Are you Mac or PC?

I wanted to avoid this, mainly because my otherwise rational Mac friends get upset when I say I'm not crazy about the Mac. It is bordering on the cultish.

I started on a Mac Classic (8 megs or something like that). I started using PCs later for work, and was pleasantly surprised to find they were not nearly as horrible as I had been led to believe (I guess I was in the cult too). In fact, my PCs crashed far less than my Macs ever did. I realized all the jokes about Windows crashing were there simply because virtually everyone used Windows, while relatively few people used Macs, and they were mostly too brainwashed to complain.

Best of all were the applications. With Windows, there are applications available for the most obscure needs. No more whining "when will they write that software for Mac?"

Then, last year, I broke down after being told again and again how wonderful the recent Macs are. So I bought an iMac. While I mostly enjoy it, I wouldn't trust it enough to take the PC away from its side.

The Mac is my girlfriend....
Looks great, but shallow.

Forget for now the proprietary handcuffs Mac tries to lock its users in with (again, handcuff play is fun with a girlfriend - but complicates things too much with a wife).

A good example of the contempt Mac has for the user is their placement of audio jacks and USB ports behind the computer - forcing you to climb around your desk every time you use them. Of course, the lack of all the nasty holes makes the Mac's appearance all that much better, but it's like a woman who refuses to kiss because it will smear her makeup.

When I tell the very people who recommended Mac to me about Mac's various problems (including, once again, more crashes than I have on my 4 year old PC), they go into the same mode as those people that go door to door trying to sell their religion.

First, they deny. They tell me i must be doing something wrong - or I just don't understand how to use it.

Then, they blame the non-Apple application or whatever i was using. In their world, if an Apple computer crashed using a non-Apple application, it's the app's fault. They tell me that I should use the good apps and I will have no problem.

Of course, the "good apps" are all Apple products.

Finally, when cornered, their eyes grow a bit wide, and they start to sweat. They say, "You must have gotten one of the rare Macs that is flawed, because Macs just don't do that."

Then they tell me to take it back to the Apple store, where they will cheerfully make everything right and give me a proper Mac to replace the extraordinarily rare flawed model I have. This is the same Apple store where I walked in, cash literally in hand to buy a computer right away, and I was told to wait and then forgotten for 20 minutes until I complained. Even after that, they weren't the least apologetic. (Despite this being in Japan where apologizing for keeping someone waiting is as standard as saying "how are you" in other countries. I've had staff apologize for keeping me 2 or 3 seconds.)

And that is typical of Apple's attitude, whether in the store, on their site or with regards to support. They do what they want, and you are just lucky to paying for the ride.

While the iPad looks nice, I will by another brand of tablet. While the iPhone was popular, I waited until I could get an Android. The Mac is fun - it looks nice, it's fairly fast, the graphics are good, and sometimes the user interface works well - but the last thing I want to do is tie myself to the Apple brand and all of its demanding whims.

That would be like leaving my wife for the hot young girlfriend. We know how that usually turns out.