 November 1996, Vol. 7, No. 11
Mac mavens
Photojournalists, designers and
salespeople champion Macintosh
INDIANAPOLIS -- A top executive at one of America’s leading news organizations came up to me while we were attending the Society of Newspaper Design’s annual conference here and said, "It’s time we spoke out about Macintosh."
His argument was compelling: Publishers, who sometimes actually read, have read and heard nothing but bad things about Apple Computer Inc. and Macintosh for months on end. Whether it’s been trillion-dollar losses or dwindling market share, the drumbeat against the Mac has been relentless in recent months.
This had led publishers to wonder whether they should ever buy a Macintosh again.
One frustrated newspaper designer who is involved in a system search for his 38,000-circulation paper recently posted this note to an Internet mailing list:
"The perception of the suits at my shop is that Windoze (for both reporter and page-design terminals) will be cheaper and more in keeping with the industry standard. They care not a bit about the views of us users, who have tried to inform them about Mac clones, falling prices, ease of use, etc.
"They seem particularly concerned about Apple’s fortunes and that the Mac OS will fade away if Apple goes."
Before I start my ringing defense of Apple of Cupertino, Calif., it should be noted that I have performed certain consulting functions for the company over the last seven years. But, in adding it up, I believe I have spent almost twice as much as I have made from Apple on the company’s hardware and software.
I am a Macintosh maven not because the company has paid me, but simply because it is the best platform for publishing -- not "Windoze," which is what Mac mavens call the many flavors of Microsoft’s Windows (3.11, 95 or NT).
Probably the most forceful argument for Macintosh in newspapers was seen at the eighth annual Electronic Photojournalism Workshop, held Sept. 28-Oct. 4 in San Antonio, Texas. More than 80 journalists from around the globe gathered to produce not only a print publication (the Electronic Times), but a variety of digital offerings as well -- for both CD-ROM and the World-Wide Web.
(Inside, you'll get a full rundown on the workshop from Kurt Foss, a photojournalist, educator and consultant who has been a long-term executive with the Workshop.)
Every workstation at EPW8 ran on the Mac OS.
And nothing broke.
I could quote from a long note on the advantages of the Mac in the publishing realm, written by Chris Gulker of Apple (you can read it at http://www.documentation.com/macway_Frecords/records/md484-4.htm), but suffice it to say that despite the perceived "lower cost" of Windows-based machines, Macintosh is still the five-year cost-of-ownership leader. And it’s simpler than Windows, easier to use, more reliable and easier to maintain.
I know of no real reason not to buy Macintosh for a desktop workstation, whether for text, photos or graphics.
There are even compelling reasons to use Macintosh PowerBooks on the business side: Inside, you'll find Correspondent L. Carol Christopher’s look at software for newspaper sales force automation and many of those packages run on the Mac OS.
But back here in Indianapolis (where, by the way, Senior Editor Pete Wetmore found a number of informative presentations about which he writes inside), my newfound Mac soulmate said, "I hate to come down on the side of one platform or the other, but we've just had too much success with Macintosh to let the bad impressions go unchallenged."
So read this, publishers: Think twice before you commit to a Windows-based solution. It might slam shut on your fingers.
-- David M. Cole
See also Hellbox
| 