RadioBanter - View Single Post - How I would like to change the *digital* cell phone industry.

Don Bowey

On 7/21/07 6:24 PM, in article
, "Brenda Ann"
wrote:

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Brenda Ann wrote:
"Kurt" wrote in message
...
I want getting phone service like when I buy a Mac.

You only want them to work in a few dozen exchanges, and use a codec that
only other phones of that brand use, so you can't talk to anyone else but
other customers of that company (sort of like Sprint's "Friends and
Family" plan). ?

There was a time that was true. Not so much since about OS X.2.

Truth is that I had a Mac on line at work since '89, and from home since
'84, and with the exception of those who bothered to read the headers in
e-mail, no one ever knew it. I've had my Macs and my PC's talking to each
other the entire time.

As long as the output files are the same format, there's no more
compatibility issue between Mac and Windows than between HP and Dell
printers. And with Solaris and Linux making a showing in the marketplace,
compatibility in general has become largely a non issue.

That's why the ****ing match between the Microsoft and the keepers of
standards is such a concern. Because if MS has their way, their
proprietary formats, will continue to play havoc with compatibility
between platforms that currently play well together using standards
compliant output.

On my Macs, I use only open source software with the exception of one or
two Apple branded programs for document and presentation creation. With
the exception of nicer, more eye catching documents, and presentations
with full animation and stereo sound, none of my colleagues can tell that
I've used a Mac.

On my PC's the only MS software is the OS. Everything else... browser,
IM client, office suite...everything, is open source.

The ONLY time I've ever had a compatibility issue is using MS software.
And that's been true for more than a decade, now.

My biggest problem with Mac (I like the machines, always have) is the
relative lack of software available for them. For instance, I have several
video editing applications, and several internet webcasting applications,
and they cannot be duplicated in Mac. (or at least they could not). I'll
concede that their machines, and to an extent their OS, are very reliable.

I've been a Mac user since the MacIIci. Usually, at home, I stayed one
model ahead of what I got at work. My primary home computer now is a recent
MacBook Pro, and I like it, but Apple's think different finally got to me.
When I decided to do some serious video/DVD work and discovered there was no
way to get video into the Mac except through a digital camera or a $300 box,
I just bought a PC tower and equipped it with a PCI card, which works fine.
Hardware and software for the PC is much less expensive than for the Mac and
it does a great job. Also, Windows XP is a trouble free system. I'll
probably add XP as a native system to the MacBook Pro too. I have two Macs
and two PCs on my home wireless lan and all have high speed internet access
and at least one printer to share off the Mac Airport. The PCs were at
least as easy to integrate as the Macs. Word, Excel, photo, and music files
are shared by all.