Read other letters about this article

• Friday, November 9, 2007 09:52 AM

  first class

  I see your point, jason. But my point is that first class *is* better. You say "people in first class will rate their experiences higher because they felt pampered, while my seat in coach wasn't designed to make me feel like in some elite club so I wouldn't rate it in the same way." I don't see any acknowledgment there that first class has real advantages, just a focus on how it's designed to make you feel.

  Let me quickly add that I'm not claiming using a Mac is like flying first class while using a PC is like flying coach--that's not my analogy. But if you're going to go with that analogy, it doesn't work to imply the first class passengers were somehow duped or manipulated into thinking they got a better flight. They really did get a better flight.

  "You were sold on a product that supposedly looks nice and behaves with some sort of advanced mind set and you're in some sort of coolness club because you bought a Mac, etc."

  Still, no acknowledgment that I might see real advantages to a Mac--that I might have made a rational buying decision. I see in your response to Rayon that you've almost admitted that we Mac owners might perceive real value, worth paying for. My original point was that there are a lot of tools people are willing to pay a little extra for just because they find them more pleasant to use. This is a real value, not an illusion.

  If you don't find that to be true of Macs, then don't pay for them. But the fact that you don't see the value TO YOU doesn't mean the value's nonexistent. And that's what I see the PC users here doing--insisting that the Mac's added value is nonexistent and only reflective of some kind of addled thinking.

  By the way, I thought Farhad's original point in his column was pretty silly.

  —Jake Read Jake's other letters
  Permalink
  Flag
  Click "Submit Flag" if you feel this post is inappropriate. Explain why below if you wish.

  Cancel