Macs aren’t more popular in large mainstream organizations because they require less maintenance and that scares IT departments, Robert Cringely writes in ” The Pulpit ” column for PBS.
“Whatever the gigahertz numbers say, Macintoshes are comparable in performance to Windows or Linux machines,” he writes. “Whatever the conventional wisdom or the Microsoft marketing message, Macs aren’t dramatically more expensive to buy and on a Total Cost of Ownership basis they are probably cheaper. Nobody would argue that Macs are harder to use. Clearly, they are easier to use, especially on a network.”
IT departments should recommend the best computer for the job, “but more often than not, they recommend the best computer for the IT department’s job,” he adds. So why are Linux computers gaining in popularity with large firms while Macs, which are based after all on BSD Unix, aren’t? Cringely says that adopting Linux lets organizations increase their efficiency without requiring the IT department to increase its efficiency.
“It takes just as many nerds to support 100 Linux boxes as 100 Windows boxes, yet Linux boxes are cheaper and can support more users,” he writes. “The organization is better off while the IT department is unscathed and unchallenged … Macs reduce IT head count while Linux probably increases IT head count, simple as that.”
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