What's so fantastic about Apple?

[CynicalSkeptic]

Is there anything special about Mac hardware that Mac enthusiasts prefer, or is it simply the software which makes it "better"?

Been a PC guy forever (well, since I retired the Atari 800), but I briefly had a Macbook from my former employer.

The Mag-safe power cord on the Macbook is really nice. I thought it was a silly gimmick at first, but once you (or your kid or your dog) trips over a PC laptop power cord and drags the whole thing off the coffee table, you realize what a damn nice feature that is.

And the aluminum case is nicer than plastic, however if you spend equivalent money on a PC, I'm pretty sure you can get that feature.

I liked that the touchpad did multi-touch and gestures.... hmm, I guess my PC's touchpad does multi-touch as well, but the implementation isn't nearly as nice. I'm guessing that's not really a hardware issue.

 

[Stomatopoda]

Apple products are very intuitive if you've never spent much time using a computer before, and very unintuitive if you have. They're great for people who run around clicking every shiny ad, with scripts globally enabled and no protection, then complain about malware.

I can't recall ever running into a fanatical Windows fanboy/girl... probably because Windows is simply a tool, while OSX is a lifestyle.

 

[Elizabeth I]

Apple products are very intuitive if you've never spent much time using a computer before, and very unintuitive if you have. They're great for people who run around clicking every shiny ad, with scripts globally enabled and no protection, then complain about malware.

I can't recall ever running into a fanatical Windows fanboy/girl... probably because Windows is simply a tool, while OSX is a lifestyle.

I can't imagine Apple being "intuitive" in any way. The one time I tried to use one (our graphic designer was out for surgery and I had to make some small changes to a project) I came very near to pulling it out of the plug and throwing the whole damn thing through the window. There was a button on the keyboard that performed a fairly commonly used function. Was it labeled as such? No, it was labeled with a cutesy-poo little Apple squiggle symbol. And I was supposed to "intuit" that that key was "Enter" or "Caps Lock" or "Control" or whatever it was? Really?

 

[Kid Eager]

I can't imagine Apple being "intuitive" in any way. The one time I tried to use one (our graphic designer was out for surgery and I had to make some small changes to a project) I came very near to pulling it out of the plug and throwing the whole damn thing through the window. There was a button on the keyboard that performed a fairly commonly used function. Was it labeled as such? No, it was labeled with a cutesy-poo little Apple squiggle symbol. And I was supposed to "intuit" that that key was "Enter" or "Caps Lock" or "Control" or whatever it was? Really?

a poor workman something something something......

 

[gumboot]

I've never debated Mac V. PC, since I've never used a Mac. But isn't a Mac just a brand-name PC? Shouldn't it be Mac OS V. Windows?

Pretty much. Either that or Mac Vs Dell/HP/Compaq/Alienware et al if you're debating hardware.

The whole "Mac/PC" thing is retarded, particularly given the Macintosh was the world's first PC.

 

[JJM 777]

what's so great about Apple

Apple is like jewellery to the devout. Not only for using, but also for admiring the design, and showing off as a status symbol. Everyone knows that they are expensive, having one is a symbol of prosperity.

I don´t like Apple, because I am used to Windows and have a hard time finding things in Apple OS.

 

[Sam.I.Am]

All I can say is that I loathe iTunes with the type of fiery passion usually reserved for Adolph Hitler and crying babies on airplanes.

I had my music (ripped from CD's) sorted into their own folders (Type of music-> Artist-> Album) that made it very easy to find and copy into my (Non-Apple) MP3 player. iTunes screwed that all up after I spent a fairly significant amount of time sorting it that way for a reason. On top of that it took me awhile to figure out how to move my music from iTunes to a iPod shuffle and it took me at least twice as long to do it once I did figure it out. To top it off, because the music was moved from where I wanted it to where iTunes wanted it it now takes me four times as long to move music to my other MP3 player. Then I had to redo my non-iTunes media players (WMP and VLC) libraries and then reconstruct their playlists.

Now anytime someone asks my opinion on getting an iPod I try and discourage them from getting one (there are comparable MP3 players that cost the same or less) and tell them why. The hardest part of that is getting them to admit to themselves that they want the iPod for the "Coolness" factor and not because it does what they want it to do.

**** Apple and their "Do it our way or GTFO" mentality.

 

[Brian-M]

The whole "Mac/PC" thing is retarded, particularly given the Macintosh was the world's first PC.

Macintosh the world's first PC???


The first fully assembled commercially available microprocessor PC was the Micral N, released in February 1973.

The first computer [sort-of] resembling a modern PC was the Xerox Alto, also manufactured in 1973. It even had a GUI (graphical user interface), an idea that was imitated by Apple for the Macintosh a decade later.

The first PC to achieve mass-market success was the Commodore PET, released in 1977, followed shortly after by the Apple II, later the same year.

The predecessor to modern computers currently referred to as PCs was the IBM PC, which came out in 1981. (Which is why modern non-Apple computers are referred to as PCs, they're sort of descended from the IBM computer that was named PC.)

Macintosh wasn't released until 1984. Hardly the first PC. It wasn't even Apple's first PC.

So when you claim that the Macintosh was the world's first PC, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree.

 

[TjW]

Pretty much. Either that or Mac Vs Dell/HP/Compaq/Alienware et al if you're debating hardware.

The whole "Mac/PC" thing is retarded, particularly given the Macintosh was the world's first PC.

Altair would beg to differ. Even the Apple I wasn't the first PC.

 

[Lamuella]

Pretty much. Either that or Mac Vs Dell/HP/Compaq/Alienware et al if you're debating hardware.

The whole "Mac/PC" thing is retarded, particularly given the Macintosh was the world's first PC.

I really can't think of a definition of "PC" that allows the Macintosh to be the first.

 

[Lamuella]

Macintosh the world's first PC???


The first fully assembled commercially available microprocessor PC was the Micral N, released in February 1973.

The first computer [sort-of] resembling a modern PC was the Xerox Alto, also manufactured in 1973. It even had a GUI (graphical user interface), an idea that was imitated by Apple for the Macintosh a decade later.

The first PC to achieve mass-market success was the Commodore PET, released in 1977, followed shortly after by the Apple II, later the same year.

The predecessor to modern computers currently referred to as PCs was the IBM PC, which came out in 1981. (Which is why modern non-Apple computers are referred to as PCs, they're sort of descended from the IBM computer that was named PC.)

Macintosh wasn't released until 1984. Hardly the first PC. It wasn't even Apple's first PC.

So when you claim that the Macintosh was the world's first PC, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree.

To go even earlier, the first device marketed as a "Personal Computer" was the Hewlett-Packard 9100A

 

[El Greco]

To go even earlier, the first device to actually function as a "Personal Computer" was the Antikythera mechanism

 

[Brian-M]

To go even earlier, the first device marketed as a "Personal Computer" was the Hewlett-Packard 9100A

According to Wikipedia, it was marketed as a PC (Programmable Calculator), not as a PC (Personal Computer).

"If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared."

 

[Brian-M]

According to Wikipedia, it was marketed as a PC (Programmable Calculator), not as a PC (Personal Computer).

"If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared."

ETA:

I did try and find the first computer marketed as a Personal computer, but my Google skills failed me.

ETAA:

And now my skill at distinguishing between "edit" and "quote" appears to be failing me.

 

[Lamuella]

According to Wikipedia, it was marketed as a PC (Programmable Calculator), not as a PC (Personal Computer).

"If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared."

They ran ads that referred to it as a "personal computer" in 1968.

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/personalsystems/0021/0021history.html

"According to Yale Law School librarian Fred Shapiro, the phrase was first documented in a 1968 Science magazine ad for the Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer. That's eight years before the term made its first appearance in the venerable Oxford English Dictionary"

Here's a PDF of the ad:

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/personalsystems/0021/other/0021ad.pdf

 

[gumboot]

The Macintosh was the first ever personal computer by any sort of useful modern definition; that is a computer that was cheap enough to buy and simple enough to use that individual people could "personally" own one.

The only computers to use a GUI before the Macintosh were the Apple Lisa and the Xerox Star, but they were commercial computers intended for specific commercial tasks and cost upwards of $10,000. Calling them a PC is like calling an Avid Film Composer a PC.

 

[Lamuella]

The Macintosh was the first ever personal computer by any sort of useful modern definition; that is a computer that was cheap enough to buy and simple enough to use that individual people could "personally" own one.

The only computers to use a GUI before the Macintosh were the Apple Lisa and the Xerox Star, but they were commercial computers intended for specific commercial tasks and cost upwards of $10,000. Calling them a PC is like calling an Avid Film Composer a PC.

you're moving the goalposts a lot here. There were many personal computers before the Macintosh, as is obvious from the fact that phrase was in common usage long before the Macintosh existed.

Saying that the mac was the first PC when IBM released a machine called the IBM PC three years before the first Mac is utterly ludicrous.

 

[gumboot]

you're moving the goalposts a lot here. There were many personal computers before the Macintosh, as is obvious from the fact that phrase was in common usage long before the Macintosh existed.

Saying that the mac was the first PC when IBM released a machine called the IBM PC three years before the first Mac is utterly ludicrous.

Just because it was marketed as a "personal computer" thirty or forty years ago doesn't mean it would be considered a "personal computer" today. As an example, early "PCs" required users to write their own software. No one would consider such a device a "PC" today.

Consider the introduction to the Wikipedia article on "personal computer":

A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals

 

[Lamuella]

Just because it was marketed as a "personal computer" thirty or forty years ago doesn't mean it would be considered a "personal computer" today. As an example, early "PCs" required users to write their own software. No one would consider such a device a "PC" today.

Consider the introduction to the Wikipedia article on "personal computer":

In that case, the first macintosh isn't a personal computer because I can't use the first macintosh to get on the Internet.

Sorry, but you can't define what was the first personal computer by what would be considered to be a personal computer now, that's ridiculous. That's like saying that the model T wasn't a car because it didn't have power steering.

Your statement was "The whole "Mac/PC" thing is retarded, particularly given the Macintosh was the world's first PC."

Now you're just redefining terms until you get one that fits.

 

[Stomatopoda]

**** Apple and their "Do it our way or GTFO" mentality.

This, so much.

Case in point: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1241547

Fan asks Mr. Jobs to autograph his keyboard... gets his F-keys removed and a lecture about aesthetics. Fanboys praise this as genius. This incident pretty much sums up the entire company/cult.