Duh, it’s not fast because it’s a Mac!
I can’t tell you how many times when I’m helping a frustrated customer and working through their computer issues with them that the question invariably will come out of their mouth: “Should I buy a Mac so I won’t have all these problems?” I often tell them something to the effect of, “Macs are built by mortals too.” This fact is evidenced by the number of 1 and 2 star ratings that Apple stores have on any business listing on the Internet. If you read the customer’s feedback, they will often give an account of how they went in to the Apple store for help with their computer and they were turned away and told to go online and book an appointment time to come back in 3 or 4 days. Obviously, the Apple computer has problems too or else their overcrowded bar of underage Einstein clones wouldn’t always be booked solid for the next 72 hours on any given day.
The fact remains however that Apple computers are reputedly faster. Why is this? A recent report came out that the majority of computers in use today that cost over $1000 new are Apple computers. A brief visit to Apple’s website will make the reason for this clearly obvious; the prices START at a grand with the exception of one model! The one Apple computer under $1000 is a desktop; however the cheapest laptop is $1000. What this means is that regardless of any logical reason, if someone has drank the koolaid and is determined to buy an Apple laptop, they will spend at least one thousand dollars. Now I’m not implying at all that the computer is overpriced. It’s very nice computing hardware with a fast Intel CPU, but then they take that computer home and tell all their friends about how fast their new Apple computer is. If that very same person had gone to Dell’s website to buy a new laptop he wouldn’t have been forced into spending a thousand dollars, and he probably wouldn’t have. The result would be that he would have bought a slower computer for less money, been less satisfied it, and then wondered why his $600 Dell laptop is slower than his cultish neighbor’s $1200 Macbook that he won’t shut up about. If all Windows based PC’s sold were a grand minimum, there would not be this confusion about why Mac’s are faster because they would NOT be faster. To sum this up, if you get a PC that has an equally powerful processor as what a MacBook has then it will be equally as fast. Nothing magic about that.
People often ask if there is any reason for not getting the Apple computer that their kid is begging them for. A child’s adolescence and teen years is time to prepare for certain things that they will encouter for the rest of their life. One of those things is computers, and upon entering the work world in adulthood, using a computer will be mandatory, and chances are that there will be only windows-based PC’s at their place of work. Some may tell you that Mac’s are being used commercially more now than before and it may even be true to a degree. While Mac workstations are far more expensive than the average PC which is quite capable of meeting the needs of a corporate office, they certainly won’t ever come close to taking over the corporate world. Using an Apple computer all through childhood and college gives that person a setback in computer skills when it comes to the real world.
“Apple computers can’t get viruses.” How many times have I heard that. While it is true that there are very few reported instances of Apple computers getting viruses, there are also very few hackers interested in trying to program a virus for the Apple operating system. If you were going to try to cause a disruption to transportation in the world and you were going to target either a tire factory or a horse shoe factory based on which one had a larger impact, what would you pick? Same with hackers that write viruses. Windows PC’s are more popular for a reason, but consequently they are what hackers target. Apple’s market share is on the rise, and as it has risen there have been more and more malicious programs that hackers have written for Apple, furthering the proof that the opening statment to this paragraph simply is not true. When it comes to selecting a safer Windows PC I would encourage the use of Windows 7 instead of the Vista or XP.
Obviously you have a choice of what brand and operating that you want to live with, and many people choose to go with apple and happily use them for a long time. If you already are familar with how to use a Windows computer, take my advice when you buy a new computer. Get a Windows computer that is just as powerful as the Apple computer that your cultish neighbor owns and you will love it. I guarantee it.
Uncategorized | computercprllc July 5, 2010