That’s the only possible explanation for the County Commission’s decision to deny the county’ health department’s request to buy Apple iPads, state-of-the-art tablet computers that are increasingly popular in medicine in places like Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago; places with lots of smart people.
But Flathead County is a little place, smart people may be in short supply, and the county’s IT department regards Apple products as poisoned fruit and more work.
At least that’s what the county’s IT chief Vicky Saxby says, reports the InterLake:
Saxby said she and her staff have concerns about whether the county’s antivirus, security and email systems will work on Apple products.
The county has always used PCs and purchased Windows-based programs, she said.
“It would be a huge undertaking for us,” Saxby said. “It could double our work load in some areas.”
Double the work load? Concerns about email systems? Security problems? That’s either fear mongering to avoid learning something new, or ignorance. Apple and Windows computers can and do co-exist peacefully and productively on all kinds of networks.
Visitors with Windows laptops find their equipment and software are perfectly compatible with my Apple wi fi system. And in the 20 plus years I’ve been using Apple products, I’ve never had one infected with a virus or malware. Can the Windows worshippers in the Flathead County government say the same?
There are Apple experts in the Flathead to whom Saxby can turn if she and her staff find the easiest to use computers in the world beyond their competence.
Give the health department the equipment it wants and believes it needs. If iPads are good enough for Johns Hopkins, they’re good enough for Flathead County.