If Macs are the "best" then why...

[GGJstudios]

if Apple claims Macs are Gods creation

Macs are Apple's creation, not God's.

why is it every time I watch a science documentary on TV the scientists, lab people, etc. everyone basically is using Windows PCs and not Macs. Why?

What does one have to do with the other? Macs aren't the best choice for everyone and neither are Windows PCs. It has nothing to do with what's "best", only what's best for a user's needs. Just use what you want and ignore what the rest of the world chooses.

 

[richnyc]

One word: TRACKPAD!!! The best in biz!!!

 

[Zudeo]

One word: TRACKPAD!!! The best in biz!!!

He's right about that. My Mid-2011 MBA 13" is the first Mac I've ever purchased and I can gladly say they have the best trackpads I've ever used. I've owned Dell's, Toshiba's and notebooks from Asus and they don't compare. I've even tried a Logitech T650 trackpad on my PC because I hoped it would offer the same type of support and it was a terrible experience.

Windows 8's gestures don't make any sense. It should follow OSX's guidelines -- one finger for movement, two for app-level function, three/four for system-wide function.

Anyways, gestures were wonky, inertial scroll only worked in a select few applications, and didn't even work in Windows Explorer itself. The OS still scrolls by 1 or 3 lines at a time so it wasn't smooth at all. Drivers were terrible and asides from the trackpads surface, the whole thing felt like a hack job.

No one can tear my Mac away from me. I wish I bought one years ago.

 

[Paulywauly]

If you take a closer look at the "Windows" pcs you see on science documentaries i'm sure a large proportion of them are actually running Linux operating systems.

In acedemia and science labs they sometimes cant buy software on a disc or from an App Store like the rest of us that will fit their needs, they develop it themselves due to the bespoke nature of what they do. As consumers we don't see this, most people will never have even heard of Linux, but its very common in the scientific community.

 

[mrsir2009]

This is a silly thread.

The very question of "Which is better?!1! Macz or PCz?!!" is silly, in my opinion.

 

[thundersteele]

First off, I don't think Macs are "the best." It's my preferred choice, but that's it.

The OPs question is somehow funny, and being a scientist myself, I feel like contributing to the discussion.


1. Scientists don't always get to use "the best" equipment. In many cases, they have to make use of what is available or what fits the budget. Many universities and labs also have special contracts with PC vendors.

2. The choice of hardware is often determined by the software. Whatever is prevalent in a certain sub-field can easily dictate the OS most people are running.

3. I'm really not sure that science documentaries provide a good cross section of what is being used by "real scientists."


On a side note, the high energy physics community (those guys that discovered the Higgs boson), is quite Mac dominated. However the systems that actually control the experiments are mostly Unix based. The majority of my colleagues uses Macs, but certainly not all of them. Quite a few are happy with windows, other are happy with the endless struggle of a working Linux distribution on their Windows PCs.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Simple! Windows PCs are cheap and cheap lacks quality. I know I could buy a number of laptops that a MBP costs but having had a MBP since 2009 I know the difference is huge and well worth the money.

Simple! A false generalization. The old plastic MacBooks were not cheap but were lacking in quality. Windows PCs come in any price and quality you want / need.

 

[old-wiz]

As a side note I have a 2012 MBA and 2010 MBP. Anyways, if Apple claims Macs are Gods creation then why is it every time I watch a science documentary on TV the scientists, lab people, etc. everyone basically is using Windows PCs and not Macs. Why?

I recently saw a special on the Mars Curiosity Rover, and in the control room you could see quite a few Macs.

Macs are not God's creation - they are tools and people use whatever is provided.

 

[Mrbobb]

Because these are government institutions who buy in bulk and Apple refuse them any discount, except schools.

 

[Ploki]

The very question of "Which is better?!1! Macz or PCz?!!" is silly, in my opinion.

Yeah, its totally ridiculous. The guy is probably trolling.

 

[Pinkie Pie]

Because having God's light shining on them from the Apple logo on their laptop would blind and distract all of the scientists and then blahblah something evolution blah bald eagle.

 

[*Sonic*]

In the TV program Alias and 24 the heroes used Macs while the villains used a PC (normally a Dell).

Yes, this thread is silly.

CTU was littered with Dell Servers & PC's & Racks, and then Cisco Phones.

I wonder how much they paid for that lot of advertising

 

[mrsir2009]

Simple! A false generalization. The old plastic MacBooks were not cheap but were lacking in quality. Windows PCs come in any price and quality you want / need.

The samsung series 9 is actually $50 more expensive than the air for the same price and form factor.

 

[Spetsnazos]

mac suck in gaming and any 3d parametric software. Thats why you use the right tool for the right job.

I love my mac/win7 rmbp

 

[flipnap]

is this "government" enough for you?

 

[Zotaccian]

As a side note I have a 2012 MBA and 2010 MBP. Anyways, if Apple claims Macs are Gods creation then why is it every time I watch a science documentary on TV the scientists, lab people, etc. everyone basically is using Windows PCs and not Macs. Why?

Windows is better supported in the high end markets and server environment. Apple had Xserve -series which did not last long, I guess people didn't trust Apple enough on that segment whereas on the creative side (music, video, photo...) things are different. Many times they also run Linux on the high end segment and as far as I know when there's a need to hook up multiple computers to do raw computing Windows and Mac OS X are never an option, I think even Pixar does the rendering job on Linux even if they would do editing on a Mac.