Back in the 1980′s, there was a battle between IBM and Apple over who will dominate the fledgling computer industry. It was the IBM PC series versus the Apple II and Macintosh. Apple’s line of thinking was to get their computers into schools. They believed that if kids learned how to use an Apple at an early age, they will continue using them into adulthood.

IBM took a different approach. They targeted their product line at the business community. Their machines didn’t have very impressive graphics and sound, but they had the applications that were essential for business.

The result of these two very different marketing strategies brought a clear victory for IBM. The children who grew up on Apple computers found IBM machines used in their jobs. This led to them buying their own PC’s so they can bring work home.

Apple is still targeting students. They recently published Why Mac for Computer Science. In this article, they give 10 reasons why a Mac is better choice for computer science students and for general use. The reasons they give are terse and rather weak.

The first point Apple makes is that you can program in virtually any language on a Mac. That’s true, but its also true on Windows and Linux machines. They go on by stating that you can use many languages for Windows computers, but this requires the purchases of Windows (not the home edition) and Parallels. This will cost around $400 for these two applications.

Another reason given to buy a Mac is that learning on a Mac prepares students for the “real world”. Apple claims that most of the leading software development is being done on a Mac. I have a hard time believing that a computer that has a 2-3% market share dominates software development.

They stress that skills are learned that can be used on any operating system. C++ on a Mac is also C++ in Windows. The difference is that businesses don’t hire just C++ programmers, they look for C++/CLI or MFC programmers. Visual C++ programmers are very valued in the computer industry, as well as C# and Visual Basic programmers. I don’t see that many job opening for Macintosh developers.

A Mac is a good computer system. Apple wants to sell more of them so they publish articles like this to convince people. I think that every computer science student needs to learn a Microsoft programming language (C++/CLI, C++/MFC, C#, or Visual Basic) for the skills that are in demand today. You can do this on a Mac, but it will cost less to do it on a Windows computer.

Tweet This Post!

Related posts:
	How Much Money Should Programmers Make? Tips from a Billionaire for New Programmers Quantum Computing Arthur C. Clarke and the Dot Com Lifestyle

Share this post:

               

Follow Me:

Did you find this post interesting and useful? You can keep up to date on this blog by subscribing to my RSS feed, or you can have new posts sent to you by e-mail. You can also follow me on Twitter.

4 Comments »

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed