it's the service economy, stupid

Tis the season for everyone and their cousin to ask me about computer purchases or upgrades. Some people, like my brother, ironically named Mac, think that I answer without critical thinking and reply with blind idolatry, "Get a Mac." I honestly believe my brother Mac's deep-seated and unrelenting dislike of Apple Macs started with sibling rivalry and he's never been able to shake the cognitive dissonance. (I even urged him to get a free e-mail account when dotMac started so he could be any number of names@mac.com. The refusal was pathological.)

It's plain and simple, at work and at home Apple computers just work better, make you more efficient, require little to no maintenance, and when service is necessary you can handle it yourself most of the time, and when not, there is a phalanx of Geniuses ready to assist you.

Anyone who says "PCs are better/easier." or "I need a PC (i.e. Windows) machine for work." is not doing the math. Or are resistant to change. Which is fine, but then don't ask me for advice or complain about technical issues again. Most offices use PCs simply because they always have. While some business software is platform specific, it is tradition rather than investigation that makes the workplace PC-centric.

Granted, I've been pissed at Apple and some of its corporate policies more times than I can count (App store approval process, AT&T partnership, limited interoperability of mobile devices, acting like dicks), but being blind with rage is a fairly typical Microsoft experience. And the Apple OS itself has never been a source of irk.

The claims that PCs coat less is short sighted. Dollars exchanged at checkout may be fewer for some Windows machines, but that's to be expected. There are no "comparable" machines to those models because Apple, as a policy, does not make crap.

Costs to consider other than ticket price: software, ease of use, productivity, RELIABILITY, SERVICE, and user experience. Consumers spend far more on Windows machines long after they have left the store.

A tech consultant, who services both PCs and Apple machines, recently vented in a post about his experience resolving identical technical problems, one on a Dell and one on an Apple. And his experience is typical. According to this professional, the service experience may be Apple's secret weapon.

Don't for a moment be fooled into thinking that a PC either costs less or works better. And the magical thing is, it's you that work better when working with a Mac.

I'm Just Sayin'.


(if you didn't get the title reference)