Apple Fanatics vs The Whole World

Honest question (and no offense intended): What is it about Apple and their products that makes most of its users believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook, iPad, iPhone, or iPod are the only respectable and viable solutions to getting anything done in today’s electronic age and that everything else non-Mac is categorically garbage? And why are PC users typically not like this? These are objective observations that I have made. I am not trying to color this note with personal preferences, these are real questions i am looking for answers to.

Being a photographer and mingling in the design realm, I am exposed to Mac folks on an almost constant basis. Almost as constant is the “how do you get anything done on a PC??” question. I use to brush it off and blame it on the age-old PC/Mac debate but lately, I have been noticing a trend that seems so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on it before. Many Mac users truly believe that Apple products are the holy grail of computing. An infallible brand of perfect machines that just “get the job done”. While I don’t deny that Apple has been a leader in innovation and makes quality products, I find myself trying to understand how so many of its users hold this blind belief that if it’s not an Apple, it’s crap.

A lot of people know me as the PC guy. My first computer was a PC (Windows 3.1). I’ve grown up with PCs and they have always served me well and interestingly enough, I have used Macs for years as well during college. Have I ever had a PC crash on me? Yes. Have I ever had a virus? Yes. Have I ever run into a situation where there was something that a Mac could do that a PC couldn’t? Never in a million years. It is true the PCs are more likely to be attacked by viruses and malware but think about it. If you were the maker of these viruses, wouldn’t you want to focus your energy on targeting the platform that holds over 92% of the total market share? Then some people say that PCs just break all the time. Yes, PCs break but so do Macs and EVERY other type of electronic available to us. For every major defect or recall with a PC that I’ve heard about, I’ve heard about an equally damaging (and often embarrassing) defect on a Mac. Ahem… yellow screens on the iMac. cough overheating nVidia graphics cards.. ok I’m done.

I like to think of myself as a diversified geek. I use Windows and Ubuntu for every day computing. I was a long-time Blackberry smartphone user and recently switched to Android. I have a Microsoft Zune for music instead of an iPod. I find it’s best to chose platforms that suit my specific needs. If something isn’t a good fit, I move on. At the same time, I acknowledge that every platform is going to have its strengths and weaknesses. I have noticed that PC/Linux people tend to be this way, while Apple people tend to be the complete opposite. What is this about? I have also objectively noticed that pro Mac people have little experience with PCs, while pro PC folks, tend to have used both. Hmm…. FTW!

This takes me to the point of this note. Why do Apple fans/users so blindly believe (or at least appear to believe) that their platform is perfect in every way? My goal is not to bash Apple products here. But to be honest, I guess part of my goal is to bash the people that hold Apple products on an unearthly pedestal.

In my humble opinion, Photoshop is Photoshop no matter what platform you use it on. MacOS has its strengths and serious shortcomings, just like Windows. “Well what about video, Mac has Final Cut Pro” says the Mac guy to which I respond, “so what, I have Adobe Premier Pro and After Effects”. I could go on like this forever. Literally.

One observation that I have honestly made is that the people that I encounter who feel that Mac are the only way tend to be on the less computer-savy side of the fence. They know how to email, update their facebook page, or download a photo from their camera to their computer but beyond that it gets fuzzy. “Power users” (as I call them) know file systems, what hardware does what, how to format a hard drive, install a new printer driver etc etc. These “power users” tend to be on the other side of the fence, not declaring loyalty to a specific computer religion. Why is this? It seems to me that actual ability to use a computer would be irrelevant to a person’s belief of the superiority of one platform over another.

My point is is that everyone is going to have a preference. Obvious. I get that. Some people will will stick to a platform and others will flirt, even if only for a moment, with others. But please please please, stop telling me that your Mac can do things that my PC can’t. Mine can do the same thing (and much more) for about 1/4th the price, and that is just not debatable.

And if there’s one other item I can offer (and I admit that this is subjective) it is that Apple (Steve Jobs really) has put a hell of a lot of effort into manufacturing Mac users into exactly the kind of customers he wants them to be: ones that keep coming back for more. They have done this by herding and corralling their customers into a tiny closed MacOS pasture. You see the pasture. I looks small, but pretty none the less. You are drawn to it and and suddenly forced through the gate and Steve slams the door shut and says to you, “Don’t worry about how small this pasture is, instead concentrate on how green the grass looks. This grass on the other side of the fence is of far less quality, in fact, the fences are high-tech and were built by me and they have the special ability to keep the outside grass out forever and if any of that grass does manage to get in, I will kill it immediately so that it does not have a chance to influence you.” You go about your day, admiring the green grass, afraid of the bad grass on the other side of a tiny little fence.

Am I making any sense here? Are you a Mac person and find yourself offended, bewildered, betrayed? Well, welcome to my world as a PC user who is tired of being accused of being an idiot for making a logical choice in what brand of computer to edit a photo on.