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From: peter@aucs.UUCP (Peter Steele)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple Gets Greedier (Read it and Weep!)
Message-ID: <1258@aucs.UUCP>
Date: 19 Sep 88 11:50:15 GMT
References: <10093@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Distribution: na
Organization: School of Computer Science, Acadia Univ., Nova Scotia
Lines: 41

> Hm.  I find that the difference between our Macintosh and PC users is,
> primarily, how much support they need after the initial contact.  On a PC, I
> am constantly getting questions that usually contain the phrase, "I did this
> once but I forgot how to do it and I don't want to look in the manual."  I
> don't usually spend as much time dealing with the Macintosh users.

I find the number of questions I am asked generally has nothing to do with
whether the machine is a Mac or a PC. It depends on the user. Some of my
PC users seem to be very good and after my initial consulting rarely bother
me. I seem to get just about as much consulting on Macs as I do on PCs, and
we have a much larger PC base. I *do* think the Mac is easier to use overall,
but when most of the users only need word processing, Microsoft Word on the
Mac can generate just as many questions as WordPerfect on the PC.

> Second, I find that, now that I have fonts and graphics, I can't live without
> them.

I agree with that, but when new users are shopping for a micro and their
boss tells them they x dollars to spend, the Mac usually doesn't even enter
the discussion. And again, the machine is practically always being used
for wordprocessing, replacing their current typewriter. And even WordPerfect
on a PC is a *whole* lot better than a typewriter.

> I've found that if you give people features and the features are easy to
> access, they'll use them.

Again, I agree, but if the users are new to computers they don't really
appreciate what one system will give you that another one won't. If they've
never had a computer before, a PC will be like gold to them. Granted, if
they got as Mac, they could certainly make use of all the nice graphics
and fonts (and would never go back to a PC once they had a Mac), but when
money decides what they will get, Macs usually do not get considered.
Its even harder when their boss tells them "it's got to be IBM compatible"
because all his friends, colleagues, neighbours, first cousins, etc. have
IBM compatibles...

-- 
Peter Steele, Microcomputer Applications Analyst
Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, Canada B0P1X0 (902)542-2201x121
UUCP: {uunet|watmath|utai|garfield}!dalcs!aucs!Peter
BITNET: Peter@Acadia  Internet: Peter%Acadia.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU