Hi folks,
I think that the only serious reason to pay a laptop $ 1000 more, and to buy a MacBook at the same price of a MacBook Pro-like laptop by Dell (e.g.) is the bound of software Bookends + Mellel.
Now OpenOffice announced a project aimed to make a kill-app: an extension to provide integrated bibliographic functionality in OpenOffice.org
http://bibliographic.openoffice.org/
When the project will be done we will not be compelled to buy an over-priced computer and we will able to use a free, linux based OpenOffice environment.
Jon, you do not think that would be useful to prevent all this, and to release a Bookends version for Linux-based computer, with a strong cooperation with OO?
Mac vs Linux, Bookends vs OO
Hi,
If you mean create a version of Bookends for Linux (as opposed to Windows)? No, that's not going to happen. Bookends is firmly wedded to technologies in Mac OS X. Will Bookends work more closely with OO in the future? Maybe. Right now, you need X11 to run it, I think, and I'm not going there.
Jon
Sonny Software
If you mean create a version of Bookends for Linux (as opposed to Windows)? No, that's not going to happen. Bookends is firmly wedded to technologies in Mac OS X. Will Bookends work more closely with OO in the future? Maybe. Right now, you need X11 to run it, I think, and I'm not going there.
Jon
Sonny Software
It's always good to have alternatives -- especially ones that are free and open source -- but there are a few other salient differences between Macs and Linux-based computers. The Linux GUIs are all MS Windows clones, as far as I know (I don't know of any with application menus in the screen menu bar, for example). And, perhaps more directly relevant here: Open Office Writer is a bad clone of Word in that it is like Word minus certain features, but with most of the same bad old ways. (Dealing with headings as paragraph styles, for example).
If Open Office gets all of the features for importing and styling bibliographic data that are on the page linked to in the original post then it will only be catching up with Bookends, as far as I can see. And in the meantime Bookends (and Mellel) will presumably continue to move ahead.
By the way, the prices of Macs are very competitive with PCs if (but only if) you want a computer with the specifications Apple offers. You can buy a PC laptop cheaper than a MacBook, but only because it is lower spec. And to buy a PC laptop with similar specs to a MacBook Pro currently costs more than a MacBook Pro. Macs used to be more expensive, but they aren't these days: it's just that Apple has only a few models and doesn't compete in the cheap end of the market.
If Open Office gets all of the features for importing and styling bibliographic data that are on the page linked to in the original post then it will only be catching up with Bookends, as far as I can see. And in the meantime Bookends (and Mellel) will presumably continue to move ahead.
By the way, the prices of Macs are very competitive with PCs if (but only if) you want a computer with the specifications Apple offers. You can buy a PC laptop cheaper than a MacBook, but only because it is lower spec. And to buy a PC laptop with similar specs to a MacBook Pro currently costs more than a MacBook Pro. Macs used to be more expensive, but they aren't these days: it's just that Apple has only a few models and doesn't compete in the cheap end of the market.
Apple MacBook Pro 15“nicka wrote: By the way, the prices of Macs are very competitive with PCs if (but only if) you want a computer with the specifications Apple offers. You can buy a PC laptop cheaper than a MacBook, but only because it is lower spec. And to buy a PC laptop with similar specs to a MacBook Pro currently costs more than a MacBook Pro.
Intel Core 2 Duo 2,2 GHz
1440x900
2GB
120 GB
SuperDrive 8x
EUR 1.747,20 with Educational (Italystore)
Dell Inspiron 6400
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2GHz)
1440x900
2GB
160 GB
SuperDrive 8x
EUR 1.067,00 (www.dell.com/it)javascript:emoticon(':oops:')
Another question: is it useful for you have a cam to chat with the "community", or a graphic accelerator to play doom?
I do not know your speed, but for my ability 0,2 GHz of CPU speed is not so crucial. To write a book is a slow, slow task
If I were going to write for another platform, it would be Windows (which pretty much ensures that I won't).
As for spec comparisons, that never works to anyone's satisfaction. But I notice the Dell is thicker, heavier, doesn't have those cool backlit keyboards, no webcam, no iLife, requires virus software (you didn't add the cost of that), is less durable, and of course comes preconfigured with crapware (Windows). Also, at least in the US, Dell usually charges for shipping (not cheap) while Apple doesn't. So many variables...
Personally, I think the MacBook is the right notebook for the vast majority of people, and it's quite a bit cheaper than the MacBook Pro.
People should use whatever they want, but you get what you pay for.
Jon
Sonny Software
P.S. I'm not going to comment on this further, but I guess I couldn't resist this one.
As for spec comparisons, that never works to anyone's satisfaction. But I notice the Dell is thicker, heavier, doesn't have those cool backlit keyboards, no webcam, no iLife, requires virus software (you didn't add the cost of that), is less durable, and of course comes preconfigured with crapware (Windows). Also, at least in the US, Dell usually charges for shipping (not cheap) while Apple doesn't. So many variables...
Personally, I think the MacBook is the right notebook for the vast majority of people, and it's quite a bit cheaper than the MacBook Pro.
People should use whatever they want, but you get what you pay for.
Jon
Sonny Software
P.S. I'm not going to comment on this further, but I guess I couldn't resist this one.
I know I should leave it, but... can't resist... So the Dell is bigger and heavier (and a bit slower)? You pay for miniaturisation in a laptop, or they would be as cheap as desktops. But this discussion probably isn't going anywhere, as Jon says.
I'd love to be able to use more open source software, or at least to use a combination of open source and software from small independent companies. But open source operating systems, document processors and bibliography software suck, I'm afraid.
The Open Office bibliography project is interesting though. If they offer APIs then Bookends might be able to interact with Writer, and those of us who keep Word around as a kind of translator for incoming and outgoing documents might be a step closer to being able to dump it.
Much of the rest is more relevant as a source of ideas for the developers of Mellel, I think:
I'd love to be able to use more open source software, or at least to use a combination of open source and software from small independent companies. But open source operating systems, document processors and bibliography software suck, I'm afraid.
The Open Office bibliography project is interesting though. If they offer APIs then Bookends might be able to interact with Writer, and those of us who keep Word around as a kind of translator for incoming and outgoing documents might be a step closer to being able to dump it.
Much of the rest is more relevant as a source of ideas for the developers of Mellel, I think:
By the way Jon, there is now an alpha of a Mac-native Open Office, with a beta promised for later this year.* the ability to tag text and other document objects (tables, charts etc.) with their source metadata. This means that a piece of text could have its reference details (e.g. source url, or publisher details) maintained along with it, even if no bibliographic reference is displayed. ...
* it will be possible to convert a scientific, technical or academic paper from one bibliographic style to an other bibliographic style, such as one required by a journal, simply by selecting the required style convention and [automatically reformatting] the document to the new style.