Using a Mac for B-School

Parallels, in my experience with it, is very solid. If you use the Mac for the heavy lifting (e.g., image editing and video and audio apps) and the virtual machine for dealing with the mac-impaired you will do fine. If you need to run windows native to deal with video editing etc., you may need to run a dual boot. In my mind the need to use windows is driven by outside demand rather than a lack of viable applications... e.g., "we want everyone in the workgroup using MS Project." To which the answer is (given the current state of affairs in the world of Mac), "sure, no problem."

As far as the advantages of the Mac v PC, unless you work for Apple's ad agency, the truthful position would seem to be that a concise answer is unlikely to exist. My answer is that I happen to like it and see no downside to using it. YMMV.

anyone gonna get the iphone to go with their macs?

i wasn't planning on it, but i met someone at the bar last night that got one... that thing is super slick...

i'm close to pulling the trigger, but my one major concern is the excrutiatingly slow cingular EDGE network... why oh why couldn't they put in 3G?!?!

If I were you, I would hold on to the trigger for bit more. The iPHone has so many obvious flaws(or improvement opportunities) that I suspect that an upgraded version will soon be amongst us. Why not wait?

I think the iphone looks pretty cool, but I don't think I could go without a keyboard. The PC Magazine review says the iphone is great for entertainment (music and video) but terrible as a communications device (voice and data). I admit it looks pretty sweet, but reliable voice, a keyboard and fast data connections top my list. Unfortunately, these are all areas where the iphone is weak.

I guess for now, I'll keep my Blackjack and just carry a separate ipod. The 4 or 8GB limit also seems like a pretty big limitation. Also, i'm not sure but I think I'd have trouble getting by without a reomvable battery. Having a fully charged spare in my bag give me a nice secure feeling. I guess, iphone battery life is supposed to be pretty good, but I'm certain there will be times when the battery does run down and getting to an outlet isn't an option.

So, I agree with ncprasad, no iphone for me right now. Maybe they will come out with a version with a keyboard, 3G communications and a removable battery. Now that would be pretty sweet - unless they tried to charge $1000 for it.

I doubt they will ever have keyboards and things for it - they aren't going to target the blackberry market as it is already saturated.

I can't believe that you carry a spare battery for your mobile phone, pelihu. That is bordering on OCD.

I always carry a spare battery. If you're in SF and you ride to the city on BART and go about the city on foot, there are absolutely times when you are on the phone constantly for 3-4 hours while also checking messages - all with nowhere to plug in. If you're in NY, you could go from a car to a client's office, to another car, to the printer to another car. You might be on the phone and moving the entire day without any chance to plug in.

You might get 4-5 hours of talk time out of most phones, less if the signal is weak, and way less if you're checking your email constantly. You could go an entire day without a chance to plug in; it's really not common practice to plug your car charger when riding in a cab or a car. A spare battery is not a sign of OCD, it's a necessity. In fact, for anyone that relies on a mobile phone for business, it's crazy not to have a spare. A quick peek at Ebay reveals that thousands and thousands of people buy spare batteries for their phones every day.

As far as the iphone goes, if you listen to music while you ride and walk to work, talk for a few hours per day, check your messages a few times an hour and browse the web a few times, I think it would be tough to make it through some days without plugging in - and if you're on the move and not able to plug in, you're screwed if you don't have (or can't use) a spare.

Trust me, I'm among the most laid back people you will ever know, but having having a phone available is critical, a spare battery is just common sense.

I'll have to take your word on that. I can't really see why anything would necessitate spending 4-5 hours of a day on a mobile phone. I definitely can't see apple aiming to target someone who spends 4-5 hours consecutive on a mobile phone (I am certain they are looking at private purchases rather than company accounts).

I am glad I don't have your job, or any job that means I spend that much time on a mobile.

That was my original point. The lack of a replaceable battery is one factor that makes the iphone a no-go in a business setting. Actually, it's pretty clear that the decisions on the iphone were made to exclude business users - probably because it would generate tons of complaints in that environment.

The first issue is going exclusively with AT&T. That's drawing a lot of fire already, and it will be an exclusive for at least 2 years. I believe the reason is that GSM is known to be very battery-friendly; important if you can't replace the battery easily.

This leads to the second big issue, which is lack of 3G communications. Of course, this has already generated plenty of complaints. Devices smaller than the iphone have 3G, but I believe this decision was made because 3G takes a lot more power. Phones like the Blackjack show 1/2 or less battery life under 3G. A small price to pay for 5-10x faster communications in a business setting, but impossible if you can't replace the battery.

3G also has another feature notably missing from the iphone - the ability to talk and use data communications at the same time - something that reviews are already complaining about as well. So, in a business setting, you can be on your phone, say with a bluetooth headset, and have a conversation about email, or data on the web, or your VPN network. Imagine talking with your secretary/paralegal/banking assistant etc., and telling them "ok forward the document" and having a look at it at while you are on the phone. 3G allows this, the iphone does not.

Of course, these things all lead back to a common issue: if you 1) talk on the phone, 2) using a bluetooth headset (bluetooth is a pretty heavy power burden as well), 3) while receiving logging onto a network or receiving documents all at the same time, 4) via a high speed 3G network, a battery rated for 6 hours will be drained in 2. Throw in some other iphone goodies like listening to music or looking at photos and videos, and the inability to replace the battery seems silly.

Getting back to the original issue, I think the root of all these problems is the choice to have a fixed battery. I believe Apple did this for aesthetic purposes, to lock in profits from replacements, or perhaps to keep people from using 3rd party batteries (a valid concern given that crappy batteries can explode). The decision to use a fixed battery pretty much forced them to abandon 3G. There's no way that battery could sustain simultaneous high-speed communications for the average business user. It has nothing to do with my job, or any of my prior jobs; it's important for anyone that relies on their communications device and doesn't sit at their desk all day. You don't have to take my word for it. Most lawyers and bankers, and I imagine virtually all consultants, with any responsibility, will report that they have had days where they have been on the move for 10, 12, 14 hours, and on the phone most of that time, trying to close a deal or finalize an issue. Carrying around an extra battery is OCD? I don't think so.

Killer win this year at Stern. they have just enabled an internal citrix system so I can run their stupid apps that are windows only through citrix, rather than dual booting my mac.

And can do it from home. SO much good news. There are a lot of mac users around as well, and we are already rocking the follies scene on video editing.

Reviving an old thread:

How do current students feel about using a Mac in B-school? I have a fairly new MacBookPro and would probably shed a tear if I had to give it up or install a windows partition on it...

Once you decide where you are going talk to current students and see what they say. It very likely varies by school.

There were a good number of people at Michigan that used Macs. They seemed to get by fairly well. When you get into some courses that require add ins and/or more advanced Excel capabilities sometimes it will not work on a Mac. You have to basically decide if you are okay with this inconvenience knowing that it probably won't be that frequent. We used to joke that everyone using computers in the library were either BBAs or Mac users....

Thanks for your insight, I will check with specific students from my prospective b-school

At a minimum you will likely need to use a virtual machine running Windows. While the new version of Excel for Mac has gotten a lot better (macros are back), all the analytics add-ins that you will come across during an MBA program don't work on Mac Excel.

I use VMWare Fusion and it works great. Unlike some other programs like Bootcamp, you don't need to reboot to switch between OS's. Really I only need to run the Windows VM for Excel, everything else I've had to use works on a Mac.

Parallels is as seamless as it gets. afaik, they have discounted pricing for students too. Better than any other VM i hear.

I am planning on buying a MacPro over the summer before school starts. My 6 year-old iBook G4 isn't going to be able to keep up!! That's great to hear that Parallels runs smoothly and isn't frequently needed though. Nonetheless, I'm fairly used to having to accommodate the occasional "windows hiccup" and endure the daily torture of using the PCs at work.

But, yes, it would be wise to check with my school first... thanks!!