[thechat] microsoft rant (part 2)

dave mclean dave at members.evolt.org
Sun Mar 17 13:28:00 CST 2002


On 2002.03.17 09:05, deke wrote:

> Neither store had any printers that worked with Mac. You have to look
> hard to find printers that will work, and when you find something, you
> have to pay whatever they ask, instead of expecting a bargain.

Yeah, I've had trouble finding printers with USB connections.  Who ever
thought that "Plug and Play" was ever going to fly.  Sheesh, some people
will buy into anything.

deke, I'm not sure where you shop, but there's no shortage of printers
available for the Mac right now. Epson, Canon, HP, Brother... hey if you
don't mind actually driving to the local Staples or Office Depot they've got
them all.

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand the position you're stating.  Niche
items lead to higher costs for the sometimes ordinary requests, and you're
right. But I think your printer example was more likely 5 years ago, not
today.

One thing that does piss me off about my new G4 is that they've converted
the audio-input to a micro-plug which I believe is digital audio-in.  Either
way, if I want to add a conventional microphone to my system I have to buy a
little device called the iMic (not sold or named by Apple).  It's a bit of a
pain, but I'm sure they were catering to the Pro Audio crowd when they did
this.  And it's probably a lot better.

Now, before you jump all over me on this... let's remember when Apple
brought out the iMac... how many computers had USB ports back then?
Virtually none.  Apple pushed the port into the mainstream by forcing new
users to buy into it. It was a huge risk, and it paid off.  Apple got rid of
two legacy devices in one machine (serial port and floppy disk) and it
worked. A mere four years later, Intel and Microsoft are finally realising
that the floppy drive isn't really needed anymore and USB is actually
starting to work like it was intended to in WinXP.

If nothing else, Apple as a niche player is pushing all the mainstream
producers to make better stuff and it's working. Sadly very few people
realise this when they're comparing lemons with oranges. ;-) Sorry, my dig.

-d

____
damclean 403.708.6215
dave at members.evolt.org
evolt.org member since: 1998




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