"I hate Macs" says salesperson

 by Martin Belam, 21 November 2003

I went to the Mac Expo at Islington Business Design Centre yesterday (open today and tomorrow, £10 to get in)

I have to say I was slightly disappointed with the lack of branded freebies. The top gadget on offer was the slimp3 which looked awesome. I also realised that I am now certain my next large investment in technical kit is going to have an Apple logo on it.

My favourite moment though was when I was receiving a one-to-one demonstration of a new version of a well known animated graphics package. "Have you used product x before?" asked the demonstrator. "Well, I've used the previous version on a PC" I replied. "Yes, I use a PC as well", said the demonstrator, "I hate Macs". Nice sales technique ;-)

22 Comments

I agree the sales person. It may not be a very salesmen like attitude, but it is hard for me to fault someone for speaking their mind. Macs and their users are generaly segregationists when it comes to computers. They indulge in an attitude of superiority and are generally motivted by negitive views rather that positive insights. Take for instance the price and availability of Mac products and the attitude of the Mac world. Why would I want to pay more for a product with less compatibilty and a general attitude that states Mac's and their users are in a world of their own. I want to be integrated with the rest of the world, not seperated in a cultist group(Macs).Think how Apple would take off if they released their computer parts to the public, so that we are able to build our own Macs. I don't trust anyone to build my computer or even open the case for me. That is why I am and always will be a PC USER. Unless Apple changes their ideals along with the entire Mac community.

Actually unix is less hacked because fewer people use it. Microsoft is, to put it bluntly !EVIL!, you should all be using linux. with linux if something doesn't work YOU can fix it! With OS X and the whole mac infrastructure right down to the business policies you are dealing with secrecy and hidden data. With linux it is all open and free. And even if you want an os that is easy to install and run, compared to both operating systems, the cost difference is phenominal. For one version of linux you pay a mere $10 USD. Whatever.

There is a simple reason for using a Mac . . . it works! In six months of using OSX on my Mac it has NEVER suffered as system crash. Freeze-up on my PC are an almost daily occurance. Plug and play is a joke. I get tired of, "application X has caused an error and will now close." MS applications need constant reinstallation because they become corrupted. I actually get work done with my Mac. I spend half my time on the PC getting it to work. If you want things free or for cheap stick with a PC, but remember its worth what you pay for.

roger,

i'm a recent switcher to mac, who didnt want to follow the crowd & researched around for the best product. Like any other mac fan, I love mine.

but you know what? i agree with you on a lot of things.

1. apple users can use some attitude change. but I dont blame them. anyone, who KNOWS they have something better than the others, naturally looks down on others.

2. whats more important is your last point. apple should consider reaching out to the masses. that is something they have failed to do.

MacFanatic

I work on a campus that is about evenly split between macs an pc's. I find they breakdown about the same. So for me the biggest difference is that if a Dell pc breaks i have the part the next day and there is a three year warranty. If a mac breaks it takes weeks to get the part and they only offer a one year warranty. My colleague who is a "macintrash" lover always say's they are "far superior" because they are not suseptable to viruses.To which reply that anybody who knows anything about computers is not really suseptable. So if you are an idiot who doesn't know any better than to open emails from people you don't know or are too lazy to download and install patches that are generally available months before the viruses that exploit the holes that are fixed by them, then go ahead and spend twice as much money on an inferior computer

This is quite funny I use OSX at work and the machine has locked up a couple of time and at home I use WindowsXP Pro and its never crashed on me once since I installed it over a year ago. Its true previous versions of Windows may have been lacking but providing you buy the right hardware for a PC (shuttles are extremely reliable) a PC is as reliable as any Mac running OSX.

I would like to point out that for the people that call macs inferior to PCs, what information do you have to backup your view? Sure, most viruses are created for PCs, but thats only because they are more popular than macs. Also, If you update a PC frequently, then you vill be almost immune to viruses. Now, my website is still under construction, but we are gradually colllecting the required information to prove that macs are un-stable. Yes, I have experienced macs second-handedly because we have macs at school and they are the only computers that we are allowed to use when we are in the building.

-agent5

I don't hate macs--it's MAC USERS that annoy me

hey Roger if any computer stereotype was to feel a superiority towards other platforms it would be pc not mac. I mean honestly, look up the net and u wil find alot more pc uses fueled up about why they hate macs than mac uses fueled up on why they hate pcs. And to add to that the sites that did hate pcs where pc uses who where fustrated with the software faults on the pc. Now macs do hav their faults like pricing but i have experienced pc since the days of windows 3.1 and i could fill a book on the faults that i hav had with the pc, not to mention the waves of spyware as well as the nites where the pc freezes up on me in the midst of an assignment at1 at nite. sure i miss my games but that is d only valid field that pc is better than the mac, all others and mac practically takes the cake. although some poeple have found stability an issue on the mac i have yet to experience that not to mention it is based on a unix system which is meant 2 be more stable regardless, the layout takes about half half an hr 2 get use to an everything to, and everything is so fresh n lively it feels good to own a mac. to me mac is more reliable than a pc and i would rather a mac anytime

i hate macs because they suck at everything imaginable, they are hard to use, everything including the thing that you don't want saved, save anyways, and everything about the everything is fucking terrible. Goddbye.

So, if all we are doing is arguing PCs vs Macs, here's my 2 cents: Macs are better for certain things (ie graphics, multimedia editing, ...), and PCs are better for certain things (ie customizability, personalization, compatibility, integration, games, ...). These differences are a result of differing architectures. In other words, they are specifically built that way. It's in the hardware.

The thing with Windows is, it's customizable, which leaves more room for user error. If your PC system frequently crashes, it's because you have no idea how to take care of it. I have built both of my computers from individual parts ordered off of NewEgg.com and ComputerGeeks.com, and have never had a problem with the hardware. In addition, I've been running Windows 2000 on them and had maybe 2 crashes in the 4 years that I've had them. Why have I had so few crashes? Well, for starters, I keep all those extra applications and things that just duplicate functionality off of my system (ie. why have 10 media players when 1 suffices?), I don't click "Yes" or "Install" on those little internet pop-ups that just want to install viruses on your system, and I don't open spam e-mail with attachments that are almost always viruses.

In summary, your Windows will function just as you want it to if you simply don't over-clutter it and keep it virus free and up-to-date. I wish I could lend a helping hand to Mac users somehow, but I don't use a Mac and probably won't for a long time - and when I finally do, it will be in addition to my PCs.

Oh yeah, and I hate Microsoft too. Not because it requires a little TLC to keep it's products healthy, but because of the monopoly it currently holds over the computer industry. I say, Long Live Linux!!!!

linux, you say? mac os x is based on bsd. it comes with an ftp server, ssh support, apache, and *gasp* windows sharing. you can get open-source software modified specifically for os x by downloading fink. best of all, it has a gorgeous gui over the entire deal that's much, much easier to use than windows.

granted, a pc has its place in life. it makes an excellent doorstop and an even greater ballast for a submarine. ;)

Ok, I agree Macs are better for some things, PC's for others. And both have stability problems, alot of them. PC's, if you don't know what you are doing will crash. A great majority of errors, including the "Blue screen of death", as the switch commercial so poetically describes it, are because the user has something somewhere set wrong or has downloaded a virus by accident. I have owned this PC for over a year now and have never once had it come up with any errors. Buy a firewall, or just turn on the one that ships with Windows, it may not be the best but it works and keeps viruses off your computer. Even if you don't know what you are doing, Windows will automatically set everything right and automatically download all the fixes to viruses that come out. It's only when people start trying to do things themselves, that they change something they think is insignificant and set off a chain reaction that ends in them restarting.

Now from my experience with Macs, which I admit is quite limited, they have a tendency to crash even when the user has not changed any settings. They seem to crash for no reason at all. For most things beyond multimedia etc. the Mac is slower, more expensive, and less compatible. And Adrian, your comment that Mac has a gorgeus GUI that's easy to use, there is a free program online called "Window Blinds" it lets you change your Windows' GUI however you want, including let you set it EXACTLY like a Mac's OS X. I don't love Windows, the monopoly it holds over the market isn't right, there needs to be competition for optimal development, but I think Windows XP is a better OS then Mac's OS X.

Just my two cents.

"i hate macs because they suck at everything imaginable, they are hard to use, everything including the thing that you don't want saved, save anyways, and everything about the everything is fucking terrible. Goddbye"

For the guy who posted this, I must say you are the worlds biggest idiot if you can't tell that a Mac is easier to use than a PC. Who sets the standards for GUI design, Apple. As far as value goes for the Mac, yeah I just dished out $2,400 for my G5 but at least I have the piece of mind knowing that when 4 years come my Mac can still run all uptodate programs, unlike a PC. As far as operating systems go, Windows has still a lot of copying to do, I mean a lot of catching up to do before it's ever as good as OS-X. There is nothing like not having to have install disks for any of the hardware that one connects to a Mac via USB2 or FireWire. Connecting to a Windows networks is a simple task. And this whole compatability issue is really out the window with OSX, there isnt a file I cant open on my Mac that I cant open on a Windows machine vise-versa. For every program that Windows has the Mac has a version that goes by different name but does the exact same thing. But as far as games, that I must say goes to the PC, they got brute strength to run them. Mac's in the gamming industry sometimes get a chance to play in the playground with the PC's. I have had my G5 PowerMac for a year now, its my first ever Mac and I must say I love it to death. I must say, Ive never had so much fun messing around on a computer and not worry about messing it up, unlike my poor P3 700mhz which got stolen. Just a reason why I love my Mac.

Windows needs a good kick up the arse, it's boring to look at and to use, unlike OS X, bright and smooth looking. If we don't have a competitor for windows we would still be working in 8bit colour. I use both daily i have less problems with the mac than the pc but still like pc's due to the fact if they did not F*** up i'd be out of a job, thank you Mr Gates for making me rich. but at home i'm a mac user, easy to use, no f ups, just cruising.
Mac's Rule, PC's drule

MACs suck, they are girl computers.

Its intresting that some people say that macs are better for graphics and multimedia, and pc's are better for games?

I just finished a degree in graphic design, mainly using mac's and i could not really find any sufficent reason to seperate macs from pc's in the graphics department, there was just nothing obvious the only thing i can even remotely think of is that macs have better on screen colour, sometimes, but who really cares most graphic designers use swatches anyways.

But lets sit back here for a second, how can you say that macs are better for multimedia and graphics and pc's are better for games, are not games the ultimate in multimedia and graphics?

All those people who dont think that macs crash alot, i got a message for you, they crash all the time, and they have this annoying trait of just quitting programs without any warning, not even a dialog box, all your stuff gone...and thats a G5

Graphics and multimedia being video/photo editting, music, etc. And the main difference, is Macs do those things more effciently, its what they were built for (That's an opinion, not a fact).

I own a mac at my office but have a PC at home, and I am honestly telling you that the PC works much better. Most people say that PC's always freeze and Macs never, but its not true. My mac freezes at least once a day and the worst part is that it can never get back what i haven't saved when it freezes. My PC barley freezes, but if i am working on somehthing it can always recover it. Its true that a few years ago Macs were better than PC's, but know if u compare a new PC to a new Mac the PC will barley freeze, yet the Mac will and the PC will work a lot better

I just love my PC because I can run any virus and spyware program out there. Unfortunately with Macs, no malware is compatible with the damn thing. I love the down time and how my computer slows to a crawl. I love that I can run 25 word processors because one just isn't enough. I love that I can run any game under the sun because an Xbox or a Playstation because I like sitting at my desk and controlling my games with a keyboard. I love pop-up windows turned on by default because I like good deals. I love my Start bar, it makes me feel comfortable. I like my PS/2 port, somehow having only USB makes feel less compatible. I like the blue screen of death because blue is my favorite color. I like Dell's tech support. Their useful blanket advice of reinstalling the operating system works everytime. Apple is so proprietary, I mean they just won't open up their iTunes DRM. Microsoft's approach works great, just take over a market and make things "compatible" only with your products. I love visiting websites that only work in IE 6. The last time I used a Mac (15 years ago or something), it only had a black and white screen and it crashed a few times. This OS X thing is just a knock off of Microsoft's hard work in XP! The beautiful blues and greens of XP remind me of my fun times with duplo blocks as a young lad. Every Class-A operating system ought instill this feeling of nostalgia in its users! I love that I have to buy my own firewall software since one is not built in.

Most importantly, 95% of the world uses Windows. And since 80% of the world lives in abject poverty, I've decided to move to Sri Lanka since everyone else seems to like poverty. I mean 80% of the world can't be wrong, can they?

I will be switching to Mac shortly. I don't like the fact that I have to download spybot, adaware, popup blocker toolbars, and zonealarm and switch to using firefox as a browser in order to feel secure on the web. I think it's funny that people complain that there are not utilities available like this for the Mac. Ever think why? Being UNIX based, you don't have to worry about getting hacked. And spyware and all the other crap is not even an issue with OSX Panther.

The salesman is right, and biggie McSnuggs is stupid, /\ you don't HAVE to install anything, I haven't run anything like spybot or anything for 5 years, I recently did, installed scanned, NO VIRUSES ADWARE or anything, thats cus I am careful and don't download thisisavirus.exe, you'll be happy with a mac you retard

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