That really is classy. I feel fortunate to work on a Mac at work and on a PC at home. I’d really like to own both, to tell you the truth.

I agree completely.

I use a Widows box and some Linux boxes at work and it is very good at what it does. But I would never be able to be completely Wintel again now that I have tasted of the Apple Goodness.

That is great they are doing that. However, I am not going to recommend someone buy a computer solely based on the fact they provide aid to disaster relief. Believe me, I am the last person that will take up for Bill Gates and M$, but he donates money all the time. Just search Google and you’ll see hundreds of millions of dollars for Malaria research, malnutrition research, etc. Should I feel honored to use a Microsoft product because of this?

I’m not saying you’re telling someone to go out and purchase Apple because they are classy. But if a friend came to you and said “Hey, I see you using an Apple computer all the time. Why is that? Why is the Apple platform better for me?” Is the reply going to be, “Well you should spend your $1000+ on this Apple because they have class. Not sure you’ll get the best use out of it. But at least you know have given money to an honorable company.”

Personally, I would love to own a Mac. I have been a Windows guy since I started using computers. Yes, I play games, but I do so much more. Owning a Mac would just give me more candy to play with. The experience gained from using a new platform won’t hurt either. It just comes down to money.

My two cents. I hope it doesn’t come off too rude.

Hey Richard,

My two cents. I hope it doesn’t come off too rude.

Don’t worry about that, you are very much entitled to your opinion! That being said I believe that today there are no significant reasons to not use a mac over a wintel box, excluding working in an environment where custom software is rolled (such as my place of employment.) So for me it comes down to how much better it makes me feel knowing that I help support a company that is not afraid to take the light off of themselves and thier bottom line, to help spotlight a very real need.

The conversation would probably go like this:“Hey, I see you using an Apple computer all the time. Why is that? Why is the Apple platform better for me?”I use Apple Computers for a lot of reasons, but really it all boils down to class. The company believes in imbuing thier products, even thier website with class.

And then I would go into why I think these things, but it would begin with class. It might seem arbitrary and flippant to some, but I think there will be people out there who get what I am saying here. Those who don’t, no sweat; As I said at the beginning we each get to make these decisions for ourselves, and we each get to pick the platform that is right for us.

Hey Chris,

That’s cool. I don’t think there is ever one good company. Everyone has some bad business practices imo. I will admit that there seems to be “something” about Apple products, whether it be a the Mac, iPod, etc. And as soon as I get the income, I will be purchasing one. Granted it won’t be the top of the line.

You know the neat thing? We have an old iMac G3 500 going unused from an employee who retired recently. I think it has OS X on it. I guess I need to take ownership of it. ;)

I agree in some respects that a Mac can do just about everything a wintel does. And even though I don’t consider myself a Mac user I have suggested friends/family to take a look at them. But games are important to me, so I cannot ever truly leave the Windows platform. Not that I want to.

Gates charity sounds like an oxymoron and in many respects is.

After years of overcharging millions of people for poor quality products, stifling innovation and losing court cases like a habitual offender Microsoft’s boss has now turned in to a good guy by giving a pittance (as a proportion of the total) to good causes. Given Gates’ apparent inability to do a straight and honest deal in the rest of his life why does anyone take this new found charity at face value?

Look deeper and you will see most of the charity money ends up in the USA companies. Africa can’t afford US made AIDS drugs, Bill steps in, here’s the money to buy drugs. That the biggest contribution to fighting AIDS in Africa would be to fight malnutrition is not considered as it does not repatriate profits to the USA.

How about more research, well it’s OK provided the research is done by US companies and they recommend solutions provided by US companies. Some research is done in Africa, where local workers on $5 per day work next to US workers on $500 per day, and who flew out on american airlines etc. Those aid agencies involved were encouraged to do software audits and license software even when the machine and software were donated.

There’s a vast difference between people who do ‘good works’ because they believe it is the honorable thing to do than those who do ‘good works’ because of positive PR value.

Gandalf el Wizard,

There’s a vast difference between people who do ‘good works’ because they believe it is the honorable thing to do than those who do ‘good works’ because of positive PR value.

While what you are saying is absolutely true, I think that Richard has a point as well, I don’t believe that this was done as a publicity stunt, but I would guarantee that there was a meeting held to asses the PR ramifications for this course of action. Read my response to Richard for more on this!

Richard,

Good PR can lead to more money. I don’t know what goes through the minds of the Apple elite, but are you assuming that Apple did this with no selfish intent. They are a business, just like Microsoft. I am sure there is some PR value in it. I mean, look at this post. By Apple posting that on their front page, it has stirred up “positive” discussion in their favor.

Very good point, as I stated above, but I would like to point out that I would bet that this came down from Jobs himself, and it would have been done regardless of the PR impact. Jobs is a vegan and holds many buddhist philosophies, he might still be a practicing Buddhist I am not sure, that being said he probably felt morally obligated to act. And if we have learned anything about Steve Jobs is that he doesn’t care one whit for what other people think, including the press.

I just read about a possible sub-$500 Mac coming out in January that would not have a monitor and run a G4 1.25GHz or so cpu. That would definitely be something I would like to own.

You and me both brother! Man that would be so snazzy. I think that a mac at that price would break right through the glass ceiling of the below 5% market share they have been dealing with lately. Can’t wait for January to see what is going to happen.

Oh and thanks both of you for your comments and good nature about this.

I love my mac more than anyone should love a material possession. I just like the intuitive interface, and the fact that the OS doesn’t get in my way.

This doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about computers. I’m actually an MSCE, A+, N+ certified computer technician.

What it does mean is that I don’t have to boot up WinXP, click on My Computer, and have an error prompt come up because “there’s no CD in the drive.”

Yes, computer, I know that. I know that because I never inserted one. Thank you. Let’s move on.

Little headaches like that are non-existent on the mac platform. The OS is cleanly laid out and made to get down to work, as well as being easy on the eyes.

It’s simple if you want it to be, but there’s a robust *nix backend available to you in case you need it.

My common tasks are AppleScripted and automated, and I expect that to be even easier once Automator comes around next year in Tiger.

My 4 year old computer runs the newest OS and version of Final Cut Pro BETTER than the original versions. And there’s more legacy support for old software than you’ll EVER find on an XP box.

And, my goodness, if my iMac isn’t ever CLASSY. Just look at it.

CLASS.

Couldn’t have said it better. Cudos to you man, you have finally given me answer to tell my window-lovin friends…

Hey Doc,

In the interest of calling spades spades, let me say “Come on now.” I use Panther, XP, and Ubuntu, and given the choice end up doing most things on the iBook, in OSX. Still, I don’t buy the notion that Apple is any more classy, or better, or nicer, or more generous than Microsoft. They are two sides of the same coin. Both of them are businesses first, and the bottom line, whether you like it or not, always comes first.

While there is a lot of truth in what you say, I must take exception to your line of reasoning. I think it has been abundantly clear for some time now that there are serious differences in the methodology and business practices of Microsoft and Apple.

Apple operates on the notion of innovation and empowering the user, while Microsoft operates with an eye to ubiquitousness and commoditization. As I stated above I am sure that the bottom line was taken into account and a meeting held about this. I have never claimed to believe that Apple is not a for-profit company fist and foremost.

There is nothing classy about breaking songs purchased from Real. That is just screwing your iPod customers, because they aren’t your iTunes customers.

Real reverse engineered proprietary technology. Apple refused to license its technology to Real which is within its rights, as was to put a stop to a competitive technology. Also, how many people actually bought music from Real to place on thier iPods; not many as we have been shown. The iPod and iTunes are irrevocably linked, in the eyes of Apple and most of the user base, you do not have iTunes users and iPod users in two different camps they are one and the same.

There is nothing classy about disabling screen spanning on the iBook just because it costs less than the Powerbook. There is nothing classy about making the Quicktime included with the OS not play fullscreen when every other video player does it.

The iBook is a consumer level machine and as such will have a much slimmer feature set than a pro level machine. Why are the iBooks slower than the pBooks? Why do they feature slower system bus and ram? Using your own words Apple is a business first and foremost. They are out to turn a profit. The decision was made to not support spanning on the iBook line, being a consumer product they thought, rightly mind you, that it was not a feature that would be needed by the class of people intersted in that product.

I will of course state that you can have spanning on dual usb iBooks by using some free software. Also I would imagine the users who are up in arms about this are prosumers/professionals who decided to save a little money and buy a consumer portable. I could be wrong there, but that is my feeling at least.

It is a little odd that I am ending up on this side of the debate, since I am mostly a Mac user, but it seems like this thread could use some balance.

I was unaware that there was any kind of debate going on at all. I merely posted my thoughts on this topic, and then responded to some questions left by visitors. I am not a pundit, and have no agenda other than throwing out my thoughts on this subject. I do appreciate your comments though, they are good ones.

Now that I have said all that, let me add that I found your site through pinksocks. I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation of SubEthaEdit. I tried it out and am loving it. Happy New Year to all.

Rokken like the proverbial Dokken! I so am crushing on SubEthaEdit, and I am glad to see that you are diggin it as well. Good to have you come by, you are welcome anytime, any reader of Hanni’s is always welcome here.

In the interest of calling spades spades, let me say “Come on now.” I use Panther, XP, and Ubuntu, and given the choice end up doing most things on the iBook, in OSX. Still, I don’t buy the notion that Apple is any more classy, or better, or nicer, or more generous than Microsoft. They are two sides of the same coin. Both of them are businesses first, and the bottom line, whether you like it or not, always comes first. For every bad thing you can say about Microsoft, someone could find something to say about Apple. There is nothing classy about breaking songs purchased from Real. That is just screwing your iPod customers, because they aren’t your iTunes customers. There is nothing classy about disabling screen spanning on the iBook just because it costs less than the Powerbook. There is nothing classy about making the Quicktime included with the OS not play fullscreen when every other video player does it. It is a little odd that I am ending up on this side of the debate, since I am mostly a Mac user, but it seems like this thread could use some balance.

Now that I have said all that, let me add that I found your site through pinksocks. I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation of SubEthaEdit. I tried it out and am loving it. Happy New Year to all.

Maybe there wasn’t a debate until I showed up. :D Then again, I am not sure if the Apple/Microsoft debate ever stops.

To clarify a couple things. Apple certainly was within their rights in the Real case. My problem with it is that it feeds into the bigger DRM picture, and makes them part of something that I think is very very bad. Do you know anyone that was just hoping “Maybe someone can come up with more ways to make listening to my music more complicated. That would be just boss!” Of course not. People just want to listen to music. DRM as it is being implemented is assuming that all of us are bad people, in the hopes of stopping the few who are. And the really sad part is that no matter how good your DRM/Encryption kung fu is, the minute you release it, there are thousands of people, just as smart as your code ninja, that are trying to break it. And it only takes one. It doesn’t stop anyone that really wants to circumvent it, but does on occasion cause all manner of annoyances to those who are just trying to use it.

It’s also worth noting that I think that if Microsoft had done exactly the same things Apple did in regards to Real and the iTunes store, the Mac community would have reacted in an entirely different manner. Microsoft would have been painted as evil, and screwing the consumer in their quest to further their monopoly, no matter if they were within their rights. Apple gains a lot from their underdog status. They are the independants, to Microsoft’s Alliance, to borrow a Firefly analogy.

As to the iBook comments, I picked monitor spanning for a reason. You could argue that the faster processor. more RAM, bigger disks are all things that cost more and add to the production price of the machine. The spanning though, is simply crippling of a machine. If that feature was enabled, and most people wouldn’t use it, it wouldn’t change a thing. However, if it is disabled, and someone wants to use it, well that does change something. And the fact that free software exists to enable it doesn’t really say much for Apple. It means they went out of their way to make it not “just work.”

Of course, none of this has the intention of making you, or any other MacHeads, change your mind. There are few brands that garner the loyalty that Apple does. Right up there with Earnhardt fans if you ask me. :D (I mean that in the fiercely loyal good way) And there is something really cool about that. I just haven’t been able to drink the Kool-Aid yet. These are just some of the reasons I am a Mac user, but still not a MacHead.

But they do make a nice computer. And I am excited about the prospect of them finally releasing the headless Mac to try and draw in more users. I think it could be very big and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to friends and family.

doc,

Maybe there wasn’t a debate until I showed up. :D Then again, I am not sure if the Apple/Microsoft debate ever stops.

Ha! Good point!

To clarify a couple things. Apple certainly was within their rights in the Real case. My problem with it is that it feeds into the bigger DRM picture, and makes them part of something that I think is very very bad.

I agree whole-heartedly. Although I will say that I think Apple’s DRM is one of the best out there, and it actually tries to balance appeasing the RIAA while also giving value to the customer. Would I prefer a DRM free world? Absolutely, but would I rather Apple had not wrapped Fair Play into the Music Store… no because I happen to like buying music online, and if without Fair Play we would not have the Music Store.

It’s also worth noting that I think that if Microsoft had done exactly the same things Apple did in regards to Real and the iTunes store, the Mac community would have reacted in an entirely different manner. Microsoft would have been painted as evil, and screwing the consumer in their quest to further their monopoly, no matter if they were within their rights.

Absolutely. That is one of the things I am the most disturbed by in the mac-head community. I have my own issues with MS, but they are rather well reasoned and coherent comparatively.

Apple gains a lot from their underdog status. They are the independants, to Microsoft’s Alliance, to borrow a Firefly analogy.

Okay, you get 1,000 points for being boss enough to drop a Firefly quote in, I shed a tear the day that show was cancelled. I look forward to the movie.

As to the iBook comments, I picked monitor spanning for a reason. You could argue that the faster processor. more RAM, bigger disks are all things that cost more and add to the production price of the machine. The spanning though, is simply crippling of a machine. If that feature was enabled, and most people wouldn’t use it, it wouldn’t change a thing. However, if it is disabled, and someone wants to use it, well that does change something. And the fact that free software exists to enable it doesn’t really say much for Apple. It means they went out of their way to make it not “just work.”

I have nothing really to say here, other than I don’t have a problem with Apple making decisions based on sales. Again I agree with you they are out to make money and there is a higher profit margin on pBooks than iBooks; I am not bothered by this behavoiour but I can see how it would bother others, so I give way on this one to you since you seem to resonate with it much more than I.

Of course, none of this has the intention of making you, or any other MacHeads, change your mind. There are few brands that garner the loyalty that Apple does. Right up there with Earnhardt fans if you ask me. :D (I mean that in the fiercely loyal good way) And there is something really cool about that. I just haven’t been able to drink the Kool-Aid yet. These are just some of the reasons I am a Mac user, but still not a MacHead.

What will be interesting is what will happen with this counter-culture when Apple starts gaining serious market-share (as most of the mac-heads are screaming for). What will they feel when Apple is the 800 pound gorilla, and not the 125 pound weakling? Should be interesting.

But they do make a nice computer. And I am excited about the prospect of them finally releasing the headless Mac to try and draw in more users. I think it could be very big and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to friends and family.

And that is the real issue here I think. An influx of fresh blood will certianly help Apple as well as the user base. More gamers will mean more games ported at a quicker pace; companies buying large numbers of headless eMacs, or whatever they will be called, will drive the demand for custom software for the Panther+ platform. Things are hopefully about to get very interesting.

Again it is a pleasure to have a discussion with you doc, I hope to see more of you around Sillyness in the days to come.

I so wish to be a MacHead, but unfortunately it is out of my spending range. But one day I will have a nice shiny Mac sitting on my desk, rather than the boring beige winbox that currently resides there. Nice read btw Chris, I enjoy reading why others have chosen the Mac platform. Just makes me want one even more.

Shawn,

Everyday the machines are becoming more and more affordable. Hopefully after MacWorld San Fran there will be a seriously affordable mac to entice the Wintel masses.

“What will be interesting is what will happen with this counter-culture when Apple starts gaining serious market-share (as most of the mac-heads are screaming for). What will they feel when Apple is the 800 pound gorilla, and not the 125 pound weakling? Should be interesting.”

As long as Apple’s business practices continue to encourage ingenuity, creativity, user-friendliness and good looks, and not end up mutilating what is a beautiful, well layed out interface, I don’t think Apple fans will have a problem. Apple seems to be a more personable company. While that could be accredited, in some way, to the “little guy” status, I feel it id domething in part with it’s machines. They aren’t simply number crunching boxes, but have a little personality, its “the white box of creativity”

Shawn, if you are ok with an older machine, go to your local apple reseller, sometimes they may have a used apple that is perfectly capable of handling your needs.

As long as Apple’s business practices continue to encourage ingenuity, creativity, user-friendliness and good looks, and not end up mutilating what is a beautiful, well layed out interface, I don’t think Apple fans will have a problem.

That is what scares me, that with success and a larger user base will come lower standards in production and packaging.

Hopefully not though.