US Government Looks to Apple for Surveillance Network

[Paul Daniel Ash]

An unspecified "large government entity" is going with a Mac solution for a video surveillance network, according to a piece in Security Systems News... and the vendor cites the fact that with "Apple they couple the Unix reliability with a world-class user interface" as a reason why the Mac OS X-based system wins out over Red Hat Linux.

VideoNEXT, a video management software manufacturer that makes solutions for both Red Hat Linux and Apple operating environments, along with Windows. Chris Gettings, VideoNEXT's CEO and president, notes that his Mac OS and Unix/Linux installations are most attractive to government clients because they don't "have some of the memory-leak issues that seem to plague different versions of the Windows systems. The reason why the Mac-based solutions are gaining a foothold with government is because of the ease of use of the operating system. "With Apple they couple the Unix reliability with a world-class user interface," Gettings notes. That’s the stumbling block on Red Hat. It’s a little bit complicated ... The user interface for Apple is marvelous. It’s so easy to use and intuitive. It’s the hallmark of the platform.”

The Siemens salesperson that got the mac system into the unnamed government organization recounts that the requirements were "low bandwidth, and I need to make sure nothing is going to hack into my network via your system." The salesperson says that "viruses, hacking, all of those things are dramatically minimized with Apple and it eliminates a lot of those challenges.”

Price has often been held up as a reason why government - with its reliance on low-bid contracts - has been reluctant to go with Apple. VideoNEXT's Gettings made the point that the hardware consistency on the Apple side makes his systems operate in a much more stable way. Gettings recounts how he ordered two Dell servers two weeks apart and discovered an undocumented change in one component degraded his system performance. Gettings claims that he can run up to fifty cameras on a Dell or HP server, but with a similarly scaled Apple system, he can run sixty.

Single anecdotes don't often count for much when it comes to the market as a whole. However, in the often monolithic and conservative government procurement environment, one high-profile success could lead to a shift in attitudes that could make for a significant change.

[ronfin44]

Apple taking over everything.

[Melech518]

I want Apple surveillance...

[rwin84]

Ooh big brother is taking in the red headed step child...

[Grassmasta]

First step: Make Apple government security contract holder

Second step: Make iPhones the eyes and ears of the government?

Third step: George Orwell's 1984?

I might have skipped some steps in there!

[tudtran]

That's gonna bring in big money for Apple. Good time to buy stock!

[nighthawk283]

Thats sounds real good if they do that, i can't wait to see how it will look with everything set up, if we get to see it

[awesomeSlayer]

I want one...eventually all governments will get Apple's surveillance camera.

[ecd5000]

iPhone firmware update 4.0, there goes the government using all your minutes

[one1]

Well if that doesn't kill apples popularity nothing will

[staterunner180]

I want that camera. Very flashy for a 'discreet' surveillance camera doncha say?

[bbillh77]

Maybe apple will ge a gov contract and maybe it will lead to a good camera in the next iphone doubt it but I can still dream right?

[extremzocker]

hope the surveillance cameras are gonna be as sexy as the rest of the apple family :P

[Ace01xc]

damn so now i will be able to view it unix has one to many back door.