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I think that's one of the key things about using Apple products. If you want to have a good time, you need to embrace the way Apple wants you to use the product

I think that's one of the key things about using Apple products. If you want to have a good time, you need to embrace the way Apple wants you to use the product. And then generally, you'll find that it really does "just work", most of their decisions were right and you can get on with just using the thing. For the more "power users" who prefer to customise things to a fine degree and make particular choices a typical user doesn't want/need, Apple products aren't always the right option.

dkonofalski 8y ago
I run into this all the time with Windows users switching to a Mac. I do a lot of training for new users when it comes to using Macs and the Windows users are always the worst when compared to people learning for the first time because Windows users always want to do it "the Windows way" and so they get frustrated when all their right clicking doesn't pan out. They bought a Mac because they were frustrated by Windows but then they expect their Mac to just be "Windows without the problems". They rarely are open to using the product differently than before and don't even consider that part of what's "better" is that you use it differently and think about it differently. Case in point - I recently had a user who did all kinds of audio editing for foley sound effects and had organized them all into folders himself. When he switched to the Mac, we were using software that has a very iTunes-focused mentality and it imported all the sounds into a library. He could not get over the fact that everything was flat and that he couldn't view his folder structure and was so frustrated because he couldn't find anything. It took me days to get the point across to him that a library system was much more powerful than a strict hierarchy because he could tag sounds with multiple keywords instead of just relying on his memory to remember which folder he had put a particular clip in. It's now been about 6 months and he has converted so many people to the Mac just by showing them how he can search tags for "flute", "wood", and "horror" and get a listing instead of having to remember that it was in his "horror" folder and then inside the "flute" folder with some weirdly numbered filename. It's so nice when the computer just gets out of the way and lets you worry about the work and not about futzing with everything in the background.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  > He could not get over the fact that everything was flat and that he couldn't view his folder structure and was so frustrated because he couldn't find anything. It took me days to get the point across to him that a library system was much more powerful than a strict hierarchy because he could tag sounds with multiple keywords instead of just relying on his memory to remember which folder he had put a particular clip in. Right, so he had his workflow organized in a particular way that worked for him, but rather than allow him to work like that his computer forced him into a workflow management paradigm and then you told him it was better that way and he should just accept it. > It's so nice when the computer just gets out of the way and lets you worry about the work and not about futzing with everything in the background. I agree, I wish they'd actually do that in 2018.
  - vinceguidry 8y ago
    > Right, so he had his workflow organized in a particular way that worked for him, but rather than allow him to work like that his computer forced him into a workflow management paradigm and then you told him it was better that way and he should just accept it. You can't opt out of strong opinionation when it comes to operating systems or applications in general, sadly.
    - dkonofalski 8y ago
      Nor should you. An OS where every person gets to customize every aspect to their own liking is mostly a recipe for disaster from a support experience standpoint unless you really know what you're doing. Take Linux for example. You can customize a ton to get your workflow exactly right if you really know exactly what you're doing. If you don't, though (and I'd argue that most people don't), it's a nightmare. One wrong step can take down the entire workflow completely.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - 8y ago
pkaye 8y ago
Except for the multiple times in the past that Apple would update something and my laptop wifi would get flaky for months on end till the fixed it again. Yup "just works."
- vthriller 8y ago
  Re: wifi, I can also remember constant complaints and whining from NOC folks nearby a couple of years ago because they were regularly fiddling with Cisco AP devices configuration just because of all those iDevices that employees bought.
eanzenberg 8y ago
I like the euphemism "power user" to refer to people who like to spend their free-time on meta-work.
- BillinghamJ 8y ago
  Yeah that's my thinking. Personally I'd rather just get on with my actual work and avoid having to mess around with changing how my computer works.
scotty79 8y ago
Apple products are not the right fit for anyone who couldn't do with chromebook. Except perhaps people that just go straight to console after booting up.

dkonofalski 8y ago

I run into this all the time with Windows users switching to a Mac. I do a lot of training for new users when it comes to using Macs and the Windows users are always the worst when compared to people learning for the first time because Windows users always want to do it "the Windows way" and so they get frustrated when all their right clicking doesn't pan out. They bought a Mac because they were frustrated by Windows but then they expect their Mac to just be "Windows without the problems". They rarely are open to using the product differently than before and don't even consider that part of what's "better" is that you use it differently and think about it differently. Case in point - I recently had a user who did all kinds of audio editing for foley sound effects and had organized them all into folders himself. When he switched to the Mac, we were using software that has a very iTunes-focused mentality and it imported all the sounds into a library. He could not get over the fact that everything was flat and that he couldn't view his folder structure and was so frustrated because he couldn't find anything. It took me days to get the point across to him that a library system was much more powerful than a strict hierarchy because he could tag sounds with multiple keywords instead of just relying on his memory to remember which folder he had put a particular clip in. It's now been about 6 months and he has converted so many people to the Mac just by showing them how he can search tags for "flute", "wood", and "horror" and get a listing instead of having to remember that it was in his "horror" folder and then inside the "flute" folder with some weirdly numbered filename. It's so nice when the computer just gets out of the way and lets you worry about the work and not about futzing with everything in the background.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
> He could not get over the fact that everything was flat and that he couldn't view his folder structure and was so frustrated because he couldn't find anything. It took me days to get the point across to him that a library system was much more powerful than a strict hierarchy because he could tag sounds with multiple keywords instead of just relying on his memory to remember which folder he had put a particular clip in. Right, so he had his workflow organized in a particular way that worked for him, but rather than allow him to work like that his computer forced him into a workflow management paradigm and then you told him it was better that way and he should just accept it. > It's so nice when the computer just gets out of the way and lets you worry about the work and not about futzing with everything in the background. I agree, I wish they'd actually do that in 2018.
- vinceguidry 8y ago
  > Right, so he had his workflow organized in a particular way that worked for him, but rather than allow him to work like that his computer forced him into a workflow management paradigm and then you told him it was better that way and he should just accept it. You can't opt out of strong opinionation when it comes to operating systems or applications in general, sadly.
  - dkonofalski 8y ago
    Nor should you. An OS where every person gets to customize every aspect to their own liking is mostly a recipe for disaster from a support experience standpoint unless you really know what you're doing. Take Linux for example. You can customize a ton to get your workflow exactly right if you really know exactly what you're doing. If you don't, though (and I'd argue that most people don't), it's a nightmare. One wrong step can take down the entire workflow completely.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - 8y ago

pkaye 8y ago

Except for the multiple times in the past that Apple would update something and my laptop wifi would get flaky for months on end till the fixed it again. Yup "just works."

vthriller 8y ago
Re: wifi, I can also remember constant complaints and whining from NOC folks nearby a couple of years ago because they were regularly fiddling with Cisco AP devices configuration just because of all those iDevices that employees bought.

eanzenberg 8y ago

I like the euphemism "power user" to refer to people who like to spend their free-time on meta-work.

BillinghamJ 8y ago
Yeah that's my thinking. Personally I'd rather just get on with my actual work and avoid having to mess around with changing how my computer works.

scotty79 8y ago

Apple products are not the right fit for anyone who couldn't do with chromebook. Except perhaps people that just go straight to console after booting up.