Computer Selection: The Ultimate Guide To Mac vs PC

Oh the joys of social media. Beyond the benefits of keeping in touch with friends frequently you have to wade through FML's, work complaints, and my favorite: tech questions. With comments like "I love my... and so should everyone else" or from those who have clearly drunk from the magic corporate Kool-Aide, i feel the need to offer a computer guide. Maybe at a later date i will expand it and write about cell phones, etc but for now i will just address computer selection.

Despite what your fanatical friend might say there is no one computer for everyone. Otherwise this would be a short entry simply with a computer name here _________. People are different with different needs and boy oh boy are computers different.  To make this as easy as possible I will compare computer selection to politics, two topics which are not polarizing in any way.

Mac versus PC?  Just like with politics they both suck.  They are just trying to get your money and are thinking more about getting you to choose them (again) the next time around than about actually taking care of your needs right now.  More often than not you end up selecting the lesser of two evils.  So here we go. (Comparisons have nothing to do with actual parties of the buyers)


Mac, The Republican
Like the Republican Party, Apple wants it's members to think the same, do things the same, and look the same. i do not mean this necessarily as an insult (well, to Republicans maybe). The system is closed.  If you want to use a computer and do not want to know or deal with how they work then Mac's are probably for you.  The reality is that everyone should be using computers in some capacity today and by not having much freedom of settings, etc Mac's are great for people who are worried about messing things up (because you probably can not).

Like Republicans work great with other republicans, Apple products work easily with other Apple products.  It is an exclusive club however and good luck trying to get them to play well with others.  Oh, and you need a bit more money if you want to be on this team.  Appearance is not the only thing that matters to Apple, money and power do too.


PC, The Democrat
Like the Democratic Party, PC's are trying to encompass an incredibly diverse spread of people. The system is open to anyone.  As we know though, with all that diversity and variation sometimes you can have compatibility issues with both Dem's and PC's alike.  The price of individuality?  Freedom for security? That freedom can be great if you know what you are doing but it also means you can royally screw things up as well.

When picking a PC you need to think like a lobbyist: you get what you pay for.  Throw down a little money (say Dell) and the politician/pc will not necessarily always do what you want it to.  The more money you spend (say Vaio) the happier you will be with how it works for you (yes, democrats work for lobbyist... sorry to burst your bubble).


Linux, The Independent
Let's face it, if you are using Linux you know your stuff and do not need an over-simplified blog post telling you what computer to pick.  Like Independents though, Linux users can be a little holier-than-thou.

Just like democracy, computers are not perfect.  There is no perfect system, you just try to find something that works for you as best you can.  Like politics, however, people will constantly try to tell you that their choice is right.  Sometimes you lose (Bush or Windows Vista?) but so far we have never really won, although we seem to always hope the next one will be better (Obama or Google?).

Ultimately computers, like politicians, will get you excited about your choice for the first few days but soon enough you get frustrated and will be dreaming of the next one.