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Mike_in_NM asks:
"If Macs are really better and cheaper than PCs, then why don't more people own them?"
That's a good question.
Mike makes some statements and I agree with some of them (cost equity), but disagree with others (hardly surprising). However, in the broadest sense, I think it comes down to a couple of simple factors about human behavior. I've tried to break them out, but significant overlap exists:
1) Windows dominates the workplace. The reason I mention this first is because Mike suggests that the average Mac user is generally ignorant of Windows, but its pretty hard to believe that they're not forced to use it at work if they touch a computer at all. As such, its been my experience that virtually all Mac users also have Windows experience (regardless of if they want to or not! :-) Its also important to mention this first because Window's ubiquity cascades into the factors that follow below.
2) People are lazy sheep. Basically, a lot of people's think that if its good enough for the Jones next store, or for using at work, then its what they should use at home too. No thought required.
3) People are cowardly sheep. Heaven forbid that one buys a Mac and something "bad" happens (eg, Apple goes out of business, something is incompatible, etc). The real issue here is that people are known to have an irrational fear of the unknown, so no matter how miserable they may be, their attitude is: "better the Devil that we Know than what we don't know"…this is a resistance to change no matter how "good" that change may be.
4) People are inherently cheap. We've all had that office coworker who has (cough) "borrowed" licences of MS-Office and Photoshop software from work to take home, under a rationalization that it will be "just for doing work" while he's at home. Yes, I'm being polite and saying 'cheap' instead of 'thief'.
5) People routinely forget about accounting for small costs. They proverbially buy that cheap $500 PC, but then blow another $50 for a sound card and speakers, $125 for a HD upgrade, $80 for a Video card upgrade, another nickle here another dime there for RAM and CPU upgrades…and then eventually end up with $1000 worth of expenses, but they'll tell their friends that they got a (insert list of wonderful specifications here) "for only $500!".
Note: this isn't to say that incremental upgrades are a bad thing, but merely that most people (and I'm guilty of this too) do a lousy job actually keeping track of how much money they spent over time.
6) People say one thing and do another. When it comes to small costs (5, above), the annual renewal fee for AV software is a good example of a commonly overlooked PC lifecycle expense. If you point this out in a typical Mac/PC debate, the response will be that there's free 3rd Party AV products that can be used. Yes, there are - but most PC folk still use the commercial $xx/year products anyway.
7) People only see what they want to see. This cuts both ways, PC and Mac. Suggested reading is this article in _Scientific American_ on "confirmation bias": http://tinyurl.com/3xg3oo This subconcious selectability unfortunately means that these sort of Mac/PC debates rarely reach resolution, because people generally aren't really listening to one another…which is too bad.
8) Young Adults like to play games. A huge market has grown up around the PC in this regards, and it really is the platform to have if you're buying a PC to be this kind of toy. Of course, YMMV as to what kind of toys we each like to have; I'll take a Porsche, please :-)
9) Most people are uncomfortable with change. For the most part, the switchers to Mac were so unsatisfied with Windows that this overcame their resistance to change. Simliarly, the "PC Defenders" are afraid of change and their protests against the Mac switchers are the sheep who bleat "its wrong! don't go! come back!" because they're selfishly afraid of being left alone, and/or be forced to consider change. What they're really doing is broadcasting their own insecurities.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong, just differences in personal priorities and preferences. Taking the 'risk' of going with a minority is an interesting paradox, because culturally we like to associate with winners, but Society also likes to root for the underdog. The bottom line is that competition is good, so PC advocates shouldn't complain about Apple strengthening: I find it amazing that they bleat so loudly despite Windows still having a 90% marketshare dominance!
-hh
