How many have you switched to Mac, and how?

[billyboy]

I have been quietly extolling the virtues of Macs since I switched (with no input from anyone) last year, and whilst only a couple have said Mac is crap despite some pretty nifty demoes, no one I know has actually gone out and bought a new Mac .

The thing is though, people like my father, who really do need an alternative to the wierd vagaries of PC and Windows, are so committed financially to their current system, it is hard to justify the switch - unless their system literally breaks down and they have to consider buying a new computer. And even then, what do they do with all the PC software that hasnt come cheap? I cant seee there is any resale value in it to recoup some losses.

Any Mac heads out there with a few switcher scalps under their belt got any good salesman tactics for overcoming every obstacle and resistance? Personally I think it is the software that catches the eye, and when iTMS comes out for Windows I am sure it will sell like hot cakes, but will it really persuade people to go the whole tootie and switch from a PC all together.

 

[hvfsl]

The problem is most people I know are gamers, so for them a Mac is no good. Others I know are creative types and would love to get a Mac because they are so much better, it is just the price puts them off. The only people I have managed to make get a Mac are first time buyers that have not used Windows or Mac OS before. I just showed them how much easier Mac OS is and then went out and got one. Also you could always say you will give them help if they run into any problems while getting used to Mac OS if they switch from Windows.

 

[mrjamin]

i'd always been aware of macs, and when i was 17, i got a temp-job working for a webdesign company and ended up working on an OS8 powermac. I loved it! So yeah, 4 years later, i was utterly hacked off with my windows box and decided it was time to look into macs again. Bought myself an iBook, now thinking about ditching the peecee altogether and getting a G5, but i think thats wishful thinking as the chances of me having the money for quite some time is pretty remote.

oh yeah, back ontopic - i switched my girlfriend

 

[Nermal]

I switched my cousin by mistake He came and visited, didn't see my iBook, and had no idea I owned a Mac. But the iBook was working its magic, because my cousin suddenly declared that he was buying a PowerBook! I showed him my iBook and he was quite impressed - he'd never used OS X before, so after half an hour of his fiddling I had a huge dock with little black triangles underneath every single icon

A bit off topic, but I think I'll go on and explain what brought me to the Mac in the first place. The first Mac I used was a Classic in 1994 at school. I thought it was a strange little machine! Next year we had an LC in the classroom, which was a huge improvement (colour screen and SimCity!)

In 1998 one of my friends at school had found a Mac emulator on the net. I managed to find the necessary ROM, plus the copy of 7.0.1 that was available for free download from Apple (and still is!). Over the next couple of years, emulation progressed, and I ended up using a purchased copy of OS 8.1 (same version as the original iMac!) on Basilisk II.

In 2001, I met a guy who swore by Macs. He explained the G4, and AltiVec (yes he did call it AltiVec and mentioned that Apple had a different name for it). I popped onto Apple's site and had a look, but I wasn't too sure how much they'd changed since OS 8.1.

Later on in 2001 I had a class that used G4 Macs (running 8.6 I think). They were hooked up to a network and were horribly slow. Not a good impression. But I knew enough about computers to know that it was most likely their configuration, and the fact that there were literally hundreds of Macs, PCs, and Linux machines on that network.

At the start of this year, I started doing a course in a nearby city. It quickly became apparent that I'd be travelling back and forth a lot, and that it'd be a pain to lug my AMD desktop around in the car. I knew I needed a laptop. So I looked around and started comparing prices. I was open-minded enough to compare Macs too. I don't do much gaming, but it was important to me to get a decent video card in the laptop. So I look at all the "cheapies" with Windows, and they've got like 8 meg video cards or whatever. So guess what the cheapest laptop with a decent video card is! You guessed right, it's the iBook

I was originally going to go for the 12", but in the end decided to pay the extra $150 and go up to the 14". It arrived on Valentine's Day, and I fell in love with it. I feel really stupid for writing that!

So that's my story, and this is quite possibly the longest post I've made on these forums. I'll stop rambling now.

 

[homeshire]

after a few years of trying, i finally bagged my first switcher yesterday!!!

ok, ok, it was only my sister. but it was nonetheless an emac that apple hadn't sold until yesterday.

i have constantly been amazed at how easy it is to impress others with a mac, and how damnably hard it can be to get one to actually say "i'll buy". they come up with one meaningless excuse after another. and it always astounds me.

the only strategy i can think of, which should work magnificently, but always seems to fail, is to take the wintelites concerns about his $1000.s of dollars of software (i've always found this a dubious claim on their part anyway) and point out that it comes pretty much bundled as an incredibly beautiful package on virtually every mac sold. they won't miss anything with mass appeal. the only thing they might miss out on is perhaps some specific targeted app that doesn't exist for the mac.

all in all, this whole argument and debate just shows the enormous power of fud that is the main arsenal in the m$ and intel campaign of domination.

 

[jefhatfield]

the easiest person by far to turn onto macs are people who are first time users

they have not seen the "price difference" and the stats "on paper" which favors, at first glance, the pc machines

 

[mwpeters8182]

I had first switched by buying a cube -- but my schoolwork required a laptop, so I went out and bought an HP laptop [biggest mistake ever - the CD drive died, and it's now just sitting there with no OS on it] -- but I also went out and bought a G3 Blue and White tower, which i have thrown a G4 chip into. It's now almost as fast as my cube was.

Needless to say, the HP will be replaced with an iBook 12" as soon as I can get the money.

MP

 

[sonofslim]

i switched 6 or 7 years ago when i started working in publishing and design, initially because the software was, and still is, on the mac. but i realized soon enough that the efficiency and productivity you get with a mac is a huge benefit. it's really not just a different operating system -- it's a better designed, more user-centric operating system.

example: last time i put a brand-new mac online, i opened a control panel and typed in the network name and the wep key. last time i put a brand-new PC online, i had to deal with drivers, bindings, configurations, blah blah blah... i really feel that on a mac, you spend less time working with software/hardware related issues and more time working on your work. your computer should be a tool to solve a problem, not a problem in itself -- i mean, what if you had to reinstall the OS on a hammer before you could hit a nail?

i still work with PCs on an almost daily basis and my initial observation of 7 years ago still holds true -- the amount of time i spend doing non-productive tasks on the PC (restarting, reconfiguring, removing my hair in frustration, etc.) is way, way more than on the mac.

 

[iShater]

2 ... working on more!

I guess technically it is 1.5, I helped a friend switch (add) an iMac, and helped someone make the decision to go with a PowerBook.

Starting with the PowerBook. The machine pretty much sold itself, a collegue of mine was looking to buy a laptop and asked around if anybody knew stuff about Macs. A buddy of mine told her to talk to me, she asked me questions, I explained everything I knew about the 12" PowerBook, and over the weekend she went out and got herself a nice top-of-the-line 12" PowerBook. However, I *did* point her to the iPod when I saw her old jukebox or whatever-it-is-called player. She got a 3G one immediately!

My other friend is a true "switch" story. He was into movie making on his Dell computer and absolutely hated the software and hardware that came with it. So I kept mentioning iMovie and iMac enough times that he got interested in checking them out. I took him to CDW and the Apple Store and slowly he decided that was the way he wanted to go. He is the proud owner of a 800Mhz 17" FP iMac, and he has gotten quite good at using it!!!

As for me, well, my story is long, I will save it for the Switch Stories forum

 

[patrick0brien]

-All

I find the easiest to 'switch' aren't swithers at all technically - they are office workers who use a PC (98, 2k) but don't own one of their own yet, but are looking.

As a result, they see the various sillyness that PC's can display - especially EEK'ed by IT, and are driven to value. And let's face it, with the TOC, Tech support and quality, Macs have value in spades.

As for getting an honest switcher, a PC user to Mac, well, that's difficult due to entrenchment. Getting a Mac user to switch to PC is only a little more difficult.

I think an honest switcher switches themselves, then asks a friend for assistance.

 

[trebblekicked]

i switched 2 and lost one. after i got my tibook, i bagged a couple switchers in three weeks. I got two guys to buy 15" 1 giggers with superdrives in Nov/December. Then i treated them to a webcast of MWSF and showed them around OSX for a while. Funny, in the past week, all three of our AC adapters blew. Same batch, i suppose. Anyway, i almost had a third, but he opted for a $600 Compaq POS and is paying the price now. I've got two swtichers on the line, both looking at 12" ibooks, and my parents are thinking about a FP imac.

 

[MacManDan]

After switching myself, my friend saw my TiBook, used it for a few minutes, and went home that night and bought a PowerMac. He jumped in right away! He thought OS X was the coolest thing he'd seen and the laptop's design was top-notch (this was about 11 months ago).

In January, my father was looking to buy his computer, and he remembered that I had a PBook. It didn't take a lot of convincing to get him to buy a 1Ghz TiBook (he didn't want to wait 3-4 months for the 17" to ship), and he loves it. He says he's convinced it's the best computer ever created.

My girlfriend has been complaining constantly about how her Compaq Windows-based PC never works. The DVD/CD-ROM drive didn't read anything except DVDs, Windows crashed literally every day (no joke or exaggeration here), her LCD was failing, and she was never able to get it to work the way she wanted. I took her to the CambridgeSide Galleria Apple Store and she fell in love with the 12" iBook. A couple of days ago, she ordered one from Amazon.com and it's in the mail as we speak (unless they haven't shipped it yet ). I've never seen her so excited about getting anything that she's ordered before. She was so mad it didn't ship last night, it was very funny. I hope she enjoys it (and doesn't get too frustrated with her switch from Windows!)

Two other friends of mine have asked me about my PowerBook, how much I like it, how difficult the switch was, etc. One of my friends says he is going to buy a PBook as soon as he gets the money, and the other one is still shopping around for a new laptop, but is seriously considering one for its portability and battery life. I guess you could say they're half-switchers!

So total, I've switched 4 people (3 people + 2 'half-switchers'). Heh

 

[mmoin]

I guess I'm not so much a switcher as someone who's "returned" to the fold, as I had a IICi and a Performa back in elementary school, but then moved to PC. Got a 12" iBook in january and haven't regretted it since (well, except for when I messed it up by installing some beta software). my sister also got a 12" at the same time, she loves it, and hopefully my parents are going to get a 12" ibook in the next month or so, they're getting sick of their old dell. hooray for apple

 

[Shobai]

...the stupid software excuse...

Heistant DOPE:
"Yeah, but mac has like..NO software...the PC's got thousands of different software titles to choose from."

One Who's Seen the Light:
"Uh, why would you want thousands of choices in a software title....you get 999 bad, pieces of crap, don't work half the time titles and 1 really good one. But on a mac, you have enough to choose from, and they're ALL good. So the real problem is, the PC's got thousands of choices.... have fun trying to choose wisely. While I'll just close my eyes and grab one of the 10,000 Mac apps (yeah..10,000!)...knowing full well it'll work and I'll be happy with it."

Heistant DOPE:
"........"

One Who's Seen the Light:
"exactly"

 

[MacBoyX]

13.

It's not an unlucky number to me. Since I switched in February 2001...

My mom, sister, 2 best friends, 7 other friends, boyfriend, best friend's sister and working on my uncle.

Most of them only had to use my PowerBook or iMac to decide, most of the "other friends" I took to the Apple store near me...answered some of their questions, dispelled some myths...

The more amazing thing is that 2 of the people were my WORST PC Support Customers... since then neither have called to ask ANYTHING more than what do u think of.... no more..my nic card isnt working, it crashed and now i have this dumb blue screen lol.

I recommend showing anyone who will look ur Mac(s) and letting them decide for themselves.

I agree with Patrick too... most of my switchers me included are PC Users at work and Mac users at home...and very happy people I might add.

If you want see my switcher time line..i posted it in another thread the other day...

Switcher Timeline

Thanks for asking I been wanting to tell someone this for a while lol.

MacBoyX

 

[billyboy]

What´s the most impressive demo to do?

Having seen my mates miserably try to use winamp to play me the latest greatest tune from their "collections", I reckon making an iTunes playlist from my 3000+ library is a good demo of the ease of use.

Anyone got a stock in trade mind-blowing trick to impress inquisitive PC users?

 

[c2kvette]

I've switched two people, one bought a new 12" iBook and another a 15" FP iMac, and four more are wanting to buy a Mac. All this because they saw my new FP 17" iMac and fell in love with it. All I have to do is show them all the cool stuff it will do and how simple it is.

There are only really two things that I run into when trying to get switchers, which are:

"Macs are too expensive, I can get a PC for $500"
"There not compatible with my software"

 

[bryanc]

I semi-switched just over a year ago (bought a powerbook, but still have a PC desktop). Since then I have become a Mac Evangelist. My Mac is *SO* much better than my PC there is no question of what I will buy when I need to replace my desktop.

Since acquiring my Mac, I've strongly influenced several purchases that may have gone PC otherwise, but I don't know if I've actually 'switched' any one.

Like any other significant decision, it is essential that individuals have freedom to choose what they will, and desirable that they have as much relevant information as possible. When the relevant information is available, intelligent people will usually (depending on their needs and constraints) choose macs.

I do find the idea that we are converting the heathen Windows users to the One True Faith amusing (especially because I'm an atheist).

 

[rueyeet]

I'll tell you how they got me: watching my brother-in-law wandering around the house with that beautiful TiBook in the palm of his hand, Internet connection up and running via AirPort. Then they came out with OS X and the iPod. Didn't take long for Windows to straw me its last straw, and voila! a Switcher I became.

I haven't managed to convert anyone, not being much of the evangelist personality. The only people I know remotely interested in switching to the Mac are Unix geeks, who worship Linus Torvalds and talk of "proprietary solutions" in dark mutterings, so that's kind of a no-go. They're the kind of Linux proponents who distrust anything they can't see the full source code of, and for whom ease of use is not only vastly underrated, but a fairly skewed perception.

I think the key is to use your Mac in the potential Switcher's presence to do whatever they've complained to you about doing on their Windows machine.

 

[Abstract]

Why hasn't anyone said, "I switched because of those cool Switcher Ads".

I hate people who bash Macs and go buy PC's without even checking out the alternatives. Freedom of choice has always been such a bad thing.

GO RUSSIA!!!! GO CHINA!!!!

 

[solvs]

I've "elightened" some people myself. But you'll always get some people who, despite hating Windows, won't get a Mac. Mostly gamers and the uninformed.

As far as the software thing goes, besides VirtualPC, you do know that most of the time you can do a cross-platform software upgrade, right? Lets say you own a legal copy of Photoshop 6 for PC. You can buy the Photoshop 7 upgrade for Macs. Saves you a ton of money. Apples got an even better thing going right now for former Premier users.

And as someone who's done audio/video on a PC, trust me, buy a Mac.

Besides, most of what most people need already comes with a Mac. Basic video, audio, DVD, imaging, etc. With lots of shareware and freeware.

 

[Daveman Deluxe]

I've switched two people so far.

My youth pastor was using a Compaq, but he had to keep all his stuff on floppy disks because the hard disk would delete any files he had saved. Last December, his new 15" TiBook came in on my suggestion. His first question to me was about how to save his files to a CD-RW. I told him to relax and save it to his hard disk. He wasn't sure, but I told him I'd put my future career as a youth pastor on the line and he believed me. His Compaq sits in the corner and all he's used it for since then is to do his taxes.

Another guy, whom I draw a webcomic with, got an iBook for Christmas this year from his dad. For the longest time his PC was acting up. Typical "It restarts every five minutes" PC nonsense. Last summer he decided that was going to be his last PC and asked his dad for an iBook for his Christmas/graduation gift. He got it the week after Christmas and was happy as a clam. AirPort, 640 MB RAM, the whole nine yards. He didn't have any way to get on the Internet, unfortunately, but one day he was in his room and he saw that iChat said he was online. It turns out he's been mooching bandwidth for the last four months off a neighbor, but it's not a big deal. He'll be in college with a real Internet connection soon enough.

 

[Gus]

I'm on my 12th switcher, and the last two were my favorites. At a conference I went to this summer, the guy that I shared a room with was an ex-IT guy from Morgan Stanley in NYC. HE started asking me about Apple's laptops, and a week later he purchased a PowerBook. A week after that, I got an e-mail from him telling me that he had switched another mutual friend of ours. A switcher switching someone. How great!

Regards,
Gus

 

[LordMord]

No time for tech support...

I was pretty much the first person I know to get to grips with PCs...so, over the years I turned into the 'local' tech support guy.

As time goes on and days seem to get shorter I started to get a bit fed up with all the problems people were getting so...I told my friends that I use Macs and that if they want my help then they need to concider switching.

Well, not too many of them are still on PC...

Ah...the peace and quiet...ah...blizz

 

[pseudobrit]

I've probably bagged about 4-5. Three of them have or are on the verge of making hardware purchases.

Oh, and as for the "how," it's the easiest sale you'll ever do; the Mac (with OS X) sells itself.