it is much more commonly known and used as a personal computer (and digital audio/digital video) serial bus interface used for connection of data storage devices and digital video cameras. Additionally, Blum gives no evidence that he has ever done much more than read a blurb about iLife on a website.
Blum continues, “Macs are good, even lovely machines. But is Apple the leader of design and performance? Let’s see. In my mind, there is simply no comparison in terms of fit, finish and features for an off-the-shelf Mac to a top-of-the-line custom-made PC like a Voodoo or Alienware — Voodoos come plated in gold, if you want that.”
“For raw design, Macs are nice, but the style is getting weary,” Blum writes. “They’re all the same: rectangles in white or silver or gray. Macs aren’t ugly by any standard, but they’re like a Toyota Avalon or a Lexus. Nice design, gorgeous lines, but if you’re looking for breakout style, a Lexus won’t get you there — and neither does a Mac.”
“So let’s compare the offending Alienware m5550 to an Apple MacBook Pro 2.0 ghz with a 15.4-inch screen,” Blum writes. “For case, finish and screen, both the Alienware and the Apple are on par. The MacPro is a bit lighter, the Alienware has a bit nicer casing and finish.”
MacDailyNews Take: There’s simply no accounting for bad taste. Plated in gold? Come on. That said, if Blum is legally blind while totally lacking the ability to compare and contrast even the most basic features and specs, as we suspect, we apologize in advance.
Blum continues, “As to software, yes, Apples run Apple code and they run Windows, Linux and whatever else. But if you’re getting a Mac to run Windows XP, you’re not making the ideal choice. Apple does have software — Boot Camp and Parallels — that run both XP and Mac OS. But you’ll tie up a ton of hard-drive space to fit both operating systems on a single computer.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hard drive space is consumed by having both Mac OS X and Windows on your Mac, that is a fact. Hey, Blum made a valid point finally! Don’t worry, though, most users will reclaim that lost space once they realize they don’t want or need to boot Windows anymore. Embrace and extinguish works for hard drive space, too.
Blum continues, “The headaches worsen if you’re using Apple computers on a mixed network. In my shop we are, yes, ‘plagued’ by the incompatibilities of file formats, Web-coding standards, delivery specifications and transfer protocols. Apples work great, but trust me, you do not want to share my struggles with a Web page mastered on Safari, or an Apple running on a virtual private network, or getting Apple-specified audio files to work outside of Apple equipment.”
MacDailyNews Take: “Apples?” Spoken like a true Windows sufferer. Macs work great, as any real Mac user will tell you. “Web page mastered on Safari?” Again with the weird phrasing, as if Blum – gasp! – really has no idea about which he writes. We’ve used Macs with several VPNs without incident, although getting your Windows-only IT moron at work or school to help might be a problem. They are the problem, not you or your Mac. “Apple-specified audio files?” More weird phrasing that signals ignorance. Does he mean he’s had codec issues? Blum should do some reading about codecs and use the proper ones for what he’s trying to accomplish.
Blum continues, “For the occasional Windows program running on an Apple, dual-mode Apple solutions are great. But if you’re working with crucial information — like your money — you can be asking for it if you plan to run Windows for an extended period on a Mac.”
MacDailyNews Take: Why? Crickets chirp in Blum’s article as he gives no supporting evidence to back up his statement. A Mac booted into Windows via Boot Camp is just like any other crappy Windows box, albeit in a nicer case. You can contract Windows viruses that threaten crucial information like your money as easily as you can with a Dell. A bit of advice for former Windows-only users who are new to the Mac and wish to dual boot: Use Mac OS X for your crucial information and bank transactions and use Windows for Solitaire until you figure out that there are 50 Solitaire games for Mac OS X.
Blum continues, “Here’s the truth: Apples are just like any other computer. They do some things very well, and other things not so well. Pretending otherwise is just obstinacy.”
MacDailyNews Take: The “truth” from someone who clearly is very shaky on his knowledge of current Apple Macs and who believes a thick, ugly, bathroom-scale-looking laptop from Alienware has “has a bit nicer casing and finish” than an Apple MacBook and/or MacBook Pro (and/or PowerBook G3 circa Feb. 2000, for that matter) is worthless. Apple Macs do many things very well, and does other things just merely better than Windows. Pretending otherwise is just ignorance. Blum needs to get his Mac Pro and finally use Mac OS X for awhile before banging out his next mess for TheStreet. (And don’t blame Apple if the compatibility issues you encounter are roadblocks thrown into the mix by Microsoft; divorce yourself from websites that stipulate “IE-only,” ignore services that cater to “Windows-only,” and learn how to use your Mac to beat Microsoft’s proprietary “tech” that’s designed to keep Windows users shackled to Windows.)
Blum continues, “In the new world of a rising Apple, the company, and its enthusiastic fans — you know who you are — need to take a cue from your own marketing. Think different, not ‘better.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Mac is better than a Windows PC in too many areas to list. The day we follow some ignorant, tasteless hack’s advice on how to think is the day we switch from Mac to Windows.
Related articles:
Writer: Alienware PC ‘not limited by lack of software and other issues that plague Apple computers’ – October 10, 2006
More Microsoft money well spent. Them guys sure know how to make a writer happy. Does ANYONE have any idea how much of the “vig” they spread around to writers in a year?
looks like a plastic peice to me.
Isn’t this a repeat? Sure I’ve read this same grabage a week ago.
“Apple products run on the same parts as other computers do: Intel chips, the same displays made somewhere in the Pacific Rim, and similar video cards; they run the same software, such as Microsoft Office, use the same Internet and have the same versions of games like Quake,”
Yes but it’s the way they do it that makes all the difference.
Anyone that thinks that tacky P.O.S. is better looking than a MacBook Pro certainly deserves to have one I would say. The dude can’t help it that he has no taste (or brains).
I think the Toyota/Lexus comparison is valid. The current Mac lineup is less “Wow that’s cool” and more “Ahhh, yes” in style. If I were a zit faced teen, I too would find them pretty boring.
When he said that Mac design is not the best, i stop reading his article. Clearly he is just plain idiot or blind.
When he wakes up and smells his laptop battery burning, that might snap him into reality. Power, Elegance, Style – APPLE. He just wanted to get his article looked at a few times.
Once again, “It’s the OS, stupid!” He’s fishing for hits, of course.
I tried to like the Alien computer — but it still looks like a pair of mail-order bathroom scales.
Clunky hinges too.
Monster Truck or Porsche?
Which one has more “power”?
Which one would you rather be seen driving around town?
I’ll take the Porsche/ Apple.
When I read the Lexus comparison, all I could think of was, “Of course, Macs work well.”
If Macs are the Lexus, what’s the PC? a yugo?
Or is he saying some PCs are like Aston Martins (gold plated?)
And what does “break-out styling” have to do computers? Yes, you want them to look good. But computers are a tool to get work done. And Macs seem to be the Snap-Ons of the computer world.
“Clearly he is just plain idiot or blind.”
No, he is an idiot AND blind, at the very least. How does crap like this get into print int the first place? Are there no editorial standards at all? A bloody waste of pixels if you ask me!
He just has a tacky sense of taste. Gold-plated laptops? Fins (I don’t even know what word you’d use to describe that monstrosity on the back of the alienware case)?
It’s just that people in that category of taste don’t see the beauty of simplicity and elegance. They probably listen to whiney emo boy bands over Mozart, too.
The guy is an idiot. He stopped using Macs at OS 7 and thinks he actually knows something about today’s Macs. What a moron.
Oh, and he’s a terrible writer. Just brutal. I have written better researched editorials in my past and I’m an engineering student.
Nothing to see here.
Earning a living by being bought off to say what someone else wants just for the money makes the guy a tart.
Apart from a few pimply, games playing teenage games enthusiasts, and the odd Russian mafia oligarch with really bad taste no-one will believe him for a second..!
Alienware computers do have a unique look to them. Although, that look appears to be along the same lines of the people who want blue neon lights on the bottom of their car. Sure it might look cool to some people but to other people it comes across as a bit tacky. Apple is all about simplicty and clean lines. The thing about the clean lines is that it never gets old. The woman’s simple black dress is a classic and never gets old much like the mac. Sure, there are variations but you can never go wrong with it.
LastOneStanding, I agree, this “new” article sounds like a repeat flamebait article. He is simply repeating what he said, trolling for Mac advocates’ reactions. Funny that he refers to Mac advocates as “obstinate.” I can hear him now: “It is too good looking, and I’ll keep repeating that until you agree with me.”
Seems to me he has missed the important point: this so-called “design” from AlienWare and others has been around for a while, even Dell has tried to create a cool segment of computers, and when that didn’t work, who did they buy? If this was really good “design” it would win real awards. But it is different, and as another poster pointed out, it may well be that teens want something that looks like a bad prop from Battlestar Galactica. Fine, they can have it. But to say that such “idiosyncratic” design should be a goal is sheer nonsense, and the markets and customers are proving it.
it’s like saying Scandinavian furniture should look more like country French furniture so it’s more different.
“Voodoos come plated in gold, if you want that.”
Yo, I want dem with 20 inch gold rims and low profile Pirellis and some fuzzy dice with dat. More bling blings pleeese!
Peace out.
Lipstick on a pig.
It’s still using Windows….
73H 4L13|\| 1Z R0><><0RZ!!!11!!!
Um, Mr. Alienware Dell Ass, who cares what kind of machines you produce when ultimately, this exists…
Less than 24 hours after release, a vulnerability has already been discovered in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x, “which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose potentially sensitive information,” Secunia reports. “The vulnerability is caused due to an error in the handling of redirections for URLs with the “mhtml:” URI handler. This can be exploited to access documents served from another web site.”
Secunia has confirmed the vulnerability on a fully patched system with Internet Explorer 7.0 and Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and says ther versions may also be affected.
Secunia advises users to “disable active scripting support.”
These Alienware drones crack me up.