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14 Decision Line, May 2009

When I visited the campus of ITESMin Monterrey, Mexico, recently, I

looked around the cafeteria to see whatnotebook computers students were us-ing. I was surprised to see that, earlyin the morning, students all had PCsrunning Windows. Was it possible thatstudents from the state of Nuevo Leónwere that different from students fromthose in the state of Nuevo Jersey? Ididn’t realize it then, but now I concludethat the answer is “no.”

When I returned to the cafeteria forlunch, I observed something completelydifferent. Half of the students were usingMacBooks.

A cultural shift is happening. Manystudents are deciding, on their own, topurchase Apple computer products.Maybe it is due to the success of the iPodline; maybe it is due to the success of theiPhone; maybe because it is simple to use;or could it be it is just cool?

So I thought I’d better check this outmyself. After all, my wife Julie and I pur-chased two Apple II Plus computers in1979 and wrote our Systems Analysis andDesign textbook on it (Kendall & Kendall,2008). (The 8th edition of the book will beout soon.) Back then each chapter had itsown oppy diskette. Then I drew all of the diagrams on a Macintosh computer

because the IBM PC just didn’t have thesoftware to enable me to do so.

ECOMMERCE

■ KENNETH E. KENDALL, Feature Editor, School of Business-Camden, Rutgers University

A t the time I’m writing this article, about one out of seven personal computerspurchased in the U.S. are Apple Macs. Since our audience consists mostly of

academics in business and business-related disciplines, why should we care? Industryhas adopted the PC with its Microsoft Windows operating system. Doesn’t it makesense to just stick with the PC so that we academics are in line with the real world?This month’s column examines the iMac, the alternative personal computer, andOS X, its operating system. It concludes by realizing that we can all learn from ourstudents. [Ken Kendall, Feature Editor]

Mac Appeal: Lessons Learned fromAdopting New Technologyby Kenneth E. Kendall, Rutgers University

But then the world changed and ev-eryone in business schools adopted theIBM PC or one of its clones. MS DOS wasthe only acceptable operating system forthe business world.

Throughout the years, I kept upgrad-ing computers so I could take advantageof the latest Microsoft operating system.Then came Vista. My computer was onits last legs, so I had no alternative butto buy a new computer. What I didn’tknow at that time was that I was about

to buy a Mac.Not only did I buy an iMac, but Juliegot one, too—and a MacBook Pro. Thenwe each bought iPhones. It happenedthat fast.

Reasons to Embrace Macs

So what is so good about Macs?First of all, they do everything that

Windows computers do—and more. Thenewest Macs are Intel-based, so theycan run Windows either by rebootinginto Windows using Boot Camp or byrunning a virtualization program likeVMware’s Fusion. (I’ve owned my iMacfor one year now and only needed twoWindows programs: Quicken, and thenow obsolete Hemera Photo-objects.)

Secondly, it is less virus prone. Al-though you may hear rumors that Macsdon’t have viruses because their market

Kenneth E. Kendallis a Distinguished Profes-sor of Management in theSchool of Business-Camden,Rutgers University. He isone of the founders of theInternational Conference onInformation Systems (ICIS)and a Fellow of the Decision

Sciences Institute (DSI). He is the immediate PastPresident of DSI. Dr. Kendall has been named asone of the top 60 most productive MIS research-ers in the world, and he was awarded the SilverCore from IFIP. He recently co-authored the textSystems Analysis and Design (7th ed.).http://www.thekendalls.org

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Decision Line, May 2009 15

Figure 1: On a Mac it is easy to run Windows in the virtualization mode while you are also running Mac applications like theorganizer Yojimbo.

share is too low, the real reason is that theoperating system is written so that it is itharder to install a malicious program (orapplication, as they are called in the Macworld). The code is tighter and the OSasks the user to enter a password beforesoftware is installed.

Additionally, most applications are built into the system already. Spotlight,a desktop search, is built-in. Cover Flowlets you see the rst page of documents.A mail client, Mail, is built-in as well.So is a great calendar program callediCal. Photo-editing with face-matchingfeatures, video and music creation, DVD

burning, and Web design are includedwith the purchase of every Mac. I had to

buy all of these programs when I owneda PC. Now they are free.

Fourthly, backup is built in. An ap-plication called Time Machine backs upyour Mac hourly and keeps all of the

backups on an attached hard drive, so

you can roll back a le, a folder, or anapplication to whatever time you want.

Fifthly, setup and networking are asnap. File sharing actually works.

Additionally, it is easier to nd ale or browse through les with QuickLook. I can browse through all of the

artwork in my book, by just moving mymouse. Sure, you need to think “folder”instead of “directory” and “application”instead of “program,” but that keeps youmentally alert. But when you want tond Figure 16.9 but you can’t rememberwhat you called its working le, you’llwish you had a Mac.

Good programmers are writing forthe Mac, too. Microsoft Ofce for the Macis a worthwhile purchase. It containsMicrosoft Word, Microsoft Excel, andMicrosoft PowerPoint and les are easilytransferred (so far without any problems)

between the Mac world and the PCworld. I use OmniGrafe to draw both

simple and UML diagrams with ease;OmniPlan to plan a project; DevonthinkPro Ofce to scan and collect bits andpieces for my next article; Things to getthings done; and Bento to set up a quickdatabase, among other software.

Another reason is that Mac applica-

tions work well with one another. I candrag files between applications, so Idon’t need to cut them, resize them, savethem, and paste them. In fact Apple hasa unied user interface that standardizesthe menus. It goes one step further—itincludes a submenu for services. I hopeto soon include a column in Decision Line on SOAs (service oriented architecture)and discuss this more.

To get rid of a program, all I need todo is drag it to the trash can. Everythingis removed, because the Apple operatingsystem is based on a UNIX operating sys-tem. With Windows XP, I can uninstall a

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16 Decision Line, May 2009

program, but many of the bits and piecesstill remain.

I nd it very useful to integrate all of my technologies, so I bought a MobileMesubscription. Now we sync all of ouriMacs and iPhones so that calendars,contacts, and other data is current on

every one of our machines.Switching to a Mac is easy. Going

back and forth between Macs and PC isalso easy. Sometimes I press the wrongkey and nothing happens, but most of the time it is natural to switch back andforth.

Finally, Macs are cool. I love the de-sign of the machine, the desktop, menu

bar, and dock. For a professor teachingsystems analysis and design, this clinchesthe deal.

Macs in BusinessAt rst, business use of Macs was fraughtwith skepticism. Some authors, such asOiaga (2007), dismissed the Macs operat-ing system, OS X, and claimed it wouldnever succeed. Others, like Ulanoff (2008), says that there is very little differ-ence between Macs and PCs. McCracken(2009) agrees but adds that Apple is oneof the World’s best software companies,adding innovative software like iLife andservices like its Genius Bar.

Other writers focus on the fact thatWindows runs on Macs. VMware’s Fu-sion and its rival virtualization applica-tion Parallels is praised by authors suchas Freedman (2008) and Mossberg (2008).Others tout Mac security superiority(Hessedahl, 2009; van Wyk, 2009).

But it is becoming apparent thatMacs are making an appearance in in-dustry. The Yankee Group (2008), whosurveyed 700 global IT administratorsand executives, found that 80 percent of the businesses have Macs installed. Macs

are becoming a part of the workplace.Authors have begun to extol the

virtues of Macs in the workplace. Nutter(2009) and Beckman (2009) talk aboutdevelopers and engineers preferringand switching to Macs. Gruman (2008)extends this further by claiming thathaving no Macs in the workplace “is nolonger defensible.” Users who boughtiPods or a Mac at home are now pres-

suring companies to adopt Macs in theworkplace. According to Burrows (2008),users are tired of the “Windows-by-day,Mac-by-night” existence.

Springer, the huge publisher head-quartered in Germany, has moved itsentire corporation (which is about 12,000

desktops) over to the Mac, according toHesseldahl (2007). It was, at the time of his writing, Apple’s largest corporateadopter in Europe.

Businesses that are consumer-ori-ented are beginning to offer the Macexperience to their customers. Fontaineb-leau Resorts have installed 5,300 rooms inthe remodeled Miami and new Las Vegasproperties. They want to create the rstpaperless hotel room.

It has been noted by Whong (2009)that business owners keep their Macslonger than they keep their PCs. He alsoemphasizes that businesses value timesavings when calculating the cost of ownership, and Macs are less prone tocrashes and downtime.

Companies who adopt Apples em- brace the culture and philosophy thatcome with it. Whong (2009) quotes theBottlerocket Wines & Spirit founderTom Geniesse, “I love Apple and alwayshave. The company designs with peoplein mind. They provide an excellent, in-tuitive, and beautiful experience,” andhe mentions that they are trying to dothe same thing with the gourmet winemarket. Whong also quotes Brian Raf-ter at Intermedia, a rm that provides

Japanese-English translation services,as saying that Macs make “work moreproductive, less stressful, and a wholelot more fun.”

Lessons Learned

Never fear change. Moving from oneoperating system to another is easier

than you think.Don’t wait. Since getting iMacs, I’ve

been more prolic than ever before. Writ-ing is fun again, and it is a lot easier. I cantry to explain this in terms of les andfolders, but in the end, I really can’t say.I just know that I’m getting my researchout quicker.

Realize that operating systems arenot just lines of code; they are dened

by philosophies, values, and principles.Choose one that ts yours.

Observe your students. They may be leaders in innovative technologyadoption.

Conclusion

I love my iMac, my MacBookPro, myiPhone, and my ability to sync all of mydata among these devices. I won’t partwith them.

Does this mean, then, that I’mthrough with Microsoft? No, not at all.I use Microsoft Ofce daily and plan touse it into the foreseeable future.

What about operating systems, amI nished with Windows? No, not byany means. I’ll get Windows 7 and enjoyusing it as well. But it’s likely I’ll use iton a Mac.

References

Beckman, M. (2009). Why even IT prosare demanding Macs. InfoWorld, March23. http://www.infoworld.com/d/mac/why-even-it-pros-are-demand-ing-macs-969 . Last accessed on May12, 2009.

Burrows, P. (2008). The Mac in thegray flannel suit, BusinessWeek, May 1. http://www.businessweek.

com/magazine/content/08_19/ b4083036428429.htm . Last accessedon May 12, 2009.

Freedman, A. (2008). Macs (kind of)conquer business. MacWorld, 25(9),September. http://www.macuser.com/business/macs_kind_of_con-quer_business.php . Last accessed onMay 12, 2009.

Friess, S. (2008) Fontainebleau resortshook up with Apple USA Today,(6/12), available at: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2008-06-12-fontainebleau-apple_N.htm . Lastaccessed on May 12, 2009.

Gruman, G. (2008). Why no Macs is nota defensible strategy. Infoworld, April21. http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/why-no-macs-no-longer-de-fensible-it-strategy-538 . Last accessedon May 12, 2009.

See ECOMMERCE, page 13

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Decision Line, May 2009 13

Nicholls and Eady (2008) for a descrip-tion of this problem and the Mixed-modeModelling approach adopted for arrivingat a best practice solution.

In order to develop ‘best practice’production and operations for aluminiumsmelters and minimizing the make-span

for new refrigeration designs, Mixed-mode modelling comes to the fore.

Resources

Lehaney, B. (1996). Mixed-mode model-ling. In D. Johnson & F. O’Brien, (eds.),Operational research keynote papers.Operational Research Society, Birming-ham, United Kingdom, 150-157.

Lehaney, B., & Clarke, S. (1997). Softsystems methodology (and simula-tion) for mixed-mode modelling. In F.

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Nicholls, M.G., & Cargill, B. J. (2001). Theuse of mixed-mode modelling in deter-mining best practice for a business. InM. G. Nicholls, S. Clarke, & B. Lehaney(eds.) Mixed-model modelling: Mix-ing methodologies for organisationalintervention. Applied Optimisation, 58,259-291.

Nicholls, M.G., & Cargill, B. J. (2008).Determining best practice productionin an aluminium smelter involvingsub-processes based substantially ontacit knowledge—An application of communities of practice. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 59(1),

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(eds.) (2001). Mixed-model modelling:

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Nicholls, M.G., & Eady, J. E. (2008). Over-coming the tacit knowledge problemin the commercial refrigeration in-dustry using mixed-mode modelling.Proceedings of 37th Annual Meeting of the Western Decision Sciences Institute,555-558. ■

Hesseldahl, A. (2007) More on Macsin the workplace. BusinessWeek(http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/08/more_on_macs_in.html . Last accessed on May 12,2009.

Hesseldahl, A. (2009) On Mac andmalware. BusinessWeek, April 21.http://www.businessweek.com/tech-nology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/ar-chives/2009/04/on_macs_and_mal.html . Last accessed on May 12, 2009.

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Oiaga, M. (2007). 3 Reasons why MacOS X and Linux won’t succeed againstWindows Vista: Dislodging Windowsis harder than it might seem. Softpe-dia.com, September 22. http://news.softpedia.com/news/3-Reasons-Why-Mac-OS-X-and-Linux-Won-039-t-Suc-

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Ulanoff, L. (2008). Macs are PCs,Dammit! PC Magazine, 27(11), Oc-tober. http://www.pcmag.com/ar-ticle2/0,2817,2327233,00.asp . Lastaccessed on May 12, 2009.

van Wyk, K. (2009). Is the Mac really moresecure than Windows? eSecurity Planet,May 13. http://www.esecurityplanet.com/views/article.php/3658121/Is-the-Mac-Really-More-Secure-than-Windows.htm . Last accessed on May12, 2009.

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