I think Macs got a bad rep because it's what my generation used in school (and schools had old Macs that never got upgraded) and older generations didn't like change. But Apple is a smart company. They started gaining popularity from the public through the iPod's sleek design and smooth interface that could be synced with either Macs or PCs. They provided a way to obtain mp3s legally at a reasonable price. They came out with pretty colors and varying size and price options.
Then they gained the "geek" population through changing Mac OS to be BSD-based in their tenth version. Previously this population would have to buy a machine, reformat the drive, find and install some distribution of Linux, change the desktop environment to whatever they prefer, and go through all sorts of configurations to get their machine set-up. Now Macs were pre-packaged and ready to go without the hassle, and with a nicer desktop environment.
Next, they improved their Macs to include an Intel core. These Macs can now dual-boot into Windows, and actually run Windows faster than PCs. Suddenly doors opened in terms of the range of software available.
I personally have a white 16 GB iPhone 3G and a Macbook Air with SSD. What's amazed me even more about owning two Apple products is how well they work together with each other. While the iPhone can still sync with a PC just fine (which I used with my work PC while my Macbook Air was being repaired right when I first got my iPhone), I somehow find it smoother syncing straight with the iCal and Address Book on my Mac. (I actually use CalGoo to sync my Google Calendar and my iCal together so I can also view my calendar on any machine through any web browser, and my friends can view my calendars too.)
Their repair policies seem to be pretty good. When I first heard of the "Genius Bar", it was hard not to make fun of the name. But my Macbook Air's fan died down so I made my appointment. Unfortunately, I couldn't get one for a few days so I decided to stop by and hope to get a walk-in appointment. I told the concierge why I was there and they let me do a Quick Drop, since it was a mechanical problem. I got a phone call the next day telling me they were shipping my machine away and it'd take a week. Exactly a week later, I got a call saying I could pick up my machine. My machine came back with all my data, with my invisibleShield intact, and with a brand new fan inside. It cost me nothing, and I loved that I didn't have to mail it off myself.
Yesterday, I had another appointment with the Genius Bar. This time, it was for my iPhone. My top button of it was extremely recessed and almost impossible to find and press. My Genius took one look at it and immediately said she'd replace it. She asked if I backed up all my data before coming in, which I did. She let me take off my invisibleShield (which thanks to their amazing warranty policy, I can send back for a new one at no cost) and helped me clear my data. She pulled out a brand new white iPhone 3G, opened it up and moved my SIM card into it. Immediately it was activated with my phone information and I was all set. Again, at no cost.
My boyfriend has a Macbook Pro (his second one) and an iPhone himself. With our confidence in Apple products, we just bought a 160 gb Apple TV. Upon connecting the Apple TV, both of our laptops recognized it on the network and offered to control it. Our iPhones can also be converted into remotes. The picture quality of the content offered (which includes HD movies) looks stunning on our TV (and the movie rentals have free previews you can watch prior to renting). Even the device itself looks nice and sleek.
Apple's great at causing geeks to technolust for their products because their products are both well-packaged and they work well. Their support policies are excellent as well. Best of all, once you already have an Apple product, other Apple products seem to work seamlessly together with it. Next up, we hope to buy a 1 TB Time Capsule.
6 comments:
Having administered some Macs during the Dark Age following System 7 up to OS X, I can tell you that, no really, they did pretty much suck then. They were at the mercy of poorly written software and drivers, and just didn't work that great anymore--there was a lot of cruft. Moreover, Windows had caught up to them ease of use wise and had surpassed them in system stability.
Now, this period was never have supposed to last that long--that is a story of internal mismanagement, which we don't need to go in here.
@rmitz -
Hm, my experience during that period was with iMac G3s with OS8, which I didn't really have any trouble with, nor did I think they were hard to use. But I do yield to your expertise when it comes to Macs. What I said was more of my guess. Though I still suspect most people didn't even try Macs during that period anyway to find out about their poorly written software and drivers.
I do love my current products though.
I've been a Mac user since about 1988 with a Mac Plus and managed some from about 94-97 at a major phone company. So I've seen MacOS version 4 through present. To the devotees they were almost always better than peecees. ;)
There were a lot of problems with Apple during the dark years of the early 90's or so. Definitely some (not all) versions of OS 7, 8, and even 9 were far less stable than others, etc. (I recall most folks in the know clinging desperately to OS 8.6 with a death grip).
I'd been a unix aficionado and system admin so merging my two favorite OSes was a dream come true and I think that was true for many.
I think you nailed it -- the blend of lustworthy packaging, intelligently designed user interfaces, impressive Windows compatibility, and mainstream Unix under the covers made the Mac really the ideal geek platform, surpassing, for many, Linux.
That's why you now see SO many Macs in the hands of developers, robotics tinkerers, infosec professionals, and other geeks of all sorts, and why the open source community has supported the platform so well adding to the momentum.
Michael
@shimniok -
Thanks for your great comment! You also sound more experienced than myself and I love how you both described your personal experiences as they related to my post as well as commented on my viewpoints stated.
Having a similar background to Michael I still agree with him in principle.
However even though I invariably have a Mac on my desk (currently a new MacBook Pro), it rarely gets used and is pushed to one side in favour of the Linux workstations that have been at the centre of my "work" for the last eight years.
Fact is, every time I sit down to a proprietary system, no matter how shiny it would seem to be on the surface, I am overwhelmed by a sense of claustrophobia and have to run back to the unadulterated freedom that can only be provided by my beloved Linux now.
Does anyone else ever feel this way?
Like rmitz said, there was a time when Windows users actually had reason to look down on mac users with pity, but Windows has imploded since then and Apple has been crowned King of Shiny-tech, like you said. But I think on the high end of the geek scale the real question is "why Mac instead of BSD/Linux?" A couple years ago Mac OSX was so pretty with its Aqua and Cocoa fun and kicked the pants off of anything the linux world had in the shiny department. Compiz and other fun with compositing window managers (like awn) is changing that. For the couple years I've been using macs for my laptops (because I like laptops that are guaranteed to have 100% driver support from the get go, and know how to sleep properly), and linux for desktops. But Apple has kind of become slaves to their shiny, and (I think) consequently bugs that I consider important (like japanese input management, crashing/hanging hideously when using samba, failure to sleep/wake) get ignored in favor of their high-profile issues in iTunes/iPhone/Safari. Linux driver support has gotten much much better lately, and even ACPI/power-management stuff is now (I'm going to go out on a limb and say) better than MacOSX. Basically it's getting harder and harder to justify Mac OSX over Linux even for laptops. I agree with "andrew smith" that given the choice, I'll use linux when I can.
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