Mac vs. PC

I love Macs. I became converted in the early 90s when I produced a magazine-format student journal on one of those early Macs with the tiny screens (what were they? 9 inches square?). Now I work on a MacBook Pro with a 15 inch screen plus an external 23-inch, very bright flat screen. I can't imagine laying out a magazine on a tiny 9-inch black and white screen. But that's what I did, and I came to love Macs.

Today, however, I have been setting up our new home computer. And it's not a Mac. It's a Sony Vaio (we've suddenly become a Sony family, incidentally; in the past month we had to buy a new portable stereo and a new DVD player and a new computer... all Sony... bad experiences with noname brands compelled us).

Anyway, the Vaio is cool, and I'll admit that Windows Vista seems pretty slick (from what I've seen so far). But it's just not a Mac and there are little things that annoy. Like all the stickers, for one. I had to peel three brand stickers off the laptop that were placed there rather firmly (I noticed once that my sister never removed hers) to advertise that Microsoft and Intel and some other company I'd never heard of were important partners with Sony in the creation of this computer. PCs are like that: they are cobbled together from a million different suppliers. Every different component and piece of software came from someone else, and Sony just put it all together.

With Macs, you know it's all (or at least mostly) Apple. Sure, the processor is now Intel, but it's only Intel; when buying a PC, you've got Intel and AMD and who knows what other processors to consider--and then there are 10 different kinds of Intel processors for your PC (what's the difference between dual core and core duo? I couldn't figure it out)... with Mac it's all Intel and there are only a handful of options, clearly comparable for speed, etc. Aside from the Intel processor, the bulk of the hardware on a Mac is Apple and all of the software is Apple. Hence, it all works together smoothly and it's sooooo much simpler.

On our Sony today I discovered a couple different music-player programs already installed (and I plan to ignore them and install iTunes instead). Why do I need two music programs? And I have endless options for photo editing systems and virus protection and on and on. And with hardware peripherals, I already have five different brands involved with this little laptop: the keyboard, mouse, web cam, USB hub, and printer all come from different makers.

OK, it's really not that big of a deal. I've actually been pleased with how easily the computer adjusts itself for each new piece of hardware. But it's just so much more complicated in general. With a Mac, life is simple. You look at five choices of machines, you buy one, you turn it on, and away you go. With a PC, you study computers for weeks before you can finally find the right one. And that's just the beginning. The hardware customization and software choices go on and on and on.

In a way, I guess it's like the war over agency in the preexistence. PCs offer choice, challenges, trials of faith, and the opportunity of failure. Mac is the equivalent of Satan's plan: few choices and everyone is guaranteed technological exaltation. You can imagine Steve Jobs singing, "You won't have to choose, not one will lose, and give all the glory to me (give it to me)" (apologies to the creators of My Turn on Earth).

Hmmm... if the pre-Earth plans had been presented in terms of computers, I may not have made it here.