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Tried to get my parents to buy a Mac...

S

sethwerkheiser

macrumors regular
Original poster
... but they didn't 🙁 Thankfully for my birthday they bought me a new G4 iBook, but insisted that I shop with them at Circuit City and Best Buy for a new PC. Sigh. They eventually bought an HP from Office Max for about $750.

Since that time, though, (they got it Sunday I think) my mom and dad have called me about problems with getting online, or taking the icons/advertisement/AOL crap off their desktops, etc. Since I've had my iBook at home I've been playing Tony Hawk 4 (just a wee bit), surfing the web wirelessly, importing music, etc. etc. etc. Sigh...

I just wish they woulda got a nice entry level eMac. Anyone else watch their loved ones buy a PC and go through the same thing? Heh... 😱
 
ive tried to convince my parents to get a Mac, but they wont, my mom says its pointless, but i think it would be easier for her to use. and my dad is full of **** because he says that he doesnt want to switch because hes an old dos user....sure whatever dad, you still call me for help, it sux that i have to help them with thier bad choice, but whatever i guess
 
Well, considering your plight. You must do this.
Get 2 large pieces of paper and fashion them into a cone shape. The bottom should be large enough to accomodate a human head.
Write in very legible words on the cones the word: DUNCE.
Place this on top of their heads the next time they are struggling with their PC.
To add insult, bay like a sheep while walking away.
 
Essentually my whole family are Wintel users outside of my mother, my aunt and I. Not only do they dislike Mac, they like to throw out all those myths about the Mac (programs, cost, etc) due to some sort of weird half-assed hatred for them. I just stopped arguing with them about anymore. It's their money and they can do with it what they want.
 
well, you can do two things.

1) get to a point where you can just buy them a Mac. (i did this after i got my first job.) afterall, i doubt anyone would be so stubborn to refuse a free computer, even if "it's a Mac."

2) tell them that you will not help them with maintenance of windows. ideally they would be told before they buy their computer, but i guess in your case, reiterate every time you help them that many of the problems they are encountering could have been avoided if they had followed your advice and bought a Mac. (i believe such is the case for most "problems.") if they still don't listen the next time they buy a computer, tell them they are on their own.
 
This is what i did when they got a PC I refused service. Thats right I told them that I will not fix or attempt to fix those computers.
 
PlaceofDis said:
my dad is full of **** because he says that he doesnt want to switch because hes an old dos user....
Click to expand...

That's a statement that might be full of it. Does he still use DOS? If he uses DOS then a Mac is probably not the thing for him--unless he wants to learn UNIX, which is a much better command line OS.

If he doesn't still use DOS, then what's the problem? Loyalty to Microsoft? That's just silly. Loyalty to bad products? Man has Microsoft's marketing department done a number on the world. It was amazing enough to convince people to buy that crap once--but for people to keep using the junk and develop loyalty to it is something else. Do they give awards for that kind of thing?
 
sethwerkheiser said:
I just wish they woulda got a nice entry level eMac. Anyone else watch their loved ones buy a PC and go through the same thing? Heh... 😱
Click to expand...

Even though I prefer PCs and Windows 2000/XP I have witnessed loved one go thorugh the 3rd party icon/software thing. Comes with buying a prebuilt PC.

Connecting to the Internet though, shoudl be as easy as deciding who you want to pay. Plugging in the phone line may be an issue for some.

Horrortaxi said:
That's a statement that might be full of it. Does he still use DOS? If he uses DOS then a Mac is probably not the thing for him--unless he wants to learn UNIX, which is a much better command line OS.
Click to expand...

Millions of people still use DOS. Many Lotteries still use DOS for Keno games. Governemnt apps at all levels still have lots of legacy DOS.

Out of curiosity, what makes you think that the UNIX command line is much better or intuitive than PC DOS?
 
Thankfully, my parents don't have enough money to buy a new "PC" at this time. However, the two Wintel PCs at home, which BTW belong to me, so I can get rid of them at any time, are complete piles, and they don't take care of them. When I was at work (6 hours from home) they would have me fix them when ever I came home. However, now being at College (3.1 Days away) They take and get them fixed elsewere. Now they know the value of my services. Also, My mom really wants to get a Mac, but my dad is quite scared of doing it, because is is the secretary for the local Masonic Lodge, and all the records are in Windows formats, and he doen't believe that there are PC equliviants that you can then send back to the PCs, or that VPC is worthe the Hassle.

Hopefully with the new business they are thinking of buying they will learn the value of a powerful, reliable computer and get rid of all the PCs in their lives.

TEG
 
I think a lot of people have misinformation about Macs. My step-dad, who by the way has little if any computer knowledge, refused to buy a MAc due to "unreliability, cheap build quality, and difficulty of use". Where did he get that info?

p.s. our crappy gateway laptop sits in a complete state of self-destruction with boxes of unsuccessfully installled hardware all over his office, no lie.
 
I don't know why on earth I would try and get my parents to switch to a Mac. My dad has used Windows his whole life, and for what he does on a computer, using a Mac wouldn't really be any better or worse. It's a miracle that my mom learned Windows, and getting her to learn a whole new OS would be hell.
 
I really understand you. I have the same problem with my parents and my brother. The best thing is they have no idea about PCs and Windows and call me every other day with a problem, but don't follow me and just switch to Macs. The time will come when I will stop helping them. period. Maybe they need to switch then, because I end the support contract.
 
My Dad (a long term hard-line misunderstander of the Mac format) listened to me and bought an eMac, but failed to recommend it to a friend despite his convictions that it was a good move. His friend now has a problem with his new Wintel and they had to ring me to try and sort it out!?

And that problem woiuld not have existed with a Mac, so I just sorted it out with a mock smug smile.

Of course if everyone used Macs I would have this opportunity to feel superiour. 😛
 
Macs

For all kids out there that want Macs:

Good Luck. Your parents are scared of having to get all new software and they really don't want to have to learn a second operating system. They have been taught in the past that Macs are slow and pieces of crap.

For all the kids that have Macs and their parents have PeeCees:

I love how my grandpa waits like 10 minutes for the computer to even get to the login screen and then about 10 more minutes waiting for everything to 'autostart'.

For all kids that have PeeCees but their parents have Macs:
😛

Macs are superior and they will never be as bad as Windows.

-A kid who got an iBook in December and his dad has a Compaq 🙂
 
MorganX said:
Out of curiosity, what makes you think that the UNIX command line is much better or intuitive than PC DOS?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't argue that a UNIX shell prompt is any more "intuitive" than a DOS one -- they are both blank slates, and if you don't know the commands you're going to be lost.

UNIX is a better command-line OS because there are way more commands at your disposal, you can multitask them, and most of the shells are way more powerful than DOS's COMMAND.COM shell. Most UNIX shells offer powerful features like command-line completion and editing, filename completion, aliases, way more memory for storing environment variables, and more powerful scripting facilities (offering programming facilities that make UNIX "shell scripts" more like real programs than DOS "batch files" can be). You can fake some of this with MS-DOS, or better with the Command Prompt in WinNT/2000/XP, by getting a better third-party shell like 4DOS/4OS2/4NT and installing a host of third-party ports of UNIX shell utilities like grep, sed, awk, and so on. But why do those products exist? To try to make DOS/Windows as powerful as UNIX is out of the box.

Cheers,


Crikey
 
Here's one to hang your hat on

Ok, so I finally switched last year after supporting Wintel for 15 years and I never looked back (except at work of course). My parents have been my biggest and most frequent clients with problems so finally I did what any sensible adult would do, I bought my mom a clamshell iBook and my dad a 1ghz eMac. Problem solved.

Now I never hear from either of them. I kind of miss them actually.
 
A simple way to switch them. Buy them a Mac. Older people usually won't not use something if they have it. I'm getting my Mom an older ibook over the summer or a Pismo.
 
My mom, Frau Lee, wants to get an iBook. She also wants to get a mini. She currently hauls around a 15" Toshiba that weighs in at a Type II diabetic 8.65 lbs. I have had to deal with Blaster and Sasser on that POS. She has had all kinds of problems with very very basic tasks and isn't exactly computer literate (Note: the Toshiba was given to her by her employer). I find myself getting very frustrated trying to troubleshoot over the phone and need to apply a little pressure.

Had a service technician in our lab today and he was drooling over my TiBook - the slot-loader, the thinness, the screen, etc. He mumbled something along the lines of "... boxy dell latitude..." and left with his head down and lower lip quivering.
 
Am I the only one here who started using a Mac as their first computer? My father introduced me to Macs and I have loved them since 8.6. Although recently I have branched out to Linux (I want to be familiar with all platforms).
 
Fixing PC problems for relatives suck ass. Well, can't your folks return that piece of HP junk? I mean it's less than 30 days right? At least make CC give them store credit for it. eMac would've been nice for them, seriously.
 
musicpyrite said:
Am I the only one here who started using a Mac as their first computer? My father introduced me to Macs and I have loved them since 8.6. Although recently I have branched out to Linux (I want to be familiar with all platforms).
Click to expand...

No, you aren't alone... I have used macs my entire life.... it has only been very recently that I "had" to get a PC (because of school) and couldn't afford VPC (yes, the PC was cheaper...) Now the PC just sits on my desk and folds....
 
The people I know, generally come to me about which computer to buy. So I usually stear them in the right direction. 😀 Although my parent's first computer was a PC (I did not know any better back then) all their computers ever since have been Macs though.

I do have 2 PCs now, but they are just for gaming.
 
musicpyrite said:
Am I the only one here who started using a Mac as their first computer? My father introduced me to Macs and I have loved them since 8.6. Although recently I have branched out to Linux (I want to be familiar with all platforms).
Click to expand...

Yeah my mom's first computer musta been those old Apple I or II's (no idea, but it had that Apple game on it). But now she uses a crippled government win2k box running on a P3...uggh

This is the reason I refused to use anything but my computer in my house...everything is just slow when you compare it to my own AMD box which is still clean as a whistle. I'm gonna have to format my brother's computer (again) b/c he downloaded another DAMN toolbar and still uses OE (no idea what has gotten through by now!). I told him to use firefox, and nothing else, but he never listens!

Sometimes it sucks being the older brother/only computer literate man in the house, but its my responsiblity 🙁
 
Inspector Lee said:
My mom, Frau Lee, wants to get an iBook. She also wants to get a mini. She currently hauls around a 15" Toshiba that weighs in at a Type II diabetic 8.65 lbs. I have had to deal with Blaster and Sasser on that POS. She has had all kinds of problems with very very basic tasks and isn't exactly computer literate (Note: the Toshiba was given to her by her employer). I find myself getting very frustrated trying to troubleshoot over the phone and need to apply a little pressure.

Had a service technician in our lab today and he was drooling over my TiBook - the slot-loader, the thinness, the screen, etc. He mumbled something along the lines of "... boxy dell latitude..." and left with his head down and lower lip quivering.
Click to expand...

My God, geek envy.
 
sethwerkheiser said:
... but they didn't 🙁 Thankfully for my birthday they bought me a new G4 iBook, but insisted that I shop with them at Circuit City and Best Buy for a new PC. Sigh. They eventually bought an HP from Office Max for about $750.

Since that time, though, (they got it Sunday I think) my mom and dad have called me about problems with getting online, or taking the icons/advertisement/AOL crap off their desktops, etc. Since I've had my iBook at home I've been playing Tony Hawk 4 (just a wee bit), surfing the web wirelessly, importing music, etc. etc. etc. Sigh...

I just wish they woulda got a nice entry level eMac. Anyone else watch their loved ones buy a PC and go through the same thing? Heh... 😱
Click to expand...

Nope, I have a rule. I was a reseller for about 11 years and have always chose Macs (since my SE) and recommended them to family and friends. After a few years, my rule was born. Buy a Mac and call for help anytime you need it. Buy a PC, lose my number.
 
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