The tech world is in mourning this week, and that's fine. We (and I do mean we, despite what's coming) lost a great, visionary leader in our world who had a major, profound impact on the shape of technology. No, he wasn't much of a designer himself, and he wasn't the messiah he was made out to be, but his drive was very, very much responsible for pushing the industry in some major directions.
The iPhone alone has been profoundly impactful on my life, even though I've never owned one. Although Android was in development well before its release, and other smartphones existed, and ALL of the technology that was put into the iPhone existed before it (plus plenty that didn't hit it for months or years after), Apple managed to make it visible, usable, and accessible to the consumers. They also had the balls to use hardware that drove the cost of the phone up to 2-3 times what people expected to pay for a phone, knowing their hardcore fanbase would buy it, and allowing them to bring the cost of these parts down for the rest of the tech community. The need and the availability made the other smartphones that many of us prefer a feasible option.
Out of respect this week I've tried to hold my tongue in places I normally don't. I try to avoid the Mac vs Windows (Macs are PCs, which even Steve referred to them as before their marketing decided to try to brand them as some other class) debate as much as possible, and more importantly I try very, very hard to avoid expressing a biased, fanboyish angle on it. I try to be fair, and I cede a ton of points in Apple's favor despite my personal conclusions. But this week I've tried to avoid even that out of respect.
But the hyperbole the fanboys are spouting right now has reached a level that I just have to speak up on one thing that's the most common issue I deal with here, and the most ridiculous one of all. And it comes down simply to this:
Windows users are not merely unenlightened.
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See, I find consistently that the Apple-fanatical seems to believe that the only reason I, or anyone else still uses Windows is merely because we haven't TRIED a Mac, and if we did we'd instantly see just how infinitely better it is. This attitude even spreads out to non-savvy users of Windows who assume that they, also, would probably make the switch the moment they can try it and see how amazing it is, assuming they can afford it. When I work on their computers, I constantly get asked, "so you of course own a Mac at home, right?" because as what they view as a computer expert, I would obviously use only the best for myself. They seem shocked that I run exclusively Windows computers despite my advanced (from their angle) knowledge.
But here's the reality: I'm not unenlightened. In my company I'm one of the few users with plenty of hands-on experience with Macs, having working full-time in Mac-only offices, having had loaner MacBooks for projects, and being the most-dispatched person for clients with Mac issues. But this is due not to some deep-seated love for Macs, it's due to my love of technology, and ability to quickly pick up new tech skills on the fly. And so when I've gotten real, hands-on time with Macs, I've gotten to understand the interface, and dig through help files and online tips and forums and figure out the workarounds for the things I don't like or don't understand or that work differently, and I can grow comfortable enough with them to work efficiently.
But despite all that familiarity, when I return home at the end of the day, I sit down in front of my self-built Windows 7 PC with a sense of relief. I get to sit in front of a computer that works the way I do. That doesn't fight me, or try to get me to conform to doing everything the one, official, ordained way, but lets me do it MY way. A computer that has all the buttons I want that Mac users can't seem to figure out why I would use, yet let me work at a pace I rarely see them achieve. The one that I'm comfortable with, and that works PERFECTLY and RELIABLY.
Yes, that's right, my Windows 7 computers "just work." I know the less-informed Mac users may be surprised by that notion, assuming that those two words were trademarked by Apple because they only apply to Apple, but the reality is they apply beautifully to Windows 7, and especially to users who know how to use their computers. Now I know many people may then argue that obviously it requires someone tech-savvy to do it, while Macs don't. That's not necessarily true on either count. I see Windows 7 run this smoothly for many of my more clueless clients, and I watch Mac users run their computers as badly into the ground as I see some Windows machines. Clueless users can kill the best system, and skilled users can make any OS sing.
Now I know another thing you (unspecified Mac lover who's reading this) are thinking right now: Yeah, but I don't get viruses! To which I respond: Yeah, I don't get viruses, either. What's your point? The truth is I've had one. In the two decades or so I've been running Windows I've had ONE virus. And it was my own stupid fault for running something I had good reason to be suspicious of. And I was able to wipe it out. Outside of that, I often run my systems completely without antivirus software for months at a time, but I still get nothing on my system, because I know what I'm doing. Meanwhile Macs of course aren't immune, and just as I've predicted for quite some time, infections are on the rise. Will they ever be as bad as they were on Windows? Probably not. But viruses on Windows aren't as bad as they were before on Windows, either. And 8's going to make them even rarer.
My point here, after all the rambling, isn't to try to claim the superiority of Windows. I don't think it's superior at all. I just think it's fantastic, and exactly the operating system I want to run, despite having plenty of experience with both OS X and variations of Linux. It works the way I want to, supports the widest range of software, and really does just work. But that only makes it better than OS X for me as well as many, many other people. OS X is a beautiful, well-designed OS that is also better, for others. I don't and won't begrudge them that, and I respect it. All I ask is that they remember that operating systems aren't religions. There's no right or wrong in them. There's only personal preference.
I agree mostly. But you have to remember these are people who've had to justify their use of macs for years when it wasn't cool, when most of the world thought macs were lame. The bias may not be as strong now, but even now I have to deal with my dad just not understanding why anyone would own one of those goofy liberal hippie machines. Hell, I dont like being accused of fanboying (not by you) because I like my computer and it was the best tool for the job. I don't like how much software I can't use because companies still refuse to make mac versions. I don't like how I'm automatically branded as not tech savvy or told of course I like macs, I'm a girl. Or that appreciating the design makes me stupid or a hipster. And yes a lot of this from people who would never even try a mac. There are plenty of Apple haters out there, because people will find any reason to make it us versus them.
ReplyDeleteThat's fair, and you were one of the Mac users who never bothered me. The moment I saw you running Chrome on your Mac I knew I had no beef with you. There are plenty of fair and reasonable reasons to like Macs, and I concede many of them. During the time I have spent with Macs I frequently find features or design elements here or there that I really appreciate, and wish were handled that well on Windows. I have no problem seeing why some people prefer them.
ReplyDeleteBut while I agree that that bias WAS there against you guys, and I can't argue against your experience that it's still there, in the world I live, it seems to be the Mac users that have taken over in looking down upon the rest of us. They're the educated elite, and we're the unwashed masses who need to open our eyes, stop being "sheeple" and convert. Macs are now cool, the marketing that they're "simply better" is just accepted, and the belief is rampant that everyone else just needs to catch up. But I assume the physical culture one's in heavily influences this, too.
Here goes: How I became a mac user. Before the mid 1980s (were you even born yet then?) everyone I saw using computers had to know code. The IBM style room-size computer that was being used to record memberships at the nonprofit where I worked was new and groovy, and it was considered an exclusive and fancy privilege for the company to pay for training for the staff person who was going to operate it. (It wasn't me.)
ReplyDeleteSome of the other people on the staff who had been training on other IBM style PCs would talk to me about how to "back out" of an application, or using the escape key any time they made a mistake. It all seemed so esoteric and slightly over my head. That was the environment of PCs at the time. I also knew about the entire floor of the department store where my husband worked on computer hardware, and my brother was a burster; the store paid for programmer training for my brother, and he's still a systems analyst. He told me about flow charts.
But - when my cousin and another friend bought the little 1984 original Macintosh, and my cousin showed me how to use the mouse to draw pictures on the quick draw program -- and I didn't need to know any of that colon backslash code language to do it -- I was in love.
I went to work for a desktop publishing company, because I could type fast and accurately. Because of the Apple Macintosh, I could use a computer. It allowed ordinary people, not just the self confident elite who had either the money or luck to get training in code and other skills to become programmers, to use email, to work in then-blossoming fields such as desktop publishing, and later to use powerful publishing and art programs that would have been very inaccessible if every user had to learn the basics first, instead of a few keyboard commands and the relationship between the mouse and the cursor.
I had almost forgotten about the little 3 inch floppy disks. We had to use one application at a time. I entered text in MS Word - and the owner would do page layout in Adobe Pagemaker. Eventually he taught me how to do basic page layout; at that time we were still sending out for repro and doing a lot of paste up by hand -- now I think all of that is done with software.
I owe Apple a lot. I don't think I ever would have bothered to learn COBOL or even html - nor anything in between -- and I can't imagine my life now without email or the internet. Sure, you had to teach me Twitter, and I still am kind of a Luddite about some issues, but I don't have to be a mechanic to drive a car. And I think that's what Apple did differently early on that made it the darling of the generation that didn't grow up with computers, but who wanted to use them; Apple gave us the chance to do it effortlessly.
I've used some PCs (I agree, the mac is a Personal Computer, too) -- at work, and Windows makes it "almost like a mac," but what I noticed is that they seemed to need the repairman almost weekly. Maybe it was the users, I'll never know. I have the same sensation of "coming home" familiarity with my own laptop; I appreciate your perspective, and I do not look down on anyone for the computer they use. I look down on certain people for other reasons, usually because I'm taller :-)
Your background is valid and accurate, Wendy, and it IS a lot of the history. My point is merely that Windows began to focus on picking up that slack and has succeeded, overall, just in different ways.
ReplyDeleteAnd as a side note, my Mac-only clients see me and need me just as often as my PC-only clients. When you troubleshoot the machines regularly you notice pretty much all the same problems, just in slightly different ways. Where it gets interesting is which ones are easy on one OS and frustratingly difficult to solve on the other. And that goes in both directions.
Well put. I get asked a lot which machine is "better," which OS is "better." Perhaps I'll just link to this article!
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