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I just want to share this quote from Douglas Barnes, from the Cyberpunk Handbook, circa 1996: "Novelist Umberto Eco compared the Mac operating system to the Catholic church. Believers (users) must approach God (the hardware) through a layer of churchly indirection and simplification (icons, symbols, point-and-click), while DOS is very Protestant -- you're responsible for achieving salvation ON YOUR OWN damn it, and you confess your sins directly to GOD, AND NO KISSY-FACE ICONS IN BETWEEN." This quote is about the OSes, but I think you can apply it to the hardware, too. You either want someone else to take responsibility for your stuff working, or you're willing to do the hard work to make it go. Catholicism works for some people, Protestantism for others. If you happened to grow up using PCs or watched Wargames in the 1980s and have a romantic affection for the hacker aesthetic then you are probably going to be alright on a PC. If you don't enjoy (or don't have the time for) problem solving and learning about computers, then save your pennies and buy a Mac. Although, now that Mac OS X is a UNIX I gotta say I am somewhat interested in it from a geek perspective. The time you spend in research about PCs and what components to buy for an audio system is an investment in your future. Standards change, bus architectures come and go, but if you just keep your eye on it every once in a while you can follow the state of the art in PC hardware and be ready to adopt it when you need to upgrade. Microsoft OSes up until now have been junk, but XP is okay. Maybe someday they'll go UNIX-style, too. I'm running a dual-boot system on my laptop: WinXP Pro for audio, and Linux for internet, e-mail, and everything esle. But, believe me, if MOTU would provides drivers for Linux I'd spend a hundred hours hacking Linux kludges to get out from under the mediocrity of Microsoft. PCs could be so much better than they are under the market-leading operating system. Good luck. -J Mark Sottilaro wrote: > On Aug 3, 2004, at 4:31 AM, loop.pool wrote: > >> Fry's had a deal last week on a >> P4 1.8 mghz PC with 512 megs of RAM, a 40 gig harddrive and a CD/RW >> burner/DVD player >> for $399. >> >> Tell me that Macs are cheaper than PCs. > > > Will that machine do audio well? According to your previous posts > about your problems, probably not. I bought a really nice toaster > oven the other day for $100. It's also cheaper than a Mac, but > doesn't work well doing digital audio. > >> Now, Mark.........................let's be honest: >> >> what do extra hardrives and CD burners and printers and scanners cost >> for >> Macs?what do they cost for PCs? There is no denying that PCs are >> cheaper so >> let's call a spade a spade. > > > Let's call a spade a spade. Macs now use IDE perfs as well as USB. > They cost *exactly the same* for both platforms. I have no idea what > you're talking about chum. I think you're thinking of 1995 when Macs > used SCSI and ADB. > >> I totally get that Macs are easier to run out of the box, but if you are >> comparing buying >> used Macs and used 828s then you have to apply the same standards to >> used >> PCs where the prices are even cheaper (except for the break out boxes). > > > Read Rick. One word after the other. You know, like drums. Te te, > te te, ta. The link I offered was for a brand new (although > discontinued but still viable) G4 as well as the best price I could > find with the 828mkII > >> >> I really don't want to be coming off as being down on the >> Macs.................I just get a little sick and tired of the >> superiority >> that a lot of Mac users exhibit towards Windows users. > > > I'm a lot sick of PC users complaining about how they can't figure out > what to buy or getting what they bought to work. Let's be sick together! > >> > >> We all do the best we can with the tools that we have and afford. It's >> easy to sit high and mighty; judging other's below your economic >> status for >> their compromises when you have a really nice salary, but not >> everyone is >> where you are at financially, Mark (and I know that you aren't even >> in the >> upper middle class in your economic bracket) > > > I don't no, I was making music on a Mac when I was in college making > $5000 a year working part time in a sock store. That wasn't so long > ago. I didn't have the software selection that PC users did, but I > honestly had no choice going into graphics. There are still issues > with color proofing on the PC that makes it unusable for what I do. > >> I have tried, over and over, in this discussion to give respect and to >> praise the benefits of the wonderful Mac OS X. >> It would be nice for someone from that camp (and I NEVER hear it from >> them) >> that there might be some reasons why people chose the PC. > > > Why? PCs don't seem to have trouble flying off the shelf. Everyone > knows they do simply because they're cheap. > >> >> Stratocasters versus Les Pauls. They can both be great and we use >> what >> tools we have to be creative. >> Les Pauls are horribly overpriced but they do incredible things (things >> Stratocasters can't do). Should I put someone down for using one if >> they >> can afford it? Was Hendrix fucked for using one (and supporting the >> economic status quo for doing it?). > > > I don't even think that argument applies. We're talking about > platforms for computers. > >> >> It should really be about what we create, I think. >> >> > > Me too. > > Mark > >