Need a Mac...

[cdiesel]

Wow! This thread has gone WAY off track from where I thought it would go. I never asked for a Mac vs PC argument--I know what I like, I really don't care what anyone else does. You want a computer, buy what you want. Like Mike said, great ROI in the long run. Any owner or decision maker who doesn't see that is going to have tough time. Investing in your company's future, both in equipment and talent, is the most important move an owner can make. With that said:

• This particular employee is more of strategist than a designer. Can he design? Yes. Is that the reason he works for us? Absolutely not!
• He's been with us for almost two years.
• He's freakin' out there. I often have to reel in the ideas that come out of his head and make them more plausible.
• He wears Chuck T's everday. Even with a suit.
• He's never once asked for a new computer, even though he's using his own.
• He actually doesn't even know we're getting him a new computer. We've recently replaced three other design stations. All the while, he's been working on his personal computer and hasn't said a peep.
• He's been knockin' em down lately.

I could probably use a new computer myself. My desktop is almost four years old, but I'm putting off replacing it because I'm much more efficient in XP Pro vs Windows 7. We have six or seven Win7 machines, so I'm getting used to it, just not ready to switch yet.




I'm buying him a Mac for a few reasons:

• I believe that it's our job as business owners to give our employees the tools they need to do their job to the best of their ability. Can he use a PC? Of course. Could I use a Mac? Yep. Are we faster and more efficient on the platforms we are more familiar with? Absolutely!
• He needs a new computer. Period. I'm going to buy one, and buying him the one he really wants will make him very happy and demonstrate that we value him at our company.
• In the two years he's been using his Mac, we've had ONE compatibility issue. For some reason, one of the folders he created on the server wouldn't be recognized by Onyx. Moved files to a new folder and problem was solved. He's created thousands upon thousands of files and we've had one problem. I have more issues going between CS5 and CS3.

I just realized CDiesel is a pretty smart person, a better businessman than me. I believe if he can spend a few of thousand bucks to make an employee happy and productive, than they are going to make more money in the long run. This designer must be a good catch, noticing this by making minor adjustments makes CDiesel is an employer I wouldn't mind working for.

If it were the other way around, I would hope I would do the same thing.

I feel all warm and fuzzy now...

Thanks Rick. For the compliment, and you hit the nail on the head. We do all sorts of little stuff to keep our employees happy, and getting someone the tools they prefer is the very least we can do. We ask a lot of our guys (and girls). In return, I've been told we're one of the higher paying shops around, we pay vacation & holidays, pay full health/vision/dental, 401(k), monthly giveaway raffle for GOING BEYOND, and have a very friendly & laid back environment.

Rick, did I mention I have a job for you if you ever want to move to Phoenix? Seriously.

Oh, and BTW, I drive a diesel truck. Thanks everybody for your input.. we'll be buying an iMac like Mike suggested.

 

[Roto]

lolololol

 

[choucove]

Wow! This thread has gone WAY off track from where I thought it would go. I never asked for a Mac vs PC argument--I know what I like, I really don't care what anyone else does. You want a computer, buy what you want. Like Mike said, great ROI in the long run. Any owner or decision maker who doesn't see that is going to have tough time. Investing in your company's future, both in equipment and talent, is the most important move an owner can make. With that said:

• This particular employee is more of strategist than a designer. Can he design? Yes. Is that the reason he works for us? Absolutely not!
• He's been with us for almost two years.
• He's freakin' out there. I often have to reel in the ideas that come out of his head and make them more plausible.
• He wears Chuck T's everday. Even with a suit.
• He's never once asked for a new computer, even though he's using his own.
• He actually doesn't even know we're getting him a new computer. We've recently replaced three other design stations. All the while, he's been working on his personal computer and hasn't said a peep.
• He's been knockin' em down lately.

I could probably use a new computer myself. My desktop is almost four years old, but I'm putting off replacing it because I'm much more efficient in XP Pro vs Windows 7. We have six or seven Win7 machines, so I'm getting used to it, just not ready to switch yet.




I'm buying him a Mac for a few reasons:

• I believe that it's our job as business owners to give our employees the tools they need to do their job to the best of their ability. Can he use a PC? Of course. Could I use a Mac? Yep. Are we faster and more efficient on the platforms we are more familiar with? Absolutely!
• He needs a new computer. Period. I'm going to buy one, and buying him the one he really wants will make him very happy and demonstrate that we value him at our company.
• In the two years he's been using his Mac, we've had ONE compatibility issue. For some reason, one of the folders he created on the server wouldn't be recognized by Onyx. Moved files to a new folder and problem was solved. He's created thousands upon thousands of files and we've had one problem. I have more issues going between CS5 and CS3.

Thanks Rick. For the compliment, and you hit the nail on the head. We do all sorts of little stuff to keep our employees happy, and getting someone the tools they prefer is the very least we can do. We ask a lot of our guys (and girls). In return, I've been told we're one of the higher paying shops around, we pay vacation & holidays, pay full health/vision/dental, 401(k), monthly giveaway raffle for GOING BEYOND, and have a very friendly & laid back environment.

Rick, did I mention I have a job for you if you ever want to move to Phoenix? Seriously.

Oh, and BTW, I drive a diesel truck. Thanks everybody for your input.. we'll be buying an iMac like Mike suggested.

CDiesel this is great to hear because you already know what it will take to integrate such a computer into your system. That's always the biggest thing I worry about when someone says they want to run a Mac in a PC environment. You're already over that hurdle already, and it sounds like you have the tools you need to make the Mac work in the environment as well.

In that case, you're exactly right, give someone the right tools that they know how to use best and that's how you are going to make your money. It's horribly inefficient to give a carpenter a spatula and tell him to make you a bookshelf, lol.

I think it is awesome that you've taken the approach to outfit your employees not only with what is the best tools, but the tools that makes them most feel appreciated, utilized, and happy. Since you stated that the primary function of this computer isn't really design focused, though, then yes I would recommend the iMac computer over the Mac Pro since your cost is going to be cheaper, and you can integrate the whole system with the monitor to save room.

 

[2972renfro]

And so the backpedalling begins. Glad to hear CD putting everyone in their place.

Rick, VDoc, Mike, Merritt and others

 

[Baz]

Yes it's very commendable what CD is doing for his employee(s) .. Bravo .. But going with another operating system in my shop is not something i would consider .. I do wholeheartedly agree with keeping your employees happy though

edited: Would a brand new PC + italian sandwich = new Mac? :ROFLMAO:

 

[ProWraps]

chris is a hell of a lot more than a good employer. he has been my mentor since i started as well as one of the best friends i can say i have.

 

[Rick]

Yes it's very commendable what CD is doing for his employee(s) .. Bravo .. But going with another operating system in my shop is not something i would consider .. I do wholeheartedly agree with keeping your employees happy though

edited: Would a brand new PC + italian sandwich = new Mac? :ROFLMAO:

Not anymore, I had lunch...

 

[Mainframe]

cdiesel, I vote for the 27" imac, just wanted to cast my vote, he will LOVE you for it! Let us know how he reacts.

 

[signmeup]

Pardon me for getting off on a rant.

I just don't buy whole notion of someone being "professionally trained on Mac." I think it's a bunch of nonsense. That's making the operating systems sound much harder to use than the actual truth. Operating systems are nothing more than the front end of the computer. Install/uninstall programs. Manage your files. Kid's stuff basically. Any novice should be able to use MacOS' Finder or Windows Explorer with little problem. If they can't handle it they're seriously deficient in terms of computer literacy.

The real "meat and potatoes" of the computer's operation are the applications that allow the real work to be done. People run applications on computers. They don't buy a computer just to run the operating system.

Adobe Photoshop is very much the same program regardless of whether it is running in Windows or Mac OSX. Same features, functions and interface. Same goes for Illustrator, InDesign, all the other Adobe apps. The same can be said for many other applications shipping both Mac and PC versions. Then that gets into the tired hyperbole of Windows systems crashing constantly.

If a certain "design school" is primarily teaching students how to use an operating system or computer applications and hardly any on the brain-based stuff (typography, color theory, media communications, agency & studio skills, portfolio, etc.) then that "design school" sucks.

Anyone can learn how to point and click their way around Illustrator and Photoshop. It takes a little something else to be creative and focus that creative talent productively. The most important ingredient to good design isn't the flashy hardware sitting on the desk. It's what sits between the edge of the keyboard and the back of the chair.

Having a Mac doesn't make someone a better designer either. I personally know a recent design college graduate who, frankly, is no artist and is really more of an IT geek than anything else. His employer bought him a $4000 Mac Pro tower, two 24" Apple monitors and a whole lot of software. He's hardly doing anything with it. Most of the company's fliers and other promotional material is generated out of another office in Oklahoma City. We're producing all the motion graphics for their LED sign when this guy could be doing it himself. He can't figure out or won't bother to do it. He has the latest versions of Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects on his Mac. But his desk sure does look fashionable with that Mac sitting on it.

And that kind of gets to why I think some people gravitate to buying Macs. It's electronic jewelry. Digital fashion. Ever notice how many Macs are shown on desks in movies and TV shows. If that was reality 95% of the world's computers would be Macs. I see far more people hauling MacBooks and iPads around without a case than I do any PC user. Gotta show off that light gray aluminum case with the black Apple logo.

I got a big laugh out of the recent news story of a lady in South Carolina being duped into buying a fake iPad in a McDonald's parking lot. The iPad turned out to be a piece of wood spray painted silver. At least it had an Apple logo on it.

 

[Locals Find!]

Read through all the Mac vs. PC posts... and I have still yet to see one question raised that bothered me from the first post.

Why is any company letting any employee use a personal laptop at work?? I don't care how much I trust anyone. I don't let personal computers have access to any of my data that can walk out of here and not come back.

Its private property so it be really hard to get access to that personal computer to see what its been up to. I know there are other ways to steal data but, thats like leaving your door unlocked when you leave the shop at night. You just don't do it!

Good Luck on your purchase! Glad to hear it will be company property and not personal.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Read through all the Mac vs. PC posts... and I have still yet to see one question raised that bothered me from the first post.

Why is any company letting any employee use a personal laptop at work?? I don't care how much I trust anyone. I don't let personal computers have access to any of my data that can walk out of here and not come back.

Its private property so it be really hard to get access to that personal computer to see what its been up to. I know there are other ways to steal data but, thats like leaving your door unlocked when you leave the shop at night. You just don't do it!

Good Luck on your purchase! Glad to hear it will be company property and not personal.

If an employee wanted to take info couldn't he just plug in a discreet usb key and get what he wanted? I cannot imagine it would matter unless I am missing something

 

[John Butto]

Who would want to steal anything off Adtechia computers anyway, unless he was a copyright infringement lawyer.

 

[Locals Find!]

If an employee wanted to take info couldn't he just plug in a discreet usb key and get what he wanted? I cannot imagine it would matter unless I am missing something

Like I said there are other ways to steal information. However, wouldn't you want to control access to your information. You can control access to usb ports they aren't necessary on every computer.

Letting someone in with their personal computer into your work environment you have absolutely no control over what is done on that computer. You could be introducing viruses into your system and who knows what else. Its never a good idea. Ask any network security guy their opinion and I am sure they will tell you its a bad idea also.

 

[cdiesel]

Addie, if you can't trust the people who are working for you, then they shouldn't be working for you. If someone wants to steal data, they're going to do it, whether it be on another computer, flash drive, hell, I use my phone to transfer data all the time.

Do you seriously remove the USB ports from your guys' computers? How is the mouse connected? I haven't seen a PS/2 mouse in a long time..

A few of us have personal computer that we bring back and forth to work. A few of our guys have company laptops that they work on that come and go. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many career minded individuals who don't have laptops, and use them to work from home on occasion.

 

[John Butto]

All major companies, Cisco, HP etc. give their employees laptop computers so they can work on the road and from home.

 

[njshorts]

Addie, if you can't trust the people who are working for you, then they shouldn't be working for you. If someone wants to steal data, they're going to do it, whether it be on another computer, flash drive, hell, I use my phone to transfer data all the time.

Do you seriously remove the USB ports from your guys' computers? How is the mouse connected? I haven't seen a PS/2 mouse in a long time..

A few of us have personal computer that we bring back and forth to work. A few of our guys have company laptops that they work on that come and go. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many career minded individuals who don't have laptops, and use them to work from home on occasion.

i totally agree, however there is a very simple way to disable mass storage usb devices only, leaving other peripherals operational... example: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/networking/disable-usb-storage-under-os-x-or-windows/297, or it can be done on a domain/policy basis with a windows AD domain controller.

For us... we have a VPN that all employees have access to, with everything stored on our server. If files are compromised, I know who did it, what they did and from where from.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

All major companies, Cisco, HP etc. give their employees laptop computers so they can work on the road and from home.

Central Parking doesn't and they are a national company. Although losing ground to Premier at least from what I've seen in Nashville.

 

[signswi]

I can't stand the new IMacs and the shiny screens, but that's what I would get (maybe with a matte screen for a second monitor)

Or just get him a shiny new PC fully loaded with CS5 and tell him to stick it. I'm a Mac guy too, but I can make the program work in either one with only a little adjustment on the keyboard shortcuts...

This, any designer should be able to work on either platform. The differences are tiny.

 

[Locals Find!]

All major companies, Cisco, HP etc. give their employees laptop computers so they can work on the road and from home.

What you said backs me up, the Major companies give access to those computers. Those are not private machines. They are company property. They can be recalled when necessary and be checked for any reason the company decides.

 

[Rick]

What you said backs me up, the Major companies give access to those computers. Those are not private machines. They are company property. They can be recalled when necessary and be checked for any reason the company decides.

One thing that sticks in my mind, you got nothing most experienced employees need to know. And a newbie will still need experience to implement that information.

What possible information does the average sign shop have that an employee would want that they don't already have access to without a computer or by learning by doing the work?

In California at least, it's against the law to use employer company information for financial gain, yeah I'm sure there are ways around that, but would they be able to take enough to put a sign shop out of business? I think the possibility is so remote that it really is not worth worrying about.

Files I believe an employee might have access to is portfolio pieces for their employment. I believe the only way for a graphic designer to get a job is by showcasing work done from previous employment. A designer is going to save files to do that. As an employer, you might make an arrangement where they can do that without taking any of your time, or you can make a rule that no files are allowed to be used, but your not going to have a happy designer. You should ALWAYS make sure the employee signs an agreement that they can not use the files to start his own business and post such portfolio pieces online or in printed form unless you are really cool about it (but you still want some acknowledgment if they do use it)

Salesmen usually have access to important pricing information, and they have access to contacts. You can't restrict information and have a salesmen do his job to the fullest extent without access. But you make sure when they leave what information or clients are yours, and which is the salesmen.

I go into a job with full transparency, what I know, the boss is going to have access to. I believe I bring to the table more than most average sign shop designers. I'm not going to tell the boss not to use the information when I leave. It's to my benefit that the boss succeeds and information (and experience) I provide to them is up for grabs. I'm not saying that the employers info should be, but if I learn something new, I'm going to apply it to my next job, but I'm not going to take their clients.

You can not regulate something like that, if the person is willing to steal from you, they are going to do it. That is like saying 'make a sign that is vandal proof' in the middle of east Los Angeles... it's going to happen no matter what you do, you can make it harder by implementing certain things like software solutions and hardware trickery, but in the end, if the person is a crook, they will always find a way.

By the way, I know a few employers that were crooks too.

My current business as a freelance designer is to share all my information. Sales, vendors, other avenues of bidding jobs, anything to make my client a crap load of money if they know how to take advantage of it. I do it on the site for free for Pete's sake. There are no secrets in this business, just people who are clueless or know how to use that information to their advantage.

I have only heard of one incident where an employee stole from a company, that that was because they had access to their bank account.