“For an increasing number of people, the first judgment call is the Mac-or-Windows issue,” Pegoraro reports. “Both Microsoft and Apple have updated their operating systems this year… But the Mac’s core advantages over Windows persist.”
“But because Apple chooses not to compete in the cheaper end of the market, you pay a lot more for those advantages,” Pegoraro reports. “It’s fair to call a Mac a luxury. It’s more affordable than many other luxuries, but see what your bank account has to say first.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Life’s too short to settle for a Windows PC.
How is consistent, virus-free, plug-in-play computing a luxury?
It’s supposed to be a standard.
What bothers me, is that most articles on Mac/Windows cost comparisons and even TCOs dont’t mention that you typically use a mac at least 25% longer than a Windows box, and when you sell it, it still works great and you get a much, much higher price than a Windows box.
Um, Mr. Pegoraro, can you say Total Cost of Ownership?
Macs are not “lot more”. They are actually “lot more” cheaper in the course of owning than a PC.
I fix Mac and PCs so I know first hand. A $400 PC or a $4000 PC get’s crappy all the same.
I believe the biggest advantage Macs and OS X have over Windows using similarly configured computers from Dell and HP et. al., is Apple’s partnerships.
Oh sure, Microsoft has partnerships with the very same developers as Apple but they’ll never achieve a symbiotic relationship for two main reasons, IMO,
a) Windows is so overly complex, no one person has a critical overview of the Windows operating system and the chief reason why code-work in one area of Windows continues to break something in another, and won’t be discovered until the product ships.
This is how Microsoft defines and refines the Windows experience. Microsoft is heavily dependent on releasing updates to fix the problems they created in the lab, and yet the update process is so skewed and painful because of their insistence on validating everything.
Bill Gates alluded to this in his notorious email to Jim Allchin. He summarized it all with,
“The lack of attention to usability represented by these experiences [the update process] blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don’t you just love that root certificate message?)
When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.”
This is Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect slamming his own products and is admitting even he doesn’t understand it, to the point it “blows my mind“.
b) Secondly, the culture of Microsoft thinks too much like a den of thieves. Even as a 13-year-old, Bill Gates was beginning to develop an artful means to misappropriate other people’s property. He was caught redhanded exploiting and misusing his school’s software.
But I believe it was Steve Ballmer’s cutthroat outlook on life that had the greatest impact on Bill’s way of thinking. During his early years at Harvard, Bill Gates would become livid when he found other students stealing his creations, and I believe this led to his overarching principle of his conservation meme; protect at all costs.
Every decision must be filtered through the conservation (thief) meme, to ascertain whether anything can be exploited. It’s apparent Microsoft uses too much proprietary code in their products and refuses to share because these critical branches of code are a potential doorways to future revenue streams. This is software after all, and the life’s blood of Microsoft.
So if a developer needs access to one of these proprietary branches (red-flagged area of the code), in order to introduce some clever new feature, Microsoft learns what it is first, then decides if it can create the same user experience in the lab, then tells the developer no, there is a conflict of interest. The developer walks away disillusioned knowing too much was revealed.
If you believe we are what we do, then you should know Microsoft is far too dependent on schemes to preserve the status quo. Just as, stupid is as stupid does, Microsoft is way too vested in the thievery meme. They think too much like thieves, for their own good.
Stealing someone else’s code is to take something out of context; it will never fit synergistically with your own work and runs the risk of breaking something and diminishing the user experience. This is typical of Windows and something its users are accustomed to.
I’m not saying Apple is perfect, but I am saying they are genuine. They have a long history of failures and have continued to build its successes on these failures.
Microsoft has never acknowledged their failures.
how about don’t get someone a fuckin computer for christmas.
if you’re the kind of person that can’t compute the value of a computer that doesn’t break down… just get your friend a sweater.
“It’s fair to call a Mac a luxury.” Is it?
• Do you own a Kia or a ___?
• Do you watch TV on a tinny screen TV or a __?
• Do you listen to stereo or a home entertainment system with __?
• Do you sleep on a single bed or a __?
People pay up for things that they want and for quality!
It’s not about ‘luxuries’… it’s about “What should be available as ‘standard’ equipment on a computer.
Most PC box assemblers slash features (aka: standard equipment on a Mac) in an attempt to lure people in with a low price. Those cheap-ass idiots then have to pay for additional capabilities. In the world of contractors & salesmen, this is a practice known as ‘low-balling’; entice a potential customer with an outrageously low price, and then tack on fees / additional prices as the contract / job commences. It’s a deceitful and manipulative practice.
Apple doesn’t play that game. They have a ‘WYSIWIG’ policy. If you want something extra you can get it, but with Apple, there is no coercion and no manipulation. Buy it or don’t.
Just like drinking bad coffee, or cheap wine or anything that quality does have an profound impact. Sure, I could do my work on Windows, but why risk the registry going bad, or a virus hitting you on a critical deadline.
That was a lousy article, inaccurate, lame, inadequate.
@ G4Dualie
There’s a Jimmy Buffet lyric that goes
I’m glad I’m not a lawyer, a thief, or a banker.
Bill Gates’ father is a banker, his mother is a lawyer. What recourse did little Billy have?
I just thought of a great parody for the Windows 7 was my idea advertisements.
Shoot some shady looking dude saying, “I asked MS for system that is easy to exploit, and gain access to, that is easy for me to steal it’s users information in order run my illicit businesses and they gave me Windows. I’m a hacker and Windows 7 was My idea”
@ G4Dualie
Excellent explanation. I wonder if you have any experience as a developer for the Windows platform, since you know so much.
Julian @ http://no-spamming/
@MAclover
because most peopledon’t have the luxury of a Mac.
@Jeff
Very cleaver, Jeff, very cleaver.
Sorry to contradict you . But, I believe it is BG1 was a banker, BG2 is a lawyer. Which leaves BG3 to fill the role of thief.
An example of times changing can be found at my parents house… they just bought a 17″ MacBook Pro.
What?!
I encouraged them to get a white MacBook because they are not heavy computer users and they are cheap… not just frugal, but cheap. They went to the Apple Store and after weighing their options, on their own without my assistance, decided to go with the high end MacBook Pro. The only pieces of advice I gave them was:
1) Get a Mac
2) What are you primarily going to be using the computer for?
3) Think about how you might be using your computer in the future (future proof your machine as much as your budget will allow)
A MacBook would suit their needs perfectly, but they set their “cheapness” aside and made sure they bought a computer that would last for a long time. They wanted portability which is why they bought this computer instead of an iMac. They were impressed by my first Mac purchase that they were currently using, a PowerBook G3 from 2000! I told them I spent more than I should have, but look how long that computer has lasted… 9 years and counting. Is it super fast, no. Does it run Snow Leopard, no. It still gets on the net with plenty of speed, allows you to send E-mail with no issues, you can still manage your photo and music libraries and it is just a really cool looking computer.
In conclusion, if my parents, in their 60’s, in all their cheapness can understand the value of Mac OS X vs. Windows… the future looks very bright for Apple.
Luxury is a bad word choice. So is premium.
As I’ve said before, Apple sells an experience, not just hardware or software. This requires a certain level of expense. That said, a Mac Mini or iMac are very reasonably priced.
I don’t see the difference because I have the same issues with PCs. As a gamer, the PCs I build are around $2500 because I specifically choose quality parts, not the cheapest off-brand items I can find. And like Macs, the systems I build last 3+ years and are not obsolete the moment I put them together.
A certain segment of the market is alway going to be completely price focused. Apple has chosen to ignore that segment, and IMO wisely so.
Well, it may be true that Macs have a high resale value but you couldn’t prove it by me.
I either love my old Mac so much I can’t part with it or I give it to a loved one on the condition that I have visiting rights every now and then.
My G4 Cube is over 9 years old and still running (knocks on groin).
I stand by my neighborhood and housing analogy.
You can buy a cheaper house in North Philly. The house will probably have everything you need, including more bathrooms and more bedrooms. You may even get lucky enough to get a nice looking place, too.
Or, you could buy a house with less rooms for almost double the money in Doylestown.
The first house mentioned even has better security. It has multiple locks on the doors and bars on the windows. Surely, it’s safer and obviously cheaper.
How come nobody in the ghettos brag about their cheaper houses in the same manner as their shitty Dell?
“b) Secondly, the culture of Microsoft thinks too much like a den of thieves. Even as a 13-year-old, Bill Gates was beginning to develop an artful means to misappropriate other people’s property. He was caught redhanded exploiting and misusing his school’s software.”
And the two Steve’s of Apple phone phreaking wasn’t thievery? Please…none of them are wearing halos, dude.
@another IT
And the two Steve’s of Apple phone phreaking wasn’t thievery?
They were never caught!
Those are some SCARY looking hands (stubs?) in the photo in the Washington Post article. And people thought the iPhone hand was bad?
That picture is the stuff of nightmares.
How can the Mac or PC question be the first one that comes to mind with most customers if they aren’t aware of the Mac’s existence (or if they’re badly misinformed about the Mac).
Those who understand the differences will unequivocally choose for the Mac.