Calling All Mac Users!!!!!

[cfelliot]

....Can you help or contribute or are you trying to convert us to Windows...

As I stated in both my prior posts, I have no "beef" with the MAC. I didn't say anything was "better" than the other. I've worked on both! I'm only trying to cite the reasons why a large number of manufacturers seem to ignore MAC development.

I have never worked in the dive industry, but I have been a developer for 20+ years. I once worked for a digital mapping company that employed 25 programmers to work on its PC product, but would not divert any of those resources to a MAC version because they couldn't see the $$$$.


PS I think what reefnet is doing is great!

 

[evil_xander]

Well, JTrak seems to work just fine, so Scubapro took care of the software part regardless the fact is it or isn't it financially sound to support OS X. It is developed by 3rd party, but it exists and it works.

The only problem is the IrDa part...I guess I'll just have to check out few shops, and come back with my MacBook to see which one will work. I dug out the vendor for my current cheap IrDa, and the chipset in it isn't supported by OS X, but a newer version is (or should be). Just have to find a particular model or manufacturer who uses that chipset.

Didn't try the 'official' Scubapro IrDa though, as I kinda think it's braindead to pay absurd amounts of money for something worth 10-15 $.

 

[mislav]

This claim is commonly made but rarely defended.

It is made because it is a fact, it is defended every time it is claimed.

If you're talking about the major manufacturers, there is little incentive to create Mac software. As I just posted above, it takes the same development time/money (sometimes more) to produce a Mac solution, and it takes extra resources to support the separate platform as time goes on. The incremental increase in revenue is nothing compared to the overall revenue generated by the (well-established) Windows platform. When it comes to dollars and cents, I fully understand the industry's reluctance to reach out to Mac OS. It's not an attractive proposition.

I don't expect the Mac OS software sales revenue ever to match those from the Windows part of the market. But, if it weren't an attractive option as you say - do you honestly believe the big players would be still producing programs for Macs?

Now smaller manufacturers (like my company) CAN benefit from supporting the Mac platform, but only because we can justify the work/resources involved in other ways.

I can see how your product can be considered a niche here. I don't think Suunto or Uwatec would have any of the problems Reefnet has though. And if you say you can benefit from supporting the Mac platform, how do you reason that the bigger players can't?

Uwatec sold two dive computers to me personally and really at least three times more to others based on my first hand recommendations. I'm only counting people I spoke in person here and know this for a fact. I'm happy with it. Yet, if I knew how many problems I'd have finding an Infrared adapter for my Mac, to get their affiliated software running, I'd buy and recommend Suunto and iDive as a better solution for Mac users.

 

[mislav]

As I stated in both my prior posts, I have no "beef" with the MAC. I didn't say anything was "better" than the other. I've worked on both! I'm only trying to cite the reasons why a large number of manufacturers seem to ignore MAC development.

I have never worked in the dive industry, but I have been a developer for 20+ years. I once worked for a digital mapping company that employed 25 programmers to work on its PC product, but would not divert any of those resources to a MAC version because they couldn't see the $$$$.


PS I think what reefnet is doing is great!

It's ok, I have no beef with the PC either. I'm trying to say we - Mac users - do understand the number of Windows machines is far greater than that of Macs. We don't need to be reminded of that every time we ask for a certain product or a feature to be implemented on our platform. There are $$$$ to be made on Mac market, but sometimes the will to do it just isn't there. We're trying to change that.

I agree on the Reefnet remark. Thanks guys.

 

[mislav]

Didn't try the 'official' Scubapro IrDa though, as I kinda think it's braindead to pay absurd amounts of money for something worth 10-15 $.

I'd buy it regardless of the price, but I hear it doesn't work.

 

[reefnet]

And if you say you can benefit from supporting the Mac platform, how do you reason that the bigger players can't?

Fair question.

Big companies are well known in the industry. Everybody knows Oceanic, Aeris, Scubapro, Suunto, etc. They have established sales channels, dependable resellers, and can continue quite happily by tweaking their products each year to look like they're keeping busy. To them, the Mac platform is an unnecessary risk. At best, they will pick up a few new customers. At worst they will have spent considerable development $$ and might spend years recouping them. Hence the lukewarm stance on Mac OS.

Conversely, small companies try to get people just to recognize them. For instance, many divers who use Windows have never heard of us. The same is true of Mac users. In a sense the disparity in scale between the markets is moot, because most sales are generated by pinpoint ads or word of mouth. This is compounded by the fact that Mac users tend to actively promote Mac products.

In short, there is often less incentive for a large company to extend resources into unfamiliar territory than for a small one.

BTW, I don't want it to sound like we're only offering Mac support because of a cost/benefit analysis. We use both Windows and OS X here and like them both!

OK, now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

--
Kris Wilk
ReefNet Inc.
www.reefnet.ca

 

[Mike Newman]

Well, JTrak seems to work just fine, so Scubapro took care of the software part regardless the fact is it or isn't it financially sound to support OS X. It is developed by 3rd party, but it exists and it works.

The only problem is the IrDa part...I guess I'll just have to check out few shops, and come back with my MacBook to see which one will work. I dug out the vendor for my current cheap IrDa, and the chipset in it isn't supported by OS X, but a newer version is (or should be). Just have to find a particular model or manufacturer who uses that chipset.

Didn't try the 'official' Scubapro IrDa though, as I kinda think it's braindead to pay absurd amounts of money for something worth 10-15 $.

The Uwatec IRDA transfer device definitely works - I invested in it after failing to find anything else that did the job on Mac. All power to Uwatec for at least making it available...

 

[Mike Newman]

To be honest, developing for the Mac is not a very economically-sensible thing to do for most companies since it takes just as long as developing for Windows yet yields only a tiny fraction of the revenue. www.reefnet.ca

Kris - your products are absolutely great - and your support for Mac is hugely appreciated. But your view of the Mac market potential being tiny is flawed. In the second half of last year 1 in 10 laptops being sold was a Mac...

And it's generally on laptops that divers are running their software - to allow carriage on dive trips...

 

[reefnet]

Kris - your products are absolutely great - and your support for Mac is hugely appreciated. But your view of the Mac market potential being tiny is flawed. In the second half of last year 1 in 10 laptops being sold was a Mac...

My comment was with respect to Mac software development in general (which doesn't favour laptops over desktops). The statistic is worth noting, though.

--
Kris Wilk
ReefNet Inc.
www.reefnet.ca

 

[lenscraft]

What we want is a full featured, Mac OS running dive software. Mac's market share isn't really that low, and it's even higher in laptop segment - and that is what a lot of divers use anyway. That's what we want.

Bravo. Who wants to deal with the Windows interface, virii, worms, spyware, etc.? I for one would consider a Mac solution ideal. But until that solution exists, Parallels helps we Mac users use our computers.

coyote