Apple Computer Has New Sales People?

On Friday it almost sounded like Apple Computer had taken over the School Administration of Bertie County and made it an Apple sales organization. Chairman Seaton Fairless, Superintendent Nettie Collins-Hart and Technical Manager Otis Smallwood were the major presenters of information in a meeting where the subject was the Apple Computer contract. They gushed with praise for Apple making such statements as "This project (The Bertie County Bright Futures Project) is designed for Apple MacIntosh only. Windows will not work", "Windows is not as comprehensive as Apple", "Windows is not as easily used as Apple". "Windows does not have the same depth of software as Apple", "With Apple instructional software comes standard" and "Windows does not have instructional software, at least to the extent that Apple does".

I was not permitted to ask any questions. However there are serious questions about the choice of Apple. Apple started as the largest vendor in personal computers but has always been a minor computer vendor since they lost the battle for market dominance to Microsoft back in the 80s. Since that time they always have had about 5% of the market. In the second quarter of 2006 they were down to 4.6% of the marketplace. Apple is not even the major player in the Unix marketplace, a segment that is much smaller than the overall market, as Linux is beating them there.

For many years Apple also had the major share of the education market, but it is down to 23% of the education market as of 2005. Once again, they have lost out to Microsoft though they are still beating Linux. Any rational person would have to accept that if Apple was as good as Chairman Fairless and Superintendent Dr. Collins-Hart claimed, Apple would not be sliding. But they are. Why is Apple sliding?

If you talk to Apple, they never concede the reason they keep losing is that they are too expensive and too proprietary. Microsoft keeps winning for a reason. They are very adept at listening to customers and they are always the least expensive option. That is one reason why most school systems are going with Microsoft Windows. The other is that students are better prepared for jobs after graduation if they have Windows experience because business uses Microsoft overwhelmingly. In fact Bertie County right now is exclusively Windows. It is going to cost a lot of money to retrain our teachers and our technicians for the Apple platform. However I don't believe Bertie County even talked to Microsoft vendors for this project. When I asked if they had the question was ignored. On Friday, I was told to "shut up" by the Chairman of the Bertie County Board of Education for simply asking to confirm a quote by Otis Smallwood about what these computers would be equipped with.

Mr. Smallwood said twice, "These computers will have Microsoft Windows Software" and "Microsoft Windows is a standard feature of Apple now".

The first statement is questionable but the second statement is absolutely false at this point. Today, Apple is scheduled to announce their version 10.5 of Mac OS X (the Apple Operating System) and it is predicted to have a dual boot capability to allow this feature. However dual boot is not a practical way to allow Windows since you have to shut down Apple to use it, and then shut down Windows to go back to Apple. It is a kluge solution for people who have at least one program where they have to have Windows, but also have to have Apple as well. The statement Mr. Smallwood made may be true (in a kludgy way) before the day is out (since Apple is predicted to be introducing the capability today), but was not true when he made it Friday.

[As fair public disclosure I have only used the dual boot beta of this capability on one occasion several months back, helping a friend with an Apple Mac who thought it might solve a problem for a Windows program he had to get working. The beta version we downloaded worked okay, but the drivers for Windows were a pain to get working, and you had to reinstall the Apple Mac OS X version 10.4 after Windows was working. It was not a fun effort and it soured me on the concept. Ultimately my friend simply bought a second computer to run Windows XP as dual boot was not a practical answer for him. I wonder if Mr. Smallwood has ever tried to use the dual boot capability himself? Has Apple got a better solution no one knows about?}

Another way to run Windows programs on an Apple Mac is to use a Microsoft program that is called "Virtual PC". It comes in several different versions depending on exactly what you need to do, from simply using PC files, to running Windows XP, XP Pro or 2000 in an Apple Window. For Mr. Smallwood's edification it is an option purchased as an add on, not standard! And if you check user comments about the software you will find most people think that it is terribly slow. Again it is a poor solution, only tolerable when you absolutely have to have Windows but are committed to Apple for some other reason. In addition unless something has changed it DOES NOT WORK ON THE INTEL VERSION OF MACS which Bertie County claims they are buying! To claim that using Windows on a Mac is "Interchangeable" as Mr. Smallwood did simply does not pass the test as credible.

About as credible as his claim that moving from Windows to Apple or vice versa only takes a user "about 15 minutes" of orientation. I have trained people to convert from one to the other in a corporate environment where they have to perform to do their jobs. There is a reason corporations will not normally hire an Apple experienced person if they use Windows. It is not 15 minutes! It is not even 15 hours.

[One final comment on Interchangeable. Dual boot is not interchangeable. If this is what Mr. Smallwood meant it is simply false. Is there some other way of providing Windows on these Bertie County Macs? Does Mr. Smallwood have some inside knowledge about a better solution coming from Apple? I keep pretty close tabs on industry rumors but I may have missed something. Mr. Smallwood?]

The unrealistic enthusiasm of Seaton Fairless and Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart for Apple raises serious questions. How can they be said to be objective when they appear so biased for Apple. The Concord Consortium, a leader in instructional software, is just one example of the reality that everything significant in Instructional Software is available in a Windows version as well as Apple. There is no advantage in software for Apple. Two different consultants in education software that I know are convinced of this. Both sell software for both platforms as they say Windows is so prevalent they have to support both. All the best vendors do contrary to claims made Friday. It is therefore pretty easy to ask, how can Apple be said to have such an overwhelming advantage?

How can Chairman Fairless and Dr. Collins-Hart have run this Bright Futures project and not known that? Is it an indication they did not do their homework?