Re: ANN: New SBIG Camera-Control Software for Intel Macs

Michael McCulloch wrote:

Yes, but the value proposition of paying a premium for Apple hardware
is still a question.

Well, be careful to compare comparably equipped and specced machines.
Throw in support costs, add it all up and come up with a TCO figure.
What's the cost of adding FireWire 800 to a Dell? An anti-virus
subscription?

Linux Insider: "At the low end, therefore, the PC desktops are
marginally less expensive than the Macs -- if you can do without their
connectivity and multimedia capabilities -- and considerably more
expensive if you can't. At the very high end, however, all of the
design focus is on multimedia processing and the PCs simply aren't
competitive from either hardware or cost perspectives."

ZDNet: <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=211> (Dec 2006.)

On the minus side you purchase Apple hardware which has been
plagued of late by apparently rushed designs that are prone to
overheating and subject to manufacturing defects. The MacBook
overheating problem is just the latest example. I have personal
experience with a Quicksilver G4 that eats optical and hard drives
like crazy, compared to my PCs, because of poor ventilation design.

Every manufacturer of everything has problems -- makes mistakes -- with
specific designs from time to time. To say that "Apple hardware has
been plagued..." implies widespread problems, and that is simply
untrue. The reliability of Apple computers has been at or near the top
of the industry for a long time. I'm not going to Google every computer
reliability report on the net, but a quick scan has CR choosing an iMac
as its most reliable computer a while back; Rescue.com reporting in
late 2006 "Whether it's due to hardware quality or vendor customer
support, clearly IBM/Lenovo and Apple are well ahead of their rivals
when it comes to reliability."

Machead loyalty says something. Macheads aren't /really/ idiots. I know
that I wouldn't keep buying a computer that didn't work right, now
matter how good it seemed in certain areas. There is no match in the
Windows world for the software that is most important to /me/ , but I
could and would find a Windows workaround and be happy enough with it
if Macs just didn't work. In in this one instance I feel OK saying that
I speak for the majority of Mac users.

I make no claims whatsoever on either cost or reliability, because I am
not qualified to do so. I'm hard pressed, however, to find
/independent/ writers or reviewers, that is, people who have nothing to
gain or lose regardless of what computer I buy, who find the Mac to be
more expensive or less reliable that other brands.

Sexy case designs and great advertising alone do not make for a
reliable computer.

OK...

Davoud

Since this thread is entirely about astronomy: Quick now: fast
decision. Your mission is to send two rovers to Mars. It's going to
cost $1 billion. You must decide right now whether you are going to
rely on Unix/Mac or Windows to help achieve this mission. Which will it
be? Have you seen the excellent PBS documentary that portrays the
drama, tension, and ultimate joy in the JPL control room when both
Spirit and Opportunity landed successfully?

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com
.

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