Lunar Adventures: exploring a little bit of everything

Blog post [Displaying post and comments]

A Mac switcher’s story, six months later

For years upon years, I was a Mac basher. Macintrash. Crapintosh. I used all the derogatory names. Josh from Hinkybox (a wonderfully designed site with top notch writing that I recommend you visit, by the way) commented on my post about the Apple mouse:

“What does the page about Viacom’s © say? Something like:

‘We realize that the name Mighty Mouse was indeed copyrighted, but we figured hey, these are Macintosh fans here. We’ll just charge them 5 times what it costs us to make the product, kick Viacom down a few bills, and still laugh all the way to the bank. We’d drive our Saab to said bank, of course.

We drive Saabs because they are different.’”

That’s a comment that a year ago, I might have written myself! But in February, I switched to Mac (I got an iMac G5).

I’m not saying Josh’s comment is innacurate; hell, I agree. (Even though I drive a Volkswagen.) Apple charges a premium for their stuff. Some would call it folly, others a good business model. I’m not sure if Apple or Dell has more coins in the coffer, but I think it’s Dell, so I’ll give them the nod on the better business model.

But I’ve decided definitively that, for my personal uses, I love my Mac and OSX. I don’t mind paying a premium for it.

I switched because I had heard good things about Macs (and was enamored with the concept of a graphical OS based on Unix that wasn’t Xwindows), and was frustrated with my latest PC-building misadventure. I returned all the PC parts that refused to work together and bought a Mac; it was my way of giving the PC industry the middle finger.

I’ll admit to having been worried when I made the switch. I had read the stories of PC speeds vs. Mac speeds, G5 vs. the latest Pentiums, Windows vs. OSX, etc. But some Mac friends that were former PC users reassured me that it would be OK, and they held my hand through the switch.

And I’m glad I took their advice. To me, the speeds between my Mac and PC at work are comperable. I can’t definitively say one or the other is faster; both are fast enough for the programs I use. I had no problems finding programs for everything I do; Mac versions of Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Microsoft Office are readily available, and inexpensive shareware/freeware for chatting, listening to music, RSS feedreading, etc. are also easy to find.

In the end, what made me decide to stay Mac? I think it comes down to one thing: design.

Mac OSX pays attention to the details that Microsoft ignores. And most importantly, my computer simply feels more uncluttered and, to my eyes, looks better. On Windows machines, no matter how many times I cleaned my hard drive and did a fresh OS install, everything always felt cluttered and disjointed. It’s hard to put a finger on, but I could never get it to feel like it was truly a computer working in concert with itself and with me. It always felt like… a Windows computer that I happened to be using at that moment rather than my electronic home.

So, Josh, you’re probably right. Apple and Steve Jobs are probably laughing to the bank. And you know what? I’m OK with that. I don’t mind paying a little extra for services I really feel I get the most out of.

Switching to Mac has improved my computing life, and if it cost a little more, it’s something I’m willing to deal with. (Especially considering how much time I spend on it!)

I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone, but I do recommend finding an Apple store and giving one a shot. You might like it. But don’t buy into the hype — buy into a good product. And if you feel Windows is the better product, stick to it. At this point in the lifespans of the two systems, though, the Mac is a better product for me.

Wed August 10th, 2005 12:42 am

Filed under Gadgets