my reasons for moving away from apple

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skibovision

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http://skiboblog.skibovision.com/?p=15

I have done the best I can do put together a truthful and factual post. I am constantly finding myself explaining my decision why I don't use apple products and often my explanation end up being helpful for the people who hear it in making hardware decisions.If you find anything inaccurate in this post please let me know and I will correct it. Otherwise take it for what it is, opinion. You may disagree with me and if you do I welcome a discussion on the matter​
 
Mac is consumer drive company, money is the only driving force which has be come very clear over the last 2 yrs and with the launch of FCPX , People that are the died hard uses of Apple Pro products will still fool them self in to believing it is a Pro product, FCPX is not innovative nor revolutionary but amateur or entire level Pro-sumer, many of those so called innovations are from older NLE's like Fast LE etc.... Thankfully there are other options and routes to go , companies that are prepared to listen to new and old users. All I can say is good luck to the users of Apples Pro products on that ice berg heading for warmer waters...... Skibovision enjoy your artical.
So let the towns people get out the pitch forks and fire and put me to the stake...... ;)
 
"Pro" is what you make of it. If you can use iMovie or Windows Movie Maker and make money from it, then go for it. "Pro" is just a term, and a pretty nebulous one at that.

But if Apple no longer provides what you need or want, then look at the alternatives. Windows 7 is a great OS and comes in an infinite variety of hardware flavors and can run everything except Final Cut (and Vegas and Edius which aren't available on OSX).
 
If you call a pro also a business man, Apple is a no go.
From an economic standpoint (best bang for the buck), the purchase of an Apple computer can only be seen as a spiritual or religious experience, but not as a valid and solid decision - and yeah, I'm aware that this means calling for a s*%tstorm - but it's my opinion as a business man.

Yes. it's easier to program a OS, when you only have a hand full of selected hardware - but it´s also limiting your abilities to have a custom machine, that can grow with your needs - just start with graphic cards and how screwed some MacPro users are with that.

On the other hand, what are you doing in your OS (besides copying files from one folder to an other)?
Most work is done in applications, that´s where it really counts. So how does the OS mater at all?
Some say the Mac OS is easier to maintain. And I say that´s actually true to some degree.
Any fool can buy a Mac, push the start button and start working, without the need of any fine tuning.

It takes much more work and knowledge to set up a smooth running Windows system (in my opinion a pro should know his tools inside out anyway), but once it's done, it can run with minimal maintenance for years. I sat up a XP 5 years ago and never had to fiddle with it again, besides monthly backups.
Same is true, to several Win7 installations.

I'm not a Mac heater, I started with Macs in 1989 and never touched a PC till 2001 - but I also never look back.

my ct2, Frank
 
Postmaster said:
I'm not a Mac heater, I started with Macs in 1989 and never touched a PC till 2001 - but I also never look back.
Click to expand...

I didn't personally own a Mac until last year. My 17" Mac Book Pro was expensive, but also one of the best laptops I've ever owned. Plus, having compatibility with Pro Res (encoding) and FCP7 has earned me money in and of itself.

I also have a Windows tower that I originally purchased 5 years ago and have upgraded piecemeal. It's still a great machine, runs really well, and I've spent less on it after all this time than a Mac Pro. However, I would like to have a desktop Mac, and if Apple either releases a new Mac Pro (doubtful) or an Ivy Bridge Mini with a good GPU (7000M or 600M with 1GB of RAM), then I'll probably go for that. I like having options.
 
Still have my Mac G5 PPC and FCS6 (after Apple left me hangin'...D'ough!) ...but use my Windows 7 machine daily as I moved to a AVCHD workflow.
Makes no difference to me what platform I'm using as long as it's the right tool for the job.
 
Yep.
Hardware bang for the buck, no comparison. Variety of software, hardware, peripherals, etc... no comparison.
I considered Apple for a brief moment, but I'm a PC based IT person in my day job and didn't want to have to deal with the split personality aspects of one OS at work and another at home. I'm using CS 5.5 on the PC.
 
Dave © said:
Isn't that the driving force for Microsoft, Avid, Sony, Canon, Nikon and any other commercial organization?
Click to expand...

Yes of course but those I don't think it applies to microsoft which makes software, not hardware, as we had been talking about with these new mac pros. I love the Mac OS but what's the point of having it if I am eventually stuck with only laptops or all in one pc's like iMac. The thing is if the roles were reversed and I said HP stopped making workstations and doesnt care about the pro market like apple does then I follow up with "yeah but who cares because I can run either microsoft or OSX on an apple" and thats the problem. We are forced to use apple computers if we want apple software.
 
Postmaster said:
If you call a pro also a business man, Apple is a no go.
From an economic standpoint (best bang for the buck), the purchase of an Apple computer can only be seen as a spiritual or religious experience, but not as a valid and solid decision - and yeah, I'm aware that this means calling for a s*%tstorm - but it's my opinion as a business man.

...

Some say the Mac OS is easier to maintain. And I say that´s actually true to some degree.
Any fool can buy a Mac, push the start button and start working, without the need of any fine tuning.

It takes much more work and knowledge to set up a smooth running Windows system (in my opinion a pro should know his tools inside out anyway), but once it's done, it can run with minimal maintenance for years. I sat up a XP 5 years ago and never had to fiddle with it again, besides monthly backups.
Same is true, to several Win7 installations.
Click to expand...

Many business (and personal) decisions do not account for the total, all-in cost of "individual" transactions. The term is Total Cost of Ownership, which I'm sure is familiar to you.

Let's say that an Apple computer cost 2x as much as a comparable Microsoft computer. Let's say the Apple product cost $3000 and the Microsoft product cost $1500. That's sticker price.

Now add up the time-cost of setting up the two different computers. As you say, any fool can plug-in a Mac and it just works. How much incremental time is required to setup a Windows machine? What about installing networks, printers and other peripherals? What about the easier ongoing maintenance of Mac OS, as you say? How much time does that cost?

I can't make a solid business decision for you or anyone else since your financials, needs, skills, etc. are different than mine. But, as for this fool, the $1500 sticker price difference is well the time savings. I don't consider computer maintenance to be one of my core competencies so I effectively outsource that to Apple. And I'm willing to pay $1500 every few years for that outsourcing service. That is...unless they release another crappy product like Lion.
 
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skibovision said:
Yes of course but those I don't think it applies to microsoft which makes software, not hardware, as we had been talking about with these new mac pros. I love the Mac OS but what's the point of having it if I am eventually stuck with only laptops or all in one pc's like iMac. The thing is if the roles were reversed and I said HP stopped making workstations and doesnt care about the pro market like apple does then I follow up with "yeah but who cares because I can run either microsoft or OSX on an apple" and thats the problem. We are forced to use apple computers if we want apple software.
Click to expand...

I'm just saying, you weaken your argument when you introduce red herrings like, "Apple is only concerned about money."
 
Dave © said:
Now add up the time-cost of setting up the two different computers. As you say, any fool can plug-in a Mac and it just works. How much incremental time is required to setup a Windows machine? What about installing networks, printers and other peripherals? What about the easier ongoing maintenance of Mac OS, as you say? How much time does that save?
Click to expand...

First, this is only an issue if you build your own machine. Pre-built purchased machines do not waste any time with driver installation. Second, Windows 7 does a really good job of pulling down drivers from the Internet during setup, requiring very little use after that. You can't just plug a printer into a Mac. I have to install drivers for my Epson printer under OSX just like I have to do under Windows.

Third, maintenance is no different than OSX. Both can suffer the same hardware issues, and the malware is starting to even out between the two.

Fourth, that Mac "just works" is a misnomer that I quickly found out after having bought a Mac. It still has issues from time to time just like my desktop. I have to reboot both due to slowdowns on an even basis, and I've totally worked on other people's Macs that they've loaded down with software to the point that it's nearly unusable.

It sounds like you're just reposting what you've "heard" about Win/OSX without having firsthand knowledge of how they work.

However, I agree that saying Apple is "just about money" is ludicrous. Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 after all.
 
Well to be fair, I wasn't the one that said that, GavinAbe was. My point is just that Apple has been very successful in the consumer market recently and despite having successful products in the pro sector they have discontinued or handicapped them. It's not necessarily all about the money, but maybe its more how they want to present themselves as a brand ex. Ipads, Iphones, interactive, sleek, small, personal.
 
And that's doing very well for them. The worst mistake you can make is that any company has your particular niche interest in mind. Let's face it, for most of the world an iPhone/iPad is more than enough "computer".
 
problem with Apple is they can decide overnight that "bluray sucks" or "firewire is obsolete" or "what about putting weird interface on our computer that cannot be found anywhere else" or "let's give up about big boxes or servers, laptops are more fun".
And you end up with a 5000$ piece of hardware with no future.
Or they can also decide to change processor provider, OS compatibilty with their hardware as well or even stop a full line of product , leaving you in the blue.
That is definitely unprofessional.
 
I am actually relying on consumer products. I use what many people would call a "gaming PC". I have a an intel i72600k (8 virtual cores which are overclocked to roughly 5GHZ) 16GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 570, and an Internal 5TB Raid 5 over 6 drives.

The gaming market is HUGE and is not going anywhere. I feel very safe investing in this type of hardware.
 
nosys70 said:
problem with Apple is they can decide overnight that "bluray sucks" or "firewire is obsolete" or "what about putting weird interface on our computer that cannot be found anywhere else" or "let's give up about big boxes or servers, laptops are more fun".
And you end up with a 5000$ piece of hardware with no future.
Or they can also decide to change processor provider, OS compatibilty with their hardware as well or even stop a full line of product , leaving you in the blue.
That is definitely unprofessional.
Click to expand...

This is basically the super short version of my article. I totally agree. I know there were a lot of people left out in the cold when FCPX came out. I had a contract with a production company that does work for discovery/nat geo etc. They have YEARS of old FCP7 projects to deal with and what are they supposed to do? Go back and open each one and export an XML for premiere?
 
Gary Huff said:
First, this is only an issue if you build your own machine. Pre-built purchased machines do not waste any time with driver installation. Second, Windows 7 does a really good job of pulling down drivers from the Internet during setup, requiring very little use after that. You can't just plug a printer into a Mac. I have to install drivers for my Epson printer under OSX just like I have to do under Windows.

Third, maintenance is no different than OSX. Both can suffer the same hardware issues, and the malware is starting to even out between the two.

Fourth, that Mac "just works" is a misnomer that I quickly found out after having bought a Mac. It still has issues from time to time just like my desktop. I have to reboot both due to slowdowns on an even basis, and I've totally worked on other people's Macs that they've loaded down with software to the point that it's nearly unusable.

It sounds like you're just reposting what you've "heard" about Win/OSX without having firsthand knowledge of how they work.

However, I agree that saying Apple is "just about money" is ludicrous. Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 after all.
Click to expand...

I use both machines everyday. Up until Lion, Macs just worked. Lion is horrible and I agree.
 
skibovision said:
Well to be fair, I wasn't the one that said that, GavinAbe was. My point is just that Apple has been very successful in the consumer market recently and despite having successful products in the pro sector they have discontinued or handicapped them. It's not necessarily all about the money, but maybe its more how they want to present themselves as a brand ex. Ipads, Iphones, interactive, sleek, small, personal.
Click to expand...

Yep. Fair enough.
 
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