Do you try to convert others?

[neoelectronaut]

Now that you've seen the light in the form of Apple and OS X, do you try to convert others?

I do, at least. People are annoyed by it, but whenver they have trouble with Windows (95-XP) They always ask me to help. I help, but I'm like, "This wouldn't be a problem if you used a Mac."

In particular, my girlfriend has a custom-built PC that gives her nothing but trouble. Restarts itself, viruses and spyware out the wazoo, freezes, and all kinds of other stuff.

I believe I've convinced her to get an iBook. And if not, I guess I'll have to do some more convincing.

[SilentPanda]

Girl/boyfriends, immediate family (wife/your own children) get help no matter the platform. Immediate family (parents and siblings) and very close friends get help sometimes... others... I grumble my way out of it... :) And tell 'em to get a Mac... then I tell them I'll be their tech support.

[bousozoku]

I'm willing to mention little things when viruses hit or something like that, but I don't try to convert other people. It's more of a headache than anything else. People usually cling to flawed reasoning in order to support their need to run Windows.

The smarter of the group will find their way eventually. :)

[LeeTom]

The only person I'm trying to outright convert is my Mom. Once she falls, I think others in my family may as well. But many of my friends now have Powerbooks, after seeing mine. Actually, 6 of my closer friends do, with the exception of a couple, who got iBooks. These were all either Windows users, or people that had no computer before.

Lee Tom

[Horrortaxi]

Everybody knows I love the Mac platform. I talk a lot about the cool things I can do and how easy it is to do them. When people ask me for advice on a new computer I suggest they check out a Mac. I don't actively try to convert though--that would be obnoxious.

Eh, except for my mom. I bought her an iMac. That was pretty heavy handed but I got sick of doing Windows tech support for her. She's happier now though.

[musicpyrite]

All my family members use Macs, thats why I got into them.

As far as anybody asking me for help, I give them a lecture on how Macs are better then tell them to type this:C:/ Format C:

:D

Mac users get my full atention why trying to help.

[MacsRgr8]

You bet ya, I convert my friends!

I usually show-off my Macs at home to them. Showing them how cool and good-looking a Mac is, casually giving a small demo of the iApps..... all without virusses (viri??).
If they want to they can play a game too.

Once they start to get interested, I show them what's for sale.... That's the hard bit. "OMG! What prices!"
Luckily I can get quite cheap second hand stuff from my work (always a couple of iMacs written off), and sell them one of those for a very good price.
It usually takes between a couple of weeks to a couple of months before they buy a brand new one. :)
Ofcourse I reassure them I will be their tech-support guy, but they hardly ever call for a problem... ;) Just for beers! :p

[ExoticFish]

i don't go around saying "if you had a Mac..." cause that's just annoying. i've heard it from Mac, PC, Windows, Linux users and that's not the point.

i personally just use my PowerBook and that does all the talking. i was just talking to a friend of mine who a year ago was against Mac. i got him interested in Linux and today he was telling me that he's thinking about getting a PowerBook.

if you try and sell it then people think, why's he trying to sell this?

if you are confident and have nothing to prove, get things done faster, and have a better looking desktop the whole while... that's what impressed people. :D

[5300cs]

No, I don't try to convert anyone. I'm actually annoyed sometimes when people ask me "Well what's the difference? A computer is a computer." or "How is it better than windows?" You can give them all the techno babble you want, or even try to explain it all in Layman's terms, but sooner or later (usually sooner) their eyes just glaze over and they stop listening. I tell them to try one out at a store next time.
If they are really interested, I can tell and I'll explain more, or let them try my machine out, but usually it's just 2 questions, then they're not interested anymore.
I've tried numerous times to convert my dad because his awful pos windows machine just will not work properly. No sound, then no internet, then 3 copies of each email in his inbox. Not to mention zillions of pop-ups, and kinds of spyware - it's obnoxious. So I gave him my old iBook and sat down with him teaching him how to use it. He used it once, then just left it under his desk and continued to use his pc.
Last time I'm ever giving him anything :mad:

They'll find the path when they're ready to switch.

[Tremaine]

I don't talk to people that don't like Macs... :D

Actually I just successfully convert my parents. It only took them about 15 years to see the light. It started when they needed a CD player to take travelling now that they are retired. Then my father saw MP3 players and thought he should call me and ask my opinion. I told him to go check out the iPods at our local Apple store. The Apple guys took a lot of time with them and said all the right things. Next thing I know, they call up and start asking what I think of the Powerbooks. Hooked! I suspect they will own one in a couple of weeks (or at least when it finally ships). Since they plan to live abroad for a few months each year, they really like the AppleCare program, too.

[iHambone]

[iHambone]

I'm of the, "oh, you're having problems with your computer? Oh.....windows......sorry", clan.

Everyone I know uses Windows, so I get pretty annoying.

But yeah, I try to convert everyone.

[Horrortaxi]

"Get a Mac" is my favorite answer to every computer question I hear, but nobody wants to hear it. The closest I've come to a fist fight in about 15 years was over my iBook.

[superbovine]

most of my friends tell sure they would switch, but being a windows programmer makes them a lot of money. oh the irony.

[mulletman13]

When asked by my friends how to fix something... I usually reply with.... " Oh... thats a weird problem.... but i dont remember how to fix it cause i dont run windows anymore..." THen they'll usually reply with "Whaaaaat?" or something to the effect. After that, I guess I describe it for them... I've converted 2 people... convinced a friend to buy 15" PowerBook and another friend into a 12" ibook :-D

PS: The guy that bought the ibook bought a new Dell a few months ago.... and is totally fed up with it :)

[davecuse]

I work at a software company currently doing tech support, we make strictly Windows based stuff, nonetheless I've managed to convert 4 out of 30 there to Apple.

I've also gotten my family to switch in short order, my parents were getting hit with a ton of virii and got really sick of it. That one wasn't too hard a sell.

In the past 5 months I've gotten 4 of my friends to switch, from Win ME. Those weren't too tough a sell.

The most interesting convert I've had was a teller at my bank (a cute one at that). I went in and asked if they were going to revise their online banking site to support Safari, she asked me why I use a Mac and I told her how much more secure it was than Windows. She knows I work at a software company so I guess she took my word for it. A couple weeks ago she told me that I'd convinced her to get an Apple. Step one complete, now i just need her digits :D

[Sabbath]

I don't really try and convert people, although I will tell people to consider a mac, if they are looking for a computer and I regularly get asked questions about my mac stuff. I've got two to switch since Christmas and another two considering it if they can find the money and a suitably priced machine. Also my gf really wants to switch but can't afford it, I wish I could afford to get her a PB as a present :(

[AppleMatt]

all without virusses (viri??).

Oh god don't open that can of worms!

AppleMatt

[Ryan1524]

i've successfully recruited one. it's not so much a covnert since he's not biased against macs in the first place. but i steered him in the right direction. and then after my parent's computer got hit bad by viruses, spywares and adwares, they told me they'd like to get a mac the first chance they got (money). and another friend at school wants a mac, and after seeing my powerbook, he's definitely getting one.

i try to convert people all the time.

[KingSleaze]

I try to stay away from religion in conversations. I've come to recognize that a person will believe what the want to believe, no matter what the facts are.

As far as computer system conversions, I've really only tried to change the mind of one. And I don't think that I will make him change, he makes his living from tech support for Winbloze machines.

[paulypants]

I always try to help people out by pointing out the beauty of the mac platform, and having a local apple store for them to check out def helps.

I have converted many many people...

...I have started my own macintosh cell. ;)

[Sun Baked]

I don't like converting people...

Though I do enjoy watching people flounder around in blissful ignorance.

Almost as much fun as going to a keg party at a frat with your camera, and staying sober.

[Nermal]

"Get a Mac" is my favorite answer to every computer question I hear, but nobody wants to hear it. The closest I've come to a fist fight in about 15 years was over my iBook.

http://www.applegeeks.com/comics/issue98.jpg

Courtesy of Applegeeks (http://www.applegeeks.com/) :D

[wrldwzrd89]

http://www.applegeeks.com/comics/issue98.jpg

Courtesy of Applegeeks (http://www.applegeeks.com/) :D
Nermal - that's funny! I haven't successfully switched anyone, but I do let people know that I'm a Mac user.

[Little Endian]

Converting others to the Macintosh Platform can be a very touchy ordeal just as in trying to convert in a religious sense. I do not actively try to convert people anymore. I have converted about a dozen people in the past 7 years or so. It was easy to convert most of them because they were generally unbiased in regards to platform. People are reluctant to switch mostly becase of Cost and secondly and sometimes more importantly the fear of the learning curve or if not fear the hassle of having to get used to new technology.

[MacRy]

All the time! Converted my best friend so that I didn't have to be Tech Support for his crappy PC every other day. Also managed to persuade my boss to by me an iBook when we are a windows support service. Converted three Tech Consultants too. :D

[leftbanke7]

About the only person I even bring it up with is my brother. He is essentually computer illiterate and it gets somewhat annoying when he calls me (or my mother who knows nothing about PCs) looking for help. All I can do it steer him towards people I know who know their PCs. Everybody else I usually just smile and nod as they tell me how big of a pile of crap Macs are. My old boss, my friend's father and my uncle are always trying to tell me that Apple is on their way out (or going to adopt x86 architecture) and I find it pointless to argue so I let them yack and just drown it out. I also have a guy at work who riding shotgun on the Dell bandwagon although he admited to me that his laptop is too heavy. He likes to throw his occational barbs at Macs and I just sit and grin as he throws out his back lugging around his laptop.

On a related note, I have just purchased my first new Mac in 6 years (12" PBook). Just doing my part to help Apple avoid going under.

[Blue Velvet]

Always -- particularly if they've asked me fix something on their PC...
Have had some successes too.

I think Apple promotes its products poorly as there are so many misconceptions about them held by the general public.

Can you use email or Word on a Mac? I've been asked this before.

Everybody seems to think that they're specialist machines for designers...

[EGT]

I converted my brother. He was using a shabby, run down, ugly machine of a thing, with XP installed. Ohhh god the pain, it was an awful machine. With a fan so loud it sent little old grannies running inside with their dogs, whimpering and screaming ... ohhh the pain ... you could honestly not imagine any worse.

I'd just sit there quietly, humming something like " ahhh the joys of mac os X what a wonderful machine" just to really rub it in…

It worked! :p I do plan on stealing his computer by the way.

[Mechcozmo]

I use a mac, and have been. When I was 6 years old, I inherited my dad's old Macintosh. It had 512kb of memory. Last year, I made a friend who hates Macintoshes like I hate SPAM (both kinds). After he came over, I impressed him that our school project was imported, edited, and burned to a DVD in about 4 hours. Well, the burn sent it over 4 hours, but that isn't much "work," watching iDVD say you have one more minute to go...

And although he soon discovered Windows Movie Maker (DO NOT USE! I have tried it, and I would rather edit on that original Mac that use it.) he was still impress at FCE speed. He bragged that Windows Movie Maker didn't have to render...but after showing him the quality 2 seconds after and 2 minutes after, he conceded.

From when I first met him, to now, he only likes Airport Express and Firefox, which although isn't Apple it isn't Microsoft. Its a half-step.

Any ideas on converting this guy?
(Oh, his poor less-than-a-year-old laptop died. Dosn't faze him)