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Post-Holiday Shopping Advice: Coke vs. Pepsi
Hi, I’m Coke. And I’m Pepsi.
Which do you prefer? Me? I like root beer; any kind will do. I am sure that someone can give you reasons why Coke is objectively better than Pepsi, but they won’t actual be objective. They will be observations the person uses to convince you that their choice is based in objective fact, but will actually be based in their own preferences and biases.
So it is with the Apple vs. Microsoft debate. Now, before I go in to this, let me lay out two groups of facts, and one opinion, so you will know where I’m coming from.
Fact Group A: I’ve worked in IT for 25 years and have done almost everything within it. I’ve done programming. I’ve been a database analyst. I “operated” a mini computer at a hospital. I’ve managed networks, big and small. I’ve also spent a lot of time evaluating computers for myself, my friends, and the companies I’ve worked for. I’ve built computers from scratch, and rebuilt ones from spare parts. I’ve worked with every version of Windows since dirt was new, and I’ve worked with Mac OS for a while, too. Bottom line: I know computers, not from a ones and zeroes perspective (though somewhat) but from the perspective of a knowledgeable, professional end-user. My biggest concern is that a computer do what it is supposed to do.
Fact Group B: As an end user, I use an iMac and a MacBook at home; at work, my primary computer is a Surface Pro 3 running Windows 10, but I’ve also got an older MacBook that I do MacBook stuff on. I use an iPhone as my primary mobile device. I’ve tried Windows Phone and Android, and don’t really care for either.
Opinion: My advice on whether you should buy a Mac or a PC is the best advice you’ll ever get. Some fans of Microsoft will tell you with great fervor that Apple is from the devil; Apple fans will tell you the same about Microsoft; some really nerdy people will tell you to dump both and go Linux. Their opinions are all junk. Mine is right, and you should listen to me. I’ll tell you why in a moment.
Now, I am not interested in engaging in the debate. I’ve had it, a million times and have argued both sides until I was blue in the face. It is pointless. As pointless as trying to tell you that Coke is better than Pepsi (it is). The fans of all sides will tell me that there are objective reasons why their choice is the right one. There aren’t. There are reasons why Mac is better than PC. There are reasons why PC is better than Mac. There are reasons you should buy an Android tablet instead of an iPad. There is no point in getting in to any of those — because in the end — it comes down to your individual preference. Neither is objectively better in some cosmic sense, though either may be objectively better to a particular person for a particular purpose.
I get asked a lot (and I do mean a lot): “Spin, what kind of computer should I get?” Often they add little bullet points for me like “I don’t like Dell,” or “My son-in-law says to get a Mac,” or “I don’t need anything fancy.” I don’t care who they are, nor what they say, I always begin by asking the question that drives the answer more than any other factor: how much money do you want to spend?
If they say “A few hundred dollars,” then the answer is “Go down to Best Buy, Office Depot, or Costco and find whatever suits your fancy and buy that. In the $300 range, all of the computers are more or less the same.” Often I get an incredulous look, as if too say “That doesn’t help!” It should: if $300 is your budget, you can feel safe in the knowledge that whatever you buy is going to be just as good as whatever you didn’t buy. And when I say “just as good,” I really mean “just as bad.”
And when I explain that, they ask “Well, what should I do?” At which point I say “You should spend between $1,200 and $1,500 on a computer that will last you several years.” They will then give me that look again “I can’t afford that!” But if you think about it, an expensive computer that lasts you last years costs you $300 to $375 per year. A $300 laptop from Costco has a life of 12-18 months if it is used regularly (cue the guy who tells me his bargain basement special lasted since Spock kissed Uhura). So, as a matter of annual cost, we’re likely arguing over chump change.
Notice, I have yet to discuss Mac versus PC. That is because it doesn’t matter! It really doesn’t. Some will say that Mac’s operating system is better because it runs on Unix. Some will say Windows is more widely used. Neither of these facts — nor the myriad others people use to convince you of rightness of their decision — mean anything, not in any real sense. Can I browse the web in Windows? Yep. Can I run Excel on a Mac? Yep. Can I edit a video on a Mac? Yep. PC? Yep. There is nothing the average person wants to do that you cannot do on each platform.
So the question remains: PC or Mac? Well, what do you like? What are you comfortable with? If you have used a PC for years and like it, get a PC. The Mac fanatics will tell you that if you buy a Mac, the instant you lay finger to keyboard your whole life will change. Nonsense. The Windows people will tell you that if you get a Mac, there are a ton of things you won’t be able to do. Also nonsense. Get what you are comfortable with. You won’t go wrong with either choice.
Published in Culture
I tend to use PCs supplemented with my iPad. When people ask me whether they should get a PC or a Mac, I first ask myself, “Will I be roped into doing pro bono tech support for this person for the indefinite future?” If that answer is yes, I try to steer them towards a Mac. They’re user friendly, there are less variables when it comes to hardware, and if the user has a problem they want me to fix I can say, “Gee, that sounds way above my skill level, you should take that up with the Genius Bar.”
When I bought my first Mac (an SE) in 1988, I bought in to the Apple Way. All these years later, I still like my Macs – but the Apple Way has grown tiresome. A Genius Bar? Really?
I find that people are largely terrible at arbitrary decisions.
I use Windows at work so I use it at home. I like Windows 10.
My experiences with Macs have all been negative:
But I know other people like them. Whatever.
And Diet Pepsi is way better than Diet Coke. Be serious.
A large part of why I own Apple and want to like it is nostalgia. There are still things that feel the same. But its quirks are more painful to me than other’s quirks.
But ultimately I’m in Claire’s camp. I’d be fine with shutting down the whole shebang. Tech used to make my life easier. Increasingly it’s been making life more annoying.
Oh course it is. Diet Coke is horrible. Coke Zero all the way.
Macro tech maybe. Micro tech continues to make your life easier and will revolutionize life over the next decase.
This is the kind of little thing that annoys me. I know those lines and spinning wheels don’t actually mean anything but they make me, Joe Nobody, feel like something is going on.
Apple has tidy little spots for things. All very orderly in its way but you just have to know where all the little spots are. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Eventually I learn but I’m annoyed that I’ve learned because their way is not better darn it all!
I doubt it. New Micro Machines would make me happy though.
Micro machines were awesome. But seriously. Nano technology is going to be big.
Clever!
Yuuuuge, right? :)
It totally makes a difference. I need Microsoft Publisher for work.
I’m so sorry.
I see what you mean. You want a Mac and an assistant.
Here’s my one question that will answer that for you: do you like to fiddle fart around with your phone? Get apps from who knows where? Ultra customize the interface the exact way you like it? If the answer is yes, go Android. If no, go iPhone. There are some reasons that Mac and iPhone go well together, but they are not compelling to me (they may be to others).
I am an iPhone guy because it is simple, the interface generally stays the same from one model to the next, and from an app and music standpoint I am 100% a member of the collective, and it is too painful to extricate myself.
I am shocked and appalled by the misinformation in this post. On such an important subject, it is absolutely essential to get the facts right. I mean:
Kirk kissed Uhura, in Plato’s Children. Spock kissed Nurse Chapel.
abacus
This is why there is Parallels or Fusion, both of which work great.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mr. Actual Factual.
I hope Microsoft is the devil; he’ll stop working half the time, and run very slow the rest of the time.
But Spock is hooking up with Uhura in the reboot, so the original line is referencing a time not that long ago.
To be fair, my year old iMac does the same damn thing. It is infuriating. What makes it worse is that I don’t know what to do with it, as I’m mostly a Windows guy. If it were a PC, I’d know how to troubleshoot. But lack of knowledge on the Mac makes it harder, and more frustrating, so I just deal with it.
About two months ago on impulse(?) I switched from Android to Iphone.
The major thing like better about the iphone is that I can now integrate my work calendar and home calendars into a single app. But that’s a function of the security software that my employer requires on android phones that touch the exchange server, not the iphone itself.
Otherwise it’s pretty much a wash. There are things I like better about the iphone, there are things I miss from the android (like a “back” button).
But the built-in software keyboard on the iphone sucks. Seriously.
I’ve also found that if you invest in a top end PC, you can make it last longer by replacing components instead of the entire PC every five years or so. Sometimes you just need a new hard drive or more memory which is much cheaper than replacing everything. Depends on what you need it to do.
Yeah, I thought of that, but the reboot doesn’t count. In fact, I’m not sure whether Spock kissed Uhura in the reboot. And I’ve seen and enjoyed both of the reboot movies. They just didn’t make much of an impression.
And “Evil” Kirk kissed Yeoman Rand.
I once spent some time designing a robot abacus.
Coca Cola is a reasonably normal competitive American business where the company believes in the marketplace and free enterprise. Pepsi has been run by politically-correct left-wingers for at least two decades. Both flagship products are awful- in any form. Cola simply does not taste good when compared with Dr Pepper and its best clones (Walmart’s Dr Thunder is an adequate low cost alternative).
I have not forgiven Pepsi since they blocked the Coke-Dr Pepper merger, which would have fixed the errors of soda fountains everywhere.
And I buy an inexpensive, 4 lb Asus every two years, one with a hard drive >300 GB. I like platforms that encourage non-proprietary applications to flourish so that there is choice.
So you want me to shell out for two operating systems?
If I’m gonna be running Windows in a virtual machine anyways, then I’m gonna go with Linux instead of Mac.
Better yet, I’d simply dual-boot that mutha.
Oh wait, that is what I do on my laptop…