Today is our second wedding anniversary, so what better time to bring up one of the most significant differences between PDM and me. No, not that one! Get your minds out of the gutter. I’m talking about something much more fundamental… on the same scale as differences in race, religion, or college football affiliation (don’t laugh – this is important down here in the Deep South). We have a mixed marriage. That’s right. PDM is a Mac person and I use a PC.
It’s not the end of the world. We can (and do) use each others’ computers. I’m just more comfortable using a PC than a Mac. I have many more years of experience with the PC, I have to use them at work (highly specialized scientific applications are usually only available for PCs), and I have always purchased a PC rather than a Mac for home use because they are so much cheaper. PDM’s home computers have always been Macs, and he is an enthusiast. Like most (all?) Mac users, PDM is quite vocal about it.
Any time either of us has a problem remotely having anything to do with a PC, PDM will invariably find a way to blame it directly on Bill Gates. He even blames problems with Mac stuff on Microsoft. “If they didn’t have to make it PC-compatible, it would work fine.” Macs are better because they are built on UNIX, don’t get viruses, are cross-compatible, don’t crash, and are basically superior in every way. I’ve heard it all before. To the point that when he starts talking about how much better Macs are than PCs and how Bill Gates and Microsoft are evil, money-grubbing, unfairly competing pigs, all I hear is “Blah blah Mac blah blah blah…” and my eyes roll back in my head.
My problem with using a Mac is that because I learned how to do everything first on a PC, doing it on a Mac seems backward and unnatural. I don’t enjoy things that make me feel stupid. And I can't get used to that one-button mouse. Sure, it looks cool, but when I use it I feel handicapped. Having no scroll bar is bad enough, but I get antsy if I can't 'right click' on stuff. Plus there are some things I just don’t know how to do yet on a Mac and I get frustrated trying to locate an appropriate application for something so simple it would take me two minutes on a PC. I’m sure that will get better the more time I spend using PDM’s Mac. And about my PCs – they may well be inferior to an equivalent Mac, and I am not a huge fan of Microsoft or Bill Gates, but as long as I feel that a PC is a good bargain and will do what I need it to do, I will probably continue to buy them.
In spite of our significant difference of opinion on computers, PDM and I get along very well and enjoy spending time together. We are best friends and that one thing will smooth over an awful lot of irritating differences, like his near-constant grumbling about traffic and vocal Mac superiority complex, and my ever-growing shoe collection and refusal to ever cook anything. I hope we will spend many more happy years together, during which I can tune out all that crap he says about how his Mac is better than my PC.
7 comments:
I've never used a Mac myself, other than to play a game or two, but I hardly think that counts.
I wonder if it's like Reverse Polish Notation? At first it seems awkward as hell, but after a while, you can't use a normal calculator without cussing it. (Ahhhhhhh the HP48SX... my precious!) If that's the case, I plan on never using a Mac. ;)
Lots of stuff seems backward or is in a different spot that I am used to. Using the "apple key" instead of control to cut and paste, for example. And things are on different sides of the screen, such as the little symbols to minimize and close a window. PDM read today's entry and said "Bill Gates put the stuff on the 'wrong side' to make it like he wasn't just copying the Mac interface, even though he was." Or something like that. I wasn't exactly listening and all I heard was "Bill Gates copied blah blah blah."
It does seem that most Mac users are Macsnobs. Yeah... PC's suck, but that doesn't mean Mac's are better, it just means they don't suck in the same ways.
FC: "PDM is a Mac person and I use a PC."
Me: Oh, my God! You shouldn't have written this entry! But I will try not to make you regret it! I don't want you to start seeing only the words, "Blah, blah, Mac, blah, blah..." in what I have written. ;-D ..... And, yes, my smile was *that* big while I was reading your entry. At this moment, I can say with some certainty that I am a big fan of your husband. ;-) That is written tongue in cheek, of course.
[This comment grew so long that I decided to post it as an entry on my own blog (here). It's not the best written entry, because I wrote it in a hurry. Also, as you read, please be ABSOLUTELY sure to remember that this is a good-natured debate. I am not attacking you or trying to argue with you. I am just using this opportunity to convey useful information. ;-]
I read your blog entry, MW, and showed it to PDM. He's busy writing a comment there right now. I think you made his day.
I just use PCs. I am not a militant advocate or anything. I know they are crap. But they are affordable and familiar crap. I'm not a 'PC person' -- just a 'PC user'. PDM is a 'Mac person'. I don't feel strongly one way or the other. He does.
I also left a reply comment for you on my own blog.
FC: "PDM [is] busy writing a comment there right now. I think you made his day."
Me: ;-)
FC: "I just use PCs... I know they are crap. But they are affordable and familiar crap."
Me: In the long run, PCs often end up costing people a lot more than the initial sticker price of a Mac. I've seen it with my own eyes. Besides, as far as laptops go, the prices are nearly identical, which is especially good considering what is included on the Mac laptop from the start.
FC: "I'm not a 'PC person' -- just a 'PC user'. PDM is a 'Mac person'. I don't feel strongly one way or the other. He does."
Me: Did nothing I wrote make an impression on you? ;-) Believe it or not, in the greater sense of computing, I'm not really a "Mac person"; I'm just a Mac user, as well as an admirer of great quality. I feel very strongly about using a product in which the manufacturer went to great lengths to make the experience not only easy for both the beginner and the expert but also incredibly pleasant to the degree that it is even inspiring to use, the way a magic wand would be inspiring to use if I had one.
I'm not a big Mac fan. (Get it? Ha!) We had to use them in school, and they were always glitchy. But I'm not having a love affair with PCs either. They just might be the root of all evil.
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