R ants

If it weren't bad enough that we PC users have to put up with Bill Gates and the Evil Empire, we also deal with that most tedious of computer user: The Defensive Mac Fanatic. And I do mean defensive.

Try having a technological conversation with one of these folks. It simply won't happen. No matter what new innovation Gates and Co. have installed in the latest Windows OS, the people can't wait to point out that they've been able to do that very thing much easier with their Macintosh for nigh on fifteen years.

If this were simply a harmless exchange of information, it would be one thing. It never is, though. The whole purpose of these conversations is to bring the PC owner around to making the Grand Proclamation: The Macintosh owner bought the right computer, and you didn't. At this point, with the net and cross platform talk and Microsoft the largest producer of Macintosh software in the world, who bought the right system is somewhat irrelevant.

My wife and I have been into computers for a long time. (And, no, I don't want to get into a pissing contest about whose time is longer.) She started out on a terminal with a dial-up connection to a timeshare mainframe. I dabbled with my roommate's Mac until we got married, when I got to dabble with her Kaypro 10 running CPM. Not long after that, we made the jump to an 8086 and DOS.

My wife has spent her entire working life as an accountant, one reason she got into computers so early. The primary factor in our decision to go with an IBM-compatible PC was compatibility with her business clients. At that time, no one moving into the digital world in business even remotely considered going with Mac unless they did a lot of graphic-intensive functions as part of their business. Even then, if they wanted to put their accounting information on a 'puter, they'd better go with a PC. Now, decades later, that factor may not be as important, but it's still a consideration. Plus, we've got all this software and upgrades to consider. The switch would be decidedly expensive.

As long as we're talking expense, maybe we should mention the one fact always glossed over by the Mac TruFan. The hardware and software is more expensive than equivalent PC equipment. That's not really a condemnation of Macintoshes per se, simply the cold, hard economy of scale. Everyone writes for PC's. Vast manufacturing setups produce every imaginable hardware and peripheral for PC's at a minimum cost compared to Macs. So what if it's easier to play MP3's on a Mac, or create a video, or work with photos? An appropriate PC to handle those tasks will still cost less than a Mac running at almost the same speed, and that Mac's still going to saddle you with Internet Explorer, Word, etc., thanks to Bill Gates's bailout a few years back.

So, you're thrilled with your Mac? Good for you. I'm happy for your good fortune. As long as I can still use my Netscape, and WordPerfect, and it doesn't crash too often or gobble up my data like a drag queen when the Navy's in port, I'm happy, too.

Now, could we please get on with the business at hand, which is to have a hell of a time with all these cool toys, rather than worry that I'm not aware that you made the right computer buying decision, and I didn't?

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