michaeltegler.com

The Problem

I’ve been working on/with Apple computers for roughly 18 years, most of that time in the 90s when Apple were akin to overly ripe fruit of the computing world.

Despite these low days for Apple I still came across and worked with some die in the wool, Apple fanatics who even then thought Apple products were simply magical.

Magical to the extent that Apple products never crash, hang, or experience a hardware/software problem of any kind. I would even go so far as to suggest that the Apple Hardware have a shield against dust, dirt and debris. Apple fans feel about their computer the way someone usually feels about a car or motorcycle they built/customized. It’s their pride and joy. Windows users do not have this type of emotional/mythical connection to their hardware. Even if they have built the computer themselves.

Macs do crash with annoying frequency, but the end-users don’t seem to remember it happening. These thralls have never seen the “bomb” or “Spinning Beachball of Death”. Perhaps the Reality Distortion Field (RDF) affects a small portion of the population more then others. Here’s at least one victim of the aforementioned RDF effect.

Another big problem is that Apple tends to ignore the corporate world for the most part. Sure you can connect to Active Directory or even Deploy update via Remote Desktop (not to be confused with RDP), but beyond that there isn’t much help.

The Solution

It would be impossible to state that Apple hasn’t influenced the industry in a positive way. IT Managers can take the hype surrounding the iPhone with a grain of salt, but end-users are paying attention and so are Apple’s competitors, whether it’s Microsoft or Motorola. IT Managers probably also groan to themselves about the new security problems that will no doubt arise. Every executive or sales vice-president will buy and iPhone and have the IT department figure out the little details like e-mail and file syncing. Rumor has it that Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync and with any luck this means push mail to the iPhone. That said the current crop of Exchange clients (Entourage) for the Mac are shall we say, far from perfect. And by perfect I mean exactly like Outlook for Windows. Apple gets away with things no other company does. They sell more then computers or gadgets, they sell a style and way of life. Simple is easier, and an easier/prettier life is something most people want.

For the average user all anyone needs is a browser, e-mail, and a few office programs. Windows, OS X or even Linux can handle these tasks with ease and one really doesn’t do it better then the other. After that it’s all either completely personal or business as to what someone actually needs a computer for.. Business is the reason why 90% of the world runs Windows. It’s why you have the brisk competition of Bootcamp, Parallels, or VMware on the Mac OS X. Windows is the game worth playing when you need to get something in business done.

The basics of Apple’s Importance:

Pros:

• Design and sensibility.
• The human equation is the most important part of technology, and whether we IT managers are aware of it or not Apple makes a connection with people on a personal level that Microsoft and other’s can’t touch.

Cons:

• Very little corporate support. I always find this point monstrously perplexing.
• The Cult of Mac. The rabid mind-set that the computers are more then computers. It’s a religious artifact. It’s a big turn off for people who have serious work to get done and they don’t want a lot of hyperbole.