Letters to the Editor
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Look, you and Cary are the only reasons I still check Salon, but
this column was absurd.
The problem with being poor, or relatively poor (like being a grad student in the humanities) is we don't have investment capital. If we need to buy a laptop and we have just enough money to pay rent and eat, then yeah, a few hundred dollars or more will matter a lot with what you can buy. That is the major reality of poverty, is that it often forces you to engage in economic behavior designed to cost more in the long run, but is cheaper in the short run. Being wealthy (or relatively wealthy), allows people to have choices. This is what we call privilege, and when comparing prices and calling something "cheaper" should be taken into account on a socially progressive website, dammit.
Still adore your blog, but this was silly.
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Stopped reading after the first example
For a $100 premium, I could have had a Mac with about the same processor, but with less hard drive space and a lot less memory. After a year's worth of use, the Mac retained more of its value than the PC.
That makes the Mac a better deal? How many people trade in their computers for a new one each year?
Here's another way to look at that same example: with the extra hard drive space and memory, that PC was a whole lot more useful than that Mac for the year it was owned. What's that worth?
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if you want to sell it
Wow, you're right. I just check the price of my Rev A iMac G5 20" on ebay. Very nice.
I don't usually sell my computers though. I end up spreading the goodness of Apple by giving my older computers away to family. That way my kids can use iChat with their grandparents and cousins. They end up purchasing Macs when it comes time for new computers.
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Use Linux if you like Unix
If people like running Unix on an intel box, just get Ubuntu Linux for free. It is cheaper than a mac or windows, and it is better than both. Mac people are paying for something that others get for free. Why? Is the Apple Icon really worth the extra money?
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@TheScuSpeaks -- then buy a used computer
Good point, TheScuSpeaks, but the corollary to my argument is that there are many good used Macs available on the market.
Macs retain their value because they continue to function well years after they were built. Practically, this means that you can buy a used last-year's-model Mac for roughly 20 percent less than it sold new, and you can probably use it for most of your tasks. You can get last year's Windows machine for even less than that, of course, but again you run in to the same problem -- its resale value plummets faster than the Mac's. If you're buying last year's Mac now, you can sell it next year (when it'll be two years old) and get a bunch of what you paid back. You can't do that with the Windows machine.
Check out lowendmac.com.
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stop privileging idiocy
The only salient complaints about PCs-- they get viruses! they are hard to operate! wah!-- are only problems if you are dumb. Do a little basic research. Educate yourself just a little bit. Don't be a moron.. It is not hard to keep a PC working in running order. It is not hard to customize it just the way you want it-- yes, even with pretty colors like a Mac. It's not hard. There is no reason whatsoever your PC has to jam, theres no reason whatsoever it has to have spyware or viruses. Don't be an idiot. Don't be an idiot! Spend a tiny amount of time educating yourself.
I want to disable a particular piece of copy protection. Hey presto, here's ASR. I want a DVD decoder with a certain suite of features. Here it is, free. I want to open up my case and rip out components, I can do it. I want to go into my OS and make changes I can do it. I want to be an adult who understands his computer and how to run it, and can commensurately customize it and its OS to his exact specifications. So I own a PC.
Which, by the way, I can build myself for much, much cheaper than a Mac. I can build a PC with a faster processor, more RAM, a much more powerful video card, more storage, and better peripherals than a Mac of comparable price. That's the nice thing about not being an idiot.
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And, by the way
The only thing you have to say that resonates with any Mac addict is this: "But the Apples had something extra: that logo, the design, the history, the clutch of fans willing to snap up any products the company makes."
That is, in fact, all the Apple really has, culture. That's why Macs sell. Not because of a rational comparison of features and price, but because a slick advertising campaign tells them that if they buy this particular mass produced commodity, they will be more unique and original and amazing than the people who buy the other kind of mass produced commodity. Don't take my word for it. Browse the intertron. I promise, 95% of what Mac people say is all cultural critique. It's all just marketing. That's it.
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"So gummed up with spyware..."
Ummm... what?
I've never had a serious virus on any of my PCs (by which I mean I've never had any that did anything to my computer at all). I've had 4, all Windows. 2 I still have--the first one got fried by a power surge of some type(and my insurance bought me a better one), and the second my ex-boyfriend reformatted and gave to his sister when he made me a new one.
Now, I DID get a virus from an Apple computer, back in the day when you had to carry your software on disks from one computer to another at my college. It hid all my files.
I've used UNIX, various forms of Windows, Gentoo and Knoppix (Linux) and Macs, and I've been happy with all of them for their purposes. I'm no fanboy of anything in particular. Actually, I always liked UNIX because it made me feel like an adult--didn't hide its functions, and you actually had to know something to use it.
I don't WANT to resell my computer. I want to keep it until it dies. Resale value isn't one of my considerations when buying a computer.