[MLUG - DISCUSSION] Value in older macs

[Nathan Odle <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

So upon starting my new profession, I needed a machine for work.  
Without much of a budget for anything, I drug in my old 450MHz G4 Cube. 
  After hot-rodding around at home on a 3GHz P4 for the last several 
months, I was a little skeptical as to how much useful stuff I could 
get done after upgrading to 10.2.

My skepticism was completely unfounded :)  For general office stuff, 
this proves yet again that it just doesn't take that much computer to 
get your work done.  I've even been doing a little 
Fireworks/Dreamweaver stuff, and while I do wait on it more than I'd 
like it's completely bearable.

However, the fact that I'm doing useful work doesn't exactly tell the 
story I want to tell.  What amazes me is how useful this 'iLife' stuff 
seems to be.  My address books are now totally synchronized, which 
means that they're now actually worth using to begin with.  I've been 
using a PDA/Calendar for an extended period of time instead of ditching 
it after a week or two.  The amazing part is, I can't do this nearly so 
easily on Windows.  On Linux, it's a near impossibility.

I'm the last guy to be a Mac Zealot (and it's plain that there are a 
few on the list) but I've got to give Apple some props here.  The best 
part is, this new shiny software runs reasonably well on 1st gen G4 
hardware, which is down around where real people can afford it.  If I 
were starting a new office, I'd run out and buy everyone a used G4, 
your average office worker doesn't need any more power than that and 
they get to take advantage of all the cool software.

I should note that this doesn't mean that dollar-for-dollar the 
value-priced Apple is faster than a value-priced PC, because it's not.  
I can buy a brand-new $350 Dell that will blow the doors off of any 
equivalently-priced (and probably used) Apple.  However, the cool 
software that Apple has integrated so tightly makes up for the 
difference, and that's what makes them a good deal in my book.  Faster 
isn't always Better, at least until Windows or Linux has all this built 
in too :)

-N

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