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Now I am about 90% apple since I really only use PCs for ArcGIS, and Sigmaplot but with the exception of those two programs I will absolutely choose to use a mac over anything else, since it always goes smoother.
What I have found is that on shared software, like say office, apple can open anything without loss of functionality but the opposite is not true.
Not only that, but after opening and working on the Office (Word, and so forth) file, one can save it to a disk or drive on the same format for PC, then take the disk or drive to work and continue working at it on a PC.
What I have found is that on shared software, like say office, apple can open anything without loss of functionality but the opposite is not true.
Have you ever used Office on a PC? There is no comparable software on Apple... especially Excel. Even Excel on OSX is very limited compared to the PC version.
The flip side is that when it comes to UNIX software, Windows has the worst support.
Not only that, but after opening and working on the Office (Word, and so forth) file, one can save it to a disk or drive on the same format for PC, then take the disk or drive to work and continue working at it on a PC.
or one could use CloudOn with a DropBox account (or others) and have full blown Office 2013 on your iPad or Android device.
Again, why not simply give the user the option to transfer data via usb? Our engineers sometimes need to be out there to make sure our construction projects work according to specs. If apple really wanted people to be able to work with their ipads on-the-go, then don't limit data transfer to network oriented. Give us the option to quickly transfer files via usb.
Regardless, much to the disappointment of the people in our corporate office, the ipads that they got us are next to useless. They've turned into very expensive email devices. On the other hand, the windows tablets that we got are showing a lot of promise. Field testers are happy with them. The biggest plus from our people so far is the fact that they can transfer files back and forth on-the-go without the need to connect to a network. Regarding our LOB app that is designed to work alongside with the desktop version that works on everything from xp and newer, our people are proving that work are being done a lot more efficiently when they don't have to deal with the iOS BS regarding file transfer.
Back when our corporate heads were convinced that the ipad was the answer to everything, it was frustrating as hell for us engineers to tell them the ipad was useless in real life. Sure, they make fancy email machines, but they're not much good for anything else.
Every office I've visited where people were given an ipad from their company only use them for emails. Every person I've asked about their ipad don't really have an answer to how their ipad has made their work more efficient. But it's cool to have an ipad! You could, like, show people the apple logo.
I agree with your sentiments. I am in the AEC industry and my firm bought us iPads when they first came out in 2010. Expensive email machines is a good way to put it. Some downloaded third party software to attempt to do markups on the fly, but marking up with a stylus on the iPad is so inaccurate that it was more effort than it's worth. Then Apple cut off the iPad 1 after iOS 5.5 and now email and browsing is all they can really do.
I bought a Surface Pro 2 and have been using it quite a bit at work, and it seems to be getting a lot of attention from the rest of the office. One second I can be marking up PDF's on Drawboard, and the next I can open PhotoShop, Illustrator, Sketchup, or even Revit and do actual work. It's been great for taking work to the jobsite or taking it home without having to mess with transferring data back and forth. I haven't touched my iPad in months.
Have you ever used Office on a PC? There is no comparable software on Apple... especially Excel. Even Excel on OSX is very limited compared to the PC version.
The flip side is that when it comes to UNIX software, Windows has the worst support.
I am a researcher and own both a Mac and a PC. Both new, both powerful. I need he PC for two programs, ArcGIS and sigma plot but both have office. I use excel daily, mostly to manipulate data as the heavy stats go into SPSS but usually through excel. I will not graph in either excel for Mac or PC as it is inane. I mostly use sigma plot but occasionally matlab.
Now what functionality am I missing in the Mac version of excel?
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