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Is it time to just give up on Macintosh?
- Thread starter donald branscom
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He's 58, been an artist all his life and can remember when computers first started doing graphicy stuff in 1972.
In late 80s / early 90s, if you were into graphics, the only game in town was a Mac. Then as the 90s progressed, Windows gained more and more ground, leaving Macs squarely in a "Graphics Niche" that got more and more precarious as Apple repeatedly tried and failed to bring its hardware and OS into the 1990s. A lot of design professionals in the late 1990s / early 2000s gave up waiting for Copland / OS X / Whatever and switched to Windows.
So the question "is it time to just give up on Macintosh?", is perfectly valid for someone stuck in 1999, which by the sounds of his kit, he is.
Let's help get the guy out of his timewarp instead of slagging him off, eh?
SL
In late 80s / early 90s, if you were into graphics, the only game in town was a Mac. Then as the 90s progressed, Windows gained more and more ground, leaving Macs squarely in a "Graphics Niche" that got more and more precarious as Apple repeatedly tried and failed to bring its hardware and OS into the 1990s. A lot of design professionals in the late 1990s / early 2000s gave up waiting for Copland / OS X / Whatever and switched to Windows.
So the question "is it time to just give up on Macintosh?", is perfectly valid for someone stuck in 1999, which by the sounds of his kit, he is.
Let's help get the guy out of his timewarp instead of slagging him off, eh?
SL
Would have been beter to send the $$ and time at a university
and get an education that does not become obsolite whhen the
next version of the software comes out.
So you'd have to spend $5K to replace "everything". That is a quite small price for capital equipment when compared to gross annual income. Look at what a plumber has to spend or even the gu who mows the lawn. Both of them need to buy trucks that cost even more. Be lucky that you can run a business on such a low capital investment. BTW I think your $5K estimate is low. A Mac Pro runs at least $3K and then you'd need a monitor and some more storage and some backup RAID. And then the Adobe software suit. More like 6 or 7 K at least. But still less than the cost for almost any other business I can think of
He is not a dumbass, he just hasn't kept up with the times. Besides i don't know that many people myself that go out and buy every Mac when a newer version/upgrade comes out.
As no one has really pointed out.... The Flip [thing, which was linked] is supported by Macs, and only those which run Mac OS X [10.3.9, or newer]; also those faster than 1 GHz.
Sometimes Ignorance is Bliss; and sometimes not.
As no one has really pointed out.... The Flip [thing, which was linked] is supported by Macs, and only those which run Mac OS X [10.3.9, or newer]; also those faster than 1 GHz.
Sometimes Ignorance is Bliss; and sometimes not.
This is because they assume that their students keep reasonably up to date hardware wise. As a graphics professional, a computer is your most important tool, and something that needs to be kept fairly new.
Off Topic: A lot of times AAPL will drop after expected announcements. No matter what is announced, people always expect more and better from apple. There is always a lot of build up, and a lot of let down. Not to mention the market as a whole was down today...
Thanks for all of your valuable information. Thanks for taking the time to help me.
I did not know about the antics of the 13 year olds.
Looks like a new Macintosh computer is going to be necessary or at least a up to date used newer machine.
Thanks for that rundown Superleccy.
Do you think Macintosh has caught up yet to Windows in the graphics area?
So is the latest operating system software for Macintosh Tiger or Panther or something newer?
You're welcome.
Try a 2nd hand iMac G5 with a 20" screen. Get the highest spec you can afford and put in as much RAM as possible. It "should" run all your old "classic" applications (I say "should" because I'm not an expert in this area, you may need to find someone else to help you), but also run the new OS X versions so you can upgrade your software as funds allow - if you want. It will also work with all the latest hardware, and also it's not going to be troubled about flash animations on websites. Nice big screen for your graphics stuff, and best of all, it's cheaper than a brand new Mac.
Good luck
SL
For professional graphics and the types of applications you're talking about, I think the Mac is way ahead of Windows. But I'm not an artist or a graphics pro, and don't actually use any of the applications you mention, so don't go by my opinion - speak to a real expert.
Try the Design & Graphics forum on this site.It's the operating system, OS X, that makes the real difference. And whilst not perfect, Apple are light-years ahead of Microsoft.
Latest is OS X 10.5 - Leopard. Released last year, some very nice new features but not yet as stable as it's predecessor (Tiger), and has more demanding system requirements.
Before that OS X 10.4 - Tiger. Released 2005. Lacking some of the Leopard sexiness, but solid as a rock. You can't go wrong with Tiger.
Before that OS X 10.3 - Panther. Getting a bit dated now, but still perfectly good for most tasks and is still streets ahead of OS 8.
If you're getting a 2nd hand Mac, insist on at least Panther, or preferably Tiger.
If you can get some time on a newer computer with a fast internet connection, check out this: http://www.apple.com/macosx/newtomac/
SL