From: freaspeach@mail.com   
      
   In article , "DeepThought"   
    wrote:   
      
   > But it shouldn't take a pro to install something like memory. The iMacs are   
   > sort of for people who are scared to have more than once mouse button,   
   > fearing their fingers will get stretched or other such nonsense... not even   
   > computer illiterate, but computerPHOBIC.   
      
   Ah, but you don't need to be a pro to install memory, or an Airport card -   
   those parts ARE user servicable.  In fact, the iBook has instructions   
   printed on the underside of the keyboard on how and where to plug in the   
   stuff that you can add.  It's major / critical components like hard drives   
   that are a pain to change out.   
      
   And as for the mouse... yes, yes, that's been mentioned a million times   
   before.  The only reason that my Mac has a multi-button mouse is that I   
   figured it would be handy for gaming, which it is.  Fire, alt-fire, and jump   
   along with targetting all on one hand does make things easier.  It also   
   works in the Finder to click and double-click files, as well as pop up   
   contextual menus.   
      
   You can do contextual menus just as well with a single button mouse - you   
   use the control key as a modifier before you click.  But the fact that it's   
   in there at all was a concession to the overpowering market share of   
   Windows, much like the uglification of the Mac OS with the Platinum   
   interface was done so it could look "more like Windows", in blatent   
   disregard of Apple's user interface guidelines, which were completely thrown   
   out the windows with OS X.   
      
   > I personally like customization myself... for instance, if I want a computer   
   > to evolve with, I can start will a PC and evolve with that PC. It's not so   
   > hard to use that I am frustrated, but when I grow to the level of swapping   
   > HDs and replacing sound cards I am not totally brought down to the level of   
   > a child.   
      
   Then you'd be buying something like a Mac tower, and not a "low-end" machine   
   like an iMac that's meant for people to just use, and not to tinker with by   
   installing internal upgrades.   
      
   > > And was it just as easy for you installing stuff into a six-year old   
   > > Dell as   
   > > it is now? :)   
   >   
   > I actually used a Micron computer... the thing's yellow now, and ran Win95,   
   > but it was actually fairly easy for internal case modifications.   
      
   Well, my beige is a bit more yellow now, and I doubt it's been much more   
   difficult to upgrade than your Micron.   
      
   > My major question is: if you drop something in the iMac's vent holes, do you   
   > have to call in the National Guard, Interpol, and NASA to get it out? If it   
   > takes a qualified tech to vacuum the boards, it's not a real computer.   
      
   If you dropped something in an iMac's vent holes, you better pull the power   
   cord immediately and take it into a shop, because you either dropped in a   
   paperclip, a piece of wire or a strip of tinfoil, because that's all that's   
   going to fit in those holes, and you don't want little bits of wire bouncing   
   around inside your computer :)   
      
   > Yes, but you've read instructions online, you have used the computer and are   
   > familiar with it.   
      
   I swapped out a hard drive on a PowerBook 5300 once (for a paying customer,   
   no less), and did it without benefit of instructions, online or otherwise.   
      
   > If you walked up to a random person on the street, if they hadn't used a Mac   
   > before, chances are they couldn't, say, comfortably "flip things out of the   
   > way" and get a separate drive sled.   
      
   The same argument would hold for the Windows side, though.  Ask someone   
   who's never used Windows before how to configure Outlook so they don't get   
   infected by buggy e-mails and they'd have no clue...  but then again, that's   
   kind of what it looks like now, even with people who do know how to use   
   Outlook :)   
      
   > Hmm... was this a new comp with XP installed, or an older one with an   
   > upgrade? Chances are if you're running on the latest hardware, it works   
   > fine...   
      
   Brand new machine.  They retired their old Win98 box and have it in a back   
   room to do book keeping and the like. XP is running on a brand new box,   
   fresh from the Gateway Country store.   
      
   > But I do admit that I have seen programs crash... just never the system.   
      
   From what I understand, that's one of the major selling points of XP,   
   increased stability.  If that's been accomplished, then bravo...  a shame   
   they had to swap stability for an even more eye-jarring interface :p   
      
   > But in many ways, the "mac" brand is just as bad... sometimes worse.   
      
   *sigh* There you go, using the word "bad" again...  what else is bad?  We've   
   touched on upgradability, OS stability, availablity of software... I touched   
   on the mouse at the start of this post as well.  What else?   
      
   I'm impressed by your willingness to discuss this rationally, and I'd like   
   to keep this going, if possible.  It's obvious that you don't like Macs, but   
   at least you can not like based on an informed opinion.  Like someone told   
   me once, you have to eat at White Castle at least once, so that when someone   
   asks you to go there the next time, you can say "no" based on experience :)   
      
   (And to think of all the time I've spent typing this stuff up, when I could   
   be trying to learn XML... :p )   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)