The Apple, or Mac, vs PC controversy is one that has gone on for a long time. It goes far beyond the technical world into emotion, loyalty, and lots of other subjective areas. I will confess to being a Mac hater for most of my adult life. However, just like I suspect it is with lots of other people, my opinion was not based in a lot of fact. It was based on what I had heard from others and read in various places. Even more to my embarrassment, I formed that opinion while never having used a single piece of Apple hardware and without ever even talking to a single Apple user or employee. What I find extremely interesting about this is that it’s completely opposite of anything else technology related in my life. In everything else, I go completely overboard in the other direction, spending days, weeks, or even months researching the subject until I, and the subject, are completely exhausted!
I’m afraid this attitude has not been without casualties. Not only have I missed out on some pretty cool stuff, I have also influenced my family and friends away from Apple when, at times, that may not have been in their best interest. It has also gained me a reputation of being rather closed minded in certain areas. Fortunately for me, my family, my friends, and you, a recent turn of events has given me a far more accurate view of what Apple is all about.
In the fall of 2010 I purchased a 15″ MacBook Pro, with a 2.66 Ghz Core i7, 4 GB’s of ram, 500 GB’s hard drive, dual video cards, and hi resolution anti-glare screen (non geek-speak = FABULOUS laptop). I now do all my writing, blogging, web design, and most of my web research and general browsing from this laptop. I still maintain, as I have since the first PC’s, an extensive Windows based network with high-end Intel based desktops and laptops. Most of my business stuff will not run on a Mac without using Boot Camp or some sort of Virtual Machine software so I don’t see that I’ll be converting that any time in the near future. I am also not saying anything bad about AMD here. They are a good company and I’ve built quite a few AMD based systems in the past. It’s just that at this point, I prefer the Intel processors for the type of work I do.
Since the purchase of this laptop, I have endeavored to become as much of an expert in all things Mac as I am in the PC world. I have also done my best to repent of my very biased attitude that I had about Mac. To those that have heard me badmouth Apple, I have admitted my error and given a more accurate report. To others, I try to give the most balanced assessment I can without badmouthing anybody. I honestly believe this whole thing has made me a better person and I hope a better adviser to those I serve.
When is stared writing this blog entry, I did not expect to be telling you so much about myself and did expect to get more into the differences between PCs and Macs. However, things do not always go according to plan. I think it’s important to know where I came from in order to better appreciate what I say in the future. The remaining 5 parts of this series will go into much more detail about the differences.
I think you’ll be surprised and hopefully delighted with my take on the subject. Before I purchased my Mac I did my usual exhaustive research to see if it’s what I really should do. It was a difficult choice because, even with the thousands of articles and blogs about this subject, none definitively answered my question of why people switched in a way that was convincing to me. Nobody seemed to capture the true essence of the issue. My writing style is such that when I’m passionate about something, I tend to wax a little poetic and get into the subjective as well as the objective. So I can almost guarantee that you will find a refreshing and unique view of this subject as we continue on.
Please join me tomorrow for part 2 of Mac vs PC. If you enjoyed this article, please comment and tell me what you liked about it. If you prefer, you can head over to my Facebook page by clicking here, and leave a comment there. Also, if you would like a simple, non geek-speak explanation of something technical, let me know and I’ll see about writing a blog post about it.
Thanks for visiting!
Click here to go to Part 2 of this series.
I have mixed feelings about Macs. I started with Mac and switched to PCs. This was a number of years ago, so maybe things have improved, but at the time, it was so frustrating because many programs I wanted to use weren’t available for Mac. Even now, I see that is the case, at least some of the time. But really for me, the biggest turn off is the Mac cult mentality, snobbery, or whatever you want to call it. I’m so turned off by it, I don’t want to be “one of them.” I do use an iPod Touch and like it a lot, but I feel like it is a toy, compared to my top of the line netbook that cost about the same. I think Macs are good for some things and PCs are good for other things.
With the future of cloud computing, in the grand scheme of things, it probably won’t matter what people have — which makes me question the value of paying more for a Mac than a PC even more. I also see both OS coming closer together. Windows 7 has a lot of “mac like” features, and Mac computers now, out of necessity, run Windows programs since they have to to be really usable. I do love that we have more and more options, rather than being stuck with one way of doing things.
I am not a MAC fan and always thought they made expensive paperweights compared to PC. £ for Tech, Apple are usually more expensive, and I prefer the freedom I have to upgrade, change and add to my PC/laptop without having to travel miles to go to the Apple Chapel and be told I have to wait weeks for something to be done. I despise the ipod/pad and the fascism behind itunes. No one has a right to force me to upload stuff I bought elsewhere just to play it on their shiny things.
I say this as someone who has worked with computers in various forms over many years and I have worked on some of the best MAC’s but I just do not gel with them.
I enjoyed your post though, and look forward to hearing more over your next installments. I doubt you’ll change my mind but I am always open to new perspectives.
Thanks
Thanks for visiting Shelly! I always enjoy hearing a diversity of opinions. I was very much in the same camp before I purchase my Mac. I still use PC’s too but when I want to play and have fun, I fire up my Mac. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about the other five parts. Thanks again for visiting!
Welcome, Robert!
I am sitting here writing this short missive to you on a Mac Pro, with a nice little Quad-Core (shows how old it is! LOL) with 8 gb of memory. I am in my home office. Next to me is my Toshiba tablet computer and a Dell PC (which is actually sitting on top of a Dell PowerEdge Server). I use everything, almost all the time.
Without a doubt, my Mac Pro is my primary machine! I love it! As I love my iPhone. Apple is a fantastic company and I look forward to reading the next installments!
The irony with all this hardware is I am moving to more web-based development work! It doesn’t matter (on the surface) if I am using a PC or a Mac. Of course, to connect to “The Cloud” I will be happier on my Mac.
Be Well.
Paul.
http://INeedHelpWithWordPress.com
Hi Paul,
thanks for you comment! Your computer lineup sounds similar to mine. I could not, as yet, do everything just on a MAC. But what I can do, I certainly enjoy. And as more and more things move to “The Cloud” it really won’t matter which one we’re using. As you can see from this article series, I really LOVE working on this MAC and wish I COULD do everything on it.
Take Care
Robert, our home is a “no Mac” zone 🙂 When we might decide otherwise I’ll have them read your articles to make the case….I would love to look into it..thanks for these posts
Olga, for years ours was too. It was actually a “No Apple Whatsoever Zone” as I didn’t want to hear anything about them. I’m not trying to convince anyone differently, I’m just telling my experience. I’m so glad I opened my mind up about it. They’re products are so fun and it’s been great learning about the other side and being able to teach people about both platforms. I find it interesting how friendly Mac owners are too. Just walking into a book store or Library with one is enough to start up a great conversation and possible end up with a great new friend.
Thanks for commenting Olga!
I bought a re-conditioned MacBook Pro last summer and I love it. It has never crashed and updating the OS is so easy. I also have a Dell laptop, but I hardly ever use it.
This is so great!! I am deciding at the moment if I may like to jump ship from PC to Mac. It will be interesting to read the other parts!
Thanks
Isn’t it interesting how we sometimes form such strong impressions about products we have never used or things we know nothing about.
I use a MacBook at work (along with a PC and linux box). I absolutely love it and plan to continue using Macs more and more in my life (replacing the desktop PCs and old macbook I have at home).
The Mac App store is a huge bonus in my opinion as well. This store makes it so much easier to find helpful or fun apps for your mac. I wrote a post on the Mac App store not long after it was released: http://lorithayer.com/review-of-the-apple-application-store-a-great-way-to-find-mac-apps/
Thanks for your post Lori and for the link.
Great part 1 Robert, I was also biased, now I have a mac pro, but only because at the computer repair store, when my pc got it’s third virus in 3 months, the owner made me a great deal on a barely used mac. He said my viruse issue shouldn’t be such anymore, I hope you will share research on that aspect of the mac vs pc…
Paul, it’s interesting how some of us get into Macs. Mine was a recommendation by an instructor. Best computer purchase I ever made. I will share the other six parts. If you’d like to hear more after that I’d be happy to simplify any more question you have. Thanks for your comment!