Why Mac/Apple?

[davidcrebelxt]

Agree by and large with the comments here.

I've got friends who are mac users, and really like the OS, the experience, everything. Each has their hiccups, mistakes, dropped ball regarding issues etc.

I'm comfortable with windows ecosystem... have rarely if ever had problems most people (and those stupid Mac ads) claim to have all the time. Perhaps alot comes down to I know more about computers than the average person, been an avid computer user since about 5 years old in the Apple II days. I'm the type of person that tries to make the $$ stretch as far as I can... always looking for open-source or free way to do things before plunking down the cash. I was about to buy a Mac Mini a few years ago... really close... but just couldn't close the deal when I could get a more powerful PC, with additional hardware upgradability, etc, for cheaper. (I still watch the macworld closely, and am willing to try a MAC should they every hit MY PERSONAL price/value point... I'm the type of person who usually installs several versions of linux per year also... just for the fun of playing around with a new OS... MAC doesn't scare me, the value just isn't there for me.)

But that's just me. Moral of the story is use what gets the job done, what you are comfortable with, and whichever you won't regret after the purchase. For me, that's a PC... for you, perhaps a MAC... it doesn't REALLY matter! You're not more or less of a person, photographer, or artist one way or the other. Don't let the stupid flame wars, mac vs. pc ads sway you... talk to real level-headed people you know and trust if possible. For some people I recommend Mac, some PC, depends on the person. Much as when people come to me asking about cameras... not everyone wants/needs/can handle a dSLR, so my suggestions vary based on the persons needs and expectations.

[Apollo.11]

Both pull up POTN equally well.

[davidcrebelxt]

Originally Posted by Apollo.11

Both pull up POTN equally well.

Enough said.

[Paul Li]

Originally Posted by Living Daylight

It seems like Mac computers are far more popular among photographers then the general population.

Professionals use Apple products, including scientists I know and recording studio technicians I know.

Because historically they have been more reliable (less crashing) than PC's, but this is starting to change. And professionals have more money to spend on equipment.

[basroil]

Originally Posted by Paul Li

Professionals use Apple products, including scientists I know and recording studio technicians I know.

Because historically they have been more reliable (less crashing) than PC's, but this is starting to change. And professionals have more money to spend on equipment.

Most professionals do not use Apple products. Some professionals use Apple products, higher percentage in some fields, lower in others. A lot of non-professionals also use Apple products, and in fact, more non-professionals use Apple products than professionals (the meaning you want to use, not the true meaning)

A lot of professionals in my field don't use Apple products, mainly because software needed for some workflows just doesn't exist (or didn't exist) for OSX

[MaxxuM]

I find it odd that non-Mac users feel the need to come into Mac threads, particularly the one that asks "Why Mac/Apple?" and relate why it doesn't matter, how Windows/OS X perform equally and because of history. If it didn't matter, if Windows performed equally or people were locked in due to history... Well, then these threads just wouldn't exist; would they?

The thing is, Apple does do it different, it does not perform like Windows and though history plays a part, 90% of current users don't even know what Aldus represents to the Apple world. If it didn't matter then Apple would be gone or selling PC's.

The only thing that remains is, personal choice. And therein lies the answer. Through perception Apple has created a niche market that as it turns out has worked out well for them - and their user base seem to thing they got what they wanted.

It does bother me slightly - not overly - but enough to write (of course) this. It's akin to asking Ford owners why they like Ford so much just to have some Dodge owners come in to say it makes no difference.

Seemingly, it does.

[mathogre]

Originally Posted by Living Daylight

It seems like Mac computers are far more popular among photographers then the general population. I have asked a few why they like Macs better but their answers never seem to make sense. As far as I know there are no photo editing applications that are only available on Macs.

I am not looking to start a flamewar, I'm just curious.

For me, time is the key.

Professionally I'm a programmer in the *Nix environment. While I use a WinXP tower at work and connect to Windows 2003 servers, I'm notorious for being a heavy user of our Linux (RHEL) and Solaris (Sun Microsystems Unix) compute servers.

My first Mac experience was in (*cough*) 1984. Yes. At work I frequently used a 1st gen Macintosh, which was actually quite an impressive machine. Still though, before OS X, I didn't consider the Mac a serious machine. When OS X came out, I watched. In 2007 I bought a MacBook. At the time I had 5 or so home machines that were dual boot, Linux and Windows. I bought when I was finally fed up fiddling with new Linux distros every six months. After having the MacBook for a month, my wife commented I wasn't swearing at the computer anymore. Today the home machines are a newer MacBook, an iMac, and an IBM ThinkPad running WinXP.

Today I love my Macs. They're easy and reliable, generally speaking, if not exactly perfect. On the programming side, I have my Unix. On the photography side, I have iPhoto and DPP, and have recently moved to Aperture. I also have GIMP and ImageMagick.

My time matters to me. My Macs work. My iMac is connected to a 1.5TB drive for backup with Time Machine, which comes with the OS. I easily share things with my MacBook. My iPhone works seamlessly with my iMac, and by itself is an amazing little device. I get a lot of use out of my equipment for a relatively small investment in maintenance time. I can do what I need to do with all of it. The s/w doesn't treat me as a complete idiot ("Are you Really Sure you want to do this?!"), while at the same time assuring it remains secure (such as requiring passwords for certain actions).

I know that the tasks I do on the Mac can be done on the PC. It's a matter of how much I want to fight the machine to do what I want to do. For me for now, the Mac does it better.

[red-barron]

One of the main reasons why I use and prefer apple over windows based systems is resell value. They hold their value a lot better if and when you plan to sell it to replace it with something better. A few years back I was a windows only user and would laugh at anyone who would want a mac. I was heavily into gaming and nothing else but I finally realised that no matter how much I spent building my own system, 6 months later new games would be out along with new cpu's, video cards etc and the new games would lag on a system I spent quite a bit of money on. Selling the 'old' parts would hurt seeing as I would get no where near what I paid for it and I realised that updating pc's was pointless. At least with macs the software works quite well even if newer systems come out.

[wlescall]

I have used through the years (all too many of them) many types of systems from punch cards to VAX/VMS, to UNIX, and programmed from machine/assembly language through fortran, cobol, basic, pascal, etc. I work in a Windows environment and have 2 desktops and 2 laptops; 1 each of PC and Mac. For my home use , I prefer the Mac's mainly because I simply have to do less tinkering and they are stable as all get out (for me).

Like MaxxuM, I find it amusing that it seems to be fine for PC users to jump in on a Mac thread; but should the opposite occur - look out. I don't just mean here, but look at most boards. Watch how quick the term 'fanboy' is thrown about. The 12th post in this thread used the term (the original poster). There are plenty of snooty PC and Linux "fanboys" out there also.

[Tom H. Photography]

I have been a Microsoft user ever since MS DOS was around. And that was about the last time when you could get a Microsoft system to do exactly what you wanted it to do and nothing else. Ever since Windows came along, the OS has taken over things I don't want it to control. Whenever you update or install something it always goes around your back, adding things you don't want, changing settings you don't want etc... It's also very hard in Windows to get completely rid of things you don't want. Even uninstalling something doesn't necessarily mean that something is gone in Windows.

Add to that all the popups you don't want asking things it should know by itself, the pain when updating (windows sp3 crashed seven times at 99% on my girlfriends pc before installing properly, only to then reboot without asking while she was editing a video and losing two days work because her files became corrupted), The memory filling up for no apparent reasons, the system getting slower over time even though nothing was added or changed, all the crashes, etc etc...

I became interested in Mac since I started using iTunes. I found it strange that there could be software that was designed that well and had everything I needed right where I'd expect it to be. When I saw a commercial saying that 'Mac feels exactly like iTunes' I had to try it. And now I'm never going back

[Kronie]

I use Macs 'cause "it just works" LOL

And I switched over from Windows because "it just wasn't working"

To be honest there are parts of Windows OS that I prefer over OSX and parts of OSX that I prefer over M$.

The only reason I would ever go back to windows is if I couldn't afford to buy the Mac. They are nicely made but overpriced. Some models more than others.

I mean look at the Mini, $700 for a 2.53 C2D, 4GB RAM, 320 GB drive? You can build a same spec dell for $250.

[airfrogusmc]

Originally Posted by basroil

Most professionals do not use Apple products. Some professionals use Apple products, higher percentage in some fields, lower in others. A lot of non-professionals also use Apple products, and in fact, more non-professionals use Apple products than professionals (the meaning you want to use, not the true meaning)

A lot of professionals in my field don't use Apple products, mainly because software needed for some workflows just doesn't exist (or didn't exist) for OSX

Most professionals in creative fields like graphic design, photography etc are Mac.

[Living Daylight]

I only mentioned fanboyism because that was what prompted me to start this thread. I was talking to someone about photo editing, they said they needed to get a mac, I suggested they could use their PC and they got very snooty. I'm not saying all Mac users are fanboys, and there are definitely a lot of PC and Linux fanboys out there too.

From my own experiences with windows I realized that there are often annoying issues that need to be fixed. I have a pretty advanced knowledge about computers and enjoy gaming a great deal so for me PC is the best way to go. I use linux on my netbook because it boots fast and does what I need.

[airfrogusmc]

Originally Posted by Living Daylight

I only mentioned fanboyism because that was what prompted me to start this thread. I was talking to someone about photo editing, they said they needed to get a mac, I suggested they could use their PC and they got very snooty. I'm not saying all Mac users are fanboys, and there are definitely a lot of PC and Linux fanboys out there too.

From my own experiences with windows I realized that there are often annoying issues that need to be fixed. I have a pretty advanced knowledge about computers and enjoy gaming a great deal so for me PC is the best way to go. I use linux on my netbook because it boots fast and does what I need.

I've used both and was PC based until recently (Aug). I will probably never go back to PC. With graphic programs I have found Mac to be more stable.

[SnapsbyPoteat]

Originally Posted by Jon

Inertia. Graphic applications started there. Now Mac people don't want to learn a new way, same as PC people don't want to learn a new way. But by and large the same core apps are available for both, though many secondary applications that one person or another may consider vital are only available on one. Personally, I haven't seen anything as good as Downloader Pro for transferring and tagging my files or any decent mapping/route planning applications that run on the Mac, so I use PCs.

WRONG! I'm a recent convert from PC to MAC - I absolutely LOOOVE it! SO much faster than any PC i've ever used. It was frustrating about the first week to get use to the different features (not having right click, drag & dropping files) but now it all makes sense and I won't be going back. On my PC, applications like PSE just seemed to make it soooo slow, and it would take forever to be able to transfer files & edit them. I just recently downloaded PSE8 to my mac, it hasn't effected the speed at all. My editing time for pictures has decreased tremendously!!