The cult of Mac
- Thread starter salaryman
- Start date
christonabike
Elm Park Bencher
I've just been given a G4 Powermac for free
Set it up in ten minutes, never thought I'd do that
Love it
I'll let you know if I become obsessed
Set it up in ten minutes, never thought I'd do that
Love it
I'll let you know if I become obsessed
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Aha, another excuse to link to this informative thread! 
LOL! i love ed's persistence in the face of adversity. he'll never be able to stop the nerds from arguing the same old toss over and over again, but you've got to admire his effortKid_Eternity said:Aha, another excuse to link to this informative thread!
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
salaryman said:LOL! i love ed's persistence in the face of adversity. he'll never be able to stop the nerds from arguing the same old toss over and over again, but you've got to admire his effort
Yup!
pk
drink flounce rinse repeat
On a serious note though, I've been using Macs for years, had an 8100 system that was deeply unfashionable compared to the Hewlett Packards at the time, big ugly bastard, way before all this latest design stuff came out.
Still loved my Mac tank better than a PC, even back then.
Comes from losing three hours of intensive work in front of a client on a PC and wanting to stab Bill Gates with a fork dipped in dogshit, compared with the relatively minor annoyance of the Mac crashing but only losing the last 5 minutes of work.
I'd never recommend a PC on that principle alone.
Still loved my Mac tank better than a PC, even back then.
Comes from losing three hours of intensive work in front of a client on a PC and wanting to stab Bill Gates with a fork dipped in dogshit, compared with the relatively minor annoyance of the Mac crashing but only losing the last 5 minutes of work.
I'd never recommend a PC on that principle alone.
when buying laptops, I always buy an expensive one surplus, so I get a high-quality, lightweight laptop for a pittance, and it still looks reasonable in meetings.
for desktop machines, we tend to glue them together out of whatever is lying around. Sometimes, a motherboard or CPU or RAM will get ordered special-like.
As to the "cult of the mac", it's the old defensive behaviour thing: you have done something different that causes problems/aggro/irritation, you've got a relatively high barrier to switching back, so you're going to defend it endlessly... Setting Up A Religion 1a, I think.
for desktop machines, we tend to glue them together out of whatever is lying around. Sometimes, a motherboard or CPU or RAM will get ordered special-like.
As to the "cult of the mac", it's the old defensive behaviour thing: you have done something different that causes problems/aggro/irritation, you've got a relatively high barrier to switching back, so you're going to defend it endlessly... Setting Up A Religion 1a, I think.
editor
hiraethified
Blimey. You still going on?!!!!pk said:
For your reference, the last time I lost work because of a Windows system crash was, err, I can't remember. Really.
Oh, and I suggest you shield your eyes from IanW's posts about his endlessly troublesome Mac here as they might burst your iBubble.
cybertect
It's grim up north (London)
Flippant answer: Guy Kawasaki
Serious answer: I dunno entirely, but I know I do like my Macs.
While the hardware is certainly an important part of the equation, I suspect true Mac-heads would point to the OS itself as a critical factor.
In the days of DOS 3.x/4.x vs System 6/7 it was a no-brainer. Consistent GUI and keyboard commands vs relearning everything from the ground up every time you used a new application were a revelation when I first used a Mac. Sitting in front of a IIci when you've been using an Amstrad 1512 is quite an amazing experience, I promise you.
Having spent a fair bit of time in the late 90s messing about with Linux, I began to appreciate the Unix way of doing things and for me OS X provides a nice balance. I get a bash shell and Photoshop.
Anecdotal example: I have a friend who's been a hardcore PC user and Mac-basher for the best part of 15 years who succumbed and bought a Mac Mini to play with three weeks ago and he's suddenly turned into one of the wilder Mac evangelists I've ever met. Suddenly he's enjoying using a computer. I'm almost embarrased. It can be a bit infectious, though
Serious answer: I dunno entirely, but I know I do like my Macs.
While the hardware is certainly an important part of the equation, I suspect true Mac-heads would point to the OS itself as a critical factor.
In the days of DOS 3.x/4.x vs System 6/7 it was a no-brainer. Consistent GUI and keyboard commands vs relearning everything from the ground up every time you used a new application were a revelation when I first used a Mac. Sitting in front of a IIci when you've been using an Amstrad 1512 is quite an amazing experience, I promise you.
Having spent a fair bit of time in the late 90s messing about with Linux, I began to appreciate the Unix way of doing things and for me OS X provides a nice balance. I get a bash shell and Photoshop.
Anecdotal example: I have a friend who's been a hardcore PC user and Mac-basher for the best part of 15 years who succumbed and bought a Mac Mini to play with three weeks ago and he's suddenly turned into one of the wilder Mac evangelists I've ever met. Suddenly he's enjoying using a computer. I'm almost embarrased. It can be a bit infectious, though
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
right . i'm a non-techie and haven't used a mac since the early 90s but have an answer for the OP's question.
i think it's cos Mac users have historically seen windows as a mere copy of the Mac OS. many Mac features were co-opted by Bill Gates for windows . don't ask me what - i'm no techie
.And without windows, would DOS have enabled microsoft to conquer the world? i think not
Mac is the source, the font of public-accessible modern computing . without macs, computers wouldn't be on every desk, in ever schoolroom and in every home .that's why some mac users hold it so precious.
a modern mac is a direct descendant of the holy grail whereas a PC is a grail-a-like
IMO
i think it's cos Mac users have historically seen windows as a mere copy of the Mac OS. many Mac features were co-opted by Bill Gates for windows . don't ask me what - i'm no techie
.And without windows, would DOS have enabled microsoft to conquer the world? i think notMac is the source, the font of public-accessible modern computing . without macs, computers wouldn't be on every desk, in ever schoolroom and in every home .that's why some mac users hold it so precious.
a modern mac is a direct descendant of the holy grail whereas a PC is a grail-a-like
IMO
Idaho
continuity character
Dull as this topic is, Macs are still more expensive, have less software availble, much less freeware and games and what software they do have is more expensive.
I can use either machines at a push, but simply wouldn't seriously consider getting a mac as I wouldn't be able to get the software.
I can use either machines at a push, but simply wouldn't seriously consider getting a mac as I wouldn't be able to get the software.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
jæd said:
There's a lot of freeware music stuff that's not available on the mac... both plugins & interesting standalone apps. Windows-wise, you could prob. have a very decent set of plugins for free... Mac-wise, less likely. There are a few standalone things that are only available for mac, but very few.
(note: I use a mac @ home, so I'm not being all mac-bashing here at all, but 'tis the truth, & is likely to be for the forseeable future. As soon as you get into freeware stuff, pple are going to code primarily for the dominant platform, & then maybe if you're lucky, port it to others.)
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
I've got to agree that mac users can be a tad obsessive about all things mac related. I've been a user of both Mac and Windows for years and I've got a Mac G4 at home and a Dell Inspiron laptop which I use both for different things so I'm in a perfect position to comment.
Both have their positives and both have their negatives. Personally, I prefer to use the Dell for all things online. Firefox is more stable than on mac, Skype and MSN have video (not available on mac versions) Java aps on web pages seem to work better and are more compatible with windows. There seems to be more free software available and tons more online games. The other thing about PC's is that hardware will always be cheaper and their will be a great range of choice, say for example my webcam which is one of many types made by Logitech (macs only seem to work with iSight
) or my DVB-TV tuner which currently costs approx £25 and one of many types available wheras macs only work with Miglia TVmini (currently retailing at £88.99! 
)
However, I am into music and design and I would always use a mac over a PC for this anyday. Logic / Ableton / Pro Tools all run briliantly on a mac and you need something which is stable, free of viruses and other conflicting elements which PCs are prone to. Yes, cost is a factor but you pay for the stability and reliability I think.
Accept it folks, both are good in their own right. Stop bashing - especially mac obsessives
Both have their positives and both have their negatives. Personally, I prefer to use the Dell for all things online. Firefox is more stable than on mac, Skype and MSN have video (not available on mac versions) Java aps on web pages seem to work better and are more compatible with windows. There seems to be more free software available and tons more online games. The other thing about PC's is that hardware will always be cheaper and their will be a great range of choice, say for example my webcam which is one of many types made by Logitech (macs only seem to work with iSight
) or my DVB-TV tuner which currently costs approx £25 and one of many types available wheras macs only work with Miglia TVmini (currently retailing at £88.99! )However, I am into music and design and I would always use a mac over a PC for this anyday. Logic / Ableton / Pro Tools all run briliantly on a mac and you need something which is stable, free of viruses and other conflicting elements which PCs are prone to. Yes, cost is a factor but you pay for the stability and reliability I think.
Accept it folks, both are good in their own right. Stop bashing - especially mac obsessives
editor
hiraethified
Is that supposed to be some sort of put down? If it is, it's failing spectacularly!pk said:
Apart from high end, ultra-niche market programs, I can't think of any area where the Mac has more software than a PC, by the way.
Meanwhile, in the real world, most people are happy to buy a system that runs the software they need, and couldn't give a fuck about obscure programs they never want to use nor do they care if the machine is capable of running high end pro applications or not.
editor
hiraethified
I'd be just as happy using a Mac, although I would miss being able to run Xara (the fastest vector progam available), Homesite (the best HTML editor I've used, although BB Edit is a good second choice) and TopStyle.jæd said:
And then, of course, there's the hardware that doesn't work on Macs....
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