Why you should use a Mac to study Japanese

by

japan-macMmm. Macs. I’m about the biggest fanboy you’ll see, which probably means a totally biased review. This morning, on the way to work, I made the trek to my version of Mecca and walked past ground zero for Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference. I’ve been thinking about how macs make it easier for me to study Japanese, but the announcement of one particular feature on Snow Leopard (the new OS, which will cost a mere $29) has motivated me to finish this article. Here’s Mac versus PC, blow by blow, when it comes to Japanese study. Let the flame wars begin.

Writing Japanese Characters (Kanji). Mac 1 – PC 0 (Mac wins)

Snow Leopard has announced a new feature that lets you write “Chinese Characters” via the trackpad. This negates the need to have a tablet, and it gives you just one more way to practice your kanji. I know it says “Chinese characters,” but if it’s anything like the iPhone, it’s the same thing.

leopard-mac-kanji

One of the huge disadvantages about learning Japanese on a computer is that you never have the opportunity to write (well, you could get away from your screen, but we both know that’s not going to happen). With this feature, which looks like it even features stroke pressure, you’ll be able to practice your kanji and see how it looks on the screen. If it doesn’t come up correctly, then you’ll know you write like a clown; if it does, well then, good for you.

Built-in Mic and Webcam. Mac 2 – PC 0 (Mac wins)

One of the nice things about Macs (and one of the crappy things, as well), is that hardware is standard, and there’s very little room for customization. This also means that you’ll see features across the board that you won’t see when you get a PC. Now, that’s not to say you can’t get these features on a PC, because you can, but with Macs, it’s actually really hard to get one that doesn’t have a built in Mic or Webcam.

xboxfail

The world is changing, and the way we are able to learn is changing as well. With a mic and webcam, there is plenty of opportunity to take live online Japanese classes, practice speaking with a language partner, and so on, which you can’t do if you don’t have one. Want to learn Japanese, you can now do so from someone who’s in Japan. Now that’s really cool.

Japanese Learning Applications. Mac 3 – PC 1 (tie)

Most learning applications are either browser-based or work on both systems. Things like smart.fm, Lang-8, NihongoUp (which I just reviewed), Anki, Rikaichan, etc., are available across all platforms.

tour_screens_05jpg

I think that things like this are heading to the Internet and will be browser based. Now, I think I’m being nice here – we wouldn’t want to have to compare Internet Explorer and Safari. At least both have Firefox to use, though PC wins in terms of Chrome. Good job PC-folk, good job.

Language Support. Mac 4 – PC 1 (Mac wins)

Both Mac and PC have good language support for Japanese. On Windows, however, you have to go out of your way to install Japanese compatibility when installing the OS, but on Mac it’s added via the default installation. You’ll have Japanese support out of the box.

japanese-language-mac

Another thing I like a little more on the Mac is the language bar. The Windows language bar kind of gets in the way, and does funny things sometimes. The Mac one is always tucked away in the top menu bar, nice and compact. I also like how the shortcut keys only take one step. On a PC, you have to activate Japanese first, then you have to switch to the correct input. One less step makes me a happy typer.

Japanese Text Rendering. Mac 5 – Windows 2 (tie)

Can’t really complain about either. I personally like the Mac’s version of Japanese default text rendering, but they’re both acceptable. Mac makes things more smooth, and I think more natural, while Windows is a little more choppy.

mac-pc-textWe’ve got a tie here, folks. It’s just text we’re talking about.

Watching Japanese TV. Mac 5 – PC 3 (PC Wins, for once)

There are a few ways to watch Japanese television via your computer, and PC’s have more options, which are often better. There’s KeyHoleTV and Gya0 for PC only. Then, there’s some other alternatives that work on both like TVU, Livestation, and Freshverse. I suppose there’s also Japanese television on Hulu for both platforms as well.

japanesetv

More (and better) options when you’re running a PC box. That’s all there is to it.

Final Score. Mac 5 – PC 3 (Mac Wins)

Yep, you can accuse me of bias. You can accuse me of being a mactard. Both are probably true, but I still think Macs are better for Japanese study (not to mention almost everything else… I’ll give PC’s gaming though).

So, with that, let the age-old debate begin. Macs versus PCs. Go! …and do your best to pull Japanese related stuff into the convo, if you can.

apple-mecca2

APPPLLLLEEE FANNNBOYYYY

Newer Comments →
  • guillermojuarez

    what about LINUX? no one cares about tux anymore?

  • Taylor

    I would have to say that I disagree with number 2. Bringing hardware into a software comparison isn't quite fair. Windows is a software company and has no business in hardware or the manufacturing of computers. So it's more a case by case basis, I know my computer has them built in. But I will admit, number one is pretty darn nice.

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    Yeah dude, sorry :P

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    First off, I totally agree with you. On another note, Microsoft really seems
    to push the hardware in their laptop-finders commercials, though (when they
    *should* focus on the software). I think Windows 7 will get them back in the
    software game – they've had a tough time of it lately :(

    Anyways, you're right, but I just have to bring hardware into it. Even if
    it's not Microsoft's hardware, I need something to compare the Mac Hardware
    side of things, and Dells, HP's, etc are the closest things I've got… at
    which point I'd have to include Macs as possible Windows hardware… uh oh.
    Black hole, black holeee!

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    First off, I totally agree with you. On another note, Microsoft really seems
    to push the hardware in their laptop-finders commercials, though (when they
    *should* focus on the software). I think Windows 7 will get them back in the
    software game – they've had a tough time of it lately :(

    Anyways, you're right, but I just have to bring hardware into it. Even if
    it's not Microsoft's hardware, I need something to compare the Mac Hardware
    side of things, and Dells, HP's, etc are the closest things I've got… at
    which point I'd have to include Macs as possible Windows hardware… uh oh.
    Black hole, black holeee!

  • http://www.tofugu.com Viet

    I think Windows Vista installs the language packages by default… Windows XP on the other hand requires a manual install.

  • http://headingforjapan.blogspot.com/ Will

    dam, well i can write on my Lenovo tablet, when i was learning hiragana and katakana, i probably saves hundreds of sheets of paper being able to write in my onenote… but this still makes me envious, great review!

  • David

    That's right Viet, on Vista and W7 it takes less than 30 seconds (seriously) to activate Japanese writing. That trackpad writing thing looks genious though.

    And about the Japanese text rendering, I have a suspicion that Koichi is using XP that does not turn on ClearType as a default, thus not smoothing out the text like Vista does. Is this right Koichi?

    Keep up the good work Koichi, your blog looks great. It has been kinda quiet here lately. Too far from Japan?

  • http://www.zdwonline.de/ Haf

    You truly are an Apple Fanboy.
    Way to go for comparing Apple laptops to desktop PC's in general and THEN comparing the two OS's and THEN web applications and THEN system support of online video stream providers.

    The real information value and significance of this comparison is ZERO. With any more Fanboy-driven comparions, the information value would actually be negative. ;P

  • WC

    I have a tablet PC that proves you wrong.

    1) Tablet PCs are -far- superior to a trackpad for writing kanji.

    2) Tablet PCs have builtin mic and cam, just like macbooks. (And note that mac pros do -not- have built in mic and cam.)

    3) PCs have many more options when it comes to language learning software. Sure, there are quite a few cross-platform apps, but why would you limit yourself to just them?

  • http://www.ajattaid.com/ Matt

    Koichi, you forgot part of the awesomeness of the current Mac – you can run Windows WITH OSX. Definitely a mac fanboy as well. Although, when it comes to purchasing music in Japanese. It almost HAS to be done in Windows. I'm concluding an article on ajattaid.com on purchasing digital Japanese music soon, and that is where Mac has lost :( But at least we can run Windows long enough to do what's necessary.

  • Sofi

    Having worked with Japanese things on both Mac and PC I have to heartily agree that Mac is far superior. (And I'm only half-fanboy xD)

    First off, everyone's right that nowadays many LAPTOP PCs have webcams built in. But if you have a desktop, you're pretty much out of luck for a built-in solution. (This is true on the Mini and the Pro too, but the vast majority of people who buy desktop Macs today buy iMacs.) And honestly, these built in webcams have pretty crappy quality. I've tried vidchatting with both Mac and PC users (on similar connections, so no, the PC kids don't just have crappy bandwidth) and the PC quality is always terrible.

    Second, why not compare the hardware? It's a legitimate advantage (or disadvantage) that Mac has, creating their own hardware. Nothing's stopping Microsoft from doing it…. though I wouldn't really suggest it. (Zune, hee.)

    That said once I went through the rigamarole of installing Japanese language packs onto my old XP computer, I had lots of fun with it. Even if it was annoying as @#*%#%#* to try to actually use it quickly… >.<

    Jusssssst my 2¢. :]

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  • http://www.joesblog.jp/ Joe

    *troll hat on*

    Mac = overpriced PC for posers

    If you want a PC with a mic and webcam buy a PC with a mic and webcam, I would rather have the option than pay for something I would never use (which is why I don't own a webcam).

    I don't think you've used Windows in a while, Japanese support can be added through Windows Update in both Vista and WIndows 7( what im using )

    I think you should actually know what you are talking about before you start comparing

    *troll hat off*

    I'll give you the writing chinese characters which is pretty cool

  • http://www.joesblog.jp/ Joe

    In fact it's pretty obvious your using XP for this, which is 8 years old…

  • http://luckydays.iobloggo.com/ Maja

    Yeah, MAC is absolutely better!

  • http://solo-kun.com solo

    I've not seen all the details on Snow Leopard, but Windows has an IME Pad that does kanji recognition &c.

  • http://weblogaru.wordpress.com/ WeblogAru

    Personally, I just have the Japanese language setting as default on my XP computer. When I want to switch between English and Japanese, I just use Alt+~ to switch quickly and back. No need to switch language packs beforehand because it's set to Japanese by default.

    The thing is that on an XP, you can type in English in the Japanese keyboard. =I

  • http://maisaidso.blogspot.com Mai

    Nice article :D~ But they actually made a KeyholeTV for macs now (woot!) I downloaded it a few weeks ago :3

    BTW, do you recommend extending the apple care plan?

  • http://www.myspace.com/2keyla Keyla

    I always love it when a Mac beats PC in …anything. Yeah I mean when it comes to gaming you usually gotta have a PC but for everything else Macs are sexy and awesomeR w:)

  • jj

    “yeah dude, sorry”? is that a “yeah dude” as in “yeah dude, nobody cares about linux anymore”?
    sad. not to mention false. :P

    i use linux for all my computing needs, and i would never allow myself to be dragged into the mac world (too many things you can't do: i like my customization). and of course, the things i do on my computer include japanese learning.

    and basically, i can say ubuntu's japanese support is superb, japanese language typing is borderline perfect (it has improved a lot), and with tools such as kiten as a desktop dictionary and tomoe for handwriting recognition (not in the touchpad, i grant you that), i don't really have any complaints whatsoever.

    and by the way: maybe you could try to get the title right? the comparison you made is between mac and windows, not mac and pcs. pcs are hardware, and you were comparing software (with the exception of the camera bit). get your terms right, people! :)

  • nicodoggie

    Long live the Penguin! :D

    Haha, we've still a long way to go before us Linux folks would be able to convince Mac-heads and Windows users. Most Linux distros have great Japanese language support, though it's a bit more work than for either Windows or Mac.

    http://tomoe.sourceforge.jp/cgi-bin/en/blog/ind… <– Does handwriting recognition… Might not be as good as the mac thing, but it works…

  • nicodoggie

    Yes it is superb. Right now, I have scim-anthy and tomoe enabled on my Ubuntu install. I can easily shift from hiragana, katakana, kanji, even hangul, if you want with a few keystrokes.

    Linux really meets all my needs too but still, it isn't for everyone (nor is Windows, nor is Mac). Not everyone really enjoys the hours of configuration Linux people do to personalize their machines, they want things working without doing too much. A lot of people are afraid of messing with their machines, thinking that configuration files require arcane magicks. To each their own.

    I get that you want Linux to be recognized by people. I do too. I'm a Linux fanboy through and through, but by being an asshole about it, you're not really helping at all, you're just driving people away from the Linux community by pushing forward the stigma that Linux users are the stereotypical, antisocial geeks.

  • Carrie

    Good article Koichi-sensei, but I would like to add that as far as the languages go, with VISTA it is the same as a mac. No need to add/install Japanese language, it's there by defualt installation. ^__^

  • vitoreiji

    What are you talking about??? All the kool kids use Ubuntu now! Hurry up, get yours here: http://www.ubuntu.com
    Everything that is software related is in your list is better in Ubuntu. See:
    * built-in language support beats both Windows and Mac OS;
    * Webcam and mic work out-of-the box in Ubuntu;
    * Streaming technology in Ubuntu is way better, so watching TV is Ubuntu's thing;
    * Learning apps that work on Windows usualy work on Ubuntu under Wine. Don't know about Mac app, though…

    So, basicaly Mac hardware rocks, software beats Windows, but gets beaten by Ubuntu.

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    I've got nothing against Linux, just saying “sorry dude” because most people who read this blog really don't care about Linux, and I don't use Linux, so I have nothing to write about. I'll be installing Ubuntu at some point though, so maybe if I care enough I'll get Linux in on the fun… but really when it comes down to it, not enough readers use it. I think it's around 2% for this site – I have some friends who use it, and although it doesn't quite look like something I want to use, I enjoy trying things out.

    And, as for Mac vs. PC terminology – I'd argue that it's changed over the last few years. BOTH Apple and Microsoft use this terminology now, and it's very widespread thanks to both the “I'm a Mac” and “Laptop Hunters” commercials. May not be technically correct, but lots of words change.

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    Good to know – never did the upgrade myself – maybe we can add half a point.

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    RE: ClearType – yeah, could be. Apparently I need to upgrade to W7 here soon.

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    1) Very few people have tablet PC's, though.

    2) I said it's hard not to buy a mac without a built-in isight. You'd have to buy a mac mini or, as you say, mac pro, which are the least popular macs out there. Everything else comes with.

    3) What's so good on PC that I can't get on a mac? I want to try them out, could make for a good article!

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    I thought everyone still uses XP – I guess I'm behind the times :( I'll upgrade up to W7 here soon though, excited to try it out.

    As for macs being overpriced… yeah, can't argue with that. But, I pay for things like unibody, nifty, OS, keyboard, etc. Still overpriced, but all things I'm willing to pay a bit more for my snobbiness factor ;)

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    Yeah, I would. I do think it's overpriced, but sometimes it's worth it. I didn't get it, and I've been fine for three years, but I also know how to do computer repair stuff if I need it… I think most people recommend the extended warranty though

  • http://mokudekiru.com/ mokudekiru

    I dunno how it works on windows (I can usually never figure out how to actually use Japanese / whether it's already installed / whatever in windows) but Japanese on a Mac is pretty much easy as パイ and I thoroughly appreciate that.

    You also didn't mention one of the greatest things ever — the built-in Japanese-English dictionary on OSX (inside the Dictionary app). I didn't discover it for quite some time, but it makes my life SO much easier, especially in situations where I'm deprived of an internet connection.

    I'm also pretty excited about Snow Leopard input chinese-character input ^_^ And hoping for input-switching to speed up a bit in iPhone 3.0…

    I have to say I disagree with you on the text rendering though — yeah the differences may be subtle, but I think the way it looks on a Mac induces far less eye-pain and is smoother overall. </ apple fangirl >

  • Aaron

    I knew this post would get a lot of comments. I'd like to add another point for Mac. The OS X Dictionary comes with support for Japanese out the box too, in the preferences you can turn on Japanese-Japanese, English-Japanese, and a Japanese thesaurus as well as Wikipedia in Japanese, I used to use it for example sentences. Though whatever computer you use you can just go to goo.ne.jp and use their dictionary because it's the same thing. Anyways good post!

  • http://steffen-im-ausland.de/ Steffen

    Yeahh dont forget Linux man ;)

    By the way.. Do you habe a key for freshverse? ;) Thanks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Koichi-Ko/1333687583 Koichi Ko

    Actually, now that you mention it, I do!

    7AqiAkGr4sqTQqWKS5

    Was wondering what these were…

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    Wow, good to know! I'm going to have to look into this! Rock on rock on

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    hehe, yeah. This post is definitely a comment bait post :)

    Thanks for the info on the dictionary, it's my new best friend now!

  • http://gakuranman.com/ Mike

    Nice post Tofugu-chan, even though completely biased :P I have to admit, having come from Windows to OSX, the Japanese support is far easier to utilise on a Mac. I had so many driver problems and faffing around on Windows…

    I'm interested in the new kanji recognition on Snow Leopard, but a little miffed they decided to bring out a 13″ Macbook Pro after I've gone and bought my Macbook. Sod's Law as usual.

  • caughtredhanded

    Koichi: you're so biased..but that's okay, as I would have been too, had I written this post! I recently made the move to Mac and have never looked back. The Japanese support is so good it's ridiculous, a point which I mentioned in my latest 'Japanese aesthetics' post at caught-redhanded.com. Another feature is that if you come across a Japanese word in a website, then you can look it up via Mac's dictionary and it'll give you a definition right there, much like one of the plug-ins for Firefox.

    @Mike you're right, there is just too much faffing about with Windows, and like Koichi said, you have to install the damn thing before you can even use it, which is a chore in itself.

    Great post!

  • Kris

    My favorite thing about my mac… I can make caps lock switch between Japanese and romaji (caps lock on, type in Japanese, caps lock off, type in English). I have been trying forever to get my pc to do it with no luck.

  • sinky

    I just got tired of Windows. I found linux to be to much effort to use as a desktop OS, so OSX was my only hope. After using OSX for a while, I doubt I will ever go back to Windows. Except to play games.

    The OS X only JEDict dictionary app is good. And free.
    “JEDict has internal text editor, multilingual user dictionary, JLPT list viewer and web browser with contextual word translation.”
    http://www.jedict.com/

    The cross platform dictionary/study aid Tagaini Jisho is also good.
    http://www.tagaini.net/

  • http://yungibear.deviantart.com Meeeeelly

    Hmmm, I'm not really that much into Macs just because I grew up on PCs so I haven't a clue on how to work the mac stuff, haha.

    But a lot of the stuff seems more like a convenience than anything, haha. Though the language imput thing is much nicer and simpler than window's language bar thing for the xp.

  • http://lonely-funfair.blogspot.com/ Kirsten

    I know the first lot of macs my design school got, out of the 20 about 3 had severe screen problems. Even though I've had no problems yet, I still feel better having that extended warranty.

    About Macs vs PC though, I have a PC laptop and the japanese support has the drawing function I can use with a graphics tablet. It surprised me that I couldn't do that on my imac. But the ease of installation compared to XP was great.

  • http://yungibear.deviantart.com Meeeeelly

    I love my overuse of stuff, thing, and haha in this comment. P;

  • http://lonely-funfair.blogspot.com/ Kirsten

    すごい！I had no idea about the japanese dictionary function. I just checked it out (you've got to click them in prefs first) but that is so awesome!

  • http://mokudekiru.com/ mokudekiru

    Yeah, thanks for reminding me about the prefs (that's why I didn't discover it for the longest time either!) so I just threw a post on my own blog about this little known, but very useful function:
    http://mokudekiru.com/2009/06/use-the-mac-osx-b…

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  • http://www.megatiny.com/ Christina

    Macs are nice and all, but I hate Kotoeri (the mac Japanese typing input system) SO. VERY. MUCH. The punctuation is weird (Why does it always want to change 「」　to 〈〉???), I haven't figured out how to edit mistakes during ye olde henkan procedure (is this possible and I just don't know?), and its “recently used words” feature is close to useless. That is my current major complaint.

    My other big problem is that I switch between a JP-keyboard PC at work and a US-keyboard Mac at home, so the punctuation issue gets even worse. Where's the plus again? Crap, the apostrophe doesn't require the shift key? SO CONFUSED!

  • WOTDsctoo

    >>A lot of people are afraid of messing with their machines, thinking that configuration files require arcane magicks.

    Werd. Gotta keep it clean! :)

  • WOTDsctoo

    Yea, I'm not thoroughly versed in the Mac vs PC debate, but I've always used a PC and I'm not sure I'd switch simply because of familiarity.

    The windows language bar is pretty obnoxious though.

    And aren't macs more expensive?? :(

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