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Author Topic: Really Apple??  (Read 12052 times)

TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #20 on: December 15, 2017, 10:06:29 AM »

As a tech industry worker I don't get Apple in general. The common theme with them since the beginning has always been that they just work better, they do have some very elegant products but they only work better within their own little world, as soon as you try to interface with the outside world things get complicated. I supplied a video projector for an event this past year, it was a modern unit with all the typical I/O.. HDMI, USB, VGA.  So guess what computer the customer shows up with to connect to the projector.. a MAC of course...  which doesn't natively support any of those formats.. and of course they didn't bring the adapter for that Apple only I/O port and it was Sunday 5pm over a long weekend so it's not like you could run down to the local corner store to buy one.
Other than the power cord on earlier machines, I'm only aware of one connector that was Apple-proprietary - the video out on some Mac laptops a decade ago predating DisplayPort.  Other than that, while Apple are early adopters sometimes - Thunderbolt and now Thunderbolt 3.0 which uses a USB-C-shaped connector, other Windows machines that use those, too.  For example, Microsoft Surfaces use Mini-DisplayPort and the next gen will presumably use Thunderbolt 3 and/or USB-C.  Several HP workstation laptops use Thunderbolt.

I look at it this way - for a couple hundred dollars I can have a set of adapters that get me from VGA, DisplayPort, MiniDisplayPort, Mini-HDMI, and USB-C to full-size HDMI, and actually solve problems my customers are likely to have.  Most of the time this is a better investment than nicer mics, better DIs, etc. that may make some indiscernible quality difference only to me.

YMMV and maybe I'm enabling bad behavior, but a $200 investment that makes my client not have to argue about whose responsibility it was to bring the adapter increases the chances that I'll get the job next time, too.

RE Apple's corporate practices - it is what it is.  Just like it's not my job to like the talent that may be onstage, I don't have to like or dislike any kind of machine, just to plug it in and make it work.
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #21 on: December 15, 2017, 11:38:00 AM »

Between A$$ple's computers and Microshaft's Power Point, I don't know who I dislike more in the presentation biz... oh, yeah, the presenters who bring in a thumb drive with their presentation and it's the wrong aspect ratio, or the font is too small, or won't render correctly on the primary & backup computers, thus requiring the sacrifice of rehearsal time or "back in the hotel room" fixes from a tech not being paid for this after hours work.

The discovery of the non-conforming Power Point is often followed by the presenter's offer to "use my machine" which turns into a time-consuming interface issue as they discover it wont respond correctly to Perfect Cue, and now the presenter's computer needs to be on stage with him/her.  Now the fun really begins...

Mind you, this is all after the presenters were previously informed that projection AP was 4:3 or 16:10 (or whatever), the versions of Power Point supported and the approximate audience distances from screens so font sizes could be appropriately selected along with an admonition to not use fonts outside the normal Microshaft offerings.

Because these are Human Factors, they do not get addressed the way other failures do - it's "not nice" to tell your paid presenter he/she screwed up or to tell the VP in charge of Nothing Important that he can't spend 2 hours revising his presentation during his 15 minute rehearsal time.

Edit ps - I try to be out of shrapnel range when these things come up.  "Let me know when you're ready for audio on that..." :)
« Last Edit: December 15, 2017, 04:16:32 PM by Tim McCulloch »
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #22 on: December 15, 2017, 03:44:17 PM »

Probably 90% of the video playback I deal with comes off a Mac, and probably 50% for the presentation graphics. It is generally distributed either as HDMI or HD/SDI. If you are not prepared for the output of what is one of the most common video and graphics sources in the industry you just came unprepared.

Mac

even in my daytime world Mac. Mention graphics and you have to consider Apple as the product probably being used. 20 years ago I got bit on the ass by a very large Boston TV station. They called us in to network a bunch of Apple desktop systems. The installation appeared to be going OK, but then we ran into a number of systems that wouldn't work on the same network as the rest of the world. I reached out to Apple and was told the systems we were having problems with may have a NIC in them, but "At this point in time" the systems did not support networking. The intent of the port was to support apple printers only.
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Lyle Williams

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #23 on: December 16, 2017, 02:35:38 PM »

At one point Apple Macs did "Appletalk" for file and print sharing.  Long dead and burried but still in my 1999 CCIE lab.
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Doug Fowler

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #24 on: December 16, 2017, 03:06:55 PM »

We had a luddite show up at SLSO who said he was bringing his "drive" for  his presentation. He showed up with his work tower computer, no monitor or keyboard.  VGA iirc.

After it was working the auditorium saw confidential HR info for quite some time while he found the correct Word doc for his presentation.  He was department head at a local university.
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #25 on: December 17, 2017, 02:39:59 AM »

At one point Apple Macs did "Appletalk" for file and print sharing.  Long dead and burried but still in my 1999 CCIE lab.

I failed my practical in 1998....Employer would not pay for second one.  Never had much impact on my career.  Poor time management and a pile of ATM stuff and a really tricky IEGRP route redistribution doomed me.

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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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Bob Leonard

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #26 on: December 17, 2017, 10:06:06 AM »

I failed my practical in 1998....Employer would not pay for second one.  Never had much impact on my career.  Poor time management and a pile of ATM stuff and a really tricky IEGRP route redistribution doomed me.



I'm still required to pass a few dozen exams every year or two. It takes time, but my method of study has seen me through since 1982. Hopefully I'll be able to retire in a year or so, ending the relentless agony of exam study and long work hours.
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Keith Broughton

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #27 on: December 17, 2017, 10:19:36 AM »

Awesome customer service says-throw me anything and I'll deal with it.


Right...and that's nice.
But at what point does that become "I'm spending more money to save your ass 'cause you are too lazy to have the right stuff" Bring your friggin AC adapter!!!
At least, have an adapter that gets from your precious Mac (or whatever)to HDMI. We can deal with it from there.
Don't even get me started on PPT screen formatting. :o
« Last Edit: December 17, 2017, 11:06:14 AM by Keith Broughton »
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Cailen Waddell

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #28 on: December 17, 2017, 10:47:42 AM »

Right...and that's nice.
But at what point does that become "I'm spending more money to save your ass 'cause you are too lazy to have the right stuff" Bring your friggin AC adapter!!!
At least, have an adapter that gets from your precious Mac to HDMI. We can deal with it from there.
Don't even get me started on PPT screen formatting. :o
As has been noted above, it’s not just macs anymore.  There are a variety of PCs that also do not have hdmi.  Some only have display port.  Some mini display port.  We had one in that only had mini hdmi...   every Computer we connect now gets a dac70 and each dac70 kit contains a wide variety of adapters.  We can get from most anything down to hdmi or vga into the dac70. Once converted to 1080p/59.94 3gsdi - we are good. 


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Tom Bourke

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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #29 on: December 17, 2017, 11:15:18 AM »

As has been noted above, it’s not just macs anymore.  There are a variety of PCs that also do not have hdmi.  Some only have display port.  Some mini display port.  We had one in that only had mini hdmi...   every Computer we connect now gets a dac70 and each dac70 kit contains a wide variety of adapters.  We can get from most anything down to hdmi or vga into the dac70. Once converted to 1080p/59.94 3gsdi - we are good. 


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I love our DAC70's.  The ONLY thing I wish it had was auto sensing what input connector to use.
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Re: Really Apple??
« Reply #29 on: December 17, 2017, 11:15:18 AM »


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