This on the heels of David Pogue’s roundup of response to a Dell support parody he ran (some folks thought it was too close to reality to be parody) . . . .
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall March 2, 2006 12:10 PM:
(March 02, 2006 — 12:10 PM EDT)
After I did the post a couple days ago about my terrible experience with a new Gateway Computer (actually with the computer and the support and pretty much everything else about the experience), I got a number of emails from Mac owners basically saying, ‘Switch to Mac. We all live in computer paradise.’So I thought I’d answer the question on the site.
I must say that from my casual experience, Mac’s always seem to work better, be more intelligently designed, have a nicer screen interface and a bunch of other stuff. And honestly, after this most recent experience, for the first time in my life I’ve seriously considered switching.
So, why haven’t I, and, probably, why won’t I?
I think it basically comes down to two reasons.
First, I’ve been using PC-based computers for about 20 years. And over the years, I’ve invested a serious amount of money in software and various gizmos, all of which are PC-based. That in itself is probably enough to keep me shackled down in the Wintel universe.
Second, I’ve got a decent amount of know-how invested in PCs. I don’t just mean that I’d have to become a computer newbie again. But I can open up my PCs and install things and actually do a certain amount of maintenance on them. Not sure one can do that with a Mac, at least not to the same degree. In the background, I guess there’s also that concern about having ones whole computer set-up and data tied to one company.
Third (okay, I said two, but it’s my site), I’ve become very dependent on using a tablet PC for a lot of my note-taking and loose-leaf type record keeping. (If you’re a journalist or anyone else who takes a lot of notes or does a lot of research, I seriously recommend checking them out. I couldn’t live without one.) And I don’t think they exist in the Mac universe.
In any case, those are the basic reasons holding me back. (I know the hardware tends to be more expensive. But I pretty much live my life online. So I don’t think the cost in itself, if not too much more, would hold me back.) But I really do sort of secretly wish I could use a Mac because they just seem like they’re better machines. So I’d be very curious to hear from readers. Not just Mac users. In fact, not even primarily Mac users. Who I’d really like to hear from are former PC users who’ve switched to Mac. What have your experiences been? Any major downsides? Either in the final experience or in the transition over — moving your data over, etc?
Let me know. I’d be much obliged.
— Josh Marshall
Clinging to Windows because you know how to fix it like keeping your horse tack after you sell the horse and buy a car.