Overall, the resale argument is a valid one, but there's a lot more to consider. Let me take this point, for example:

"After just a year or two of use, a Windows machine gets so gummed up with spyware, viruses and other nasty stuff that it seems malicious to ask anybody for money for the thing."

I see this a lot in the computers of friends and colleagues, but a simple solution is to simply wipe it out and reinstall windows (takes about an hour, mostly unattended - all computers come with the discs needed to reinstall everything that was originally installed, and no, this does not qualify as 'heroic measures'). In addition, it seems an obvious act before selling a computer - would you sell it off with all your documents and history intact? So the argument that a Windows machine is somehow less valuable because because of viruses or spyware - even a runaway case of "nasty stuff" - is quite unfounded. An hour's labor restores it to its initial shine.

In fact, as a heavy computer user, professionally and personally, I find it advantageous to wipe things out fresh occasionally anyway. The time spent reinstalling is guaranteed to be less time consuming than troubleshooting all the "nasty stuff," plus it's a completely brainless and simple process (stick in a CD and click "okay" and "next" a lot). Oh, so you have to reinstall your fishbowl screen saver, too. Boo hoo.

In addition, I would argue that a Windows machine's life can be prolonged by a wider range of available inexpensive replacement parts than a Macintosh. A simple search (eBay and elsewhere) reveals that if you purchased Mac model X in year Y, you are generally stuck replacing the (fill in the blank part) with only that vintage and for quite a premium. It won't work with the same part from year Y+1. The rarity of parts drives up the price profoundly.

This is especially troublesome with Powerbooks. I'm limping along with a titanium Powerbook 400 with various power problems because the replacement parts cost almost double what the computer is worth. On the other hand, if my video card poops out on my PC, I can nip down to any tech store to buy nearly any inexpensive PCI-X video card and get back to work. If I own a PowerMac G5, I can choose from a handful, and that handful only has so much in common with the handful I can use in my PowerMac G4. Here's where I need someone with a computer science degree to help me figure out which one will work with my specific flavor of Mac. Any more or less frustrating than dealing with the vagaries of a PC? No. All computers are frustrating.

It's true that as Mac's occupy more of the market share, prices are dropping a bit. But until the makers of hardware and software get more reasons to develop products for that platform, PC users will always have more options for usage now and maintenance down the road. And PCs, over the long haul, remain the less expensive purchase than Macs.

Regards,

Mark Pfaff

It's time for this wad of crap to go.

Does anyone else suspect Salon is hanging onto KO'F simply because of the outrage it has generated in the letters column? It's like this comic is a child happy for any attention it can get no matter how negative. I feel like we're damned if we complain and damned if we ignore it.

Urg.