It is unfortunate that these days, the term 'PC' is understood to stand in contrast to 'Mac'. We can thank the marketing geniuses from Apple for that. But if you think about it, the famous Apple commercial offers a nonsensical proposition: a Mac is a personal computer. This would be like a banana vendor advertising her bananas as being better than 'fruit'. A Macintosh may be more delicious than other fruits, but it is still a fruit. What is going on here?
I have always been a fan of open-platform PCs. Early personal computers were sold as kits, to be assembled at home. And until the advent of laptops it was relatively easy to get inside the box, to poke around, to swap out a card or two. Today, this legacy lives on in manufacturer-independent, free and open platforms such as Linux or Android.
In contrast, Apple has almost always preferred a closed-system machine. Such devices may offer a better user experience, but also tend to be more expensive and more restrictive. To change your iPhone battery you need to send the phone to the manufacturer. To install software you need to use Apple's cleverly named App Store.
These services make Apple a lot of money. Apple would just love it if you bought your music from them, backed up your data on their servers, and used their technicians for simple repairs. And herein lies the genius of Apple marketing. In framing the conversation around the nonsensical Mac/PC divide, the company obfuscates the fact that it wants to monopolize the way you experience personal computing devices. The alternative to Apple is not Microsoft, but everybody else: any computer manufacturer coupled with any operating system.
But as we know, the Mac guy is young, creative, hip, and successful. The PC is chubby and wears pleated pants. The marketing says: owning a Mac will make you better than those other schlubs. You belong with the skinny-jeans crowd.
I understand why people buy Macs. Apple makes beautiful gadgets. However, it puzzles me as to why so many otherwise smart, creative, and independent-thinking individuals feel the need to voluntarily and vociferously propagate Apple's advertising strategy.
Here then is a toast to open systems. To platform-independent software. To making your own coffee, changing your own light-bulbs and phone batteries. Here is to fanboys and fangirls of none.
