[muglo] Re: PowerPoint

You just don't get it do you Eric?

 --- Eric Dunbar <eric.dunbar@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 12:27:20 -0500 (EST), Garth
> Phillips wrote:
> 
> > 1. Firefox  taking the web by storm? What's it's
> > useage penetration (and do not confuse Download
> stats
> > with useage... I've downloaded Firefox and deleted
> it
> > a couple of times already (as the "world" heralds
> its
> > impovements and it does nothing better for me)?
> 
> Yes, the Mac version is sub-standard. The Windows
> and Linux versions
> are hands down superior browsers. "Taking by storm"
> is relative -- IE
> still ranks well above the 90% mark, and will likely
> remain there for
> a *long* time. However, the point is that where
> Mozilla and Netscape
> fail to capture the public's imagination, FireFox
> succeeds. Whilst the
> Mac browser world is alive and well, the Windows
> browser world is
> rather stagnant -- IE is the overwhelming favourite
> and/or default
> browser. It *is* a good browser. There's no doubt
> about it so there's
> less incentive or need for alternate projects. Mac
> has no such
> dominant browser which means we're treated to the
> likes of Camino,
> Safari, OmniWeb, Mozilla/Netscape and a few others.
> 
> FireFox is a single-purpose app that does its job
> extremely well
> (Macintosh version excepted) whereas its
> progenitors, Mozilla and
> Netscape, merely do an adequate job because of the
> added bloat
> (composer and e-mailer components).
> 
> Gecko's future belongs to FireFox, not Mozilla!
> Mozilla will remain
> the technology showcase, but FireFox will
> (increasingly) be its
> implementation.
> 
> > 2. Using a sample of one, namely your experience
> > (usually more like an ill-formed opinion) is rsiky
> > research protocol. simply because you do not
> require
> > (or simply do not know how to use them to their
> full
> > strengths) does not mean that stands for the rest
> of
> > the entire user community.
> 
> You're not making a whole lot of sense here other
> than trying to pay
> me an underhanded insult?
> 
> > I for one love the MS
> > Office integrated suite:  for me, it's best
> feature is
> > the "smart" clipboard function that allows me to
> > cut-and paste data into any of the applications
> > without having to touch or jiggle it arround. One
> of
> > my clients loves to use voice annotations on work
> I
> > send so that he doesn't have to learn anything and
> can
> > simply dictate his ammendments. And there are of
> > coursxe many more features that intregrated
> > appplications bring to the business enivronment.
> 
> That's how integration *ought* to work, but I would
> prefer to use the
> term, interoperability, which is why MS Office is a
> popular suite. To
> me integration is the "all-in-one" philosophy that
> drove AppleWorks,
> MS Works, OO.org etc., where you had *one* app that
> tries to do
> everything.
> 
> As for such things as "smart clipboard" (a Windows
> term, sounds like
> ;-) are not unique to MS Office -- they are how
> *Macintosh* was
> designed to work (I don't know how long you've been
> a Mac user, but
> the earliest incarnation of Mac OS was built around
> interoperability
> and "back in the day" (1984 ;) allowed you to
> copy-and-paste between
> apps.
> 
> > Your "argument" has just been proven not to hold
> > water, simply because I for one disagree with it!
> 
> I suggest you just stated exactly why I use and like
> Mac -- you and I
> like Office for the same reason.
> 
> Back to philosophy:
> 
> My disdain for poorly conceived all-in-one (AIO)
> solutions is the same
> whether it is hardware or software, and is rooted in
> two decades of
> computer experience (before I even knew how to do
> fractions I knew how
> to use MacWrite ;). There seems to be an unwritten
> law of the universe
> that states that AIO solutions *must* be inferior to
> individual but
> well designed solutions.
> 
> IMNSHO there has never been an AIO computer that was
> superior to
> separate components (within the same hardware
> category). The "pro"
> (non-AIO) Mac desktop ALWAYS is and has been more
> desirable than and
> superior to the AIO desktop. 520 vs. IIfx (or were
> the Quadras already
> on the scene?); x200 vs. x100; 6400 vs x600; AIO G3
> vs. non-AIO Beige
> G3, iMac/233 vs. PowerMac G3/233 (iMac/233, /266
> might have been the
> one exception since the Beige G3 series was probably
> the low-point for
> "pro" Mac hardware when compared to the contemporary
> "consumer"
> desktops). The laptops are slightly different since
> a laptop *is* an
> AIO machine, regardless of "pro" vs "consumer"
> quality, but arguabaly
> the "pro" machines were "less" AIO since they
> usually allow far more
> expansion.
> 
> IMO The same dichotomy applies to AIO software vs.
> individual
> components. Office is a loose collection of
> individual components
> which is where it gets its edge. For some people,
> I'm sure they like
> having their spread sheet in the same app as their
> word processer --
> that's not how I work. I've tried AIO solutions in
> the past, and
> routinely sample them nowadays but still they don't
> capture my
> imagination (rarely has a piece of software grown on
> me -- it's
> usually a love-hate relationship from the start. I
> know immediately
> whether I like something or not... professional apps
> (vs.
> office/so-called productivity apps) are the only
> exception to that
> rule (e.g. SigmaStat, JMP, MapInfo)).
> 
> Of course, what this also demonstrates is that there
> are cost savings
> to be had with AIO vs. component solutions. It's a
> trade-off of cost
> vs. quality. The same happens in software, and
> IMNSHO, quality is more
> important than cost if you are using something as a
> tool -- I can take
> an Excel spread sheet created on a Mac with Visual
> BASIC macros and
> have it run, unmodified on a Windows Excel, and soon
> in OpenOffice.org
> (I seem to recall something about building in VB
> support)). And, I can
> do the same thing in reverse. I can't take an Excel
> spread sheet and
> run it in AppleWorks (unless Apple quitely added VB
> support ;).
> 
> Anyway, I'm not going to devote more brain cells to
> this -- off to
> enjoy the freshly falling snow... I should be able
> to go down some
> nice hills with my x-country skis before the
> tobogganers get to them
> :) :) :)
> 
> Eric.
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