Law Practice Management Tips & Tricks
| Publication year | 2008 |
| Pages | 12 |
| Citation | Vol. 77 No. 6 Pg. 12 |
An Apple Today?
By Larry N. Zimmerman, Valentine & Zimmerman P.A., Topeka
I just returned from a CLE where 12 laptops were in use. Of those, four were Apple PowerBooks. That is on track with indicators that Apple has captured 20 percent of the PC/laptop market. Are you missing the boat not switching? Probably not but you might go kick the tires just to see if Apple scratches an itch.
Hardware
The Mac Mini is the cheapest introduction to the Apple product line. The Mini runs a 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, has 1 GB memory, and sports a 120 GB hard drive with a DVD/CD writeable optical drive squeezed into a case smaller than Volume 4A of the Kansas Statutes Annotated. (Monitor, keyboard, and mouse sold separately.)
A comparable machine from Dell improves the specifications with a 320 GB hard drive along with a mouse and keyboard for just more than $600. The Dell is packaged in a larger tower case but is user upgradeable.
That difference in cost is enough to persuade many consumers that Apple is too expensive. There are differences beyond raw components, which make assessing costs more of a personal decision than a balance sheet calculation, however.
Software — Operating System
Apple's native operating system, OS X, is thoroughly integrated with the hardware — so much so that you cannot buy OS X for anything other than Apple hardware. The purpose is to create an appliance that you use rather than a kit that you build and tinker with to keep functional.
Some users scream "Fascism!" because Apple squashes choice and variety. Others appreciate the focus on tasks (i.e., word processing, managing a music library, or video conferencing) rather than on computer management to keep myriad hardware and software options running smoothly.
I used to patiently tinker with wizards and driver downloads to get a printer or wireless network running. I do not enjoy that so much now. By way of illustration, I purchased a Microsoft Webcam. Installation on my Thinkpad required drivers from a CD, an online update, and a trip to Microsoft support to get it working. That same camera plugged into the Apple Mini and was automatically configured for use with iChat in 30 seconds. Choice and cheap sometimes come with premiums in time.
Another wrinkle to consider when pondering a switch to Apple is their machines' ability to...
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