Does the wow factor ever die down?

Wow factor is still there 100% with my PowerBook (12"). I got it in September and it's just as good as it ever was. Of course, I've since upgraded to Panther but Apple keeps on coming out with new stuff, so it always feels 'new'. And no other notebook computer comes close in terms of style or ease of use! Everyone around me thinks WOW! but then they don't ever want to get a Mac because "it won't be compatible"

Enjoy your PowerBook

I still get the wow factor on my G4 533. Recently installed Panther and it's like wow!

There's always new software freeware and shareware that add a little something new every so often, something new to go wow about.

Various download sites are a good place to check every day/other day as you can usually find something new, different and clever to make you go wow again.

And as you are going to have a laptop that people will easally see you could do something that I'm planning to do when I can finally afford a laptop myself.

Have a special user who has every Bell and whistle possible, all those cool little programs and every OS visual trick running so that those dell laptop owners sat on the train or in the coffee shop will turn there heads and go......wow, wish I had one of those!

And if you ever do get bored at work....

Then hold the shift and option keys together and hit the (-) widget, then watch your open windows genie into the dock.

Repeat 5 times. The WOW never dies.

I've spent hours watching paint dry, and having done both, I can assure you that dock genie is far the more exciting of the two exploits.

Since I've had Expose aswell. I'm just like, "Where do I start?!?"

Seriously.

I have a 12 inch iBook, and people still WOW when they see the glowing apple on the back.

A powerbook like that is always going to turn heads.. how old is your curent windows setup? I would argue that there never really was a WOW factor with it... unless it was 'Wow windows sucks."

I brought my old Tibook into work one time, and one of my coworkers said "How come you're the only one who gets to use a Mac?"

And at home I have a Cube I've had for 3 years now, and I never get tired of it.

I think when you have a really classic design, not a noisy garish frivolous design, the more you are around it, the more it grows on you. It's just right... the way things ought to be.

Your Mac will age gracefully, like Diane Keaton.

Meanwhile, your friend's PeeCee is going to look like Courtney Love in a couple of years.

Originally posted by FriarTuck
Your Mac will age gracefully, like Diane Keaton.

Meanwhile, your friend's PeeCee is going to look like Courtney Love in a couple of years.

Click to expand...

I may not be the biggest fan of peecees, but that's just mean

For me the "wow factor" increases the more I do with my Mac. I used Windows for a long time and had lfty expectations of what my computer should be able to do. In theory I could do whatever I wanted--but in practice I usually had to troubleshoot some problems first and suffer through a headache before I could do anything but check email. So the "it just works" thing is still impressing me. It keeps getting better.

Speaking as an LCD iMac (not powerbook) owner, I can truthfully say the Wow factor absolutely never dies.

As far as the OS, I'm more astounded now than I've ever been. I've used OS X since the public beta, and Classic since System 6, and it just...keeps...getting...BETTER.

As far as the hardware, I had just gotten somewhat used to the floating screen (I own one of the very first LCD iMacs sold, so that's 2002, right?) when I had to move the iMac to a different location...

I unplugged everything and turned the base all the way around for the first time, and just sat there in awe at how BEAUTIFUL the ports on the back were. Sounds ridiculous, but... they're stunning. Pale gray icons clearly indicate the function of each... the power cable is absolutely stunning...

Basically, it's all the little things. Something as minor as the ports on the back, even... but the Wow factor simply never dies. You find new things to be astounded by all the time with the Mac!

I know what you mean - a lot of gadgets you buy and you get tired of. Like my dreamcast in '99 - bought it, played Soulcalibur and Crazy Taxi, then put it aside in 3 months, or the GPS I bought, took on a couple of car trips, and now sits in a box upstairs.

But the Powerbook's not like that at all. It's AMAZING and will still amaze you two years from now, even after Apple's rev'd the model four times. You'll still think "wow, I'm so lucky to own this thing."

Enjoy!

I'm actually about to complete 3 years of owning my PowerBook 15". I still have a bit of "WOW" when I use my machine. Infact, when I installed Panther on it in October, I was blown away with how lovly the machine was compared to my roomates PC. I love being able to go anwhere in my university an printing to any printer (so long as I have either turned on ethertalk or I get the IP address from a PC printing to it). Being one of the few Mac users at the school, whenever I bring it to class or use it in a public place, I still get a lot of people asking questions, wanting to try it.

At work, I'm one of few who brings their PC (Personal Computer not IBM Compatible, internal company language) to work, and use it for work. And even thought employees get a 10% discount on most Apple equipment, I'm one of very few who use a Mac. However, we are currently in the process of switching from two buildings with extra cubes, to one building where for every 13 people there are only 10 cubes. Many people will be working from home from now on, at least one day a week. Many, surprisingly have neglected their computers over the years, so they have Pentium 233s running Win98, and want to get a new machine. I've been using my machine with abandon trying to get people to switch. So far I have switched 3 people, and I hope to switch several more.

The WOW factor will not leave, and your machine will still be viable, as long as you upgrade components as necissary, for 5-7 years. Even afterwords, with the way the Apple style is, it will still turn heads, and mine will continue to be used, until the system board fries. (10-50 years from now)

TEG

Originally posted by FriarTuck
Your Mac will age gracefully, like Diane Keaton.

Meanwhile, your friend's PeeCee is going to look like Courtney Love in a couple of years.

Click to expand...

what's wrong with courtney love?

The wow factor for me is always renewed whenever Apple releases new software or OS X updates. My PowerBook is like a new machine when I upgrade the OS. OS 10.0 was slow so I wasn't all that impressed, 10.1 was amazing and it got even better from there on.

I'll be hyper-ventilating when I get my G5 PM some day!

My Mac never stops impressing me. After a while of using the Mac, PCs will feel uncivilized.

No.

The wow factor never dies.

And as for the laptops, I'm proud to own an iBook. If anyone ever gets a laptop out in public at Uni, they are shunned and classed as geeks.
But if I get my iBook out - its wow. You get so many people come over to have a look. It definitely turns heads.
And then if you show them Mac OS X, with the Genie effect, Exposé, rotating 3D log on, etc, etc., watch as their jaw drops to the ground.
Seriously, you can't be classed as a geek with a Mac, and the wow factor certainly never dies.

No, the wow factor never really goes away. My TiBook is three years old, and it still impresses me. People still turn their heads when I take it out for presentations and such.

I agree, don't think that the wow factor ever dies when you own a Mac. They keep on being amazing every day.

Originally posted by Pismo
The wow factor for me is always renewed whenever Apple releases new software or OS X updates.

Click to expand...

I love that. A Mac actually gets faster when you install the current OS on it!

I am impressed with the Mac's ability to have its software run on legacy systems... sometimes better than the original environmnent...

I have a G3 450 (Blue & White). Sure, it worked okay using OS 8.6, and a little better with 9.1x... and when OS X 2.8 came out... and now Panther... I say WOW every time I use my G3 because it kept up with the changes - arguably, the new OS on the old box increased a lot of the performance... Compared to putting XP on my parent's PII box - there's a big difference.

Anyhow, its my personal opinion that the Mac WOW factor is something you come to acquire over time, when you realise you've finally bought a piece of technology that will still be useful long after you've paid off that loan, credit card, or whatever you used to purchase the best production style - consumer level computer in the world. Its hard to get excited about PC's after owning a Mac. I work with both professionally, and I only get excited when the Mac stuff comes in.

It never goes away!

I had my iBook for over 7 months now, and every time I use it I fall in love all over again.

Like others have mentioned, it is the small details that get to you, and the small apps you can install.

Every time I show the iBook to someone I get giddy and go all over the machine, from the charge meter on the battery to the glowing charger!

I installed some topbar items recently, for monitoring RAM usage, etc. and for running screen effects as the background, battery monitoers, and others.

Those things definitely made it feel more fresh and added a level of WOW.

The wow hasn't escaped me. I still say that evertime I send in a check towards the Apple loan. "Wow! There went my weekend, but my MDD was all worth it."

I've had the TiBook more than a year now, and it still adds just that little bit of happiness to my day whenever I look at it, because it's just...well....nice. Clean and simple and elegant and just aesthetically nice. Silly, but true.

Apple products also retain their lure years afterward...witness the people who'll cling to their Cubes until you pry them away from their cold, dead hands. I bought an old indigo iBook simply because I'd wanted one at the time they came out--and I'd still like a Cube even though I know the specs are outdated now.

And Apple is the best computer company, hands down, to create excitement around their new products. My techno-phobic, 70+ year-old mom saw the CNN bit on the iPod minis, and was gushing to me about how cool it was, and how she was moved to want one even though she knew she had no use for it!

How's all that for WOW?

Originally posted by redAPPLE
what's wrong with courtney love?

Click to expand...

She's like Windows, bloated, buggy and prone to crashing.

The wow factor eventually goes away, after about 5 or more years. Of course, that depends on what you use it for. If you do e-mail and surf, and nothing more, it'll easily be 7 or 8 years.