Macs vs. PC's

Apparently I'm using a tricycle. At least, that's what three people have told me in the last few weeks.

I was merely sitting down with my Mac for two of the occasions, and on the other, I commented that I didn't really 'get' PC's, mostly because I've used Macs for the past my-whole-life. I can use PC's, I don't even find them hard to use. What I don't get is why they feel the need to NOT be user-friendly.

Most people agree that PCs are more customizable, but that open-platform doesn't do wonders for the security and stability of the machine. Mac, on the other hand, is frequently criticized for having closed-source development- understandably, as this limits the options available to the user. This platform, however, makes Macs stable and difficult to hack. The US government have begun to use Macs for that reason, which I find interesting, along with the image of a bunch of military honchos riding around on radio-flyer tricycles.

For the majority of computer users, a computer that's customizable is fairly useless, because they aren't going to customize. In fact, I would argue that many computer users are basically technologically illiterate. Take for example, my father, who types with two fingers and yells at his PC whenever he can't figure something out. His most frequent complaints are 'how frustrating it is to use' and how slow everything is. His computer has 3 gigs of RAM. My old Mac laptop had 2 gigs, and my father would comment on how fast it was compared to his whenever he used it. He also wouldn't scream at the computer when he used it.

My dad, however, is kind of a miser and hates spending more money than he needs to. Arguably, buying a Mac is kind of spending more money than you need to, but you can find them used for a reasonable price, and considering he likes using my older laptop, I bequeathed to him after I got my new Mac.

I use Macs mostly because I'm a musician and I don't care about gaming or business. I might be using a tricycle, but it's a tricycle like this.