OwenBloggers: Isaac - MBA '08

From the desk of Ron Paul

Libertarian Congressman from Texas.

Yet another reason I love my Mac

So i decided i wanted to catch up on some of my housecleaning duties today; found some old DV home movies of past Christmases and vacations and the like. Huh... wonder if those trite apple ads about "just make a movie, it's so easy" are really accurate.

I dont have a powerhouse Mac.  I've got an iMac, a nice one, but still not a video-editing behemoth Mac with 16 gigs of RAM or anything, just an off-the shelf model with no video editing software besides what came with it (iMovie).

So i plugged in my 6 year old Sony handycam which oddly had a firewire port back then.  iMovie pops up, asks me what i want to call my project.  In less than 15 seconds i'm editing tape and inserting titles for chapters without even having to THINK.  i think that's what's great about macs... you dont have to say "where would i find this"... it all just kind of works.

So i'm importing an huge movie file and i noticed how unbelievably fast it was converting the movie... really fast.  So i decided to run a little test.  Let's see what my dinky little off-the-shelf iMac can do. 

As i type this, i'm making a backup of my important files to an external drive (100 gigs), posting a blog entry, converting a video, playing iTunes, and just for fun, creating a powerpoint, browsing the web, and watching a quicktime movie.  It's just as responsive right now as it is sitting idle--- which means it's about 100 times more responsive than any PC under any circumstances.  a little tool i have called iStat is telling me my iMac is kinda busy, but not really--- 73% of resources are free and i honestly just cant think what other applications to open to test it further.

I love... LOVE my mac. 

What does this have to do with a blog about B-school?  yeah, not too much... but maybe i can convince some of the incoming students they dont have to settle for the dark and uninspiring world of the PC--- take that money you'd spend on a thinkpad and buy yourself a Mac.  i promise you it'll be the best purchase you'll make.

Switch. Part deux.

So yesterday in Strategic Management our discussion centered around a case reading on Apple Computers.  Given my recent conversion to the "light side" (several readers pointed out that M$FT in fact the dark side), i was ecstatic to share my recent conversion and how it changed the way i look at computers.

Sadly, many of my classmates came up to me after the class and wanted to explore my reasoning as to why i left the confines of the kingdom of Gates for the open fields of my new Jobsian paradise.  Most were exactly as misinformed as i once was; they mostly felt Microsoft was the only type of OS you could use in B-school, and that there were severe limitations to a Mac.  So how does a Mac work in the business world? 

1- Office.  Office is the premier productivity suite--- it is the gold standard.  Microsoft's biggest cash-cow has a Mac sibling, but it isn't nearly as robust as the Windows version, right?  That is oh so very incorrect.  The Mac version of Office is actually BETTER than the windows version.  Editing tools float around in one convenient box, and you can place them anywhere on the page to fit your liking.  The basic controls that are hidden by default in the Windows version are out in front on the Mac version.  Excel rocks.  Excel is sooo much better on Mac.  Formulas are easier to create (not that contrived formula lookup page) and because of the different screen layout you can see more of the workbook.  Even Powerpoint has a better interface. Oh, and did i mention Pages and Keynote (the Word and Powerpoint Mac packages) are about 100 times easier to use than the MSFT variants?  Last night i created a one-page layout with graphics and text that would have taken at least an hour in word; in Pages--- 10 minutes.  Keynote has features like "Export to Flash" or "Export to Powerpoint" that makes interoperability with any system a cinch.  You don't even need Powerpoint--- just send someone the flash version and it loads in their browser.  And just to dissuade any notions that Mac files don't work with PC's, that was true a few years ago, but today Mac handles and shares with PC's transparently. 

2- Outlook.  I haven't set up Parallels yet (to run windows on a Mac), but yes, Mac Mail is limited compared to Outlook.  This is the Achilles heel of Mac.  Owen has a webmail variant that is everything i need from exchange (calendar/mail/folders), but i still wish the Mac version included the scheduling components from Exchange.  If they could get Calendar and Mail working in concert with Exchange, that would remove any barrier to entry as i see it.

3- Everything else. Web browsing (same or better)... Document creation (much better), photos (no comparison),  interacting with Windows machines is a breeze, and all the little necessities of life are much improved (networking, chat, etc).

Overall, there are some Windows only programs that i wish were on Mac (Outlook mainly) but the lack of these applications is nothing compared to the benefits Mac brings in the simple things like stability and ease of use.  For all of you out there planning on attending Owen next year, the IBM laptop program is a great gig, but if i had it all to do over again... Macbook Pro.  No question.

My wife pointed out that just because i bought a Mac, I'm not automatically cool.  I tend to think i was never and will never be cool, but i do now understand that there is a better way...  I was blind, and now i see.

Great info site

nashville.citysearch.com

I'm sure most everyone knows about it, but probably the best sites for major U.S. cities are the CitySearch sites.  I think they're owned by Ticketmaster, so if you're a big Pearl Jam fan, you probably think they're the anti-christ.  But, even after living in Nashville for some time, if I want to find out about a new restaurant or make hotel reservations for a friend, this is where I go.  It's the best-maintained dining/attractions site on the web. Top-notch content and it's constantly updated with new info.  Plus, every major listing has user comments; very helpful.

Incidentally, most major cities have a citysearch site; simply go to www.citysearch.com to see if your town is covered.