What am I missing with Apple computers?

Dargo · May 8, 2009

I tried using a MacBook Pro for almost a full year and basically ended up totally frustrated with it and gave it to my son to use at VMI after he had an accident with his laptop (something to do with a spilled drink). After a semester he brought it back and said "That thing sucks! I'll spend my own money and buy another PC".

Other than the fact that AT&T sucks, I really like the iPhone. Unfortunately I have to just say that I flat out just don't get it when it comes to people loving their Mac computers. After almost a year of trying to like it I hate it. My son told me that hardly anyone at VMI has any Apple computers and several who did got rid of them in favor of PC laptops.

Knowing these facts, I have to ask, what the heck am I missing with the Mac craze? I really have to say that I hate them and can't understand how anyone could prefer them over a PC. I feel like the Apple hype machine got me for about three grand. :furious:

pixie · May 8, 2009

Since I haven't had any desire to try a PC in 8 years, I can't really compare them, but I would guess that people get frustrated that they can't hook into Every program they want to instantly. The software choices are a little limited and internet downloads aren't always written for Mac.

Those things don't bother me. Viruses also aren't written for Mac (generally).
People who work with graphics and art Really like Macs.
I understand the OS better and it doesn't crash and time-out like my PC did.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 8, 2009

Answered here:

(NOTE: The blog should be called "Stuff liberal west and east coast people like" - regardless it is very funny if you live amongst these people)

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/30/39-apple-products/

#40 Apple Products

January 30, 2008 by clander

It is surprising that it took all the way to #40 to call out Apple products. Initially, we were planning for an entire week on Apple products, but that would just be over kill.
Plain and simple, white people don’t just like Apple, they love and need Apple to operate.
On the surface, you would ask yourself, how is that white people love a multi-billion dollar company with manufacturing plants in China, mass production, and that contributes to global pollution through the manufacture of consumer electronic devices?
Simple answer: Apple products tell the world you are creative and unique. They are an exclusive product line only used by every white college student, designer, writer, English teacher, and hipster on the planet.
You see, a long time ago Apple’s were super popular among layout artists and graphic designers. Then Apple released Final Cut Pro and became the standard for film editors. As a result, lots of creative industries used Apple computers instead of PCs. Eventually, people started making the connection, and all of a sudden all white people need to have a Mac.
When you ask white people about Mac’s they will say “oh, it’s so much better than Windows,” “it’s just easier to use,” “they are so cutting edge,” and so forth. What’s amazing is that white people NEED to meet people who use Windows to justify themselves spending an extra $500 for a pretty looking machine.

It is also important that white people are reminded of their creativity, and remember you need a Mac to creatively check email, creatively check websites, and creatively watch DVDs on planes.
White people also need iPods, iPhones, Apple TV, AirPort Express stations, and anything else that Apple will produce. Because you need to express your uniqueness by purchasing everything that a publicly traded company produces.
Apple products also come with stickers. Some people put them on their computer, some people put them on windows, but to take it to the pinnacle of whiteness, you need to put the Apple sticker in the rear window of your Prius, Jetta, BMW, Subaru 4WD Station Wagon or Audi. You then need to drive to a local coffee shop (Starbucks will do in a pinch) and set up your apple for the world to see. Thankfully, the Apple logo on the back will light up! So even in a dark place, people can see how unique and creative you (and the five other people doing the exact same thing) truly are!

Knowledge of Apple products can be useful in a number of social situations. If you see a white person with a Mac, an easy way to approach them is to say “Is that a Powerbook? What OS do you have?” They will happily start talking to you, after the requisite five minutes, you can invite them to an 80s night.

Dargo · May 8, 2009

OMG!! I'm a black dude!

Doc · May 8, 2009

I run Windows and Linux. Heard good things about Apple like great for graphics manipulation and ease of use, but I've never taken the plunge myself.

Dargo · May 13, 2009

Dammit!!!!
It's Baaaaaack!

Yeah, my son came home from college for a week before heading off to Jump School, RIP School (sounds really bad but he told me it's something he has to take before...) and Ranger School.

I fixed his damn PC after his 'accident' and now he took it back and gave me "that damn Mac thing" back. I spent about 50 hours looking stuff up online trying to figure out how to get it to network with my other half a dozen or so computers to no avail before I gave it to him. I'd call the one and only local computer shop that does Mac work except I've heard of unreal costs associated with them doing on-site work getting Macs to network and play with PCs.

At this point, I really hate this MacBook. I really do. To me it seems like the most user unfriendly thing I've ever used. I feel like a dumbass for buying the damn thing. I mistakenly figured that since the iPhone software was pretty cool and extremely easy to use, their computers would be as well. Wrong! I suppose that would be like figuring that my JetSki and the QE2 would be the same since they both float on water. :bonk:

If anyone knows of any websites that may be helpful, I'd appreciate any pointers. Right now I feel like Apple ripped me off to the tune of about three grand and hell will freeze over before I buy another f***ing Mac computer!

Dargo · May 13, 2009

Okay, maybe someone could possibly answer this, why in the hell can't I get sound from some websites with this silver turd? Things like internet feeds and radio stations have always worked just fine with every PC I've ever used. I just tried to go listen to a meeting I missed that's online with a company I do business with and it works fine on a PC but the fkg Mac is mute. :toiletpap

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 13, 2009

I believe your problem is that you have a bunch of older printers that are shared from workstations. Chances are the older printers aren't Mac compatible so getting them to work may not be possible.

Perhaps if you listed your specific issues (without all the extra complaining) then we can help you more. I'm not trying to be condescending - it's just hard to provide specific guidance without specific technical information.

You may want to look at this site:

http://www.macwindows.com/

It probably has most of your issues on there.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 13, 2009

Dargo said:
Okay, maybe someone could possibly answer this, why in the hell can't I get sound from some websites with this silver turd? Things like internet feeds and radio stations have always worked just fine with every PC I've ever used. I just tried to go listen to a meeting I missed that's online with a company I do business with and it works fine on a PC but the fkg Mac is mute.

Can you be more specific? List a site that doesn't work (preferably one that does not require an account).

Kei · May 13, 2009

PBinWA said:
Answered here:

(NOTE: The blog should be called "Stuff liberal west and east coast people like" - regardless it is very funny if you live amongst these people)

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/30/39-apple-products/

This must explain why my half white cousin bought a mac once. lol

HulaMac · May 13, 2009

Mac verses PCs............It's like talking politics or religion. You just go round in circles and your point of view is always the right one. If you hate Macs, don't buy them, simple, stay with your comfort zone. When I decided to buy a computer years ago, I wanted something simple. Plug and play. I bought my first Mac and have been a Machead exclusively.

Erik · May 13, 2009

Dargo,
if you really hate it that much, PM me with a reasonable price and if i can afford it, it'll make an eye popping wedding gift for the wife's baby sister.

Low end PCs are shipping with XP SP3 again and I saw some in the sunday paper here starting at $350.

Dargo · May 13, 2009

HulaMac said:
If you hate Macs, don't buy them,

Trust me, after getting cornholed by Apple with this thing, I won't ever buy one again. I honestly feel duped by rather deceptive advertising and hype that appears to be completely unjustifiable. Unfortunately used computers have extremely low value. I rather strongly feel that I got nailed for about three grand due to incorrect assumptions and deceptive advertising. I've not had a PC freeze or lockup in years. The Mac doesn't freeze or lockup either but is incompatible with 90% of all software and hardware. That makes the pain so much worse because the consumer is faced with basically a complete loss by tossing the Mac or dropping more money in the endless pit by unending spending on things specifically made for Mac. Apple seems worse than Microsoft when it comes to constantly changing and putting out 'updated' operating systems.

With five kids I figure that certainly one of them will eventually want a MacBook for school. At this point none of the schools my kids attend use Macs nor do any of their friends who may talk them into wanting a Mac. That leaves me stuck with this thing or literally pissing away three grand plus spending more money to replace it.

Unfortunately the sites I can't get sound on are business specific. When I've asked them this evening about not being able to get sound the IT department there basically told me that they don't support Apple and don't plan to because it represents such a small portion of the computers out there.

HulaMac · May 13, 2009

Dargo, I'm sorry your experience with your Mac was a bad one. I was disappointed that many applications are not compatible with Mac. Now there is a program where you can go from your Mac to Windows and back again. I have lots of friends who are pc-ers. I hope we can be too. :flowers:

Dargo · May 13, 2009

Aaaaugh! I'm going to go bang my head on a brick wall for a while. I just spent 2 hours trying to just get this Mac to see the other computers on my network to no avail. I have a common Linksys setup. It takes nothing to get PC's to see each other and share files. Based on Google searches it appears that I'm not the only person who can't get a Mac to play with others. I've downloaded and installed all sorts of programs that are supposed to help achieve this basic task but none have worked. I gotta give up for a while. it's just too aggravating.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 13, 2009

Dargo said:
Unfortunately the sites I can't get sound on are business specific. When I've asked them this evening about not being able to get sound the IT department there basically told me that they don't support Apple and don't plan to because it represents such a small portion of the computers out there.

The only thing I could think you might need is Windows Media Player for the Mac:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/mac/mp9/default.aspx

I haven't used it lately so I don't know if it is fully comaptible with 10.5

You may also want to consider trying the Windows Media Components for QuickTime:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx

I'm a big fan of the VLC Media Player on most platforms:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

Otherwise, without more specific info I can't really offer you anything else.

Dargo · May 13, 2009

Thanks. Those are some of what I just installed. I to have to take a little comic relief. One helpful guy from a Mac forum just emailed me and told me that the compatibility issues with networking is well known and all I need to do is wait for the new version of the Mac OS called "Snow Leopard". :yum:

I'm sorry, but isn't that exactly what Mac advertises is the problem with PCs?? You have to keep upgrading your OS so it will work right...

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 13, 2009

Dargo said:
Thanks. Those are some of what I just installed. I to have to take a little comic relief. One helpful guy from a Mac forum just emailed me and told me that the compatibility issues with networking is well known and all I need to do is wait for the new version of the Mac OS called "Snow Leopard". I'm sorry, but isn't that exactly what Mac advertises is the problem with PCs?? You have to keep upgrading your OS so it will work right...

I just downloaded the update of the month today it was over 400MB! Glad I have a decent network connection!

Macs aren't any better or worse than PC's they are just different.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 13, 2009

Dargo said:
Aaaaugh! I'm going to go bang my head on a brick wall for a while. I just spent 2 hours trying to just get this Mac to see the other computers on my network to no avail. I have a common Linksys setup. It takes nothing to get PC's to see each other and share files. Based on Google searches it appears that I'm not the only person who can't get a Mac to play with others. I've downloaded and installed all sorts of programs that are supposed to help achieve this basic task but none have worked. I gotta give up for a while. it's just too aggravating.

Can you ping the PC's?

http://www.ehow.com/how_2196172_ping-mac-computer.html

Are you using static IP addresses or DHCP? What's the IP address of the Mac and what is the IP address of the PC you are trying to connect to?

Wireless or Wired connection? If wireless can you plug the Mac in to a wired port?

Dargo · May 14, 2009

The one fella walked me through how to ping the other computers to get their IP addresses on my intranet. I manually plugged in the numbers to "force" it to see them but that didn't work either. Obviously I seem to have about a 2 hour frustration limit to working on it. After about 2 hours I'm ticked and ready to pitch it until I step away from it for a while.

I'm so danged hard headed about refusing to just quit on something that I may have to just wait for Apple to come out with their new updated software that, I'm told, specifically addresses this problem along with all the other "wonderful" (yeah, I'm being sarcastic, sorry) upgrades. I suppose my hope is mostly due to the fact that I firmly believe that Apple dominates with their iPhone software. Unfortunately, I also believe AT&T sucks. The consolation to that delimma is that I've been told by many people, including several Verizon employees, that Verizon will most likely have the iPhone in 2010. OMHO Verizon has a far superior network for making and receiving calls but their Blackberry Storm rates a zero when compared to the iPhone. Verizon seems great but that Storm sure has every appearance of something rushed to market to fill the touch screen void at Verizon until they get the iPhone. If they do get the iPhone, I think AT&T is in big trouble! And that's coming from someone who has had Cingular/AT&T for the last 12 years.

Anyway, when I'm 'in da mood', I will continue to try to get that MacBook Pro to network and print. At least it works with my wired and wireless network for internet access no problem. Oh yeah, the little laser printer I have in the house for my kids to use and am trying to get the Mac to use is an HP 2035N laser. It has a manufacture date of 3/09.

California · May 15, 2009

Dargo said:
... the compatibility issues with networking is well known and all I need to do is wait for the new version of the Mac OS.

That's what they told me 20 years ago!

Our division chief bought a Mac for herself then told me to make it work on our Novell network. Impossible. I went to where she bought it and they said just what you heard 20 years later, 'wait for the next version of the operating system'. In other words they sold her vaporware, a machine that couldn't serve the application she explicitly bought it for.

Eventually the next release of Apple OS was available and that worked fine. What Apple hadn't said ANYWHERE was that the Macs required a separate, isolated partition on the Novell server and could only see one another. They now used Novell Netware to talk to one another but could not send/receive/see/print the PC side, where all the actual work in that shop was done.

So for a couple of years the secretaries would print out the staff's work, retype it on the one clerical Mac that was bought for this purpose, and let the boss do final edit on her Mac before the secretary printed it on her single-user Laserwriter. Which cost far more than a functionally-equivalent HP Laserjet with Postscript option.

I see things haven't changed any.

Kei · May 15, 2009

They should make a PC/MAC hybrid. It might get out of control and take over the world but I bet it would sell real well. :smile:

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 15, 2009

It looks like they have a driver for the HP 2030 series:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...esId=3662025&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=219

Do you have that yet?

However, if your mac can't ping your PC then you have bigger issues.

You didn't say if it was a wired connection or a wireless connection to your network. A wired connection should work on just about any router. Wireless could have issues with certain wireless encryption schemes but most of the time these can be resolved.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 15, 2009

California said:
That's what they told me 20 years ago!

Our division chief bought a Mac for herself then told me to make it work on our Novell network. Impossible. I went to where she bought it and they said just what you heard 20 years later, 'wait for the next version of the operating system'. In other words they sold her vaporware, a machine that couldn't serve the application she explicitly bought it for.

Eventually the next release of Apple OS was available and that worked fine. What Apple hadn't said ANYWHERE was that the Macs required a separate, isolated partition on the Novell server and could only see one another. They now used Novell Netware to talk to one another but could not send/receive/see/print the PC side, where all the actual work in that shop was done.

So for a couple of years the secretaries would print out the staff's work, retype it on the one clerical Mac that was bought for this purpose, and let the boss do final edit on her Mac before the secretary printed it on her single-user Laserwriter. Which cost far more than a functionally-equivalent HP Laserjet with Postscript option.

I see things haven't changed any.

At one point they did have Macs working on Novell but you had to buy all the software from Novell. It wasn't pretty but then again I never found anything pretty about Novell.

California · May 15, 2009

Agreed, Novell was ugly. But at the time, I considered it a major victory that I got Ethernet named as the standard, not the proposed TokenRing, for our little branch-office system while we were still in the planning stage. Headquarters wanted to impose TR on us because that was what their support staff knew. And there may have been lobbying by IBM Corp to 'preserve uniformity' (their proprietary standards) across this Large Government Organization, with about 10,000 pc or mainframe terminal users. I persuaded the project steering committe that Ethernet was the future. A few years later my little empire (60 users) integrated flawlessly into the Ethernet systemwide network that HQ was finally extending outward to all the branch offices. TokenRing, Starlan, and Ethernet were about all that existed in those days to interconnect pc's. Ethernet, because it was Internet-compatible, was the best choice even though the Novell we ran on it was not first rate.

Dargo · May 15, 2009

PBinWA said:
It looks like they have a driver for the HP 2030 series:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...esId=3662025&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=219

Do you have that yet?

However, if your mac can't ping your PC then you have bigger issues.

You didn't say if it was a wired connection or a wireless connection to your network. A wired connection should work on just about any router. Wireless could have issues with certain wireless encryption schemes but most of the time these can be resolved.

Thanks. Actually, no, I don't have that driver. My MacBook Pro that doesn't play well with others does 'see' the other computers when pinging them, it just refuses to talk to them. What a stuck up bastard! I have both wired and wireless networking. My wireless is just WEP secured which I'm told isn't an issue if I was easily able to get the Mac to hook up to the wireless and use the internet.

I'm still on a mini sabbatical from trying to get the Mac to work properly as to keep my 'pissed off level' within an acceptable range. The Mac is only being used for internet access and email. Needless to say, it's rather expensive for only being used for those tasks.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 15, 2009

On your home network is set up with a Workgroup name? What are the Windows OS versions you are using? Anything really old or really new? Ideally, if you have a single XP/2003/Vista machine to test against it would be ideal to reduce the number of variables. Also keep them both plugged into the same hub for testing.

I suspect that a little manual tweaking of a configuration file (smb.conf) on your Mac may help a bit. This is one of those hidden files that you need to use the UNIX shell and SUDO to access. Or use a graphical text editor like TextWrangler which allows you to browse for and edit files that are normally hidden in the Mac OS:

http://www.barebones.com/products/TextWrangler/download.html

Dargo · May 15, 2009

PBinWA said:
I suspect that a little manual tweaking of a configuration file (smb.conf) on your Mac may help a bit. This is one of those hidden files that you need to use the UNIX shell and SUDO to access. Or use a graphical text editor like TextWrangler which allows you to browse for and edit files that are normally hidden in the Mac OS:

http://www.barebones.com/products/TextWrangler/download.html

Hot dang it! There you go speaking Greek to me again! :hammer:

My network is simple. It's all based on Vista and is just a simple workgroup with the default "MSHOME" name. The most basic of basics has worked for me and the only thing is the WEP encryption on the wireless portion, but even though someone would have to be on my property to get a signal, I still feel it's prudent to at least have basic encryption to access the wireless network.

After the ice storm power spike damage I had to replace several PCs. When installing the new PCs I literally just had to plug them in to my wired ports I have in the walls. Even ones in my shop and guest house, that work through a wired switch, worked fine and saw all the other computers. All I had to do was right click on their main drive and click "share" to allow them to be seen by the existing computers.

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · May 15, 2009

So you've probably tried this but just confirm that you have (or have not):

When you try to connect to your PC, have tried using the method in the pictures below?

Make sure you use the IP address (not the machine name) of the Windows machine and a login name and password on the Windows machine. Also, set the password on the windows machine to something simple for testing purposes - just letters and numbers and not very long. We are trying to get it to work for now we can make it more secure and add more complexity later.

BoneheadNW · May 18, 2009

Respectfully,
Dargo, wasn't it you that was ripping the iphone saying it was the biggest waste of money you ever had? This sounds eerily familiar!
Bone

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