Help longtime Mac devotee buy a new Mac!

[dr_fate]

Ok, guys and gals I'm writing this because a friend has recently lost faith in Apple and appears to be considering the dark side. A few days ago his trusty old Imac G3 died on him and he finds himself in need of a new computer. However, instead of doing the obvious thing and replacing that mac with another, it looks as if he is leaning towards a PC. Now, I am a PC user myself who's lust for Macs began in ernest when I started listening to his rants about how great Apple was.
I can't stand the thought of him abadoning his once beloved platform and doing something rash that I'm sure he'll regret. So I beg you, the Mac faithful, to help me convince him to stay with Apple. We mustn't let the enemy get another soldier. Thanks all!

 

[kgarner]

It would help if we knew why he was thinking of switching. Just coming up with reasons isn't good enough if we can't answer his questions.

 

[dr_fate]

Well he's using that old fallacy that Pcs are cheaper than Macs. However macs are more affordable than they've ever been, in my opinion, with the Emac and low end iBooks.

 

[Sun Baked]

If he wants to sit there and play games all day long, the PC isn't a bad choice.

If he wants to sit there and be productive, the Mac isn't a bad choice.

 

[thirteen1031]

A True Friend!

You're a True Friend, Dr. Fate (like the name!).

The first thing you can do is take you friend to an Apple Store. Use the pretext that you're interested in buying a new Mac to lure him along--ask for his advice and help and thoughts. Seeing the streamlined look of the latest Macs, typing on the beautiful keyboards of the powerbooks, witnessing the speed of the G5's, and the ease with which iPhoto downloads pictures might be enough to re-wet his appetite for a Mac.

I don' t know what he was using on his old G3, but if it wasn't Panther, than this will also give him a taste of what Panther can do--like Expose's ability to shrink windows for easy viewing, Fast Switcher's ability to give him new screens, and all those other nifty new programs he can play on, like Garageband.

Finally, a shopping trip will give him a chance to see that there are plenty of new, speedy Macs at competitve prices.

If that doesn't do it, perhaps it's time to remind him that PC's do require a certain amount of maintance in order to remain virus free and working. And that no matter how cheap the PC, software usually isn't included. This might give him second thoughts.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

 

[dr_fate]

Thanks! Great post, by the way. Problem is I can't trick him into going on a trip to the Apple store with me as we live thousands of miles apart. Nice idea though.

Its funny though, up until his iMac broke he visited the Apple store online everyday and salivated over the products there. He would anxiously await any and every keynote by Steve Jobs and follow all the rumor sites to satiate his hunger for mac news. Then it all changed within days. The shock of him discussing PCs as a viable option clearly threw me off guard.

He ran OS 9 on his iMac so I know he would be blown away by Panther. Many a time I've tinkered with it in the store yearning to take a Mac home myself. I was close to buying a new Mac myself when the g4 ibooks came out, but was forced to abort at the last second due to unforeseen financial woes. Between last October and now we've been promising each other to buy new macs around the same time and now he is abandoning those promises for the lure of a skanky PC. Its disappointing to say the least. I can only hope that comments such as yours will help sway him back into the light. Keep 'em coming people.

You're a True Friend, Dr. Fate (like the name!).

The first thing you can do is take you friend to an Apple Store. Use the pretext that you're interested in buying a new Mac to lure him along--ask for his advice and help and thoughts. Seeing the streamlined look of the latest Macs, typing on the beautiful keyboards of the powerbooks, witnessing the speed of the G5's, and the ease with which iPhoto downloads pictures might be enough to re-wet his appetite for a Mac.

I don' t know what he was using on his old G3, but if it wasn't Panther, than this will also give him a taste of what Panther can do--like Expose's ability to shrink windows for easy viewing, Fast Switcher's ability to give him new screens, and all those other nifty new programs he can play on, like Garageband.

Finally, a shopping trip will give him a chance to see that there are plenty of new, speedy Macs at competitve prices.

If that doesn't do it, perhaps it's time to remind him that PC's do require a certain amount of maintance in order to remain virus free and working. And that no matter how cheap the PC, software usually isn't included. This might give him second thoughts.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

 

[thirteen1031]

Thanks! Great post, by the way. Problem is I can't trick him into going on a trip to the Apple store with me as we live thousands of miles apart.

Ah. Well, in that case, you tell him, again, that you're thinking of buying a Mac and you'd like HIM to go to an Apple Store in his town--while you go to an Apple Store in your town--so that you can confer with him that night on the phone about what he thinks of the new machines.

Tell him that you can't make up your mind looking at them on-line, that you want to play on them in person--and that you really, really, really would be grateful if he'd do the same and so be able to give you his honest opinion.

Make sure you mention an interest especially in:
1) Powerbooks
2) G5's
3) The New iMacs which will be coming out in July and will be G5's.
AND that you want to know what HE thinks of Panther. This will force him not only to look at the coolest, newest machines, but also see what Panther can do.

Does this sound at all possible? If so, it'd be a good way for you to say, "I can't make up my mind, I love this...I love that...did you try this on Panther? That was kinda cool...."