COMPUTERS
OK, I'll wade in to the fray, but remember: These are only my opinions, not Holy Writ -- so don't come flaming my way if you don't like what I'm about to say; if you disagree, post it on your own web site...
John McKernon's Rules for Buying Computers
* Always buy whatever kind of computer your friends have. If they have PC's, buy a PC. If they have Macs, buy a Mac. If you don't have any friends, buy a Mac. The point is, you're going to need advice from time to time, and the ever-so-friendly salesman at Dell Computer or Apple just simply won't be there when you need them -- which is usually around midnight on a weekend, with a light plot & hookup due the next morning. Your friends can be called at 2am to hear your plaintive cries, and they're even available to come over and help you wade through the rough spots.
Now of course, if you don't have friends, you'll want to get a Mac. Why? Because they really truly are simpler to set up, install software on, customize, and use on a daily basis. You won't need your expert friends to wade through the intricacies, because Mac’s really do just work. I’ve wrestled with Windows for years and it’s never been easy. Yes, the Mac has it's own idiosyncrasies, but they're much, much less painful, and when things get really perplexing, you can always see a Genius at the Apple Store. Me, I actually own 3 Windows computers and 2 Macs, but the Windows computers are just for testing Lightwright. My Life is on the Macs.
I guess a good way to look at it is this: If you like COMMANDING your computer and tinkering with funny numbers (much like working on your car's engine), then a PC is a good choice. If you'd rather just get the work done and go out for dinner tonight, buy a Mac.
* Computers always cost $3,000. Why? Because that's the maximum most folks feel they can spend on a computer. Sure, you can always get one cheaper or for more money, but when all is said and done, you'll spend $3,000. What you get for that $3,000 gets better every year, but you'll still spend $3,000. These days that $3,000 can include a printer and software, sometimes not -- but trust me, you'll spend $3,000.
* Portable computers cost $1,000 more than desktop models. For the same horsepower and hard drive capacity, you'll usually spend about $1,000 more for the version in the tiny little portable box.
* Always buy as much RAM as you can possibly afford. Virtual memory is NO substitute for the real thing, and having lots and lots of it really can speed up your system. My PowerBook has 4GB of RAM on it, and I wish I had more --
* Always buy the fastest printer you can afford. The slowest part of producing paperwork can be the actual physical act of printing it, not the hours you've taken to massage every little detail of the information. Yes, inkjets are wonderfully cheap, but the difference between 4 pages per minute and 16 pages per minute can become immediately apparent when the Fedex man is waiting at your door. I have a Lexmark C544N color laser printer, and the way it churns out the paperwork is worth every penny it cost.
* Buy Mail/Internet Order. Yes, the salesman at Computer Heaven was very charming and cute, but as long as you buy from reputable companies such as PC Connection, Mac Connection, or Dell, you'll be fine with internet & mail order. The prices are good, you get your system pretty quickly from most of them, and when it comes time for repairs, they're just as good as anybody else's. If you’re near an Apple store, you can get a feel for the hardware there - and if the model you want is on hand, go for it! Otherwise, go to the online Apple store, where you have more customization options. Software is especially good via mail order and from web sites, particularly for Macs.
* Platform Religion is inevitable. Everybody always likes whatever kind of computer they have better than anybody else's. If they didn't, they'd be miserable, so even if they're struggling along, they'll loudly denounce the other folks' kind just simply out of pride, ignorance, or simple fear of the unknown. And make no mistake about it, they'll scream loud and long. So it's simpler to just avoid the subject. To quote Tom Clancy, "Never ask a person what computer they use. If they're a Mac owner, they'll tell you. If not, why embarrass them?"
Anyway, my livelihood depends on people using both kinds of computers, so no one should feel neglected.
* Some fascinating statistics (from GISTICS, Larkspur, CA via a Seybold Seminar Series in Australia, 1997- all amounts are in U.S. dollars):
Mac OS users, when compared with Windows users:
Spend 38 fewer hours per year fussing with files
Save $4,950 annually on Support & Training
Use more software applications (14.3 vs. 8.3)
Save $2,211 in their computer's 3-year cost of ownership
Earn $5.01 more per hour
Constitute 62% of the top 10% in personal income
Mac OS (vs. Windows) firms:
Earn $12.22 more revenue per hour of labor
Produce $25,550 more in annual revenue per person
Create $14,550 more profits per year per person
Earn 32% more net profit per project
Achieve platform payback in 7.2 months (vs. 13.9)
For an incredibly comprehensive overview of Mac vs. Windows/Intel systems, visit MacKido
CAD PROGRAMS
For years I was known as "the guy who hates CAD". At LDI panels I was always the one who, when asked what I liked about CAD, would reply "Nothing."
Well, thanks to MiniCad (now called Vectorworks), I changed my tune. I did a small plot with it many years ago and found that it really is easy to use -- something I'd never thought possible, and certainly not at a price I could afford. I've always maintained that drafting with a computer should feel the same as drafting by hand, but the computer should be smart enough to help me, not just replace my pencil.
Ken Billington's office had been using Vectorworks off and on for several years and during the Spring of '97 we upgraded the whole office and started using Vectorworks for everything, but I never did any of the real drafting myself until that summer, when we took on a huge theme park project. Over the course of 40 pages of drafting, we gave Vectorworks a thorough workout. Its smart-snap cursor, easy control of line weights, multiple scales on the same page, painless import of scanned images, and good support of fonts and typestyles made it possible to cope with weekly drawing revisions from the architects and our own need to provide ever-increasing amounts of detail without taking our minds far from the design.
Vectorworks Spotlight includes most of the tools you need to make light plots. AutoPlot Tools for Spotlight, by Sam Jones, is a low-cost and essential add-on. Vectorworks is one of the few drafting programs around that understands that a light plot is not the same as an overhead view, so you don't have to deal with the nonsense of having to float lights above the pipes they hang from (as other CAD programs require). Instead, you create symbols filled with white, and the symbol itself blots out the pipe automatically -- no need to trim every pipe to keep it from overlapping the symbols (as in AutoCad).
Vectorworks is available for Windows in addition to the Macintosh, making it a viable cross-platform solution for those of us who live and work in both worlds. And no, I don't own stock in Nemetschek (the folks who create Vectorworks).
MEMORABLE QUOTES
"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the Complete Works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." - Robert Wilensky, University of California
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons" - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." - The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
For people I don't know, I always recommend a PC. They will be forever in need of my services. For family and friends, I always recommend a Mac. They are forever grateful. - Daniel Garceau
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." - Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
"640k ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981
"Most of the shots that we're talking about, which are the space battle shots at the end of the movie, were actually done on a Macintosh, the kind of thing that almost anybody can do." - George Lucas, on the refurbishment of the Star Wars trilogy
"DOS Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq, Tandy, and millions of others are by far the most popular, with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans, on the other hand, may note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans, and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form." - New York Times, November 26, 1991
"Being a Mac user is like being a Navy SEAL: a small, elite group of people with access to the most sophisticated technology in the world, who everyone calls on to get the really tough jobs done quickly and efficiently." - unknown
"As their numbers shrank from 80 to 8, the dwarves began to suspect Hungry." - unknown
"You see, I've found that you can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than you can with just a kind word." - Marcus, "Ceremonies of Light and Dark", Babylon 5, author J. Michael Straczynski
"If I had a dime for every original idea Bill Gates had... why I'd have nothing!" - Christopher Meinck
