The Cult of Macintosh

I’ve been thinking about getting an Apple computer for a long time. It all started when the rainbow-colored iMacs came out, featuring a processor built into the monitor. Fine, my reasons for wanting one at first weren’t entirely honorable or technical. I wanted one because it came in blue and orange. I must have been in my early teens at the time. It was the only computer that I thought wasn’t boring and ugly, but alas, I didn’t get one. My family didn’t have any computer at all, let alone a new iMac that wasn’t available at discount desktop prices. A few years later, Apple came out with the flat-screen iMac, an interesting little thing that resembled ET more than an actual computer. I wanted one then too, but knowing so little about computers back then, I would have probably been happy to use it as a paperweight let alone a computing device. My family finally bought a computer when I was in high school, when my grandfather bought my brother, sister, and I our first computer. It was a Compaq, and I was so happy with the thought of getting one, I forgot about Macs altogether. So I lived in PC world for the following five years, all through the rest of high school and college.

I thought I would never visit Macs again. I had doubts. I thought that a computer so small and pretty could never match up to the likes of the big, bulky, desktop PC’s. I was thinking of getting one only as a (mostly visual) secondary to a PC I would use for most of my computing functions. Then I started working in science, which is apparently considered a niche market. Apple owns anywhere from a measly 3-10% of the total computing market, but in the science world, an amazingly disproportionate percentage of people use Macs. They’re apparently very good for protein and molecular modeling, and editing all of the detail-sensitive photographs biologists take. The same is true in art and graphics. Macs are just great for animation, 3-D imaging, and carrying out the equations involved in complex vector graphics (maybe it has something to do with their affiliation with Pixar…). Adobe applications seem to be used more frequently by Mac users, and the PowerMac G5 has all the tools a graphics designer would need: huge RAM, multiple dual-core processors, advanced video card, potential to grow. It’s all too intense. It’s easy to see why designers would have a leaning towards Macs – just look at them!

Well, at the very real risk of being a promotion whore, I’m seriously considering buying a Mac. I’ve been looking for an alternative to my Compaq laptop, which by now crashes after every hour of use. I’m so tired of having a computer crash from WORDPROCESSING, of all things! People just don’t make viruses and spyware for Macs. There aren’t enough users out there to make it worthwhile. I went to the local store to ask about them, and they were actually on sale! Apparently, fewer people want to buy the iMac G5s since the new iMacs with Intel processors came about. Along with the student educational discount, I could buy one for 23% less than the purchase price, saving myself some $300 dollars in the process! I almost had a heart attack when I found out. I wasn’t planning on buying a new computer till after I found a job, but I just can’t pass on this opportunity. Granted, I could still get a cheaper deal if I were to assemble new and used components, but one look at the thing, with its wide-screen display, DVD-RW SuperDrive, and computer components/ports/drives built into an impossibly thin monitor had my mouth watering. It was too intense. I don’t know if I could get a new, late model this cheap again… I won’t have to settle for used… I could have a brand new iMac. Technically, it’s treason (you know, being a minority Intel shareholder and all…), but they just made the switch recently anyway and I feel that at this point the IBM PowerPC G5 processors are still better. I would have to shell out the money soon though. (Do I really want to charge $1000 to my credit card?). It’s just so …breathtaking. God. If I were a Windows computer, I’d probably need a boot disk about now. I need to come up with a decision by tomorrow, or Friday. How to decide? How to decide?

I went to the bookstore and started reading all the books they had about Macs. I still have a (rather daring and potentially problematic) inclination to build a PC. I would learn much more from it and it would cost me less, but it’s just not practical to build a Mac. They’re too unique, and Apple does nearly everything in-house. The case just seems too pretty to break into, and I would probably do some serious damage if I tried. I should choose something simpler, in a tower case, and with larger parts for a first-time job. I just don’t want to have a second PC after my first. Macs are different, they look like little alien people, and they run on Mac OS X. The tiny little Mac’s heart beats to the true core of Unix. I’m almost tempted to give mine a name…

I realize that owning a Mac isn’t just about having a neat little computer that modern artists would be content with. Mac users also belong to the counter-culture of computing. They’re the little guys, defending their toys despite their more-limited software options and obvious lack of market share. To make a quaint and geeky comparison, they’re like tiny little Luke Skywalkers battling the Galactic Empire of Microsoft and Dell. Mac users are fiercely loyal. They stay true to their brand. Do I want to belong to the Cult of Macintosh?