Attitude by Apple
Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 09:00AM My first computer in 1982, my most recent computer, and most computers in between have been Apple products. I am not a fanboy nor do I own stock, but Apple's philosophy of technology has shaped my own - for better or worse.
Apple ad circa 1991 from my bulletin board.
I like a computer that doesn't get between me and what I want to do - write, send an e-mail, edit a photo, store and a document, or create and give a presentation. I don't have to login a dozen times with arcane passwords. I want a computer that is as remarkable as a light switch. It's just there.
I do not want a computer that requires me to customize, to program, to command line edit, to endlessly spend time endlessly tweaking to get it and peripherals to work. I am not worried about having the largest hard drive, fastest processor or most RAM. (Freud would probably speculate that people who do worry about such things probably drive very large motor vehicles as well.)
As the sign above implies, technology can either be about personal empowerment or corporate empowerment. Apple has had no greater success in the business world than Microsoft has had in making truly personal devices. Which may explain the schizophrenic attitude toward technology in education since we ourselves don't know if we are a business or a collection of independent professionals.
Does your tech director use a Mac or PC?
Idle thoughts on a beautiful Saturday morning on the lake...
Reader Comments (6)
Perhaps you're not setting up a dichotomy, but it read like one. I thought your word choice was interesting, Doug.
I like a computer that doesn't get between me and what I want to do
That works when what you want to do is what the computer-maker wants you to do. For example, on my new MacBook Air, Apple wants me to use certain gestures on my trackpad to do certain things. If those are the gestures I want to use, then that works for me. Unfortunately, they were missing many gestures that I had been using on previous version of OS X. So, to do what I want to do, I had to subvert the computer.
I do not want a computer that requires me to customize, to program, to command line edit, to endlessly spend time endlessly tweaking to get it and peripherals to work.
Again, if what you want to do is what the computer wants you to do, none of these things are an issue. However, after buying a printer that was listed on Apple's website as "Air Print compatible"…Air Print it would not. After spending too much time tweaking to get that peripheral to work, I took the printer back to the store.
The problem with buying (into) computers that "do it for us" is that we're left not knowing what to do when we want to something the computer doesn't want us doing. I see a parallel in IT departments that don't allow teachers (or students) to have administrative rights on their school-issued computers. Teachers (and students) are left to wait for IT to come fix any issues that arrive. This is not a healthy situation.
Your post made me think about one I wrote this summer: http://russgoerend.com/2011/06/you_dont_have_to_learn_anything.html
Hi Russ,
I was guessing I might get a little push back on this post. I'm making some pretty sweeping generalities here.
I do think there is a "customize" mentality - and it's probably fair to say both Apple and PC users exhibit it. The "customize" mentality would like the choice of the "on" position of a light switch to be either up or down as it suits them. In your argument, I am doing what the light switch wants me to do but not changing the default "on" position.
And I am not sure I agree with the "fix it yourself" theory either. Does this mean we should all be car mechanics and refrigerator repairpersons?
For my money, make it simple, make it reliable, and make it let me do my job.
Thanks for the discussion. The last word will be yours!
Doug
HI, Doug,
Car mechanics are a good example of what I'm thinking here: it's not that we all need to be car mechanics, it's that we all need to have the option of fixing our own cars (to carry out the metaphor). Imagine if we took that option away from someone like my father, a lifelong mechanic.
As I alluded to in my previous comment, it makes me very nervous to see IT departments lock down the technology in school districts. If I did not know how to install apps on a Mac, I would not be able to learn that at school. I have been told by my IT department that "experimenting is for my home devices." If I want to learn, I have to do it outside of school.
The problem with make it simple, make it reliable, and make it let me do my job. is that limits us to only what we already know as "our job." I asked last year for some software to be installed on my computer, and was told by my IT department that they had not had a chance yet to determine if the software had instructional value.
So, here I am. Waiting for someone else to "let me do my job."
As my daughter said recently, the only problem with Windows 7 is that it is too Mac-like. Give me a PC any day.
I love Apple products. I sent my son to college with a Macbook Pro and I love my iPhone.
When my wife, a very serious video editor who produces promotional and feature-length products needed a computer, I priced an Apple product to do the job: $5K. I priced an equivalent Dell workstation to do the job: $5K. I built a machine from parts that was twice as powerful as the best pre-built available (20 minutes versus 3 days to render a project is rather important, and not related to buying an Escalade). Having never built a computer but having friends to cheer-lead, the speedster came to $1,100, and it's awesome. W7 is trouble-free, and my wife is seriously happy with her tools.
It's very, very hard to argue with $4K in the pocket rather than in the black box. In current computing terms, it's rather hard to make the functionality/economics argument for Apple, except in the most basic of applications with tech-nervous users.
Hi Bill,
Good point. If you have the skill set and time, you can also economize by growing your own veggies, sewing your own clothes, and changing your own oil as well. I've not tried self-dentistry or hair cutting however.
Doug