The masses don't want to bother with that sort of effort...people would rather throw their stuff away than invest the time it takes to auction stuff off on eBay.

Cost is probably one of the last factors that effect why people purchase PCs over MACs...it has to do with comfort, the package deal, and the way people use computers.

MAC missed the boat when they didn't compete with PCs in the markets that contain big business and schools. People buy what they are comfortable with. "Jimmy uses a PC at school"...or..."I'm used to the PC I have at work"...are the reasons people prefer PCs in their homes. Also the whole compatibility thing comes into play...the main reason I didn't consider a MAC for the longest time...although this no longer the case, people still think this is an issue.

I bought a PC and a printer came with it...I bought the MAC and I got a cool box. People want to feel like they're getting a deal, PC's are marketed that way.

Finally, most people do not mix their creative juices with a computer....it's all business...no frills (or thoughtful operating systems) necessary. If I only use the word processor, email, and surf the internet occasionally...why should I pay the extra $100 now when I'm just going to throw it out when it becomes broken down or antiquated?

By the way, I love my new MacBook Pro...and I paid less than I did for my last Dell laptop.

Your article was right on, and yet I am not surprised to see so many PC defensive posts. I do not understand why PC users are resistent to a friendly user interface, simplicity, and an overall hassle free computer. What's wrong with demanding good design? and features that help enhance life like iphoto, itunes, imovie? and now to prove that Mac is also the more cost effective approach just proves the inevitable. So, all you whining PC users should just give it up and run out to your nearest apple store - then you to can enjoy the good life!

Are you crazy?!# If people like you keep pointing out why it makes so much sense to own a Mac (something smart people have know for a long time), then more people will buy them. Pretty soon Apple will have enough market share to encourage the hacker crowd to mess with my machine. Please take back everything you said, even if it does make sense.

It's really easy to reformat/reload a Windows box these days. I've done thousands at work for more than a decade now. Is this also true for Macs or is there just no need?

...I say that PC users just don't get it:

"That someone can stand in wonder that people don't have a deep, personal bond with a pile of circuitry and metal is why Mac users tend not to be taken terribly seriously."

I have a deep and personal bond with--or at least really like to use--a stick of plastic (my favorite pen), a hunk of wood (the letter opener that fits my hand perfectly), and a brick of plastic and circuitry (my iPod). I can use my supermarket blade but I *like* my Henckels chef's knife; I got along with my VCR fine but I love my Tivo. If your tools have never given you that deep sense of satisfaction, that's too bad; if you just can't imagine feeling that way about your computer, well, that was my point.

"MAC missed the boat when they didn't compete with PCs in the markets that contain big business and schools."

Macs used to *own* the business marketplace. They were the first inexpensive machines with high-quality, integrated word processing. They did lots of the early WYSIWYG for printer interfaces, too. They owned the whole market at a time before MSFT even had a graphical interface.

The PCs were cheap enough to kick the crap out of them in that market, pure and simple.

Apple also didn't used to be the plucky underdog, either. When they were on the top of the heap, they behaved just as badly as MSFT does now.

Lest anyone forget that the whole concept of a graphical OS was swiped from Xerox. That didn't stop Apple from suing Microsoft as if they *had* invented it.

I use to be always pro Microsoft, not quite a fan boy but close. After spending some time with my girlfriend and her family I started to warm up to a Mac. Her dad's old aging Powerbook G4 which was handed down to her was running quite smoothly after 4 or so years. I had a lot of time to play with it and found it surprising easy to use and quite polished. Small refinements that made it just that little bit nicer to use. So once that Leopard was released I decided that I was going to give Mac a go. So 2 weeks later with some of the cash from my Windows desktop and my own, I am loving my new MacBook Pro. It didnt take long to navigate through the Mac way of doing things. I found that a lot of the great lil pieces of software are usually pretty cheap and my workflow has been great. I am one of those people who fill up the desktop with icons and have stuff all over the place and the Mac has cleaned all that up for me. The design, quality, greater workflow and how easy it was to use is compliments to Apple. Plus the polished front row interface is great for kicking back and watching TV and Movies.

It is still a little expensive but I think the value for money is there and if you can get past the initial investestment it should last quite a while.

From what I can recall, it was WordPerfect 5.1 which dominated the business landscape for about a decade, from the late 80s well into the mid or latter 90s, far more so than any Mac application. Macs did make some headway prior to that time, and there WAS a Mac version of 5.1, but its installed base was never more than a fraction of that sported by the PC side.

This isn't to say it was any good, I hated the thing and was continually amazed at its ubiquity (I knew of certain cheap-ass lawyers who used the thing until the turn of the century, believe it or not)....but 5.1 was THE de facto standard for most of that time.