🚀 go-pugleaf

Karen Chiu <chiu-scharf@worldnet.att.net> writes:
> Erin Coe wrote:
> > 
> > Andy D. Digh (digh@cs.utk.edu) wrote:
> > > Hello,
> > 
> > >       I'm in the market for a computer for a five year old.
> > > I'm not sure whether a Macintosh or IBM compatible would be best.
> > > The Mac seems to be more user friendly for young children, but
> > > yet more children's software seems to be available for the IBM.
> > > I was wondering if anyone could help me out or know of a particular
> > > brand that would be good.
> > 
> > For a five-year old, getting a high-powered computer is not that
> > important. If you plan to use it yourself, you'll have to look into it a
> > bit, but for a young kid...pretty much anything. Go for second-hand. Keep
> > an eye out for people unloading old computers, because they'll usually
> > offer the whole system plus software for a great price.
> 
> This is actually not true. The kid's software runs agonizingly slow on
> a low power computer, and the kids get antsy waiting for the screen to
> fill or the sound to start. A business user running spreadsheets and
> word processing actually can use a lower powered machine than a kid's
> machine.
> 
> Stay away from Apple machines. The lack of software is the over riding
> concern, but the high cost of peripherals is another issue. It is doubtful
> if Apple will be in business for much longer either.


While I'll avoid the temptation to flame the last remark (which I've heard since 
about 1987), I do think two of my experiences may prove valuable.  My 
brother-in-law is a professional programmer and died in the wool PC guru.  His 
daughter simply wouldn't play learning games on the computer (and she is a VERY 
bright girl despite this tendency).  However, we put her in front of my Mac with 
the same game and she went to town.  The better color, better monitors, better 
sound, and better interfaced grabbed her attention quickly and made her love the 
very program she had been avoiding for a year.  [Reader Rabbit 2 is the program 
involved.]

My other experience involved a friend who didn't want to buy a Mac to replace 
his old 286, but ultimately decided he'd give it a try.  He hates the Mac, but 
not for the reason you'd think.  When he had the 286, he'd use the computer 
every night.  Now that the Mac is in the house, his kids and wife now fight with 
him to use the computer.  This surprised him since his wife uses a PC at work 
and never cared to touch the one at home.  The kids always avoided the PCs at 
home but can't get enough of the Mac.  Now that he has to compete to use the 
computer, he finds he may have to buy another one.

Lastly, let's assume that the Mac was going out of business soon.  Wouldn't we 
have a major problem buying software?  No large corporation would spend the 
resources to market software for a machine about to go out of business, and 
those major corporations would know long before we would if the future were so 
bleak.  However, even Microsoft continues to build software for the Mac.  
Remember, too, that the Mac will hold one more benefit for the child.  In the 
Wintel world, you need to buy a new car every time Mr. Gates repaves the road.  
The 386 couldn't handle Windows 3.1, and the 486 wasn't able to handle Windows 
95.  The Mac, by contrast, hasn't left its users in the dust.  The child will be 
able to accumulate affordable software that will be usable for a long time, even 
if they upgrade.  THAT may be the best reason to go the Mac route.