Anyone else here in the post-PC era?

I'd say so, yes. I can use my phone even without a simcard, I just have to be on wifi then. I'm telling you, there is no need to hook up your android to a PC with some sort of program installed on it before you can use it, you can use it straight out of the box. And again, I ordered my phone from a webshop. I got it delivered to my home, and I could use it (except for calling and 3g internet, of course). Then when the sim arrived, I just put it in there, went throuht the setup on my phone, and I could call and have 3g internet. Now with the iPhone, there is absolutely no other way to use, then to hook it up to a PC with iTunes first, it simply won't work if this isn't done. Yes, that's pretty much correct, all that will probably require is internet access over wifi, I think.

Article in today's NYT: The article is about how IT departments are losing their dictatorial influence at some companies, but the article does touch on Apple a bit. A couple quotes: As IT departments are less and less able to dictate the hardware available to employees, Apple might begin making significant inroads against PCs in corporations.--Percy

I think a lil may happen on the east and west coast, but for the most part i think this is doubtful at best.Macs are not user friendly to work on, and I would bet most IT departments do not have certified "geniuses" working there, so they can't work on them.seems like a bad idea (unless you get the people to pay for their own IT as well). We do have some Macs here, but it is only for 1-3 times a year that require the superior Mac image processing abilities, and then are not used the rest of the year.

My foray in the IT world says this is a loooong way from happening. There are far too many "special" programs that companies utilize that would make it possible for this to happen. This is why the upgrade path is so slow and why it took a long time for WinXP and IE6 to die. It just takes too much manpower (manpower that is getting outsourced to India, mind you) to make these programs compatible with the wide variety of even browsers, let alone operating systems.Now, that's not to say they won't allow personnel to use their personal phones instead of providing a company phone, but then security issues come to mind along with enterprise mail servers....

While it is true that amcs are not user friendly to work on, it is very user friendly for most people. And who are most people? They are the tech illiterates of the world.Once upon a time I did try to use mac as my main work station. There are just too many limits imposed by apple for me to work comfortably. And the limits put there are understandable. They need them to make their systems stable.The difference between PC and mac is like the difference between student A and student BStudent A enters college to experience the world. He joines half a dozen different clubs, outgoing, plays intramural sports, and enjoys the occasional drinking party. Works a couple of jobs along the way. He graduates with a 3.2.Student B enters college to get high grades. Doesn't join any club or sporting events. Has friends, but not many. Studies hard. Graduates with a 3.8.Sure, if you just look at the GPA you'd think student B is better. But when you start working with him you will very quickly notice this guy isn't flexible at all. If there's a nail that needed to be pounded and he's only got a pipe, he will absolutely refuse to use the pipe to pound the nail.If the measurement is off by 1/8 of an inch, he will spend the next 2 hours to try to make it fit absolutely.Our lab had one of these guys last year. Very high GPA when he graduated. Very book smart. Absolutely annoying to work with. Turned out he didn't know jack shit from what he learned. Even though he got an A in his concrete class, he had no idea why concrete needed "curing". Heck, he started out not knowing why he saw the guys pour water on freshly hardened concrete. I can't tell you how many times I had to pull him aside and explain the most basic concept in concrete engineering.Our manager really thought we struck gold with this guy. Turned out he had nothing to offer beyond his grades. His work constantly needed rechecking, and I was the one responsible for that. It took him up to 5 times longer to do anything than anyone else.The point is this guy's resume looks awesome. But in practice he couldn't do shit. And that's what a mac is. It's stable. Looks great. Very user friendly UI. Got a well reputable company behind it. Absolutely horrid to work with if you know what you're doing in the real world.Mac will never become mainstream. It's just an IT nightmare to work with in the real world.Edited by Taz, : No reason given.

Hi Taz,Finally found some time to look into Repligo and ezPDF - they appear to be Android apps, and I have a desktop PC. If you find any PC tools that do the same thing please let me know.--Percy

I actually worked in IT with a widely mixed-platform install base - Macs (OS 9 and 10), Windows (XP, Me, 2000, 95), and all backed by Red Hat Enterprise servers, and it wasn't any harder to support the Macs. In fact it was quite a bit easier, since they didn't break as often and, contrary to how they're being portrayed, their users had quite a bit more computer knowledge of their own.On the other hand, the college student whose tech support call I took - who didn't know that the reason her Internet wasn't working was because she hadn't plugged it in yet - was a PC user.At no point did I observe any productivity differences. If you don't like Macs, that's fine, but the reason you don't like them has nothing to do with what you can or can't do on them, because as I've shown they don't do any less.

First of all, my member rating is .1 higher than yours. Take that, froggy.My previous post was probably written with a lot of bias in mind. However, my comparison between mac vs pc and student A vs student B stands. The guy I mentioned will no doubt go on to get his phD and then get a really good job afterwards with no problem. He's got the grades and book smarts. His problem is he's got zero flexibility.It's obvious your experiences are different than mine. I just haven't met a knowledgable mac user yet.Oh, and pointing out the occasional pc user who doesn't know how to plug in ethernet cable doesn't count. There's always the extreme cases in every group. What I'm talking about is comparing the know-how people in group 1 vs the know-how people in group 2.

I agree. But look over this thread and tell me what platform, and what platform's users, seem to have a problem with flexibility? Dwise can't even open a folder unless it's in Windows. AE likes to game but won't bother if it's on a console. Windows PC's run Windows software, but what else? Macs run Mac software but will boot Windows and run Windows software. You can even compile some Linux programs and run them natively. In the age of Java and web browsers platforms are almost irrelevant.I know anecdotes don't prove much, but neither do sweeping generalities supported by no evidence. Maybe actually talk to an IT guy about which platform is responsible for the majority of their service calls, and which platform's users are largely self-sufficient. (When I worked IT, our workstations were mostly Macs, and most of the staff were Mac users. That should tell you something.)

My Mac/PC experience begins in 1995. Prior to that I only had experience with mainframes, minicomputers and workstations.Our family had PCs, my sister's family had Macs. Our kids were roughly the same age. Her kids couldn't get the best games for anywhere from 6 months to a year or more after the PC, and sometimes never. They switched to PCs. The kids were happy.The PC's were hell. The PCs I bought and maintained for our family (always a total of 4) had continuous software and hardware problems. My sister had similar experiences, but it was tougher for them because they didn't have anyone in the family familiar with computers.When my wife's last PC laptop failed (she had had 2 laptops (one an HP and one Dell) and the motherboard failed twice on each) we bought her a Mac desktop. In 4 years there has not been a single problem, aside from occasional minor things requiring only a reboot. The next year we bought a Mac laptop. In 3 years there has not been a single problem, and unlike PC laptops, when you open the lid it is up and running and connected to the WiFi in less than 2 seconds.My sister also switched back to Macs. All the problems went away.For those for whom software availability is not an issue, my experience is consistent with Macs being a far, far better home computer than a PC.--Percy

I have two Mac desktops, 12 and 13 years old, still running OS 9.2. They are used daily.

I have been hearing for years that Mac has better graphics processing capabilities.What does that mean? In what way is Mac better?I make my living as an insect imaging specialist at a state agency. Our whole agency uses Macs. I have a Mac laptop that I keep in a desk drawer and get out once a month to fill out my time sheet.I have 3 imaging systems, an SEM, a camera on a Leica MZ-16 stereomicroscope, and a Visionary Digital Imaging System with a Canon 7D hooked to an Infinity Optics long distance microscope. All 3 of these systems came with PC based graphics processing computers. Macs were not available. None of the digital imaging systems (imaging hardware hooked directly to a computer) that I have worked with have been available with Macs. None of the systems I have looked at have been available with Macs.I just finished building a new personal image processing computer for my self....i7 990x, 24Gb ram, pny Quadro 4000 graphics card. What could a Mac do better than this system?

Probably nothing. I don't know what people mean when they say that Macs are better for imaging. I think it's just something that people heard and repeat. I doubt AE could tell you what he means.I've used Photoshop on both the PC and the Mac and it's identical. Platforms just don't matter anymore.

Nuance PDF Pro is a good one that I use. Adobe is just a horrid resource hog that I try to stay away from.Other than that, you really should join us post-PC generations.

I am not really sure, as I do not have one of the three macs where i work. They are only used very specifically a couple ties a year. I will ask and let you know.