Apples here there and everywhere

[oz_mark]

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Qantas Offers Apple Technology In Qantas Clubs

Qantas today announced a new Apple technology offering in Qantas Clubs across Australia.

The new development will mean a new range of Apple technology including the latest generation Macs implemented across all Australian Qantas lounges, moving the lounges to an all Apple environment.

 

[serfty]

... moving the lounges to an all Apple environment. ...

Ahhhh!

No, no, no, no .... :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:

 

[samh004]

I’m sure Mal and JohnK will be pleased, but they’re not that much different for browsing the web…

There’s no detail anywhere in that release, it’s all about the rather poor iPhone app, so I guess all this means is they’re using more iMacs than previously, hardly earth shattering news

 

[drewbles]

QF are just keeping up with their pax.

From where i'm sitting right now (TBIT F Lounge) I can see at least 5 MacBook Pros, 3 iPads and probably 6-8 iPhones (not including my stash).

My colleague and I discuss this often. The proliferation of iPhones here in the USA is not nearly as high as in Australia mainly due to the relatively high entry price (no subsidised handsets) and also the relatively high monthly fee (AT&T is around $99/month for most packages).

The most seen place for iPhones in the US I've found is on planes and in airports. Goes to show the demographic here

 

[oz_mark]

Some of the machines in the lounge were in desperate need of replacement. A little surprised they went down the Apple path though...

 

[samh004]

Ahhhh!

No, no, no, no .... :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:

All you need to do is configure a separate USB key with Firefox, or another choice of web browser for your needs on the iMac’s and you’ll hardly notice a change.

 

[serfty]

All you need to do is configure a separate USB key with Firefox, or another choice of web browser for your needs on the iMac’s and you’ll hardly notice a change.

I ALREADY do this with the Windows Qantas PC's, running Firefox with all my shortcuts and cookies loaded.

Get used to them - there's a whole grove of apples in the new PER lounge.

Obviously they want to reduce wait times ... :idea:

 

[drewbles]

Some of the machines in the lounge were in desperate need of replacement. A little surprised they went down the Apple path though...

Not surprising at all IMHO.

They're neater on a table footprint view (iMac has keyboard/mac/mouse and a power cable, that's it), they're much easier to lock down to 'dumb mode' for people (ie only allow a few programs) and much easier to restore.

For what people use them for generally in my experience (web browsing, hotmail/gmail and the odd word document) they're perfect for them. The old cubicals in the SYD lounge (prior to the J lounge days, no idea what they're like now) were so small and were just filled with the PC stuff.

Makes sense to use something compact and attractive, especially consider their main use.

(all this said being impartial, not with the mac fanboy hat on )

 

[simongr]

I expect this partially comes back to the total cost of ownership considerations of an OSX based fleet compared to windows - fewer support requirements. Especially given the simple needs of the mobile users in lounges.

Office for Mac 2008 does a passable impression of office 2007 so document compatibility shouldn't be an issue.

Safari vs IE is a question mark for webmail based on OWA - I.e has a much cleaner interface than Safari or Firefox.

i am surprised though that there is much of a need for these computers. The vast majority of people must surely be traveling with laptops, ipads, smart phones if they need some form of connectivity when traveling anyway.

 

[Ewing]

Office for Mac 2008 does a passable impression of office 2007 so document compatibility shouldn't be an issue.

And 2011 has been available to volume customers (which I assume Qantas are) since September. We've had it deployed to our Mac users for around a month now.

I have had zero document compatibility issues since upgrading

Anyway, I've only used the machines in the lounge once - when I needed to print something off prior to boarding a flight. As long as they have a recent web browser with printing access then I'll be satisfied (most apps I need when on the go are web based).

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I too noticed this a few months ago in the PER Lounge. All apples. But, l have to say, l was really starting to get sick of the old PC's that were still running XP and crashed when l opened up more than 3 tabs in IE. The only problem l have noticed at PER with the Apples is the mouse cord is very, very short, too short.

Having said that, l have upgraded from XP to Windows 7 and l think that Windows 7 is very good product. I haven't had a problem (...yet). Quick start up, everything loads and your up and running in no time.

I think that Windows 7 is what Vista was meant to be.

 

[serfty]

...
I think that Windows 7 is what Vista was meant to be.

Nahhh, Vista was a very good long term marketing tool for Microsoft - note the rabid take up of win7 when it became available.

I travel with a netbook and while it's adequate for short/quick use and watching in-flight movies, editing of documents and other applications needs more than a 10½ widescreen.

That's what my USB does - copies my stiff to a temp folder and runs from there.

When I am finished I can easily removed the temp stuff.

I'll have to learn OS from scratch as I have never used it (although I did a development on a Lisa about 20 years ago :shock.

 

[simongr]

There isn't much to learn. Apple key replaces ctrl in most cases. You won't have a home key.

The real benefit in terms of ease of use is installation of programs etc. I picked up an new iMac a fewe weeks ago, got home, lifted it out of the box and 15 mins later it was up and running, connected to the Internet and was accessing my iTunes library.

 

[medhead]

There isn't much to learn. Apple key replaces ctrl in most cases. You won't have a home key.

The delete key that is really a backspace key is the one that still gets me even after 5 months. Is there a way to delete as opposed to backspace?

 

[oz_mark]

The delete key that is really a backspace key is the one that still gets me even after 5 months. Is there a way to delete as opposed to backspace?

You need to press the fn key at the same time as the delete key (fn-delete). Intuitively obvious and all, I know.

 

[serfty]

... The real benefit in terms of ease of use is installation of programs etc. I picked up an new iMac a fewe weeks ago, got home, lifted it out of the box and 15 mins later it was up and running, connected to the Internet and was accessing my iTunes library.

I don't think there'd be a lot of programme installation on the QP Mac's ...

 

[samh004]

I ALREADY do this with the Windows Qantas PC's, running Firefox with all my shortcuts and cookies loaded.

That’s why I suggested it would be simple to just configure a second key (or if it’s FAT32, then the same key.

That's what my USB does - copies my stiff to a temp folder and runs from there.

When I am finished I can easily removed the temp stuff.

I'll have to learn OS from scratch as I have never used it (although I did a development on a Lisa about 20 years ago :shock.

I think all temp files are stored in he home directory and can’t be stored on the USB key, but if they have guest accounts set up properly, a simple log-out should delete everything and hence your temp files will be gone too.

The delete key that is really a backspace key is the one that still gets me even after 5 months. Is there a way to delete as opposed to backspace?

Get a full sized keyboard and there’s a "delete" key, I’m not sure if you can do it with the "delete-backspace" key. And I see the answer was posted above. I’ll probably never use it.

I don't think there'd be a lot of programme installation on the QP Mac's ...

Installing things on most macs is a bit of a misnomer, as all you do is run the "app", there’s generally nothing to install.

 

[simongr]

Installing things on most macs is a bit of a misnomer, as all you do is run the "app", there’s generally nothing to install.

C'mon you have to actually drag the app into the applications folder it's seriously complex stuff

 

[samh004]

C'mon you have to actually drag the app into the applications folder it's seriously complex stuff

You don’t even have to do that, it’s easy to run the app from a disc image or USB key, and I regularly see people doing that who haven’t worked out their applications can all live in one folder successfully

 

[medhead]

Get a full sized keyboard and there’s a "delete" key, I’m not sure if you can do it with the "delete-backspace" key. And I see the answer was posted above. I’ll probably never use it.

Umm and I fit this full sized keyboard to my MacBook how?
Of course, my keyboard already has a key marked "delete" the issue is that by default it actually does a backspace function.

I don't think my wireless Mac keyboard has a separate backspace key. But either way looks like I need to "fn". Intuitive for some, but clearly not me.