Why We Use Macs
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 09:28AM Our district is asking its residents to pass an operating referendum to support technology this fall. Parents and the business community are the ones who actually proposed that we do a referendum for this purpose, but one question I get asked on a regular basis is: Why are the schools still using Macintosh computers when “the rest of the world is using Windows?” Thoughtful question.
When our district considers what kind of computers to buy for staff and student use, the answer to this question is more complex than just “what kind of computer does the business world use.”
In many ways, the Mac vs. Windows argument reminds me of those debates I engaged in the schoolyard as a boy: “Which car is better - a Ford or a Chevy?” One’s side was generally determined by the brand car one’s father drove, and most discussion was notably light on both facts and logic. Just as either an Impala or Galaxy would get you from point A to point B, whether to buy Macs or Windows is largely a non-issue.
♦ Users can do about the same things with both a Macintosh and Windows computer of similar configuration. Software, not hardware, makes the computer sing and dance. A scan of an educational software catalog and lists of award winning educational software will quickly reveal that 95% of the most popular software is written for both platforms. This happily includes software like Netscape, Explorer, Acrobat Reader, and Microsoft Office. Even the staunchest Mac or Windows fan has to admit that once a program is launched and running, it’s tough to tell them apart on screen. Our district has a policy that we will adopt only “general use” software that runs on both Mac and Windows systems. Even if our schools were sole platform, I believe we’d still keep this policy. Our students’ homes will have a variety of computers for many years.
Plus, we keep kids locked out of the operating systems of both platforms, the one place where differences do remain. We do not want students downloading and installing software, changing desktop configuration, installing printers, etc.
♦ Macintosh and Windows computers of similar configurations usually cost about the same. It’s not hard to buy a cheap computer. It is hard to buy a cheap computer which has enough processing power, memory, drives and goodies like sound cards to run the latest, most hardware-demanding software. Whether buying Mac or Windows machine, we can spend $600 to buy a machine which soon needs an upgrade, or we can spend $1000 for a computer that teachers and students may be satisfied with for a few years.
♦ Macintosh and Windows computers can easily exchange files and both can access information on the Internet. Networking has basically solved the cross platform compatibility problem. Macs and Windows both talk TCP/IP and IPX, so files can zip merrily between them. An AppleWorks or Microsoft Word file created on a teacher’s classroom Mac opens just fine on the student’s Windows machine at home. The HTML page studded with gifs created on a student’s Windows computer at home, once uploaded to a web server (which can be Windows, Mac, OS2 or UNIX), can be read using any properly equipped computer regardless of operating system or brand. CD/DVD and flash drives read both platforms’ media. Common file formats like QT, RTF, PDF, JPEG, GIF, and DBF are available for most applications.
Some reasons we are staying with Macs at present:
1. Adults are more troubled by different operating systems than are kids. Most of us remember the trepidation and difficulty with which we learned how to operate our first computer, so well in fact, many adults are still using their first computer. Our current investment in professional training, materials, software, teacher skill attainment and staff comfort should be carefully considered if we decide to switch operating systems. Staff development, software, and training materials must be factored into the costs of a large-scale adoption of a new platform.
2. Selecting a specific computer or operating system because it’s used in the “real world of business” may not be in the best interest of employers. I’ve had business people tell me that they look for new employees already familiar with the computer system and software their companies currently use. I suggest that this may be dangerous. As an employer, I would certainly want new employees with good computer skills, but I would mostly want them to be technologically comfortable enough to adapt to new systems rather than be dedicated to just a single system. How else will I know how my new employees will react when my company upgrades? As a corollary, schools should give students practice in transferring skills between platforms and programs. A basic understanding of computer literacy is that if you’ve learned to use one computer operating system, word processor, or spreadsheet, you are about 95% of the way home learning any of them. A command might involve a different set of key strokes, the icons might look a little different, or saving a file might involve one more or one less step, but once a person understands concepts like file organization, cutting and pasting, or records, fields and sorts, the details come quickly. I ‘d like District 77’s graduates on the first day of the new job to be able to sit an unfamiliar computer and be able to say, “I’ve already learned two or three operating systems and a handful of word processors and a couple databases. One more is no problem.” And go to work.
Also, many if not most of our students attend post secondary institutions prior to starting their careers. Both South Central College and Minnesota State University have both Windows and Macintosh computers available for student use.
3. Computers should bought keeping in mind the special conditions under which schools use them. An acceptable business machine is not always the best school computer. Look at some of the differences:
♦ Businesses usually have one employee user per computer; school computers may get over a dozen sets of hands banging on them a day. Excellent “control” programs have been developed for the Macintosh operating system to prevent students from destroying files or changing system configurations.
♦ Most business computers run 2 to 4 applications; our school computers run over a dozen to fulfill a K-6 or 7-12 curriculum. Programs are easily installed on Macintosh computers and rarely do two programs conflict.
♦ Business managers in most cases are directive about how employees use their computers; teachers and students are encouraged to be creative and try new things.
♦ Businesses depreciate and replace; schools keep, maintain, and upgrade.
♦ Businesses hire or contract adequate support and maintenance personnel; schools rarely can afford to. Our technicians report that maintenance time for a Windows computer is far greater than for a Macintosh. “Plug and play” has long been a reality in the Macintosh world, and it still is not here just yet with Windows machines.
♦ And finally, Macs are not yet as subject to the wonderful world of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware programs etc. as are Windows machines. There is debate whether this is due to some superiority of the Mac operating system or because there aren’t enough Macs to make writing these programs worth the time or because Steven Jobs is less hated than Bill Gates. I don’t know, but for now I’m glad we don’t have the security problems faced by large Windows implementations.
Schools need computers which give students a variety of experiences, let them practice transferring skills, can be easily secured from the most devious of hackers (7th graders), run demanding multi-media programs as well as let students create multi-media extravaganzas, and require little maintenance or upgrades for at least 5 years. To date, Macintosh computers have done this quite reliably. As long as our district’s curricula emphasizes using computers as productivity tools rather than computing as a subject in and of itself, we are on firm ground using Macs. I have stock in Microsoft, Apple, Dell etc. and most days, I believe I hate both platforms equally!
P.S. Parents often ask me what type of computer they should by for their homes - a Macintosh or Windows machine. My advice is to buy the same kind of computer one’s most computer savvy friend owns. That way when the learning curve gets steep, there will be a ready tow.
Want to weigh in on the Mac vs. Windows debate?
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5 Comments »
You didn’t really mention much about which system networks the best, or if they are easy.
The one thing I have been told, it is hard to network both together.
L.M.27
Comment by librarymonkey27 — October 1, 2005 @ 10:35 pm
Dear Library Monkey, (Like the name)
We’ve not had any difficulty using both Macs and Windows when using either Novell or Microsoft as our NOS. Both “talk” IP, just fine, which will ultimately be the only networking protocol we will need to use. (AppleTalk, IPX, etc. are all going away.)
Doug
Comment by Doug Johnson — October 2, 2005 @ 4:29 pm
good!
o and, do you follow the particular philosophy that iMacs are better for graphics, or do you feel they are on equal ground….
btw, enjoy the blog === even the political meandering
l.m.27
Comment by librarymonkey27 — October 2, 2005 @ 6:04 pm
Thanks, LM.
I do think Macs have the reputation for being better graphics machines, but I don’t have much to base that on other than they seem to be used in an awful lot of art schools and art departments. My sense is that PCs are closing the gap in this area.
Doug
Comment by Doug Johnson — October 3, 2005 @ 8:07 am
The fact that Macs are not subject to viruses, worms, etc. should be buried “finally” at the end of the discussion. Most people don’t realize that Macs have a HUGE advantage in that respect, and it’s valuable.
Comment by Amy Goldsmith — October 23, 2005 @ 11:04 pm
Reader Comments (5)
After swapping email with you re: "Why We Use Macs", I couldn't resist passing the question along re: viruses, etc.
So I sent your reply to someone who has worked at Apple for nearly 20 years, and has done competitive analysis re: Windows.
The reply is below, along with a link to a magazine article, which happened to appear the same day.
- Amy
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Just saw this this morning. Not that this guy is an expert necessarily...
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2005/tc20051024_411392.htm
Hi Amy,
Macs are inherently less vulnerable to viruses than machines running Windows, because the architecture of Mac OS X is inherently more secure. For example, there is no known way to compromise a Mac OS X machine (as configured out of the box) over the Internet. Windows, on the other hand, was designed to be remotely accessible, and to run code included in e-mails. It has hundreds of holes for viruses and worms to exploit. A Windows machine is usually compromised within minutes of being connected to the Internet unless a slew of add-on software is installed — which most people can only get over the Internet. Catch-22. Future versions of Windows may plug these holes, but the system was poorly designed to begin with.
To be fair, Macs are not invulnerable. We issue a security update every month, which usually patches a handful of vulnerabilities. However, no one has ever even demonstrated a functional virus that works on Mac OS X, or found a practical way to exploit these vulnerabilities. The fact that the infrastructure of Mac OS X is open source and based on Unix means there is a community of thousands of developers looking at the source, looking for vulnerabilities, and fixing them. Mac OS X and Windows take fundamentally different approaches to security, and I think the Mac OS X approach leads to a system that is much harder to penetrate.
The biggest vulnerability in Mac OS X is the same as the biggest vulnerability in Windows, however: what's called "social engineering," aka "the loose nut behind the wheel." As long as people open attachments in spam e-mails, there is a chance that someone will run a virus themselves, bypassing all the protection in the OS. Trojan horses are always a possibility. At least Mac OS X warns you the first time you run any code on the system, so you know you're running code. Also, Mac OS X does not protect users from phishing e-mails ("your bank records are out of date, please update them.").
Does that help?
Debbie
You don't mention one valuable reason for schools using Macs. They are not as desirable on the "secondary" market. That is - they are not stolen as often as PCs. Someone might steal one for their own use, but there is not a big resale value on the street for Macs. We are an urban district with less security in our buildings than most businesses so I consider this an important aspect of choosing a platform. Okay, it's not the most important reason, but you can't use it if it's not there in the morning.
Are you kidding? Go take a look at the price of a 2 or 4 or 6 year old Mac and compare that to a PC. A PC is basically worthless after two years. At the very least, it sure isn't worth as much as any Mac. That's one of the benefits of all Macs - when you want to sell your Mac for a new one, it will always have value to another Mac user. In fact, my 3 year old PowerMac still holds 75% or more of it's original value. Can you say that about your PC?
Personally im a windows user and have been for the last 10 year, i prefer it over mac any day. But recently with all the virus's vulnerablilty with windows i've switched over to mac and its great, for security.