NSW Traffic Authority Switches to Mac

=p

theres no such thing as too many macs

I bet this means new PowerBooks next tuesday

This obviously points to new 3ghz powermacs.....

Macrumors said:

ComputerWorld.com.au reports that the New South Wales Traffic Authority will be switching to Macs.

According to the article, the agency will deploy 1200 Apple G4 iMacs across 140 registry offices.



The switch appears to be away from Windows/Intel boxes. Apple has recently been attempting to increase their enterprise sales, and this may represent one of the early successes.

Click to expand...

A nice win for Apple Australia. Now if they would look at the bloody exchange rate and do something nice for us all -> at least they got the emac costing right but why should we suffer over inflated prices on most other things, ESPECIALLY software. Glad to see that got hammered by the Barrow in the Australian on Tuesday. Damn right.

Apple is actually SELLING computers now... in bulk! This can't be bad.
-Kevin

Pretty ironic they are switching to Macs to establish OpenSource... As those who have been around back then will remember, Apple was most hated [tm] company among the OSS crowd back in the days of System 7.x.

Tempora mutantur - in 15 years, MS will be the provider of best of breed office apps for Linux

Thanks Bill!

Moving to open-source eh? No-one sells more Macs than Microsoft.

Really Good News!!

I hope this starts a major trend away from Wintel---towards Macs. I hope the rumor of FedEx switching to Macs is also true.

The world would be a better place if more companies used Macs! I for one would enjoy going to work a lot more

Way to go Apple !!

As a New South Welshman, I can tell you this is pretty cool.

Our Traffic Authority Offices are ugly places - I think iMacs all round the office will be a terrific look !!

They'll be able to spin the screens around to show you your mug shot on your license before they print it.

This is a pretty impressive enterprise account to get within Australia. Other Govt offices will have to begin to ask questions?

Good stuff

Interesting. The application mix running on those desktops is the kind that Linux vendors dream about, and the iMac + OS X solution was still able to compete on price.

That's a nice little case study for when naysayers start in about how Apple machines aren't suitable for business use.

fantastic now for victoria queensland tasmania west australia and NT and S.A and then fix the roads and we will all be happy

As the trade federation guy said, "At last we are getting some results!"
I think he also said, "Ah, victory!"

Wooohooo!!! As an IT manager in local government in Australia, this is fantastic news. Both the major applications we use that hold me back from switching our fleet, are Australian developed. Hopefully those developers will now realize that the government is serious about alternative platforms, and they will re-think their blinkered development.

It's going to take many, many years, but here in Oz, we might remember this event in years to come as the butterfly flapping its wings.

Congratulations to Australia and Apple!

gekko513 said:

I bet this means new PowerBooks next tuesday

Click to expand...

People seem to be saying this in every thread.

darn. This is cool, but not nearly as cool as I thought it was when I first read it. If this was an air traffic agency, we'd seriously be talking. Because that would say, look here, in the place where reliablitly is not an option, OSX it is. That might set a precedent. But, no, all this looks like it will do (if Aussie bureaucracy is anything like American) is make it so the numbskull who tells you that you've got to wait another hour so they can process such and such a piece of paperwork to get your liscence will be working on a cool looking computer.

Other than that....well, any apple computer sold is good in my book, particularly to a new market.

I still want greater edu discounts for educational institutions, b/c apple portables are big on campus, but I know lots of windows users who would like mac, particularly ibooks, but are too worried about compatablilty, particularly w/ the schools computers. And I don't think this is an isolated case. (there are macs in the library, computer labs, etc. but not many)

Sorry, strayed way off topic.

I wonder-with new emac specs, imacs don't look good.....is this helping apple clear out it's inventory for the next imac update? Or perhaps they got ahold of the updated version, which IS coming out next tuesday? (well, I've got to be an optimist, right?)

And, if anybody's read this far... Why not get this board fired up, as we've had plenty of rumors and news these last 24 hours.... What does this say to the headless imac argument for buisness/gov sales?

and, I hate to be the sour person on these forums, b/c too man people get too defensive and worked up about stuff, but... please. The joke has gotten old. this is one time too many that I've heard "this means new g5 powerbooks on tuesday ;-)". It was once funny, making fun of how everybody tries to relate everything to powermac/powerbook updates, but now it's grown so old, that the only thing that might be funny is making fun of people who make fun of people's obsession with high end updates that aren't coming. And when it gets to making fun of somebody making fun of somebody, that's not funny, it's just sad.

so, there's my 3 am rant. Nothing insightful, but, hey it's 3 am.

Xchange rate

aswitcher said:

A nice win for Apple Australia. Now if they would look at the bloody exchange rate and do something nice for us all -> at least they got the emac costing right but why should we suffer over inflated prices on most other things, ESPECIALLY software. Glad to see that got hammered by the Barrow in the Australian on Tuesday. Damn right.

Click to expand...

I am soooo in agreement here with the exchange rate, and whilst the emac is an improvement it is still not all that close.

i.e. emac on us site is USD$800
emac on aus site is AUD$1200
Based on this the exchange rate is 61.5 US cents to the australian dollar, by todays paper the actual exchange rate is 76.4 US cents, and it has been well above 70 cents for several months now.

the PM's are even worse
for base models
Aus site- AUD$3200- in USD(current exchange rate)$2432
US site - USD$1800- in AUD(current) $2368
That is an exchange rate of 56 cents!
Thats a AUD$832 difference, it would be cheaper to have one shipped over here from the US privately, however i wouldnt then be elligible for my edu discounts, which just about even it out.

I know this doesnt take into account taxes and stuff but seriously, can anyone give a decent explanation of this discrepency?

Also i may have stuffed up some maths here so forgive me but im fairly sure they are correct.

aussiemac86 said:

I am soooo in agreement here with the exchange rate, and whilst the emac is an improvement it is still not all that close.

i.e. emac on us site is USD$800
emac on aus site is AUD$1200
Based on this the exchange rate is 61.5 US cents to the australian dollar, by todays paper the actual exchange rate is 76.4 US cents, and it has been well above 70 cents for several months now.

Click to expand...

I don't think its that bad compared to pretty much everything else in the Apple computer line.

$800 US = (@75 AUD:USD) = ~$1066 + gst = $1,173. Thats pretty good to the Aussie $1299. $125 extra AUD is ok. I've been conservative on the exchange due to recent falls that will likely continue.

$1000 = (@75 AUD:USD) = ~$1333 + gst = $1,466. Aussie is $1599. ~$130 aint to bad.

Sure I would prefer to see a more exact match but its about 11/12% above what a direct exchange should be, which is far better than the 30-40% other machines are currently at.

dontmatter said:

darn. This is cool, but not nearly as cool as I thought it was when I first read it. If this was an air traffic agency, we'd seriously be talking. Because that would say, look here, in the place where reliablitly is not an option, OSX it is.

Click to expand...

Safety applications like ATC are kind of special. Old, tried and true, tested to hell and back technology with gobs of redundancy is what's needed there, and Apple are only beginning to scratch the surface of that world with their xServe line.

That might set a precedent. But, no, all this looks like it will do (if Aussie bureaucracy is anything like American) is make it so the numbskull who tells you that you've got to wait another hour so they can process such and such a piece of paperwork to get your liscence will be working on a cool looking computer.

Click to expand...

Yep, and that's about the same level where the vast majority of business applications sit. Apple have done an absolutely terrible job over the years of convincing people that their products can be well suited to boring, bland business applications, and got themselves tied into a "soft" perception of building tools made for more "abstract" things like education and creative work.

Selling those machines as straightforward business tools, in numbers, is a big deal.

I wonder-with new emac specs, imacs don't look good.....is this helping apple clear out it's inventory for the next imac update? Or perhaps they got ahold of the updated version, which IS coming out next tuesday? (well, I've got to be an optimist, right?)

Click to expand...

According to the article, they are the same 1GHz 15" models still being sold to the general public.

And, if anybody's read this far... Why not get this board fired up, as we've had plenty of rumors and news these last 24 hours.... What does this say to the headless imac argument for buisness/gov sales?

Click to expand...

A compact all-in-one design is an advantage in public-facing settings like counters in government offices, for many of the same reasons such beasts are popular in school labs.

aswitcher said:

A nice win for Apple Australia. Now if they would look at the bloody exchange rate and do something nice for us all -> at least they got the emac costing right but why should we suffer over inflated prices on most other things, ESPECIALLY software. Glad to see that got hammered by the Barrow in the Australian on Tuesday. Damn right.

Click to expand...

I think the poor exchange rate has more to do with George W going to war with Iraq than with Australia, but still great to see Apple making inroads into Federal Australian Government in a security critical enterprise environment.

one thing goes through my mind
if i were running apple i would not sell 1200 units to a 'prestige' customer if i wanted to retire the design in two weeks or two months or whatever.

the logic is that people would walk into this customer's offices and mumble about apple having gotten rid of their old stuff.

i know, i am almost the only person here who likes the imac, but does this not point to some updates rather than demise of the line ?

and don't flame for the 'prestige' customer, 'cause i consider every public office a prestige customer for apple.
go apple go

I think the poor exchange rate has more to do with George W going to war with Iraq than with Australia, but still great to see Apple making inroads into Federal Australian Government in a security critical enterprise environment.

Click to expand...

I think you have missed the point ya kiwi, The exchange rate is actually bloody good for once( recent months have been best in like 10 years) . We were complaining about apple australia refusing to pay any attention to the fact that this should be making computers cheaper in relation to those sold in the US.


Also on a minor point, NSW traffic is a state not federal govt dept.

aussiemac86 said:

I think you have missed the point ya kiwi, The exchange rate is actually bloody good for once( recent months have been best in like 10 years) . We were complaining about apple australia refusing to pay any attention to the fact that this should be making computers cheaper in relation to those sold in the US.


Also on a minor point, NSW traffic is a state not federal govt dept.

Click to expand...

With regards to the exchange rate, we also get hit pretty hard since Apple NZ has to buy from Apple Australia.

( I did partially get your point

NSW traffic may not be a state or federal govt dept (pardon my ignorance, we dont have states like OZ or US in NZ), but it is still a great move for Apple.

Cheers

It's so good to see good news rated 100% positive. I suppose it's because the american trolls are still asleep