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my friend needs to be convinced about apple...
- Thread starter whw5
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Better, faster, safer browsers.
Unix-powered reliability
The interface (OS) is far easier to use - both consumer and for pros.
You can create anything faster, easier, and better
Much cooler looking
Lighter, faster, thinner, etc.
Unix-powered reliability
The interface (OS) is far easier to use - both consumer and for pros.
You can create anything faster, easier, and better
Much cooler looking
Lighter, faster, thinner, etc.
A great way to convince people is to navigate through iTunes. Many PC MP3 software programs are limited.
iTunes: rips, converts formats, burns, sorts, searches, plays, has internet radio. It's friggin FREE!!! That's Apple in a nutshell (minus the free part)
iTunes: rips, converts formats, burns, sorts, searches, plays, has internet radio. It's friggin FREE!!! That's Apple in a nutshell (minus the free part)
I agree that iTunes is a good product. I downloaded the version for Windows and got me interested in getting a Mac.
However, there is one big flaw in iTunes, IMHO. I cannot create multiple-levels of catagories in the library. It seems like it dumps everyting into a big bucket and then let the playlists take care of things. It is easy to use this way, but for people with big libraries, it is not the best, from a database design point of view.
However, there is one big flaw in iTunes, IMHO. I cannot create multiple-levels of catagories in the library. It seems like it dumps everyting into a big bucket and then let the playlists take care of things. It is easy to use this way, but for people with big libraries, it is not the best, from a database design point of view.
I for once don't believe that words can cut it. He needs to play arround with a Mac in order to realize if it works for him. If you are a Mac user, than all he needs is to stop over and play with your machine. Show him what is possible and how to accomplish some basic/more advanced tasks. This is x1000 better than any posts that will say:Macs are more safe, cooler looking, better, faster, bla bla bla....this is just not true. Some people care for what Apple has to offer others don't.
I was able to convince 2 friends of mine to switch to Mac by showing them the unix integration. The 3 of us are C.S major, and the two compalined about Linux. I showed them how I code using my Mac, the amazing OS, the access to the Linux tools, and at the same time access to Microsoft Office/Acrobat/Macromedia products. That did the trick. One of them bought my old pbook, and another one just ordered the 12" model after seeing my new 15" Aibook. I am sure Apple form factor added to their desire to switch.
On the other hand, some hardcode P.C gamers couldnt care less about all of this. Bottom line, let the system sell itself rather than polling a salesman trick.
I was able to convince 2 friends of mine to switch to Mac by showing them the unix integration. The 3 of us are C.S major, and the two compalined about Linux. I showed them how I code using my Mac, the amazing OS, the access to the Linux tools, and at the same time access to Microsoft Office/Acrobat/Macromedia products. That did the trick. One of them bought my old pbook, and another one just ordered the 12" model after seeing my new 15" Aibook. I am sure Apple form factor added to their desire to switch.
On the other hand, some hardcode P.C gamers couldnt care less about all of this. Bottom line, let the system sell itself rather than polling a salesman trick.
I second Bilba. Show him a PC, and then show him an Apple, and let him decide. Don't force anything, it could be he's just a PC kind of person.
It's good that you want him to switch, but geez, don't take it personally if he doesn't want anything to do with Apple.
It's good that you want him to switch, but geez, don't take it personally if he doesn't want anything to do with Apple.
Depends on the person's needs...what does he do, what software does he use what problems does he have? Guide him through, find out what he needs and how a Mac can do it.
The Browser sorts by artist and album. Otherwise, set up some smart playlists...say, a playlist that holds all rock songs from the 1960's or one with all songs rated four stars or higher, from the 1980s, by a particular artist, or one with all songs by either Billy Joel or Ja Rule. This is some pretty powerful database-style sorting if you ask me.
loubapache said:
The Browser sorts by artist and album. Otherwise, set up some smart playlists...say, a playlist that holds all rock songs from the 1960's or one with all songs rated four stars or higher, from the 1980s, by a particular artist, or one with all songs by either Billy Joel or Ja Rule. This is some pretty powerful database-style sorting if you ask me.
I agree with everything that's been said, but I have issues with saying that your friend needs to be "convinced" to switch. Switching to Mac is like letting Morpheus unplug you from the Matrix and it's like the 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, acceptance, etc). If he's not ready to switch he won't switch. You'll end up arguing over computing platforms.
Tread lightly. Casually show him what your Mac can do. Make it comfortable for him. Take your time and be patient.
Tread lightly. Casually show him what your Mac can do. Make it comfortable for him. Take your time and be patient.
Dude, this is what you do. Paint an Apple logo on a brick wall. Then put your friend in a headlock and bash his head against the logo.
When he crumples to the ground with blood gushing from his head just say you're knockng some sense into him.
When he crumples to the ground with blood gushing from his head just say you're knockng some sense into him.
whw5 said:
I suggest either mind control using hypnotherapy or perhaps knocking him out and telling him you have implanted a bomb that will go off if he buys a PC...
But seriously...
It depends on what he is going to use it for.
If he is a hard core gamer, unfortunately a PC is his best option. Better selection, easier to customize the system as a pure gaming machine, and when you are playing a game you don't have to deal with windows anyway.
Otheriwse Apple has some good information about switching on their website, and I'd just try and show him all the great stuff you can do on a Mac. Oh and mention that at last count there were ZERO Mac OS X virii.
jhomayne said:
Sorting your library by artist is as simple as clicking on the "Artist" column header. In fact you can click on any of the column headers to sort by them; click again to reverse the sort order (ascending or descending).
I too doubt that anyone "needs" to be convinced to switch, much as I love the Mac. Sure, iLife is cool....unless your buddy's a dedicated file-swapper with no need for iMovie/iDVD and no interest in GarageBand. Sure, OS X is inherently more secure than Windows, there are still no known virii for OS X, and OS X has a built-in configurable firewall, but maybe your friend is more than happy to maintain the "proper" installation of Windows that guards against such things. Maybe your pal's a die-hard PC gamer, or doesn't really care about having a less intrusive user interface, or a desktop free of corporate tie-ins and unecessarily bundled crap. Maybe they're just a Windows fan.
There are plenty of reasons why someone doesn't "need" to switch.
I am just going to let him screw around on my 20 inch imac
I will also take him to the store if that doesn't switch him I dont know what will. Its not like he is into pcs or has any special reason to use them so I think that sooner or later he will switch. I mean I got my whole family to switch and now we have 3 macs. He will sooner or later
I will also take him to the store if that doesn't switch him I dont know what will. Its not like he is into pcs or has any special reason to use them so I think that sooner or later he will switch. I mean I got my whole family to switch and now we have 3 macs. He will sooner or later
whw5 said:
Totally, the Apple retail stores have this etherial aura to them. he'd feel guilty not switching.
Unfortunately you can't just command people to do things...
The people whom I have 'switched' did so after I handed them a Mac to play with. In the case of a heavy IT guy it was getting an older Powerbook running Jaguar. Once he really started to play with it he realized just how much OSX was capable of. The other guy I know did so because he saw my 15" TiBook next to his Toshiba, my laptop was so much thinner, lighter, and when he saw iTunes and the ease of burning a CD he was hooked. Later I brought my iPod on a camping trip and after that he ended up buying a 12" AlBook and a 10gig iPod. The point is, someone has to see what OSX can do, what iLife can do, and he needs this in conjunction with information about the security of OSX, the lack of virii, etc. Also, if you really want to get him interested in OSX you must tailor you argument towards his interests, if he's a music guy show him iTunes/iTMS/GB/iPod, if he's a video guy iMovie/FCPx/iDVD, etc. If he's a gamer, show him the games that are around for the mac, but be honest with him about the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the platform, OSX isn't perfect but its really really good. Zealotry will get you nowhere, but consise arguments made when he hits F9 and Expose' kicks in will make all the difference.
The people whom I have 'switched' did so after I handed them a Mac to play with. In the case of a heavy IT guy it was getting an older Powerbook running Jaguar. Once he really started to play with it he realized just how much OSX was capable of. The other guy I know did so because he saw my 15" TiBook next to his Toshiba, my laptop was so much thinner, lighter, and when he saw iTunes and the ease of burning a CD he was hooked. Later I brought my iPod on a camping trip and after that he ended up buying a 12" AlBook and a 10gig iPod. The point is, someone has to see what OSX can do, what iLife can do, and he needs this in conjunction with information about the security of OSX, the lack of virii, etc. Also, if you really want to get him interested in OSX you must tailor you argument towards his interests, if he's a music guy show him iTunes/iTMS/GB/iPod, if he's a video guy iMovie/FCPx/iDVD, etc. If he's a gamer, show him the games that are around for the mac, but be honest with him about the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the platform, OSX isn't perfect but its really really good. Zealotry will get you nowhere, but consise arguments made when he hits F9 and Expose' kicks in will make all the difference.
Nice consensus here...
I think the denizens of MacRumors are giving you good advice. Try not to be pushy. The best part about convincing someone to switch to the mac is that you don't have to do much convincing...the system speaks for itself.
What you do have to do is be able to quickly and honestly address the misinformation that surrounds the mac...you've got to be ready with good answers to questions like: Will I be able to open my word documents? This machine's CPU only runs at 1 GHz...the PCs I'm looking at are more than twice as fast...will this be fast enough for me? Why are mac's so much more expensive? Will my favourite games run on a mac? Is Apple computers likely to go out of business soon? Doesn't Microsoft own Apple anyway? What software will I be able to get for a mac. Is it true that there are no viruses that infect macs? I don't want to have to learn Unix...etc.
And also, you may have to accept that, if your friend is a gamer, or is trying to build a system that suits his needs for the minimum price, a mac simply may not be the optimal solution.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Cheers
I think the denizens of MacRumors are giving you good advice. Try not to be pushy. The best part about convincing someone to switch to the mac is that you don't have to do much convincing...the system speaks for itself.
What you do have to do is be able to quickly and honestly address the misinformation that surrounds the mac...you've got to be ready with good answers to questions like: Will I be able to open my word documents? This machine's CPU only runs at 1 GHz...the PCs I'm looking at are more than twice as fast...will this be fast enough for me? Why are mac's so much more expensive? Will my favourite games run on a mac? Is Apple computers likely to go out of business soon? Doesn't Microsoft own Apple anyway? What software will I be able to get for a mac. Is it true that there are no viruses that infect macs? I don't want to have to learn Unix...etc.
And also, you may have to accept that, if your friend is a gamer, or is trying to build a system that suits his needs for the minimum price, a mac simply may not be the optimal solution.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Cheers
Dude, I'm telling you. Get a baseball bat and walking just behind him follow him whereever he goes. If he goes to buy a PC, stare at him coldly and start patting the bat in your hand and slowly shake your head.
i've got a few friends wanting to switch just after showing them the Expose features. hehehe.
But really, what got me to change (back) to Mac was just spending a few hours on a friend's computer that had OSX. i hadn't used OSX before, in fact the last OS i remember using on Mac before i went the PC route was OS 8.1. My point is, its so much a different interface from 8.1 that a PC "Lifer" would have as much inclination to switch 'to' mac as i did to switch 'back to' mac. I was staying with a friend in Toronto for a weekend and had to do some business online, all he used was Macs so i had no choice. But now i feel like i do have a choice, and i choose mac.
Enough tangents... Let the guy mess around with OSX for a couple hours. Show him things like Expose, the Finder, the Dock (magnification wins alot of 'visual type' people over), the ease of uninstalling application (drag to trash). the ease of plugging in and unplugging peripherals, and how you dont get any freaking pop up windows or sound chimes like in XP. Give him a 2 button mouse to navigate with. Show him articles on the megahertz myth. In otherwords, guide him through a couple hours long mac OSXperience (did i just type that?) showing him the features that are unique to Macintosh OSX, and if you can't convince him to switch, then so be it.
But really, what got me to change (back) to Mac was just spending a few hours on a friend's computer that had OSX. i hadn't used OSX before, in fact the last OS i remember using on Mac before i went the PC route was OS 8.1. My point is, its so much a different interface from 8.1 that a PC "Lifer" would have as much inclination to switch 'to' mac as i did to switch 'back to' mac. I was staying with a friend in Toronto for a weekend and had to do some business online, all he used was Macs so i had no choice. But now i feel like i do have a choice, and i choose mac.
Enough tangents... Let the guy mess around with OSX for a couple hours. Show him things like Expose, the Finder, the Dock (magnification wins alot of 'visual type' people over), the ease of uninstalling application (drag to trash). the ease of plugging in and unplugging peripherals, and how you dont get any freaking pop up windows or sound chimes like in XP. Give him a 2 button mouse to navigate with. Show him articles on the megahertz myth. In otherwords, guide him through a couple hours long mac OSXperience (did i just type that?) showing him the features that are unique to Macintosh OSX, and if you can't convince him to switch, then so be it.
JesseJames said:Dude, I'm telling you. Get a baseball bat and walking just behind him follow him whereever he goes. If he goes to buy a PC, stare at him coldly and start patting the bat in your hand and slowly shake your head.
HAHAHAHA i love that.
Put an iBook and a Baseball bat on the table and ask him "You wanna do business or you wanna play games, wiseguy?"
A few things:
Beholden to Microsoft and hoping SP2 will work
Bagel Worm and it's ilk
Productivity
Creativity
Reliability
Wonderful forums like this with lots of good, honest folk
He need not consider the Smiley-Face Gateway or the Smiley-Face Dell
(can you tell which is which?)
Frankly I don't care, as I don't work for Apple. However, in my 20 years of computing, right NOW is the best time to buy a Mac.
Beholden to Microsoft and hoping SP2 will work
Bagel Worm and it's ilk
Productivity
Creativity
Reliability
Wonderful forums like this with lots of good, honest folk
He need not consider the Smiley-Face Gateway or the Smiley-Face Dell
(can you tell which is which?)
Frankly I don't care, as I don't work for Apple. However, in my 20 years of computing, right NOW is the best time to buy a Mac.
Don't pitch it as perfect (it isn't), suggest key features:
Exposé, no ALT+1234 to get accents, ease of application installation & removal, Column view finder, unix-ness, apache & other "sharing" stuff from the get go, ilife (only if he'll use it), this is a really long list you don't have to mention everything.
As for speed complaints, my argument tends to be "A pc is has really fast hardware, i'm not denyinng that, and it saves the computer a lot of time, but on a mac its all about saving you time (and frustration)", (this really applies to laptops more so than desktops) then give them an example, or several based on all the features you are focusing on.
--------
edit:
I didn't mention security / viruses. A little story: I had my mac for about 2 months, and it was great. Then I went home (i'm a college student) for break, and wanted to check my email so I fired up my mother's computer (win xp) and *BAM* 5 minutes later a worm had infected the computer. I was on dial up, so I couldn't run virus update, or google a solution, so I had to call someone up and ask them to google it for me. So my 5 minute email check turned into an hour of chaos + 5 minutes to find out I didn't get any email.
Exposé, no ALT+1234 to get accents, ease of application installation & removal, Column view finder, unix-ness, apache & other "sharing" stuff from the get go, ilife (only if he'll use it), this is a really long list you don't have to mention everything.
As for speed complaints, my argument tends to be "A pc is has really fast hardware, i'm not denyinng that, and it saves the computer a lot of time, but on a mac its all about saving you time (and frustration)", (this really applies to laptops more so than desktops) then give them an example, or several based on all the features you are focusing on.
--------
edit:
I didn't mention security / viruses. A little story: I had my mac for about 2 months, and it was great. Then I went home (i'm a college student) for break, and wanted to check my email so I fired up my mother's computer (win xp) and *BAM* 5 minutes later a worm had infected the computer. I was on dial up, so I couldn't run virus update, or google a solution, so I had to call someone up and ask them to google it for me. So my 5 minute email check turned into an hour of chaos + 5 minutes to find out I didn't get any email.