Source: www.themaclawyer.com
There are only two corporations in the world that I will not pay to do business with anymore, even if they become the only ones providing that service: Apple and AT&T. Fortunately, they are now in bed together (iPhone with AT&T provider) so it makes it easy not to buy from either one of them. I can't give you a single, all-encompassing reason for not wanting to give them money; it's more like an accumulation of abominations. With AT&T, it started with the $3 charge for not using the long distance service. That's right. You paid for long distance service, but if you didn't make any long distance calls during the month, you were charged a $3 fee. Okay, I think I get that (?). The former huge monster of a telephone company began to get too full of itself.
Then comes Apple and their USP: the Macintosh computer. Oh, please deliver me from the arrogance of Apple. You put an "i" in front of it and I will ignore you.
I hate to admit it, but I grew up on Macs. I took my first desktop publishing class on a tiny Mac SE30 with a 9-inch monitor. I became a Photoshop master from working on photographs scanned into Mac G3s and G4s. (Never mind that they locked up about every five minutes or so and you'd lose the lovely project you just spent four hours working on). As a journalist I transmitted photos from the field on a Mac 12-inch G3 laptop and a cell phone. I was pretty darned cool, plus I was part of an elite group known as Mac Snobs USA. The PC was something to scoff at as inferior and common. No true artist would ever be caught dead using a lowly PC. Years later I studied computer graphics at a college using Mac labs and one of the first things the teacher taught us was to save our work every couple of minutes. Good thing, too, as the Macs crashed early and often. (Yes, folks, Macs on networks crash a lot, way more than PCs, and yes, they crashed less after OSX but they still crashed A LOT. And let's not forget the "blue screen of death" and the dreaded "spinning beach ball," both excellent sources of frantic frenzy on deadline).
Then a funny thing happened. A few of my respected graphic artist friends, including my computer graphics teacher, began switching to PCs and espousing their virtues. Hmmmm.... They loved the ease of operation, the speed, the logical hierarchy syntax, the ability to build a computer to their own specs, the vast array of software available, etc., etc. (Never mind the fact that 95 percent of the world's computer users are on PCs.) I began to sit up and listen. When it came time to buy my home system, which would be used for my photography, video, graphic and Web design business, I was convinced to buy a PC. With $1600 in hand, my friend Keith and I built a beautiful high-end graphics machine that would have been over $3000 in a comparible Mac. It took a while to learn the new operating system but once I did it was like a light went off. Eureka! There is a logic to where your files are stored! It all made sense! And the mouse with a right-clicker and a wheel—what a wonderful invention! Within a couple of months I was a lifelong convert. I will work on a Mac if forced to and accept one if it's free, but I now prefer the PC for everything. And now that Steve Jobs is switching to PC components and stealing PC ideas, like the scroll wheel, it looks like he is finally coming around, too.
Recently the following discussion question came up on a social media site: Mac or PC? The question caused a great deal of controversy and garnered over 300 comments. Some of the pro-Mac comments were so silly they almost don't bare repeating, like "a Mac is sexier," "Macs never crash" (NOT!), "Macs are better at graphics" (NOT!), "I'd need therapy if I had to use a PC," and so on. The sanest and truest comments came from the PC people, although they were unfortunately in the minority.
Once upon a time I lived under the false impression that Macs were for creative people and PCs were for numbers geeks. Today that line of thinking is so ridiculous it doesn't even warrant a response. The software is the same whether it runs on Windows or OSX, so get over yourselves, Mac Snobs. Some of us right-brainers like to use logic along with our creativity. And let's not forget that you can build a kick-ass PC to your own specifications for less than half the price of a Pretentious Mac. Of course, there are definite cultural differences between those who like Macs and those who like PCs. As graphic designer Jeff Marinelli wrote, "I'm pleased to see a universal consensus that Mac people are nicer, and that you would want them for your friends, and you would invite them to special parties and barbeques and give them presents. Plus Mac people never have comb-overs and they don't wear polyester. Or use slide rules."
I have had my PC for six years now and I have never contracted a single
virus and I've been using Windows Vista for two years without a single
problem. The only positive thing I can say about a Mac is that "apple-Z" is easier to key-in than "control-Z." Whoopee! Let's have a party and invite Mac people!
Probably the best comment on the forum discussion was that of illustrator Thomas Tonkin: "I've been using a PC exclusively for 8 years both at work and at home and I've never been hit with a virus on either computer. This 'virus paranoia' is a laughable argument as it's only applicable to those who practice unsafe computing using unchecked P2P and downloading email attachments from people they don't know. What does it mean when a society evolves to a point where using one style of electronic box over another style of electronic box can actually cause a social stigma?" Amen, Thomas. The computer is a tool. So let's just stop talking about your tool vs. my tool and show me what you've created with it.
I'm 54, a multimedia artist and a PC, and Microsoft did not pay me for this endorsement, although they are certainly welcome to contact me in that capacity. I could use the extra money. Are you listening, Steve Jobs?