Are you a Mac or a PC?

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Section: Blog Posts
Categories: blog
Tags: Apple IBM macOS Windows computing

JoT

If you are ultra-Mac, you prefer to use an aesthetic computer that “just works” - as a result, you are usually sexy, artistic and cool.

If you are ultra-PC, you prefer to use a clunky un-aesthetic computer that is difficult to use, crashes often, is a virus hell, yet is guaranteed to work with any piece of hardware with a software driver written by a 10-year-old boy in a barn in China - as a result, you are nerdy, cheap and non-cool.

While the Joy of Tech comic shown right illustrates this, like all stereotypes, it isn’t exactly true. However, for me, I am definitely 95% Mac and 5% PC. This is why:

  • I like to use a computer that looks good and doesn’t take up a whole room.
  • I don’t like viruses and spyware and malware (0 for Mac, over 140,000 for PC)
  • I like the power and flexibility of UNIX-based systems (stable, secure).
  • I like operating systems that are intuitive and don’t try to get in your way (after fighting with Windows, I come home to an intuitive Mac).
  • I like operating systems that are fast, sexy looking, and feature-rich (OS X rules this space).
  • I like operating systems that have a large amount of Open Source software available (there is not a single Windows program that I can’t get an equivalent one for Mac).
  • I like to compile my own software from source as well as write shell/PERL/etc scripts.
  • I like computers that work with hardware and other computers easily (“it just works” with a Mac).
  • I am not a big gamer (Windows owns this space - although I like games, I typically play them on a console such as Xbox360).
  • I like to get good value for my money, but I absolutely hate buying cheap crap. Macs are more expensive than PCs, but that is because Apple doesn’t sell a low-end low-quality computer. When you compare the specs on a low-end Mac to that of a high-end PC, you will quickly find that the hardware and price is the same, but the Mac is far better made when you hold one in your hands.
  • I like to run multiple OSes (Mac hardware runs the latest Intel platforms and can easily multi-boot Windows, Linux and OS X - it is the only computer that can run any OS).
  • I like to add hardware (Macs are easy to upgrade, but today, most hardware upgrades are connected externally via USB such as extra hard drive storage such as Drobo).

Basically, stereotypes are crap - the tools that you choose to use should reflect your personal preferences. In the 1990s, I was mostly PC because Macs at the time did not match my preferences. Back then, PCs and Macs were both clunky, yet PCs had more hardware expansion and far less cost. Similarly, Windows looked better than the old Mac OS, had more software, more stability, more security, and was just as easy to use compared to Mac OS. But in computing, things change - it is important to go with whatever is the best out there at any given time.

I am not the only one that is more Mac than PC, it seems to be a big theme today as many people are switching over to Macs from PCs. Perhaps that is why I love watching those Mac vs PC commercials from Apple (they are sooooooo true :-)

Lots of people on YouTube have made their own Mac vs PC commercials - while most of them are very amateurish, there are some funny ones. The best one I have seen is the Mac vs PC Rap Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkrn6ecxthM. Enjoy!