I touched on this topic few times before.
Maybe I’m getting crankier with age. I dunno. Or maybe I’m following too many “experts'” blogs and twitters. Because I find myself getting angry at harebrained thoughts and opinions from said experts and thought leaders. In the blogosphere and twitterspere, things seem to either suck or are Godlike, and nothing in between.
My latest pet peeve comes from the backlash Microsoft is getting for their ads that say PCs are more affordable. They are!
The backlash comes from real techies, Apple fanboys, and Microsoft (“big guy”) haters.
Sidenote: I despise haters. Sounds hypocritical, I know…
Guess what? It all comes down to value.
A graphic designer is going to value Macs. Apple fanboys would value a pile of garbage if Apple put it out–which it wouldn’t, I admire Apple’s quality. Techies are going to value any machine that is nanoseconds faster than the other even if the speed isn’t apparent to the naked eye.
There are many more people who value a Mac over a PC. Good for them. As long as you find value, then you’ll pay up until what it’s worth for you.
But you need to shut up and understand why people value PCs.
There is a great remainder of computer users who simply want to boot up, jump on the internet, e-mail, use Word and Excel, save some pictures, and do a lot of other basic things. A PC is of tremendous value to them. Why spend a grand on a mac when you can do what you want on a PC for less than half the cost? Maybe I can take a sip of coffee with the 10 seconds that a PC takes to boot up longer than a Mac.
And about viruses. Knock on wood, I’ve never gotten any. And in the 15+ years I’ve owned and used PCs, I had only one major crash that resulted in some lost data. Hey I learned the importance of backing up–which can also be important in case of theft, fire, flood, etc. Yeah, so there were plenty of not so serious crashes, but they seem to be in line with other devices I’ve owned (gaming systems, cell phones, G1 phone, vcrs, DVRs, DVD players, even cars!). Everything hiccups from time to time. EVERYTHING! Hey didn’t an IPhone update brick phones a while back?
And let me be clear. I’m not loyal to Microsoft (except for Excel which I can’t live without). If something more VALUABLE TO ME comes along, I’ll be on it. Also, I’m a Google junkie (seems like there aren’t a lot of Google junkies who have the same view of Microsoft as I do). So if Google came up with something of equal or greater value, I’ll be on it (Google Docs and Spreadsheets are light years away from Word and Excel).
I think both Macs and PCs are great. Like you mentioned, it depends on what you need it for.
It’s kind of like a baseball fan when you think about Mac v. PC- my team is better! They may have the exact same quality of players (features in this case), same team colors, everything identical- except the city they play for. I doubt you are going to find a Yankees fan who will support the Sox!
I hear you. I don’t mind if someone has a preference and defends their preference. I’m put off by the “expert” bloggers (most who specialize in marketing and social media) who “don’t understand” why anyone still buys a PC. To me, anyone who bills themselves as a media/marketing expert should look past their bias and focus on the audience more.