"Actually this relates to my theory why the Mac attracts such verbal
abuse. Support professionals have a vested interest in systems which
require their services. A "simple to maintain, easy to understand"
system puts them out of a job."
I can back this up, if only anecdotally.
A company I used to work for allowed its employees to use any computer they felt most comfortable with. The person in charge of computer support never used a Mac, and was staunchly a Wintel user. I was a software developer and donated a small amount of my own time to do Mac support for half the company (which included the entire publications and proposal support departments)
The manager of computer support resented the fact that he didn't know what was going on with half the computers in the company. Also, there were talks of cutting his budget when the company hit hard times.
So, rather than learn about them, he urged the company to drop all its Macs and discouraged people who owned their own Macs from using them at work. His excuse was that they were slowing down the network. They went for it.
A few months later, the network was as slow as ever and they had to hire another support person to keep up. His budget could not be cut because now there was a clear need of resources to support all these Wintel machines.
This story isn't about what technology s better, it's about the strange motivations of one computer support manager. From talking to other people I get the impression that it's not a unique story. I can't say for sure whether this was a self-preservation move or not, it's only a gut feeling.
The "Guru" factor is one that I've seen over and over again in computer support. I've worked in computer support myself and have seen people who only feel good when they know something their users don't know. I know people who run Wintel computer shops that make a living doing things that Mac users take for granted and do themselves. CLearly, there is an interest in more complicated systems here.
I wonder how much effect this has on Apple's situation, for these are many of the people that companies and individuals go to when they need decisions made about computer purchases. |
