Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Michael Czeiszperger <czei AT webperformanceinc.com>]

On Nov 11, 2004, at 11:51 AM, Ian Meyer wrote:

> \basically, I know a lot of mac users. I also know a lot of people who
> think they're great computers, but for one reason or another, don't
> have one. My question is simple: for all you non-mac users out there
> in INW land, what is the main reason you don't have a mac?

Not to butt in on the conversation, but as  someone who recently came 
back to the mac two years ago I have a few comments:

1. Price

I use my computer to run a business, and productivity is a huge issue.  
The people I know who use Windows all day long have so many more 
problems there's not even a real comparison.  When you factor in the 
time it takes to figure out a registry problem or figure out if the 
latest service pack is going to break half of  your apps, or totally 
reinstall Windows every 6-9 months the added hardware cost starts to 
look like a good investment.  I understand XP is better in this regard.

2. Longevity

I'm still using a 1999 iMac every day and its still running a champ, 
and capable of browsing through 120 Gigs of images and managing 400+ 
ripped CDs with reasonable performance.  The PCs I purchased at the 
same time were discarded two years ago.

3. Service

I know Apple has a reputation for poor service, but my experience has 
been the opposite.  The phone support is really, really good.  On their 
software support plan I just call up and almost always get someone 
within 60 seconds. And the person I get really loves Macs and knows 
what they're doing. Its the best software support I've ever had on any 
product, no exceptions.

On the hardware side my PowerBook started smoking this summer, and I 
took it into the Apple Store at Southpoint.  Apple uses a central 
facility to do serious repairs, so they had to send it away for 5 days, 
but they did provide a loaner, and it was fixed in 5 days.  The loaner 
was set up with an exact mirror of my powerbook hard drive, so I was 
literally off and running in exactly the same place I had been.  When 
my PowerBook came back they mirrored the loaner back and I was as good 
as new.

4. UNIX

Coming from a berkeley UNIX background, OSX feels right at home, except 
it has a beautiful user interface on top.

Just my two cents.

------------------------------------
Michael Czeiszperger
Web Performance, Inc.
919-845-7601