Macs too high
maintenance
COLLEGE SAYS IT DOESN’T SUPPORT
APPLE COMPUTERS
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
From digital art design to video editing, Mac
computers are seen as an industry standard.
From the Hollywood hits that you can see
in your local m ovie theater to the digital
art found in m any studios, there’ s a good
chance it was once edited or created on an
Apple product.
Despite the college supporting programs
th a t lead into m any o f these field s, Mac
com p uters are in very short supply and
they are not o ffic ia lly supported by the
school’ s inform ation technology services,
or ITS. Instead, those that wish to use a Mac
computer are asked to seek support through
Apple.
“Mac systems represent
a completely different
technology paradigm
from Microsoft systems
with a dramatically
different skill set... IIS
recommends that all
Macs are purchased with
a support package from
Apple.”
-D io n Baird
are M a cs.”
“ Since the percentage o f M acs on C C C
cam puses are about o n ly seven percent
versus the Windows operating systems (OS)
at 93 percent, the ITS staff concentrate on
the densest OS in order to be more effective
with the largest percent of the m achines,”
said B aird . “ M ac system s rep resen t a
com pletely different technology paradigm
from M icrosoft systems with a dramatically
different skill set, and because o f that, ITS
recommends that all Macs are purchased with
a support package from Apple, It is more cost
efficien t and helps ITS concentrate where
they are needed the m o st.”
This begs the question; should Macs make
up a larger percentage o f the com puters
available at the school?
Mark Devendorf, digital film instructor, is
a longtim e Mac user, but isn ’ t sure that they
are necessary anymore.
“ I used to stay on the M ac because o f
the old version o f Final Cut Pro, but now I
edit on Premiere, which is cross platform ,”
said Devendorf. “ M acs are so m uch more
expensive that PCs, and they used to be a lot
better, but I’ve heard PCs are pretty decent
these days, so my next computer that I buy,
m ight be a P C .”
Despite this, he also said that he still prefers
to use Macs and has been attem pting to get
a M ac w ith Adobe Prem iere, video editing
software, into the library for student use. He
did express concern for some o f the forced
features included with Windows to , such as
the inability to turn o ff automatic updates
w ith the hom e version o f W indows 10, as
well as the am ount o f personal inform ation
collected and sold by the operating system.
Kelly White, the administrative assistant
W hy is this the case? The answer com es
down to priorities.
Dion Baird, dean of ITS, said, “ Out o f the
for the art d ep artm en t, stated a sim ilar
o p in io n , sp ecifically th a t w hile it ’ s nice
2,000+ desktop/laptops at CCC, only 125-150
to have M acs around, they aren’ t strictly
necessary in today’ s world.
T he V ice P resid en t o f the
STEM Club, A ustin Parrish, gave
a differing opinion.
“ I th in k th e y are a
great to o l fo r a rtists .
to e x p r e s s th e ir
opinions and stuff
lik e t h a t ,” said ,
P a rris h . “ M ac ;
c o m p u te rs
h av e alw ays
been know n
for creativity
and they also
in sp ire art
stud ents to
be creative. ”
H e a ls o
believed that
h av in g th em
available would
boost creativity
in stu d en ts, and
th a t th e b e n e fits
o u tw eigh th e h ig h
entry cost.
W hether Mac computers
are still a necessity in today’ s
schools is unclear, but it appears
th a t in the eyes o f m any here at C C C ,
there is m uch less o f a need for them
than there has been in the past. As
alternative softw are on W indows
p latform s im proves, m any may
make the jump to the alternative
operating system for the sake
Thomas Wasson teaches in one of
the Mac labs on campus, April 18.
of convenience, leaving
only those w ho prefer to
platform for its ease o f
use and reliability:,
rather than its unique
software.
Clackamas Print APRIL 19; 2017 theclackam asprintcom i