PG has been a Windows user for a very long time and an MS-DOS user prior to that.
All of the PG offspring are Mac users.
On many occasions, PG has had the Windows vs. Mac discussion. Several years ago, with the help of one of his offspring, he purchased a lightly-used top-end Mac desktop and appropriate software to see if he had the potential to become a Mac guy.
After about six months of trying, he was feeling no buzz and one of his offspring inherited the Mac.
He won’t go into detail, but, over the years, PG has collected a variety of Windows software programs and utilities, both widely-used and obscure, that, for him, make his use of a Windows computer quite efficient. Every few years, he upgrades his hardware for more speed/memory/storage/virtue. (For computer geeks, PG’s current desktop contains a healthy i7 processor, 32 GB of RAM, 3 TB of internal storage, including a 1 TB SSD and 16 TB of external storage, so you can see he suffers from an advanced case of something.)
OTOH, PG owns and has owned and enjoyed several iPhones, so he’s not constitutionally anti-Apple.
For visitors to TPV who don’t pay attention to such things, Apple introduced a new MacBook Air yesterday, the first refresh of a popular entry-level Mac laptop in several years.
As with many things Apple, the price increased. For $1199 (up from $999) you get a 13-inch hi rez display (nice, but not large), an i5 processor (middling performance), 8 GB of memory (not much) and a 128 GB SSD (teeny, at least by PG standards). Its built-in camera (Skype, Facetime) is 720p (low rez lame, could impair your online image if you don’t buy an external webcam which will impair the sleek MacBook Air’s appearance).
One commentator on all things Apple opined that Apple’s overall strategy is to raise the Average Selling Price (ASP) of all of its products. The latest iteration of this strategy began with the new iPhones introduced a couple of months ago – $100 or so more expensive than last year’s comparable models. The MacBook Air continues the +ASP strategy.
Over the last several years, based on sales, Apple has evolved into a phone company rather than a computer company.
In terms of unit numbers, Apple sold about the same number of phones in late 2017/early 2018 as it did a year earlier. Increased iPhone revenue occurred during that period because of increased prices.
PG read somewhere that cellphone users in the US are keeping their existing phones for a longer period of time than they have in previous years.
Apple’s competitors in the smartphone and laptop/desktop computer markets have been adding features, but not increasing prices like Apple has.
So here’s the question (PG promises to get back to books shortly): Where’s the tipping point for Apple? When are its products going to cost more than they’re worth, technically and as a lifestyle statement?
“How did you go bankrupt?”
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.~ Ernest Hemingway
Apple vs. Windows is not worth the effort.
On a bell curve of computer users, with the top 5% on either end then maybe there is a difference. And it is a mixture of users on each end too.
But for the middle 90% either machine will do and do what needs to be done.
Cake or pie, your choice.
For years Microsoft made more money off Macs than Apple. They still might.
These days they make more money off Android than Google, and Linux is making them ever more money everyday.
Platform religion makes no difference in the end.
All that really matters is whether the job gets done.
(Disclaimer: I used to work for Apple and Steve Jobs in the days when we wore t-shirts that read ‘IBM = I should have Brought Macintosh’ while draping pirate flags over the office).
I’ve used and owned both platforms, often in parallel. The PC has the majority of serious programming tools (and games: but let’s not go there for time-wasting), and the Mac, usually, the better creative software.
I’m currently Mac-less, but will probably buy one soon, just for Vellum … yeah, I looked into online rent-a-virtual-mac web services, but they don’t do it for me.
Knowing my luck, someone will bring out a decent PC-based Vellum competitor (or Scrivener will seriously up their game on the design-loveliness front) about a week after I’ve splashed £1000 for an underpowered i5 chip laptop and a joke 128gb SSD.
On the flipside, at least I’ll look cool writing in the coffee shop again. Although, I may also need to grow a big bushy beard and stock the wardrobe with a few lumberjack shirts to really rock that style.
I’d like to thank my old employers for still operating a parity Dollar/Stirling exchange rate which over-inflates UK prices by 30%.
Oh, for the happy halcyon days of the staff purchase discount!