THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 30, 1995 TAG: 9501280142
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Richard Grimes and Roger Grimes
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Even those who are mystified by the concept of electricity are joining computer user groups, signing up for software classes, leafing through the literature and, quite frankly, searching for more. For them, we offer Doubleclick.
This irreverent and informative column, by computer connoisseurs - and twin brothers - Richard and Roger A. Grimes, will appear twice a month in Business Weekly, cutting to the quick of matters pertaining to business and personal computers.
Roger, a computer network coordinator at a major Tidewater health care company, carries impressive credentials: CPA, CNE, and national PC security consultant. He and brother Richard have co-authored articles and technical manuals on a variety of computer topics including viruses.
Richard favored creative writing in college and now travels the Internet for The Virginian-Pilot, where he is on the business and global news staff. He claims to have owned every cheap computer ever made, including the Commodore Vic 20 and the deluxe Timex-Sinclair personal computer. Yes, he in fact drives what may be one of the last '66 Plymouth Valiants still rolling in Hampton Roads.
Roger: Because this is our inaugural column, we decided to focus on an uncontroversial subject - a sort of softball question we can hit for a home run our first time out and not offend a lot of people. Why not, we thought, tell people whether they should buy a Mac or an IBM PC compatible?
Richard: This question is a no-brainer, Roger. I've never seen one thing that a PC could do that a similarly equipped Macintosh couldn't do, and vice versa. Company publicists dreamed up this debate. Roger, you drive a late model minivan. I drive a 1966 Plymouth Valiant. Though they're different - mine, for instance, doesn't have Happy Meal trash in the back - they work basically the same. Your car uses combustion and four wheels to get around. When I have all four wheels on the Valiant, it works in a similar fashion.
PCs and Macs are basically the same. At their core, they work by turning electrical currents on and off. Everything else is the computer equivalent of leather seats.
The trick is to avoid all the flim-flam that's flying around, like the term ``ease-of-use.'' The people who sell computers using unmeasurables like ease-of-use are the same kind of people who try to sell you extra ``undercoating'' for your car. They're trying to scare you into buying their product - in this case, by implying that you're not smart enough to figure out their competitor's machine.
Buy a computer, buy it with a generous warranty and have the dealer fine-tune it for you. If you follow those rules, you're gonna be all right whether you buy a Mac or a PC. Will you have trouble when you add new stuff? You bet. But you'll have your share of problems with either machine.
Roger: I've seen your Plymouth Valiant, Richard, and you could have used some of that extra undercoating - on top of the car. I think ease-of-use is important - very important. And I think the Mac is an easier computer to use.
However, if you want to work in the majority of the business world, or want your child to work in the business world, realize that you or he will probably be working on an IBM compatible.
Why? It's because software becomes a more important consideration than ease-of-use at the corporate level. You just can't get as much software for the Mac. The current crop of Power Macs may change the equation some, because they can run Windows software. Unfortunately, they run it at the speed of a 25 mhz 486 SX.
Richard: That's barely faster than a high speed 386. You won't be netsurfing, you'll be net-reclining.
Roger: Right. If you plan to run Windows software, don't think you can get the best of both worlds with the Power Mac.
Unless you work with people or businesses that primarily use Macs, you're better off buying a 486 machine running at 66 mhz with an eye toward moving to Pentium- based processors.
Richard: I agree with you that compatibles have the edge with software availability, but only for the moment. The PowerMac, the Pentium screw-up and the late release of Windows95 have changed the equation. We're not even considering the newly opened Apple clone market. If more users switch to Mac - it doesn't even have to be a majority of computer users - then software developers will write more for that platform.
If I may steal an analogy from the classics - the Death Star's defensive shields are offline, Darth Vader is spinning out of control and the rebels are in the trench. Feel the Force, Apple.
SIGN OFF: Brace yourself! RAM prices may be going up temporarily because the earthquake in Japan took out at least one chip manufacturing plant. MEMO: The guy with the minivan can be reached at groger(AT)infi.net
The guy with the '66 Plymouth Valiant can be reached at
rgrimes(AT)infi.net ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Richard Grimes
Roger Grimes
by CNB