How I Love Thee, Apple - written by Tech Cynic

The Tech Cynic ^ | 3/9/2004 | David Harding

[Swordmaker]

Why The Switch To Apple?   || Written by David Harding

Normally I like to respond to comments made by readers in the comments section. However, Chris Fenger asked me to qualify the reasons I switched from Microsoft Windows to Mac for my personal and business computing (in reference to my post How I Love Thee, Apple). His questions required detailed answers, so I felt it justified a post. Here is his comment:

David:
Enjoyed your piece. What I'd really like to know, however, is what you think your "real" resistance to Macs was prior to your switch, and what convinced or motivated you to actually switch. As one of the posts from another switcher said: "What on earth was I thinking?" What, precisely, were you thinking? Were you simply tired of your Windows experiences? Were you bored? Did a nicely designed box vs. a beige box tempt you on aesthetic grounds alone? Did someone with a Mac show you OSX? And of those things you experienced/encountered, was there a defining moment that made you go forward with your first purchase? I ask solely because I'm very curious about what really makes a switcher. I am inclined to believe that becoming a "Mac convert" requires you to have always been a "Mac person" at heart... that you were simply sidetracked for years by Windows/MS inertia and the company/influence of peer professionals. I am always amazed when Windows users considering purchasing a Mac (for managing digital media, accessing the internet, email, and writing the occasional word doc, they say) listen to what I have to say, see OSX in action on a nice powerbook or flat panel iMac, acknowledge that the cost of purchase is not very different from similary equipped PCs, and then go out and buy a Dell. If you have the time, I'd love to hear your take on what is required to really become a switcher. Thanks.

There were a number of events that led to my being a "switcher". First, it was not based on aesthetics. True, Macs look like works of art in comparison to my Dell and Sony laptops (I only use Windows laptops now and have gotten rid of my desktops), which are still somewhat stylish. Many people who look at a Mac for the first time (at least the first time in a long while) are enamored with their appearance. Let's face it, Mac has the style element down to a science. However, the way they look was not a motivating force for a pragmatist like myself.

I also disagree with the notion that all Mac "converts" have always been so at heart, although I am sure that in many cases it is true. My first experience with Mac was in the mid to late 80's, when I was doing artificial intelligence programming for what was at that time the world's second largest aerospace company. On my desk was a hybrid machine made by Apple and Texas Instruments called the Mac II MicroExplorer (a miniature version of the TI Explorer - and it was beige). The MicroExplorer ran the Apple OS and included TI's "LISP on a Chip" technology, which made developing and deploying AI systems much easier than using just Unix. I did not particularly care for the Apple OS at that time. I found it somewhat cumbersome, and still find OS9 to be "just OK".

My conversion was not due to boredom. After programming on Macs, I wanted to become a member of what was then Apple's Developer Partner Program. In that endeavor, I contacted Apple who then told me that I needed to pony up $15,000 dollars to them and give them 10% of the gross of all revenue generated from the sale of my software that bared the Apple logo (one of the benefits of being an Apple Developer Partner). I ditched Apple and went to DOS where I could pay $400 to Microsoft for a C compiler and then write and sell all the software I wanted - royalty free. I know that a lot of other programmers felt the same way, which resulted in Apple losing a chance to enter the business software market early (Apple ultimately ditched that policy, but by then it was too late). When Windows 1.0 came along, I laughed and went back to DOS. When Windows 2.0 came along, I developed a few applications, laughed, and went to OS/2 (I was in the pre-release program). When Windows 3.0 came out, I laughed (not quite as hard) and prognosticated that it would be the last version. I still wrote a few applications for my customers and started migrating to Unix. Windows 3.0 took off, and I have been stuck in the Windows world ever since. I have made quite a career in Windows. I have been through most of their technology evolutions including their Device Driver Kits, DDE, OLE, COM, .NET and every database access strategy they have created. This has left me far from bored. I can't tell you how many books I have had to read on Microsoft technologies, from development to implementation, to network deployment strategies and security, to product selection. Bored? Not really - it's actually kind of fun in a geek sort of way...

The transition occurred well after I had moved out of programming as my career. As I moved from a hardcore software developer to an executive and ultimately a business owner, I became more technology agnostic. This I believe was the first step towards making the switch. During this time I started implementing large solutions in Linux and Unix (Solaris primarily). I fell in love with Unix once again. As a CTO of an entertainment company in Los Angeles (a spin off of a couple big name movie companies), I was re-introduced to Apple since most of the content developers refused to use anything else. OSX was in beta, and I was very impressed. I ordered myself a PowerBook with OS9 and started to use it for certain tasks. However, my Dell was still my primary laptop.

Then the iPod came out. I am a huge music buff and have owned several different types of MP3 players, starting with the very first Rio. I got online and checked out the version 1 5GB iPod, and bought one for me and one for my wife (my wife has never been a computer person, but liked Mac when she used one at one of her previous places of employment - she hates Windows). For the iPods to work, I needed to have a Mac. So I also ordered a couple of iBooks. The idea was that my wife would have a computer for checking email, surfing the web, paying bills online, etc. For me, I just wanted a computer to rip CD's and manage my iPod.

Magic Moment #1 occurred when I booted my new iBook for the first time. OSX rocked my senses and I became an immediate convert. I loved the compactness of the iBook, the built in DVD, the clarity of the screen and the amazing software that came with it (e.g. iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, email reader, etc.). I was hooked. I bought Microsoft Office OSX and never looked back at Microsoft Office 2000 again. I also started taking my iBook along with me on business trips (along with one my Dell Latitude laptops).

Magic Moment #2 came when I bought a Nikon digital camera. I brought it home, snapped some pictures, and plugged it into my iBook. iPhoto popped up, recognized my camera and imported my photos. It was so painless I couldn't believe it. As a competent (but not expert) PhotoShop user, I was impressed with the simple editing capabilities available in iPhoto. Now my wife edits her own photos and prints them out on her color photo printer.

Magic Moment #3 was when I bought a Sony Digital Video Camera. I already had a Sony Vaio laptop (with all the Sony digital and video camera software included). I shot some video of my wife and son flying a kite and having fun on the beach. I plugged the camera into my Vaio (Sony DV camera to Sony laptop) and opened the Sony software for importing the video. The software came up, but did not recognize the camera. After numerous visits to the Sony website, a call to Sony technical support, and the resulting device driver download that resulted in a blue-screen-of-death (not simple to do in Windows 2000), I gave up and plugged the DV camera into my iBook. Up popped iMovie, which recognized the camera immediately and imported my clips. Within an hour, I had made a complete home movie including titles, transitions and background music (courtesy of iTunes integration). I then got in the car and went to my nearby Apple store and bought a 17-inch iMac with a DVD burner and 1GB of RAM. I used it to make a DVD of our home movie. That same machine is now my primary workstation.

Now I am a Mac addict. I have an Apple Wireless network, three iPods (two version 1 5GB and a version 3 30GB for international business trips), a couple of external 128 GB drives (music and movie editing) and an integrated Bose home theater. Furthermore, I use my Mac to manage my networks (local, corporate and co-located), which is a task I find to be much easier on my Mac due to the fact that OSX is a BSD (Unix) kernel (i.e. I have access to a Unix command shell) as well as access to a myriad of powerful, often open-source, networking tools. Best of all, I can still use Microsoft Office OSX to stay tethered to all my customers and employees who still use Microsoft Office on Windows.

My personal transition was due to a frustration with Windows as my computer needs evolved from just business to a new digital lifestyle. I believe that this will be the motivating factor for similar transitions in others. It's one thing to have a cool looking computer. It is another to have a cool looking computer that actually enhances your life.

Thanks for the questions, Chris.

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[Swordmaker]

MAC debate ping list.

As always if you want to be on or off this ping list, Freepmail me.

[SoDak]

I'll never buy a Mac. In addition to my WinXP box, I have 2 UNIX systems at home, running at a fraction of the cost of a Mac.

[Woahhs]

I'll never buy a Mac.

Dear Gov. Wallace,

Thanks for your comments.

The Apple Team

[Prime Choice]

I've worked with about every platform there is, and I'd have to say that the Mac is the perfect platform if one simply wants to be a user. The overall cohesiveness of the Mac hardware and OS are hard to beat in terms of simplicity. I also confess a bit of fondness for MacOS because it's based on the BSD kernel. But the main downside to Mac stuff is the price. It'll never have a significant market share until its prices become competitive with comparable PCs. Right now I can pick up 2 or 3 comparable Intel-based systems for the price of one Mac.

And Windows? It has its place, albeit not in my computer farm. It's just got way too many bugs and is far too susceptible to a host of viruses, trojans and worms to suit me. Thanks to OpenOffice and the Gnu Image Manipulator Program (GIMP) for Linux, I can handle most any MS Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) without Windows.

Speaking only for myself, I much prefer Linux and OpenBSD on the x86 platform. It's more affordable (even when building up from bare bones) and the licensing is far less restrictive than that of Windows or MacOS. As for the GUI environment, I'm perfectly happy with the xFree86 package for all intents and purposes.

That's my take.

[clee1]

For me, it is a matter of cost.

I have a windows machine for Word, digital photography and the ocassional game - I use a linux box for nearly everything else.

Apple is just too darn expensive! They have always been user friendly, but the price of both hardware and Mac software is prohibitive.

[Woahhs]

Apple is just too darn expensive! They have always been user friendly, but the price of both hardware and Mac software is prohibitive.

Your going to pay either way. At least with the Apple your costs are known, whereas the time investment making a PC do what you want is a wildcard.

Dear old M-I-L waited 5 weeks for Gateway to give her computer back when they replaced a frickin modem that was wired onto the board! She was sooooooo happy the repair didn't cost her though; she bought the extended service plan!

Yep! She's a sharpie, that one.

[omniscient]

Macs are for loft-bound metrosexuals.

[Glenn]

Macs are for loft-bound metrosexuals.

Aren't you the clever one.

[Woahhs]

Aren't you the clever one.

Even their humour reeks of the herd.

[litany_of_lies]

Metros like Rush?

[Richard Kimball]

Macs are for loft-bound metrosexuals.

You do know this guy uses a Macintosh, don't you?

[Proud_texan]

I did a lot of work with Apples from the Lisa through the Fat Mac but Apple got so litigious on clone machines most of my big clients bailed to PCs; they just weren't comfortable being at the whim of a single source. I still have my "Keep your lawyers off my computer" from an 80's-something MacWorld.

I doubt Apple could survive in a clone world and your example of a Gateway kind of goes to show, with hundreds of Wintel vendors there's a pretty broad spectrum of good/bad hardware and service but there's more than a single source and that can be an important consideration.

I have clients running Wintel boxes that are running applications I wrote for them 16 years ago! Oh, I've tweaked them but only for changes in their business, not because they broke through OS upgrades from command line to GUI.

I'd kind of like to go back to doing some Mac work again. always like to do different stuff, but amoung my clients the single source and legacy software is a big issue (my apps usually cost them in the $75k-$100k range, so they want to use 'em a LONG time).

But there are wintel machines and there are wintel machines. Mine are bricks, nothing like a modem, NIC, video or other device controller integrated into the motherboard, tis possible to swap out a module in a matter of minutes or, for that matter, I can swap out a motherboard in about 20 minutes. Don't even think it's possible to have spare Apple motherboards in inventory, no?

I'm not saying Macs are bad machines, just pointing out that some of the Apple policys hurt them in certain market segment.

[Woahhs]

I'm not saying Macs are bad machines, just pointing out that some of the Apple policys hurt them in certain market segment.

You hit the nail squarely FRiend. And that's exactly my point.

What percentage of Wintel boxes are sold as consumer goods on par with other major appliances?

My M-I-L buying that thing on the word of a computer wonk is like getting a Ham licence because she wants to listen to talk-radio.

If all those wonks were concerned about the quality of advice they were giving to novices, instead of validating their own choice of vocation/platform, guys like me wouldn't have little old ladies constantly asking them to figure out their computer problems.

[BunnySlippers]

I'm a happy Mac person. I've had 4 so far ... and I'll never switch. :-D

Saving money is not a reason to use Microsoft.

[Yeti]

I'm a happy Mac person.

It figures.

[BunnySlippers]

Still mad about David Westerfield I see. Tough.

[pageonetoo]

Macs are for loft-bound metrosexuals...

I have owned:

1984-"Fat Mac"- 512k ROM, GCC 5meg Hyperdrive, 1meg Ram (I bought it because I did not have time to learn AutoCad. I needed to do floor plan redraws (General contractor), and so I bought my first Mac, and a program called McDraft, from IDD. I set up my computer, and 9-pin dot matrix ImageWriter, and loaded the program. In less than an hour, I was printing floor plans, that I had drawn. I did not care that it was $4300. It did what I asked, and did it without much effort, or computer knowledge, on my part...Mac has always been plug-and-play...)

1986- SE- Faster, with Apple internal HD

Outbound- 1987, Third-party mfr, they bought Mac Pluses to get the Chip, then packaged a portable the size of the early PowerBooks. It was clocked up, and made my life as a contractor much better. Price was high, but productivity paid for it! (The 'DOS' community was using KayPro suitcases!)

1989- First two piece, an SI, and it was F-A-S-T!, and I had COLOR!

In addition, I have had six powerbooks, and eleven desktops machines. I currently use a G4 desktop, and a Wallstreet PowerBook G3...I will soon buy a G4. I live in a 104 year old farmhouse. I don't even know what a MetroSexual is!!!

I use a computer, as a tool. I don't need to know how it works!!!

What was that 'c>' thing all about, anyway? I never needed to know!

[pageonetoo]

Error-I will soon buy a G4.

I meant to say G5, and hit the wrong number. (Now if I can just learn how to type!)