It's a Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac World
So in the informal poll here on the Rouge Wave, 60% of respondents said that they used Mac rather than PC. And the Wave-inatrix was curious - why is that?
I used a PC for years and years but in the past couple of years, I noticed that to a one, all of my writer friends used Mac. So last fall when my computer belched forth smoke and spaghettios, it was clear it was time to switch. I went Mac and I'll never look back. I'm not sure why I love my Mac so - because all the writers have them? Because they're cool looking? Because there's a manufactured patina of hipness about everything Mac and I am a marketing researcher's wet dream?
Or - as Apple would have us believe, because Mac's are more user friendly? Of course, when you first switch, Mac is anything but user friendly. It's a freaking nightmare. But once you get acclimated, it is a more intuitive computer to use, I'll say that. And I think I even know what that means. It just makes more sense than my PC did. Cute little icons. Fancy gadgets that take your picture and the way my icons GET BIGGERthensmaller when I roll over them with the cursor. The Ical function. The spotlight function. And the super cool carrying case I got for mine - baby blue and plaid, thank you very much.
Now, 60% to 40% here on the Rouge Wave is hardly a scientific sampling and also not a landslide for Mac. But it was as I suspected - the majority. The Wave-inatrix is no staticisian but in my day to day observation, I have noticed a very strong trend among creatives to use Mac and for accountant/eggheads to use PC. Now calm down you riotous 40% - I'm not calling you square eggheads, throw-backs or hold-outs. You go right ahead and use your boxy, square, black or grey rat-a-tats. I for one am busy using my Photo Booth to take super cool pictures of me with googly eyes.
*oh and by the way, the title of this refers to a classic, very silly movie, the precursor to the most excellent Rat Race, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
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8 comments:
That was a surprise! the result of your poll. I'm a lifetime Mac user, and to my families, friends, and clients I am a freak, who frustrates everyone when we have to exchange files. Only for the past 5 years I think Mac and PC became interchangeable. And I have to say Mac users are typically in creative fields:-)
Can you believe that there are people in this world--some who claim to even be movie fans--that think (are you listening Jon Z?) It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World is just a bunch of old geezers who weren't even funny when they were supposed to be funny? Yeah, me either. They've actually said that they didn't "get" IMMMMW. Sat, what?
The giant "w" still makes me laugh...
I will never, ever use a Mac. They frustrate the hell out of me. It's a million times easier to get into a PC and play with settings and software and the setup of your computer. Whenever I get in front of a Mac I feel like my hands are tied. I usually end up wanting to throw it across a room.
And that's why I love my PC.
@Emily:
Yeah, I said that for the first six months I had my Mac (having used a PC since computers were invented and prior to that that old thing call a typewriter). And I nearly nearly threw it out a dozen times and I almost tossed it onto the 10 in a fit of rage while I was stuck in traffic one day.
But that was then, this is now (to borrow a phrase). Now I never type while stuck in traffic...
Actually, it takes a little getting used to (one of the great things about it is I never get those annoying virus emails) it, but a Mac is superior to a PC in reliability in my opinion.
Next time your PC leaves you in the lurch like an undependable significant other (and it will), which be long before my Mac will, give the Mac a try. The quirks are worth it. You'll fall in love, too.
Me too, Jake. I spent about a week having buyer's remorse after I got my Mac - DAMN IT it was confusing at first. But then, as my computer guy Greg Madore (SoundSpeed, google that) promised, suddenly, everything made sense and I have never looked back. PCs are totally counter-intuitive for the user but once you get used to it, you get used to it. So at first, Mac is confusing because it makes so much sense. I know that sounds like a paradox; like the best things in life, it is. Trust me, Mac is a better computer. More reliable, less susceptible to viri, easier to use and nowadays, there's no problem sending or sharing files.
I bought a Mac. Had it for nine months and loathed every freakin' day of it - to the point where I decided I hated writing. Quite how long I was supposed to wait before the 'I heart my Mac' effect kicked in, I don't know. I do know I've been much happier since I traded the loathed Mac for a Thinkpad.
Oh, and to the people who think a Mac is more reliable: well, maybe they are now, but it was a Mac that screwed up my Master's thesis so badly that I lost out on my distinction because of it. I've had problems with PCs but never like that. (And if I do have problems with a PC, at least I can fix them - I can even, if I have to, shop around for cheap components to swap in.)
Oh, I am such a Mac convert. I was crashing PCs left and right, and one evening I was on a book tour. I had a book due to my publisher and a 7 am call for a TV interview, followed by a noonish booksigning (waaaaay on the other side of Houston), then a 6 pm event at Hard Rock.
My PC crashes. I mean, dead as a freaking doornail. Fortunately, my book was on a thumbdrive, but I was in big trouble, and had had it up to here with PC. So after the tv gig, I went to the Galleria, waited for them to open, accosted a sales guy and said "If I buy a laptop, can you load it up with Word and make it all nice and user friendly so I can pick it up b/w signing and Hard Rock?"
Bless his heart, he did! And I haven't turned back. The only trouble I had with that machine was when my kids spilled a full cup of coffee on it at Disneyland Christmas day (my bad). But, hey, unexpected Christmas present upgrade.
I. Love. My. Mac.
And the commercials are pretty cool too.
(Today, I'm addicted to iMovie. It's scary how addictive making a scrapbook DVD for your family can be)
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