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Hot take: Macs are technically PCs

I wonder if one uses a corporate assigned computer it has to be called a CC or perhaps just keep calling it PC, for Public Computer.
 
timber said:
I wonder if one uses a corporate assigned computer it has to be called a CC or perhaps just keep calling it PC, for Public Computer.
Click to expand...

I use the term: work-issued computer.

The connotation is less choice and having to deal with employer limitations, security and monitoring software.
 
Squidiey said:
I respect your opinion, but personally I believe that computers should be categorized based on their operating system like the following:

macOS PCs
Windows PCs
Linux PCs
FreeBSD PCs
Click to expand...

So you change what you call the machine depending on what os is running

When you reboot from one’s to another it’s still the same machine
 
HouseLannister said:
Hot take: My phone is a PC. My watch is a PC. My gaming console is a PC.
Hotter take: Rebrand Macs as CPs: Computers w/ Personality.
Click to expand...
Weirder take

My chevy colorado truck is a PC. I'm going to call my dealership and schedule my PC for an oil change 😛

My truck has a processor, has a screen, an input device, and runs apps and its personal, so its a PC
 
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So apple helped popularize the word PC to market their initial products in the 70s/80s (apple I, II, and Lisa). However after the Macintosh released they had a more clear identity and they ended up really pushing the word Macintosh in the 90s to differentiate themselves once the IBM clones and windows/dos pcs became more common. This really became important in the era of the powerpc Mac clones. But after Steve Jobs returned he simplified it to Mac and really pushed this idea that Macs are not PCs to help differentiate them. And it's been a great marketing strategy. It's not only that we make a competing product, we make a completely different type of product altogether. That differentiation has been at the core of the Macs cult following for years. Even back in the classic Mac OS days the differentiation existed to some extent because of how opinionated and weird apples offerings have always been. But it really got pushed after Mac OS X and the new world Macs (all the cool looking Macs apple released after 1998 that had the new world rom). Your PC doesn't have a smiling icon called the finder looking at you at all times. When things get slow you don't get a beach ball on windows. Or the chime when your computer boots and the fun little sounds Mac OS makes when something is moved or when you do something that your computer can't do. Everything about Mac OS is just different in a way that windows can't be. Some of it is branding, some of it is just the pleasant way that apple products tickle your brain. Just the idea of having an apple logo on what should be a tech product is weird. I am mostly saying this as someone who grew up using windows computers and then switched to Mac in my tweens. I have never been able to look back because it genuinely feels like I am using a completely different category of product. Part of it is also Microsofts fault, they just don't really have a strategy that differentiates them well. Most of what differentiates PC's are their negative aspects (bloatware and copilot). It's not a cool little icon or a fun little sound like on Mac OS. And notice that this same dynamic doesn't exist between iOS and Android. Thats because android does have good marketing to differentiate themselves. Apple has never said "smart phones" vs iPhones. They have always named Android by their name whenever they make a jab or mention it. This is because Google took inspiration from apples philosophy and also created an opinionated product with a robot mascot and a cool material design aesthetic. I think on some level apples marketing team understands that android is closer to IOS as a category than windows pcs are to Mac OS. And it is all Microsofts fault because Microsoft is a very lazy company when it comes to this stuff.
 
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Mrbobb said:
Once upon my teenage years, I came to conclude to calling male friends as boyfriends and female friends as girlfriends, perfectly logical right. People looked at me funny, I gave in not to do that because I didn't want to be the weirdo.
Click to expand...
I know some older people who do in fact call a bunch of their female friends girlfriends.
 
Steve Adams said:
Oh, I will just leave this here for the Apple peeps! Mac/Apple are PC. It's even in the name! 🤪

mac_8500_1.jpg


So, The OP is factually correct. ALL computers that are sold to consumers are PCs. PERSONAL COMPUTERS. What operating system they use is the differentiating factor.
Click to expand...
I have a PowerBook G4 and refer to it as a PowerPC to differentiate it from my normal PCs.
 
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Squidiey said:
I don’t like the term *PC* when people use it to refer a non-Mac since it stands for *Personal Computer*. and guess what? Macs are Personal Computers (aka. PCs)

So I prefer saying the following terms

Mac PC (If it’s made by Apple)
Non-Mac PC (If it’s made by a non-Apple company)
Click to expand...
I’m not sure anyone would disagree with you, a Mac is a personal computer so yes, it it is a PC
 
you can call anything whatever you want, but if you intend to communicate effectively with people it's much simpler to use conventional terminology, whether you like it or not
 
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Squidiey said:
I respect your opinion, but personally I believe that computers should be categorized based on their operating system like the following:

macOS PCs
Windows PCs
Linux PCs
FreeBSD PCs
Click to expand...

Yea and math ends up happening and you take away the PCs as the common factor and it becomes

macOS
Windows
Linux
etc

which is how most of the us calls the respective machines anyway.

But that you also coincidentally raised the point about why we'll probably never see macOS in iPads.
 
Squidiey said:
I don’t like the term *PC* when people use it to refer a non-Mac since it stands for *Personal Computer*. and guess what? Macs are Personal Computers (aka. PCs)

So I prefer saying the following terms

Mac PC (If it’s made by Apple)
Non-Mac PC (If it’s made by a non-Apple company)
Click to expand...

Think it's more

Mac = computer

PC = Piece of Crap
 
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meepdarby said:
So apple helped popularize the word PC to market their initial products in the 70s/80s (apple I, II, and Lisa). However after the Macintosh released they had a more clear identity and they ended up really pushing the word Macintosh in the 90s to differentiate themselves once the IBM clones and windows/dos pcs became more common. This really became important in the era of the powerpc Mac clones. But after Steve Jobs returned he simplified it to Mac and really pushed this idea that Macs are not PCs to help differentiate them. And it's been a great marketing strategy. It's not only that we make a competing product, we make a completely different type of product altogether. That differentiation has been at the core of the Macs cult following for years. Even back in the classic Mac OS days the differentiation existed to some extent because of how opinionated and weird apples offerings have always been. But it really got pushed after Mac OS X and the new world Macs (all the cool looking Macs apple released after 1998 that had the new world rom). Your PC doesn't have a smiling icon called the finder looking at you at all times. When things get slow you don't get a beach ball on windows. Or the chime when your computer boots and the fun little sounds Mac OS makes when something is moved or when you do something that your computer can't do. Everything about Mac OS is just different in a way that windows can't be. Some of it is branding, some of it is just the pleasant way that apple products tickle your brain. Just the idea of having an apple logo on what should be a tech product is weird. I am mostly saying this as someone who grew up using windows computers and then switched to Mac in my tweens. I have never been able to look back because it genuinely feels like I am using a completely different category of product. Part of it is also Microsofts fault, they just don't really have a strategy that differentiates them well. Most of what differentiates PC's are their negative aspects (bloatware and copilot). It's not a cool little icon or a fun little sound like on Mac OS. And notice that this same dynamic doesn't exist between iOS and Android. Thats because android does have good marketing to differentiate themselves. Apple has never said "smart phones" vs iPhones. They have always named Android by their name whenever they make a jab or mention it. This is because Google took inspiration from apples philosophy and also created an opinionated product with a robot mascot and a cool material design aesthetic. I think on some level apples marketing team understands that android is closer to IOS as a category than windows pcs are to Mac OS. And it is all Microsofts fault because Microsoft is a very lazy company when it comes to this stuff.
Click to expand...
Paragraphs! Use paragraphs!! It breaks up the monolithic look of the text and makes it easier to read.
 
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Squidiey said:
I respect your opinion, but personally I believe that computers should be categorized based on their operating system like the following:

macOS PCs
Windows PCs
Linux PCs
FreeBSD PCs
Click to expand...
Then what on earth should I call my lovely dual-booted Windows PC Linux PC?
 
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