have you all noticed the upsurge in pc vs mac debates on the web? usually around macworld, the debates are refueled since apple usually announces something new, but this year it’s a bit abnormal. i think i know why:

the line between macs and pcs is not so discrete anymore.

with the introduction of intel macintoshes, both pcs and macs have a more common architecture under the hood. what does this do? it causes the the pc (most pc and windows users) supporters to compare the new apple hardware to cheaper so-called “equivalent” hardware. on the other side, it causes active mac supporters (commonly referred to as “zealots”) to actively defend apple’s “quality package” which is usually the reason for investment. some have used the reasoning that a “computer is a computer” which means that both tools accomplish the same thing. basically along the lines of saying “a tool is just a tool”. from my experience, the more complex tools become, the greater the probability that they will NOT behave similarly.

i refuse to turn this into a pc vs mac debate but i will say this. people will use what they prefer and they will rationalize their choice until the cows come home. humans get accustomed to certain ways and usually changing these ways is not preferred. if you ever get into a pc vs mac argument, please consider that it’s possible that no matter what you say, it will not convince the other party that your computer is better for them. and that’s the truth.

Related posts:

• arstechnica imac benchmarks
• Is your Mac sleepy?

Post written by Bwana