[clue-tech] The cult of Mac

[Nate Duehr]

On Jun 28, 2008, at 8:06 PM, Louis Miller wrote:

>     How does the Linux community feel about the Apple corporation  
> and macs? I hear Micro$soft criticized a lot, but Apple is hardly  
> ever mentioned. Is this appropriate for this particular mailing list.


I'll use anything, but my day to day "home" machine is a MacBook.  I  
have a Windows desktop for some Ham Radio applications that aren't  
available on Linux or Mac, and of course Linux machines, most of which  
are servers, but I'll put up with the mediocrity of the Linux  
desktop(s) from time to time.

I find myself using Firefox and Thunderbird the most on any platform,  
so it doesn't matter much what OS is running under the hood.  On the  
Apple, I end up in Mail.App more often than T-Bird though.

As a "use anything" person who's more than pleased with my Macs (it  
all started when I got my wife her first Mac so I could get out of the  
"family tech support" biz for her, and it worked... it's exceedingly  
rare that I have to show her anything on her Mac), I don't get the  
"cult" thing.  I just got hooked by the simplicity of design of most  
of their stuff, and the "it just works" feeling of them... along with  
the fact that almost everything a Linux box can do, can be done at the  
Mac command line also... sold me on them.

I'm notoriously "frugal" about things, and won't spend my hard earned  
money on extravagant toys, other than perhaps ham radio gear, but I'll  
pay the Mac "premiums" for their gear, if that says anything.

It was NOT smooth sailing on my first MacBook(s).  The very first one  
died an overheating infant mortality death two days after purchasing  
it, and the second had to be sent into Apple for repairs.  I learned  
NOT to buy 1st generation Apple hardware of any kind.

But even as angry as I was at paying a "premium" and getting a couple  
of early model "duds", all work was covered under Warranty, and Apple  
has since replaced two $125 batteries under warranty.  The extra money  
spent was worth it.  (I do not pay for AppleCare.)

I also learned not to be angry that you can't get a reservation at the  
so-called "Genius Bar" at the Apple retail outlets until the day of  
the needed reservation... these things paled as I enjoyed the machine  
more, once I got over the hump of the flaky 1st generation hardware.

I do know this... you'll save 10-20% buying from their Refurbished  
stock online, if you know what you want.  Watch out for them peddling  
last year's models there, though.  You'll see nice prices and not  
realize the base specifications of the system have changed.  Also  
never buy just prior to WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) or  
their Annual Meeting.  Those famous "Steve Jobs speeches" always  
announce something newer and faster at a lower price, and if you just  
bought the (now) older system, you feel like a chump.

--
Nate Duehr
nate at natetech.com