RE: MS is vulnerable

["Vivien M." <vivienm () dyndns org>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-nanog () merit edu [mailto:owner-nanog () merit edu] On 
> Behalf Of Jason Lixfeld
> Sent: January 29, 2004 11:55 AM
> To: Vivien M.
> Cc: doug () nanog con com; nanog () merit edu
> Subject: Re: MS is vulnerable
>
> Agreed.  That's where you educate your mom on why Macs are godly, PCs 
> running windows are evil and  Linux is a little to complex still for 
> the end user, and bluntly doesn't look as pretty out of the box.

And when she asks why it can't be as simple as buying a microwave or a
washing machine, what do I do?
 
> If she squaks at the price, you tell her that you get what 
> you pay for. 
>   How many times has her printer stopped working or she's 
> been unable to 
> download her pics or watch some video or a dvd or something else that 
> XP touts as super easy, and integrated?

My mom still uses Windows Me (yes, I know... I wouldn't recommend
95/98/98SE/Me to anyone, but good luck convincing her to upgrade), and it
works fine for her. She even manages to make it stay up for more than a few
days, which is more than what I've ever managed to do with the 9X family. 

You're making the assumption here that there are real non-security,
usability benefits to switching to a Mac/OS X. That's not what we're
discussing here, we're talking about security. How can I argue to my mom
that getting a Mac (which would prevent her from running the Windoze-only
software she needs for work, FWIW) would let her printer keep working when
the only printing problem she's had was caused by clogged print heads? You
know, I don't want her to commit me to a mental hospital... 

> Actually, since I got my first Mac last year,  I've been 
> barking up and 
> down about how amazing it is.  I told everyone I sold every PC I ever 
> owned because I could do it all on my powerbook.  They are 
> all jealous. 
>   I had XP for my email, visio and word, *nix for my geek 
> router & perl 
> stuff, another PC for my audio production stuff.  All gone.  
> All I have 
> now is a 17" Powerbook.  It's all I'll ever need.  Well, no -- it's 
> not.  When I need something for music, I'll get a G5.  Plain and 
> simple, I will never own a PC again.

Great. I'm glad that you have the ca$h to make the switch. Some of us,
though, have too much $$$$ invested in a platform to write it off and start
over with another platform... especially when the current one meets our
needs.

> It's funny, I went out of town for thanksgiving with my family.  When 
> we got to where we were going, my mom was complaining that 
> her digital 
> camera flash was full and she didn't have another one.  I 
> told her that 
> I could download the pictures to my powerbook and email them to her 
> later.  As I was connecting the camera, she asked "Well, 
> don't you need 
> to download and install the softw...." she stopped 
> mid-sentence as the 
> Mac found the PowerShot, opened iphoto and proceeded to download the 
> pictures -- no software needed.  She looked Jealous.

WinXP will download pictures from cameras without the software, too. Most
camera manufacturers downplay that ability to push their own software,
though.

> When the last big MS virus/worm caused it's major shitstorm, my mom 
> asked me if I ever get infected with viruses.  I said no, I 
> run a Mac.  
> They are immune to these viruses.  She looked jealous.

Remember, Apple only has 3% market share. If that goes up to 20%, we'll see
what happens to their 'secure' reputation...

> It's all about educating the less fortunate :)  There is a very fine 
> line between pay now, save later and save now, pay later.  The latter 
> almost always works out to cost a hell of a lot more than the former 
> ever would have.
>
> (hypothetical) Buy the $12,000.00 (CDN) KIA with no snow 
> tires, no ABS, 
> no nothing.  Drive somewhere in a snow storm, get stuck going up a 
> hill, try to back down the hill, get sideswiped by the guy in the 
> Touareg because he can't see your tiny little $12,000.00 KIA 
> soap box, 
> get flung over the guardrail, down the hill and into the valley.  Pay 
> the tow truck to come bail your ass out, pay your insurance 
> deductible 
> and the extra rates you are going to ensue because you just wrote off 
> your car.  Add all that up and compare that to the price of a 
> brand new 
> Touareg over 10 years.  Guess what, your analogy just lost ground :)

And guess what, many people can't afford Touaregs. 

You came up with an extreme example... And the fact that KIA dealers aren't
out of business suggests that real life isn't that extreme. For many people
who need a car to go to work and shop for groceries (which the $12K KIA will
do just as well as a $170K Mercedes S class), they won't see what the
advantage of a more expensive car is. I don't APPROVE of such attitude,
believe me, and I think anyone who sees a KIA Rio as functionally equivalent
to a Mercedes S class ought to go to a mental hospital, but it is a COMMON
attitude among people lacking an interest in cars. And, honestly, if the
purpose of a car is to go to work and shop for groceries, isn't the KIA Rio
enough, assuming the weather doesn't suck too badly, and a drunk with a
Hummer H2 doesn't decide it'd be fun to crash into you?

Same deal with computers. You, the enlightened, may argue that the $2000 Mac
is better in many ways that the $500 eMachines. Your arguments may be
utterly true... But when your mom (if she was like mine) comes back with the
"but the $500 computer does everything I want" argument and starts saying
that she doesn't need a "luxury" computer, you'll end up in a tight spot.
The $2000 Mac may do everything BETTER than the $500 eMachines, just like
any [new] car will go to work and shop for groceries BETTER than a Kia Rio,
but that "betterness" is unappreciated by the masses. And if you want to
ruin your relationship with your mom over her choice of an OS, well, go
right ahead ;-)

Vivien
-- 
Vivien M.
vivienm () dyndns org
Assistant System Administrator
Dynamic Network Services, Inc.
http://www.dyndns.org/