In today’s update of technology news: DDoS attacks such as those affecting sites Friday are “vicious” says Channel Advisor founder Scot Wingo; IBM says Macs are cheaper than PCs; and do drivers really want autonomous cars?

Macs are cheaper than PCs?

Macs save IBM from $273 to $543 each when an employee choses them over a PC, according to IBM.

The company, which allows its employees to chose whether they want a PC or Mac, and it now has 90,000 Macs deployed, the largest deployment anywhere.

IBM found that PCs drive twice the number of support calls and over a four-year lifespan turn out to be more expensive.

The company currently deploys 1300 new Macs weekly. IBM has a partnership deal with Apple.

See the story at jamf.com

Do car buyers really want a self-driving vehicle?

More than 60 percent of Americans are somewhat or very positive about autonomous cars, according to a survey by Reportlinker..

Other findings include:

A large majority of Americans are passionate for automobiles and driving. They may not be ready to shift to a new driving paradigm as quickly.

3. Safety is a significant concern. A majority – 63% – of consumers say they won’t feel safe in a fully-automated vehicle.

4. Use of automated features on traditional cars could help to overcome the fear. But ride-sharing services offer also another way to experience AVs.

a . 54% of potential users of self-driving taxis say they would purchase an AV, compared to 41% of non-users.

b . Younger Millennials may pave the way for future growth of AVs as they express more interest in using driverless taxis or buses than older generations.

Scot WingoDenial of Service attacks “vicious”

Scot Wing, founder and former CEO of Channel Advisor told the Triangle Business Journal that denial of service attacks that have affected US web sites Friday are “vicious.” That’s because losing a day’s sales to DDoS attacks in which so much traffic is aimed at a site its servers can’t handle it, can cost an e-retailer half a percent revenue, which adds up fast if you’re a company like Amazon where it might mean millions in lost sales.

Sites from Amazon to Netflix have battled the DDoS attacks Friday. Reports suggest the cause was an attack on Dyn’s DNS (Domain Name Server).

See the full story at Triangle Business Journal