CompuServe Messages

Jerry, My reference to the printing industry being bigger than the computer industry was meant only to point out that if Apple can keep their loyal following in the graphic arts community by keeping the the OS and the hardware (Mac PPC) superior to the competition for graphic design, pre-press (whatever that will be in the next few years) – they will do very well. Our experience (and the experience of many service bureaus) is that jobs that come from a PC environment have far more problems to be corrected before they can go to press than jobs coming from a Mac environment. It is my personal feeling that this is because those people who are inclined to use the PC as a tool to solve their particular problem are of a different mind set than those who would use a Mac. And in tackling a graphic design problem, the differences in the two populations are obvious and interesting. PC users tend to lack a background in the field, and tend to resist learning important graphic arts concepts, insisting that the field or problem at hand conform to _their_ computer concepts instead. They tend to be undisciplined, have poor work habits, impatient, and surprisingly lack knowledge of their software _and_ hardware. Mac users seem to be much better in graphic arts backgrounds. They know their software _much_ better and while lacking a lot of hardware knowledge seem more willing to understand how to fix a problem. They seem much more oriented to the concept that the computer is a tool to solve a particular job and in doing so, the tool must be designed with knowlege of the job, and must fit the job. Rather than the opposite – that the universe be viewed from the perspective of the machine. Yes, a lot of people in this field are turning to PCs, but a lot of them are not getting the job done. I realize that I have made some sweeping generalizations. I certainly don't mean that they apply globaly. They are the result of our experiences and others and as I said are my personal observations. Rich