Saturday, August 11, 2007
Fashion or function?
Apple products are fashion accessories, which is why I will never buy them. I am a utilitarian when it comes to electronics: whatever works the fastest, the most reliably, and for the best cost is what I want to use. Apple makes products that look pretty slick and have nice user interfaces, but they absolutely gouge customers on price. I think the iPhone costs something like $250 to make, and they sell it for $500. The iMac costs $1500 or so, and you could definitely buy an equivalent desktop for half that. No, the desktop would not be 3 millimeters thick or whatever they are down to now, but I don't give a crap how thin my PC is. My cubicle at work and my desk at home definitely aren't gigantic, but they definitely have ample room for a desktop computer. So if you like to "look cool" while using your electronics, feel free to pay a premium for that experience. As for me, give me Linux and a big water-cooled case.
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2 comments:
It depends on the audience. I'd NEVER impose Linux on my Mom, for instance. Nor would I expect anyone serious about video/audio editing to suffer with Linux when Mac clearly has superior software for that sort of thing. But if you are a geek and your main computer requirement is a platform for coding, or you just need a reliable server, etc...Linux is a great solution.
I would even go as far as saying I would get a Windows PC before a Mac, though it makes me cringe to type that. As much as I dislike Windows, at least you know you can buy any kind of software and that it will just work (and you'll spend half the cost of a Mac to get the computer in the first place).
I will cede that for A/V editing and graphics and the like, Macs are great. But 99% of users don't need the better A/V software for Macs, and have no good reason to buy one.
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