John Papola's Profile

I think John is right to question your logic, especially the quality of your conclusion. While I agree that internet access is so important in today's general computing that it's value may trump the differences in operating systems, that doesn't eliminate the differences or nullify their importance. First of all, your proposition is a false choice. One that noone will ever need to make. Given that reality (the fact that every mac user has equal access to the internet as any windows users) the question becomes: what else matters? Rich media creation matters more and more in an area where the internet has enabled self-publishing. The Mac remains a wildly superior software platform for rich media creation, especially for amateurs. In that sense, the internet has helped to bolster the appeal of the Mac. Similarly, the inherently superior security of OSX makes using the internet on a Mac a more pleasant experience. It will be a very long time before the internet's bandwidth and latency are capable of supporting thick applications like Final Cut Pro. What your point really should be is that the internet is raising the watermark for platform differentiation beyond the simple applications that can now be handled by web services. For users who are fully served by web services, the issue becomes which platform is the safest, most compatible and pleasant to use web environment. This does mean that Apple needs to ensure the Mac is the best platform for internet use and I agree they could be doing more. In all cases, "the operating system doesn't matter anymore" is an incorrect and sensationalistic conclusion. It's simple minded, and wrong. No offense.