Apple and dual monitors

[Tod Hansmann]

On 2/12/2012 1:33 PM, James Noble wrote:
> I have seen that some people on this list use Macs for development. So
> hopefully someone will have done this.  I have some developers that would
> like to use them as well but I don't want to pay for the dual monitors from
> Apple with the Thunderbolt port. As far as I can see the only way to
> connect dual monitors without Thunderbolt is to use the mini to dvi cable
> and then connect another monitor through a usb port. Has anyone either done
> this and been happy with the setup or has anyone come up with a better
> solution?
>
I really, really don't want to start a format war on the list, so 
hopefully the reader can separate platform tastes and business sense 
from my position here.  (Caveat: if you're developing for iOS or MacOSX, 
well, this is all moot and you can stop reading now).

Tell them no.  There's no business case for spending 2-3x as much on the 
hardware to run most likely the same software (or very, very similar).  
None.  Let me emphasize that: "no business case."  If your devs prefer 
working on a Mac, ok, more power to them and their own budgets.  If they 
can't be productive on another platform with the same tools, they are 
not developers, and are not worth your time (or the gobs of money 
they're costing).

I'm very serious about this.  Macs make no business sense unless you're 
developing for Macs/iP* and even then, you shouldn't be using Macs for 
most of your workforce (accounting on Macs?  Please spend more 
responsibly).  We're not even diving into the manageability and other 
costs unrelated to just purchasing them.

Sorry to be so harsh.  I just have no way of buttering it up.

-Tod Hansmann