Well no, I’m not a Mac fanatic. In fact I have never own a Mac. The longest I had ever used a Mac is a few hours. That was to type a lab report out of desperation, all the PCs in the computer lab are taken.
But I do have one sweet memory with Mac. Allow me to digess.
Back in university days I started a business providing Internet services - setting up websites, connecting to the Internet etc. A guy called me up to help connect his computer to the Internet. So happily I went.
Now this was 1994/5, connection to the internet was through something called SLIP, configuration was not really plug-n-play. That was not the biggest problem though. The problem was his computer turned out to be a Mac and it was in Japanese!
The short story is I got it working! (I later learned that the interface language could be simply switch to English)Sweet.
So why do I think Mac rules?
During the era of over expensive Mac, I dislike Mac fans. Most (all?) were belligerent and refused to see how the inexpensive PC could do all the typesetting and graphic manipulation that they claimed only Mac can.
And why should a startup cough out 10k to buy a Mac for a hotshot designer when spending 4k could buy a top end PC? Not to mention the hotshot designer does not know how to even troubleshoot. So you have IT support staff doing extra extra to support Mac.
That was before.
The new Apple
Apple woke up from the lofty perch and came down closer to earth. At the same time it make remarkable changes, introduced new concepts.
There are skeptics and there are fanatics. But I’m a pragmatic. I think Mac is heading towards rulership.
Three gigantic changes that Apple made shook the foundation of its believer (and non-believers).
- Lowering the price
- Changing the internal to Intel
- Changing the OS to unix based
These changes strengthen the believers and converted many non-believers.
Lowering the price
Mac is no longer the domain of the "can-afford". It is now a mass affordable object. (Note it is an object not a computer.)
Computing is not a function any more. It is a fashion statement, a declaration of taste. A lady with a Mac is, well, sophisticated.
My girlfriend wants to buy a Mac.
Sony and Acer with their red notebooks. But what about a pearl-white Powerbook? Take your pick.
Changing the internal to Intel
Just this year Apple announced that they will stop using PowerPC and start using Intel chip for Mac. According to Apple’s announcement, this will start in 2006.
This event had not play out yet but expect it to have far reaching implication. On the top of the list would be application developers for the Mac platform.
Despite interest, development on PowerPc platform had been slow to gather momentum. The smaller developer base means a smaller knowledge base, lessr support and fewer tools. Moving to the Intel platform could bring a larger developer base to bare.
This, together with the charm of the unix-based OS X could unleash a blooming of applications, utilities and tools like never before.
Changing the OS to unix based
Another classic move by Apple. Often cited as an example of Apple’s ability to change sucessfully and why the Intel switch will succeed.
But it does not stop there.
Before, the Mac is the designer’s dream machine. Now, the Mac is is fast becoming the programmer’s dream machine.
Don’t believe me? Search some of the blogs and see those declaring their deflection.
Programmers like to play with cool stuffs and Mac is cool. With price reduced and the familiar unix platform - true unix command line (not a dos one), lots of unix tools, it’s a no brainer to switch.
And Apple is well aware. (Or was it their plan to hit the developers crowd from day one?) Just look at the amount of developer resources Apple is building up, affiliation with Open Source, Cocoa, Java, Carbon, Darwin.
Enough to make a programmer salivate.
Like Google, it is a very smart move to target the developers. Convert them and the unopinionated typical users will be persuaded to go along. Less user support because the power users will be showing the way.
Mac raising
As for me, I’m still using a PC and Windows. I’m still aiming to go over to Linux. I am not planning (yet) to buy a Mac soon.
But Mac will rule. I felt it coming, mark my word.
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