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It's smiling for a reason.
I'm not here to give you an esoteric conversation on why Mac's are better than PC's, that doesn't convince people about anything other than your own arrogance. Besides, chances are, if you're reading this, you're already a Mac fan, so I'm probably preaching to the choir. But I'm pretty fed-up with the Microsoft 'laptop hunter' nonsense that's been coming out of Redmond lately. I don't care if you're a Mac or PC person, but you should get the facts; because you're not getting them from Redmond or even Cupertino, no matter how snarky and smart Justin Long sounds.
I know I'm not the first one to say something about this, but I feel the need to address all the points people bring up into one conglomeration. The first point I want to make has been analyzed by Arik Hesseldhal in Business Week. It's all about the value-to-dollar ratio you get when you buy a PC versus a Mac.
Using Microsoft's first advert with Lauren (who buys this HP Laptop at $699, since it's under $1K and 17 inches), Arik looks at what Lauren would have to buy to get what she'd be getting if she bought a Macbook at $999. The first thing on the list is an anti-virus subscription. Arik estimates that puts her in the hole about $50 bucks a year. That's all well and good, except that for the life of that computer, she'll be shelling out that much just for anti-virus. Now, I'm not saying there aren't alternative free software out there, and I'm not saying she's going to have that computer for the rest of her life, but right away, you've got yourself in the hole. Arik esitmates 3 years is about the lifespan of her HP usage; that's $150.
I don't want to hear the argument about Mac's technically being able to get viruses. The bottom line is that they're pretty damn resistant. On top of that, it has less to do with 'people not writing viruses for Macs' and more to do with the security of the OS. Yes, Vista and Windows 7 have addressed root-access issues recently, but not the same way a Unix-based operating system does. When you make the OS secure, you don't have to run software on top of the OS that's constantly dragging down your system.
Speaking of software...
Arik mentions that there's some software bundled with Lauren's HP that tries to compare to certain applications in Apple's iLife suite. As you might imagine, they're not nearly on par. Apple's iLife suite (free with purchase of a Mac) gives you iPhoto (edit, touch up, organize photos) iDVD (burn / create professional looking DVDs), iMovie (edit / create movies ), iWeb (edit / create web pages) and Garage Band (record music / create podcasts / score movies and video podcasts), all of which mesh together seamlessly. You can share libraries, drag and drop across the applications and have them integrate with each other. With the HP, you get a video editing program and a DVD burning program, neither of which are made by the same company, and neither of which integrate with each other. To get a music-recording software that's on the same level as Apple's Garage Band, Arik estimates that's another $100. Personally, I think Apple could ask an extra $150 for Garage Band outside of iLife. It's that good, but Apple gives it to you for free.
The count? $250+ dollars, (not including comparable software for iPhoto and iWeb.)
We're at $949, $50 dollars away from a Macbook and well above the price of a Mac Mini.
Arik (although doing a great job), fails to mention some other important things you get when you pull you Mac right out of the box. Mac OS X Leopard has a new feature called "Quick View" that enables you to click once on any item, hit space bar, and quickly view it. If it's music, it plays the song, if it's a photo, you see it, if it's text, it pops up, if it's a video, it plays. It does not require you to load up the software linked to the file type. But wait, there's more! Apple has built-in PDF support in OS X and that means no more downloading Adobe Reader. Click a PDF, hit space bar, and you're reading it. Instantaneously. Double click it to open it in Apple's Preview program.
Then of course there's Text Edit. It's a tiny little program; not quite a robust word processor, but it does open Microsoft Document files with zero formatting issues. No extra software required. Have you tried opening a .DOC file in MS Notepad? Don't. OS X also has spell-checking across the entire OS, not just inside word processing programs. If you're in a pinch, you can actually write your school papers in TextEdit, and hey, I'm writing this in TextEdit right now.
Arik also fails to mention that not every PC comes with Microsoft Office. A lot of times, (like with Lauren's PC) you end up with Microsoft Works. Works is Microsoft's freebie software that's hardly up to par with MS Word. Works doesn't save in the traditional .DOC format either, so you'll be hard pressed to e-mail your files around if you're using that. Microsoft does offer solutions for converting an MS Works document to a MS Word document, but the question remains: Why in the world would Microsoft do this to themselves? If they want to be the productivity powerhouse they claim, wouldn't they focus on one product and get it right?
Apple has an office suite, like Microsoft, but it isn't an ungodly amount of money. $79 dollars will get you iWork, which contains Pages, Keynote and Numbers (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, respectively). I use Pages exclusively now, and it allows me to export to PDF, .DOC, RTF and plain text, all without fancy software. Keynote's animations and integration of media for presentations far exceed any in PowerPoint. Numbers performs just as admirably as Excel. All of these programs are near-completely compatible with files from their Microsoft counterparts.
For the geeks out there, there's no need to download special CD burning software, disk partitioning software or defragmentation software. Apple's Disk Utility will handle nearly every .iso, .bin or .img file you throw at it, and allow you to mount it like a drive or burn it. You can back up your existing CD's or create new CD images. You can also backup your hard drive and re-image it. You can easily partition and re-partition your drives. No extra software.
Comparable software costs $50 (see: Alcohol 120%) and $69 (see: Partition Magic). Yes, Microsoft has some partition software inside Administrative Tools, but it's clunky and unintuitive. Similarly, Disk Defragmenter is included in Windows, but with OS X's HFS file system, every file is indexed and taken care of. OS X continuously rewrites data to make it contiguous. Lastly, there's Apple's Time Machine for backup. Plug in an external drive and forget it's on. The software takes care of itself. Norton Ghost costs $69.
The Damage: $1,137 for a PC with similar robust software. Still at $999 for a Macbook. $1078 if you include iWork.
But Lauren wanted a 17 inch notebook under $1K. She was all about the size. Lauren's big screen has a resolution of 1440x900. The 13 inch Macbook? 1280x800. Just a quick math lesson here; area is length times width. Whether we do this with pixels or inches, it doesn't matter. 1440 x 900 = 1.296 million pixels. 1280 x 800 = 1.024 million pixels. My point? You're not really getting that much more desktop real estate with that resolution inside 17 inches. Sometimes size doesn't really matter.
But what about the tech specs? The quality of what you're buying?
I can't wait to cover that in Part 2.
Check back soon!
Comments
In the sentence "not including comperable software for iPhoto and iWeb.)", you've got a spelling mistake. It's 'comparable'.
I agree with a lot of your assesments though you should use the built in spell check.
"The 13 inch Macbook? 1280x1024"
Uh, no. It's 1280x800. I should know. I'm typing this on one.
It gets better. Apple currently offers iWork '09 for at a discounted price of $49 with the purchase of a new Mac.
While Pages and Numbers are nice, you didn't really say much about Keynote, Apple's best-in-class slide presentation software that puts Powerpoint to shame. It's what Steve Jobs uses for his famous presentations. For some who use it extensively, this program alone justifies the purchase of iWork (and possibly the Mac as well).
While most Mac owners can probably get away with iWork alone, I think you got carried away claiming 100% compatibility with Office. For instance there are still a few esoteric math functions in Excel that aren't yet supported, and I've heard of some minor formatting differences, and inability to run Microsoft Basic scripts included in documents.
You didn't mention some of the other handy programs that come standard on a Mac including:
Grab (screen capture with several options)
Front Row (media viewer with remote control support)
Photo Booth (fun picture taker/mutator)
Image Capture (scanner and camera image importer)
iSync (calendar and contact list synchronizer for use with cell phones and PDA's),
Chat (text/audio/video chat software)
Grapher (a 2D and 3D visualizer for math functions)
Boot Camp Assistant (utility to help create a bootable Windows partition with Mac driver support).
Built-in FAX send and receive capability (does anyone still FAX?)
For the technogeeks, there is Terminal which gives full access to the BSD UNIX underpinnings of Mac OS X. Apple also provides the free developer tools on CD-ROM as an optional install.
Bottom line: You get a lot for your money with a Mac. That's one of the reasons that people who buy Macs don't feel ripped off. The other reasons being Macs they are a joy to use, require less software maintenance, have high resale value... and they look cool too.
While I think that Macs are a probably a good choice for most people (certainly more than the 10% that currently own them), there are a definitely a few situations where I would NOT recommend them. These include DIY hobbyists that like to build their own computers, serious gamers who run state-of-the-art graphics cards that cost as much as the rest of their computers, people that, for whatever reason, can't find a Mac form factor that meets their needs (mid-sized tower, netbook, etc.), and long-time Windows users so stuck in their ways that they refuse to even consider a Mac.
The truth is is that Macs are overpriced. You are misleading your readers with marketing hype.
An anonymous coward called "robert" who does not give his full name because apparently he is unwilling to be held accountable for his statements asserted:
"The truth is is that Macs are overpriced. You are misleading your readers with marketing hype."
The truth is that your statement has no basis in fact since you did not qualify it. A BMW M3 is overpriced compared to a Honda Civic Si if the buyer does not care for the far superior driving dynamics of the BMW and cannot afford the BMW, just as a Mac is "overpriced" if the buyer does not understand or care for the superior integration of hardware and software that Macs have in spades, which translates to a superior overall user experience as evinced by the just-released Forrester Research survey of 4500 consumers in the U.S. and by findings of, among others, Consumer Reports. Unless you can support your statement with data from a statistically valid sample size of use cases you are at best misleading naive readers and at worst displaying your ignorance for all to see. Do not assume that everyone reading the article or these comments is an ignoramus. I say this as someone who worked for IBM and Compaq, e.g. on a $500 million IT project for one of the world's largest banks. Here's a clue for you -- the chief financial controller of the company I currently work for bought a Mac for home use even though at work we're an all-Windows shop. I guess after considering multiple factors, this financial guru did not conclude that "Macs are overpriced."
A good read, thank you. Nothing wrong with your observations, although I want to add my bit with the style writers. I'd go for Macs rather than Mac's.
Isn't it interesting how when people point the finger, they are pointing at themselves. ROBERT, the marketing hype being swallowed is that Macs are overpriced and you have swallowed the whole nine yards. It's also incredible that you would say this, at the same time totally and completely ignoring a very careful explanation of exactly HOW Macs are NOT overpriced and bleat out your party line.
Unless you are a troll, of course.
Heaven forbid!
Evidently robert read nothing. Well, either that or he read it but had made up his mind long ago to toe a party line. Sort of like saying "Hussein was involved in 9/11".
As a long time PC user I made the change some time ago. I was hesitant at first but the new job pretty much demanded it. Guess what? I'll NEVER go back to the dark underworld of MS bloatware, viruses and OS's that demand you spend precious life fixing crap. Never again. So come on robert, take a chance. You have nothing to lose but the excessive boot times of PC's.
And this doesn't cover drivers. When I get a new Mac, I don't need to search for peripheral drivers. They are included. Furthermore, there is software to help me transfer files from my old machine to my new one. The only additional software purchase I make is for iWork. After that all I buy is the occasional game. >
As someone who develops software for both Mac and Win, I agree Apple's bundled software is much better than what MS offers or you can get for cheap/free (it finally has good built-in backup now, FWIW). But I can't agree with your assesment of screen size. 17-inche screens are more readable because the pixels are physically bigger. It's not just a desktop real estate issue. Size does matter when it comes to eye strain for some of us.
David,
I've been on a Mac since '84, and it's all I use unless I need to fix the office PC: a few thoughts.
Your software arguments don't hold water in terms of virus protection and an Office suite. 1. Mac's will soon paying the piper on virus/trojans and to deny it is to be sticking your head in the sand. Good PC virus software can be had for free as well. 2. OpenOffice is available for all.
You're young. When your eyes get a bit older you'll like that 17" screen, and not because it has more screen real estate.
PC's usually have built in card readers, a basic feature Apple (read Steve) refuses to acknowledge.
OS X is better. Better integrated, better workflow, more responsive. But don't exaggerate. Built in spell check is great, but Journaled files still get munched and lost with directory corruption. iLife is great, but there are some great cheap to free PC packages as well, just not from MS. Some aspects of iLife are terrible, like iPhoto's hiding of all photos. Auto-Syncing mac files from multiple machines is not supported without .mac or whatever they're calling it this week.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a Mac, but don't be so thinned skinned. If Macs are so overpriced, why are they closing in on 10% of the market? People recognize value. Don't feed the stupidity of the media.
There are advantage with a low res screen which is bigger pixels despite of the lower image quality. For people like Lauren, 1440X900 on a huge 17 inch is ideal for what she needs it for which is basic computing and surfing. The Macbook may have greater denser but the pixels are also smaller and perhaps less comfortable to read for those who have poorer eyesight. Also who says you have to use M$ office? Open Office is a good free alternative for her needs. As much as I love the Mac, Windows have tons of free great apps that you can download so software should not be a big factor in increasing the cost of Lauren's sub 1K notebook.
I don't think you should be using the Mac Mini as a point of comparison since its not really true portable. You can't really just take it to a coffee shop and use it.
I used Windows at home going all the way back to Windows For Workgroups, but I am a fairly recent convert to the Mac, and I don't think I could ever go back. I think what Apple should show on their TV spots are the very things that sold me on the Mac -- the applications and the OS itself. Show things like Spaces, dragging an app from one virtual window to another. Show the process of importing pictures to iPhoto, sorting and editing the photos, making a photo book, then making a slideshow and DVD using all the NORMALLY installed applications. No extra software needed. Yes, I did those things on Windows too, but the difference is that on the Mac its almost seamless. On Windows, it's just... clunky. Show Garage Band in action, show FrontRow in action. In other words, stop bashing the PC and show off OS X.
The problem with PCs isn't what got me to switch, it was the seamless way that the Mac handled my creativity. You can say that the Mac isn't immune to viruses/worms, and the only reason it doesn't get attacked is that the market it too small. That's probably true, but the fact remains that I don't run any anti-virus or anti-malware software on my Macs, and don't think I need to. Likewise, one could argue that the seamless nature of the Mac iLife software is simply because Apple makes it all and makes it work seamlessly. That's probably true, but it's equally as true that there is no equivalent on the PC to the iLife suite. It just doesn't exist.
Apple notebooks are overpriced. you can buy any brand notebook and install any linux distro and extra software for free.
then all your os and other software arguments go down the drain.
What makes Apple hardware and software so compelling is that both components are created by THE SAME COMPANY. This enables them to allow the software take the best advantage of the hardware. This is where PCs always lose. That the Windows OS must take SO MANY different hardware configs into account makes it extremely cumbersome, inefficient and unable to manage color interpretation.
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