jshaver@apg-5.arpa (STEEP-TMAC 879-7602) (09/01/87)
A friend's son is going off to engineering college this fall. Should he buy a Macintosh or an Ibm-like one?
Gerald_Bodzin.henr801E@Xerox.COM (09/02/87)
Your question is the wrong one to ask. First you must determine what the student will be using the computer for. Then you prioritize the uses and determine the best program(s) for each use. Then you find which computer will cover your needs best. If you can afford it, you buy. The needs of an art major will differ from the needs of a physics major. All students can use a word processor. Other programs/features depend on the course of study. These include spreadsheets, data base, graphics, communications, and many others. There may also be considerations relating to the 'footprint' of the machine, its portability, its compatibility with other computer resources at the school, price, and the machine's future (Is the machine to be used after graduation?) To predetermine that the choice is limited to Mac or Clone is skipping too many steps. If you have overriding considerations forcing the limited choice, however, answer the questions anyway, and ignore anything except the two finalists. Then you will know that you made the best choice. No-one but the user can answer these questions.
lmurray@wdl1.UUCP (Lance Murray) (09/02/87)
Buy him a Mac. He will be able to develop most programs on this system, while still able to use the machine for developing first rate reports. The Mac will also allow him to develop an object-oriented approach to problems. I hope this helps out. Lance-
mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer) (09/04/87)
In article <4230001@wdl1.UUCP> lmurray@wdl1.UUCP (Lance Murray) writes:
<Buy him a Mac. He will be able to develop most programs on this system, while
<still able to use the machine for developing first rate reports.
Unless the student in question is going to be an engineer of a flavor
that uses lots of FORTRAN, in which case an IBM-PC clone with a
compiler that support an 80*87 would be more appropriate.
No matter how much the fanatics may want to think so, there is no one
computer that is appropriate for all uses, or even all uses for which
a pc is suitable.
You can buy a pc running a Unix clone in a windowing environment for
less than $1000. There are cases where this would be far more
appropriate than a Mac or an IBM-PC.
You can buy a pc running a multi-tasking OS that support lightweight
tasks and message passing, among other features that Unix doesn't
readily support. There are cases where this might be more appropriate.
I'll agree that for most students, the Mac would probably be a good
choice. For mathematics - or any field where almost all the work will
consist of highly technical work - an IBM PC and TeX would probably be
nearly as useful, and cost much less than a Mac and TeX.
Unless you know a lot more than is usually available from such
requests on the net, a blanket "Buy an XX brand computer" is usually
bad advice.
<mike
--
When logic and proportion have fallen soggy dead, Mike Meyer
And the white knight is talking backwards, mwm@berkeley.edu
And the red queen's on her head, ucbvax!mwm
Remember what the dormouse said. mwm@ucbjade.BITNETgillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu (09/04/87)
But you said your friend's son was going off to engineering school this fall. Maybe he should wait until he gets to school, and then see what's in use at that school? If he's at an engineering school, they might have many IBM PCs in *his* department. As a professional programmer, I would personally buy a Macintosh because the operating system software is much better. The difference is like buying a $600 racing bike, versus a $70 heavy Huffy "American" bike. You can retrofit the Huffy American (IBM PC) with lighter & better parts (expensive software), but you'll always be stuck with a sluggish frame that's a piece of junk (MS-DOS). Simpler parts (cheaper software) suffice to get an enjoyable ride out of the racing bike's frame (Mac's Quickdraw) -- which will almost always be a joy to ride. In fact, I would guess that Macintosh programs are generally easier to use and cheaper to buy, because the Mac's QuickDraw/OS gives programmers a "head start" at developing software. Many interesting things are happening in the IBM PC market right now. The original 8088 PCs are (thankfully) technologically dead -- they're not worth the metal they're made of. 80286 (PC-AT) machines are the standard PCs right now, and clones are being heavily discounted. Almost all Macs sold today can be expanded with a large display, many megabytes of memory (PCs can't do this), Hard Disk, and supercharging 68020 boards. Mac hardware has never been more tempting.
woan@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (09/08/87)
In article <77800008@uiucdcsp> gillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu writes: > If he's at an engineering school, they might have many IBM PCs in *his* department. > >As a professional programmer, I would personally buy a Macintosh >because the operating system software is much better. >standard PCs right now, and clones are being heavily discounted. >Almost all Macs sold today can be expanded with a large display, many >megabytes of memory (PCs can't do this), Hard Disk, and supercharging >68020 boards. Mac hardware has never been more tempting. As a student at a major engineering school with an original IBM-AT I would have to differ with this assessment. MSDOS is a wonderful operating system that closely resembles UNIX. 32-bit processor boards are now available at relatively low costs. Using one from Definicon, you can run Autocad (the leader in CAD software) at speeds faster than top-of-the-line Sun workstations. You must also consider the wide availability of public domain software and compilers for IBM's. How many LISP, ADA, or even good Fortran compilers do you see for the MAC. Again, I must agree the point is moot if the college is all using Macintoshes. The most important thing is to be able to run the programs used for the classes. Also if you have the bucks, why not go for '386 system, i.e. one with no wait states and a '387 coprocessor; that way you can knock the socks off of just about anything. Just look at the benchmarks in Byte. ********************************************************************************* ramblings of a student in poverty * donations to be sent to woan@cory.berkeley.edu
plutchak@vms.macc.wisc.edu (09/08/87)
In article <77800008@uiucdcsp> gillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu writes: >As a professional programmer, I would personally buy a [Brand X] >because the operating system software is much better. The difference >is like buying a $600 racing bike, versus a $70 heavy Huffy "American" >bike. ...Simpler parts (cheaper software) suffice to get an enjoyable ride >out of the racing bike's frame-- which will almost always be a joy to ride. Then again, why buy a racehorse when all you need to do is plow a field? I just *love* analogies! P.S. Ever try winter commuting on a racing bike? :-) -- Joel Plutchak Arpanet: plutchak@vms.macc.wisc.edu Bitnet: plutchak@WISCMACC uucp: Who knows-- it's Eunice 4.2; try ...ihnp4!uwvax!uwwircs!plutchak
steve@nuchat.UUCP (09/11/87)
In article <3625@zen.berkeley.edu>, woan@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Ronald S. Woan) writes: > As a student at a major engineering school with an original IBM-AT I > would have to differ with this assessment. MSDOS is a wonderful operating > system that closely resembles UNIX. 32-bit processor boards are now Come on folks, leaving the smileys off a statement like this might cause someone to take it seriously for a moment, and then you'd be all burnt to a crispy little cinder. -- Steve Nuchia Of course I'm respectable! I'm old! {soma,academ}!uhnix1 Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores !nuchat!steve all get respectable if they last long enough. (713) 334 6720 - John Huston, Chinatown