Macintosh myopia? |
||||
I
N T E R A C T I V
E D E S I
G N F O R U M
|
||||
<--[HOME]
|
Issue
10 | April 2000
|
|||
RELATED: Comments from readers Results
of Fill
out a survey Add your comments via email |
The problem is that I'm in a small minority, as are you if you're reading this on a Mac. The colors you & I see appear somewhat lighter than they do on a PC monitor. The text you & I read looks about 30% larger to someone using a PC. And the reality is that virtually everyone but us IS using a PC. 32% of the visitors to this website, mostly designers & design educators, use Macs. This has held steady for the last 6 months. What about on the Web overall: how many people use Macs?
The answer is c) 2%. (Statistics from 500,000 websites provided by theCounter.com) EYES
WIDE SHUT?
This came home to me last week as I lectured my Web Design students on the importance of designing for both Windows & Mac systems. I told them to be sure that their work looks good on the PC, since most of the world sees it that way. Then I looked around the lab I was teaching in. All Macs. No PCs. Not one. How seriously should a student take my comments when we don't even have a single PC for them to use in the lab?
The problem doesn't only affect web design, though that's where it's most obvious. It also comes up when we develop interactive presentations using Macromedia Director. We can make self-running projectors so that anyone with a Mac can experience our work. But without a PC running a Windows version of Director we can't make something to show the PC world: most of our friends, families, and potential employers. DEAL
WITH IT Such an obvious solution to a well-known problem, but is anyone doing it? Many educators I've talked with about lab facilities ask the question "Mac OR PC?" not "Mac AND PC." There seems to be a reluctance to admit that as much as we love the Mac for its style and grace, we may have to adjust to a world that doesn't see things our way. I was very happy to hear that Cuyahoga Community College, where I teach computer-based design courses, is building a new lab that will include several PCs. Not my ideal, but a step in the right direction. What's the situation at your school? [Take our quick 4-question survey] [Email your comments]
[Top] | [HOME] | [ABOUT this site] | [Email] |
|||
Join in the conversation! Please send your comments on any article and/or suggestions for future articles by clicking on the [Email] link on any page.
|