For many, the words I am about to say are practically swear words. My question is, do web designers and internet-types really need a mac?
Shock. Horror! I know! How dare I even question the whole Mac-PC saga? After all, I live in a completely PC free environment (even phones are Apple) with a small horde of the fruity Californian products.
What gives me the right to question the mighty mac? Nothing really. I am a mac fan through and through. But I have begun to wonder, do we really need a Mac?

1. Macs are way more expensive than their PC counter-parts

Macs are more expensive. But then the old adage, you get what you pay for comes into play. Yes, you can spend $10000′s on a PC but at the end of the day it won’t look and smell half as nice as a brand new iMac…

2. Macs are basically non-user serviceable

I hear this a lot. “ooo, you can’t break into your mac and play with the giggly switches or add water cooling. You can’t even dremel the sides and add classy looking LED lights” most PC lovers tell me. But to be honest, why on this planet would I want to? Macs work fine out the box (something that has to be physically experienced). And, Macs never break. Consider them the British Commando of the computer world. And then add a little more toughness.
PC’s on the other hand….. they’d be a giant wet lettuce. By the way, the only thing I’ve ever had to do to a Mac is increase the RAM – a 2 screw slot-in-slot-out task. Simple,easy and almost fun.

3. Macs aren’t supported by most IT support firms

And?? This is bad why? Let’s stop while I recount a true story of me and my new mac.

Recently I upgraded to a shiny new iMac 27″. My old iMac 20″ was lined up as a replacement for the Vista machine we have in our other office. Whenever this gremlin was kicked into life, it would make the Internet cut out and our whole workdays would grind to a halt. Having a Mac as the core network machine would make our life a lot easier.
I did expect I’d need a Network surgeon to set everything up. The process involved me getting rid of the Vista PC, which was hard-wired to the router and modem in a fashion which can only be described as fluorescent, rubber coated spaghetti. Once I managed to tidy up the 2000 cables behind the desk, the Mac was dropped onto the desk, plugged into the printer and connected wirelessly to the router.

This process took me 2 minutes. Quite literally. Setting up file-sharing on an inter-Mac basis is a checkbox process, click the box and your done. Printer sharing again is stupidly easy. That’s why I love Mac. Simplicity. It left me with 4 hours spare that I had anticipated would have left me either in a coma with an ethernet cable in my lung or throwing the darn thing through the window before performing a chokeslam onto it. It also gave me time to flex my insane analogy muscles.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that your cat could install a Mac network, upside down whilst singing the Australian national anthem. In fact, If you jump onto Google, you’ll find hundreds of Apple technicians.

4. Mac people are snobs

This is partly true. Once you’ve tried a slice of the Apple pie, you never do look at that old PC in the same way. Everything about it screams DULL. As in, I was made to be shoved in the corner and hidden in dark closets, collecting dust whilst trundling towards a major crash.
A Mac however is something pleasant to look at. They are easy to clean, even the keyboards can be cleaned in less than 10 seconds. Macs brighten your desk. The User interface takes a little getting used to, but it’s lean, uncluttered and purposeful. Everything about the Mac exubes simplicity. Installing apps takes seconds, networking mere minutes and disc burning can be acheived right out of the box. You don’t have to think about will Barry Dobsons Ultra-Fast thingy-ma-jig(x250583829305hadd) work with Mintels 7200RPM 4GB doofenschmirtz? Apple have done all that for you. So you can just work.
So, if it’s so wrong to enjoy all of the above (highly practical points) then so be it. I am a snob. I like to think Apple people are more zealous preachers for the Apple mothership! We want more friends to switch to Apple, because we know it will make the hair on their heads last longer and the skin on their faces to remain taught and wrinkle free.

5. Mac people have too much money

This is not true. Apple people just earn more money than their Windows counter-part. I’m not been condescending in anyway here either.
Apple people don’t get pestered by those virus things, they rarely (if ever) encounter a ‘crash’ and their machines constantly work hard, increasing productivity. Windows people are still waiting for their ginormous collection of icons to load in the taskbar when Mr Mac is sat by the pool having worked 10 hours already.
It’s honestly not a case of having more money. It’s about valuing the money you have, your time and then using those wisely.
If you we’re to kit a PC out to the same spec of everything (from screen to GPU) I’m pretty sure you’d be looking at a similar price to the comparable Mac. But then, on PC’s you still have all that anti-virus nonsense to buy, not forgetting the fortnightly OS releases. Your money is whisked away.
On the Mac side however, you’ve spent a good chunk, but not needed to re-invest large sums in your Mac since.

6. Owning a Mac is about image

Yes, ok. I take your point. In the films good guys always have macs. Even Doctor Who has been known to have a wireless Apple keyboard or two. The bad guys on the other hand – without fail will be packing Vista based fun. Now ask yourself, who wins? The Good guy. And he looks cooler for it. So if owning a superior software / hardware combo also comes with a little helping of street cred, please, pile on the bling.