Re: apple vs PC is so OLD

[lea murphy <lea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Herschel,

I believe I was the first to respond to the inquiry made by Marilyn in her search for a new computer and I have indeed been vocal about my love of mac and my unwillingness to go back to pc even if it were the only computer on the planet (yes, I'm serious).

While the point you make is valid and indeed, true: "  But if it's a tool to do a job you're looking for then you're quite safe with a windows based machine."

I would simply like to state that in my experience of using mac for a year vs. a pc for over 10, there is no comparison in the EASE with which things can be accomplished on a mac. Simple things like singing on to an open network, or even setting up a network between two mac computers for the simple purpose of moving files around. I'm not saying these sorts of things can't be done on a pc, they are just user friendly on a mac. Super easy friendly.

The reason I ever suggested Marilyn look at mac is because I regularly take my laptop with me to morning coffee where I do various things like import pictures, work on building web sites, check email, surf the web, etc. Rare is the day that I don't have someone approach me and ask about switching to mac. I always ask why they would even consider the switch because yes, it is expensive and yes, buying new software can be a pain. And there is a wee small learning curve. 

My experience has been that most folks have never messed with a mac. Never put their hands on one, never opened files, never looked at pictures, never operated Finder, never experienced Spotlight, never created a movie made up of video clips and photographs then burned it to dvd to view on tv, never made a playlist of music and burned it to cd. When they see how EASY it can be to do these things they go bonkers.

And I say that after having replaced my original machine due to a massive crash then having five, yes, FIVE new motherboards put in my just-over-year-old machine because they keep crashing for some reason we can't determine. All this was covered under warranty, of course. Even with that headache it's been worth it to switch.

The one thing that caused me to make the jump is the fact that despite all my Norton, all my anti-spam, all my anti-spyware, all my virus protection that was up-to-date and current I still got a  virus on my pc that wiped out thousands of files, froze my machine and crashed me to the ground. And I just flat out got sick of living like that. Yes it was all backed up but it was the straw that broke this camels back.

Expensive, you bet. And do I sort of feel like I'm getting screwed every time I make a mac purchase? I sort of do, yes. But again, in the end, the elegance of the system, the ease of getting things done, the beauty of the equipment is worth it. To me. And I feel strongly about sharing my enthusiasm and love of my gear with others.

Now then, all that behind us, I'm continuing to fall in love with Lightroom every single time I open and use it. I am touting it's beauty as strongly as I tout my love of mac. Hell, Lightroom on a mac is just about the closest thing to heaven on earth that I may ever know. Thank you SO MUCH for recommending it to me.

Lea

On Oct 24, 2006, at 1:55 PM, Herschel Mair wrote:

I am a Mac user. I have been for a long time, but I don’t have any illusions of superiority.

The factories in China where the Macs are made probably make a lot of the PCs as well.

 

I bought 20 Imacs, 3 x G5 monster workstations, and 3 x 17inch PowerBooks (Laptops)  last year all with 2GB RAM big hard drives etc... in September (13 months ago)

 

Of the 20 Imacs, 9 have given no problems. 11 have had to be seriously serviced. They  all hang up from time to time, just like the windows machines and some students have really bad computer practice and so their machines are slow and need constant attention.

 

Of the 3  PowerBooks one had to go in and be overhauled and we never got anything off the hard drive... all lost It's been fine since then.

Of the 3 G5s the video card had to be replaced in one and the OS had to be re-installed on another with accompanying loss of data

 

I also have 3 Dell  workstations (Windows XP) (For editing video in the new Adobe Production suite) I have ordered another 2 of these. They are awesome.

 

They have never given a minute’s trouble.

 

Aside from this I personally  have a big PC dream machine with state of the art components and 1 Terabyte of disk space.

I also have a 17 inch PowerBook as well as a Toshiba (PC) Laptop which my wife does all her Photoshop work on.

 

My own PowerBook has been fine for over a year and so has the Toshiba. The Toshiba works a good 6 hours a day and more on some days. The PowerBook goes out on location only.

 

My point is that Mac users have this elitist air of superiority which is completely unfounded.

The machines are made in China alongside all the other laptops by unskilled workers. They all give problems. If you use windows and avoid the temptation to install 100 "Lifestyle" programs that you don't really need, it will work as well as any Mac.

 

I do retouching for huge advertising campaigns and it's all done on a PC. I teach on Mac because they have become the industry standard.

10 years ago there was no contest. Mac was the boss.

Now there's nothing in it to speak of. The Mac feels nicer and looks nicer and is certainly more trendy. When I pull it out on location, people say "Ahhh"     That's why I have it.. But if it's a tool to do a job you're looking for then you're quite safe with a windows based machine. Ignore the Mac fanatics who need to justify having spent twice as much for their computers

 

lea murphy

www.leamurphy.com

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