iTfW breaking down barriers?

[billyboy]

Looking around some apple Mac forums there is actually some constructive and informed dialogue between Mac and PC users!!! Could this be the beginning of a mass migration to the Mac platform and a better awareness for Mac heads of Windows plus points.

It seems as though already the mood is changing from quite hostile at the start - this heap of crap ruined my PC and blitzed the file structure of my music files - to quite level headed conversations, with PC users seemingly quite impressed with what they see and asking questions not just about solving crises.

I guess apple forums arent your average PC users first port of call, but Im sure iTunes related traffic is going to grow, and if people can get over the PC v Mac flamings, I reckon these forums are going to be a major opportunity to tell the Mac story and attract significant numbers of switchers.

Or am I too hopeful to think that Window user interest will be painfully slow to grow beyond iPod and iTunes.

 

[slowtreme]

As a user/developer that rides the line between platforms, I've always found Windows users as either Curious or just Apathetic towards Macs. They wonder "why do people bother using Macs, when your systems are slow and your software choices limited?" Or they just plain don't care. They learned to use a PC, and that's good enough for them. Mac users on the other hand generally look sideways at every PC user, untrusting. It's seems to be, join our cause or GTFO. We spend as much time as we are comfortable trying to show off our Mac, but when a "Windows does this better" argument comes up, the shield goes up and the words fly.

I've been a Mac user since my first Mac512. I've been writing code since I was 10 on my Apple][+ (not ][e). Macs served me well though my MacSE30. But I moved over to PCs then, It just didn't make sence to use Mac anymore, didn't want to afford them, and not happy with the speed. I missed out on a lot of bad times, and the Clone War, but I always kept my eyes on my old friend.

Now with all the new stuff Mac has to offer, the great systems, OSX, new software... and the money I made writing code for Windows I've bought a couple Macs for my home, and I enjoy using them. I have a long history with Mac, it was easy for me to see the upside.

iTunes might be the olive branch Apple needed to bridge that gap, but it's still going to be rough. PC users are takers, I know, I'm one of them too. PC users want to do everything for nothing. They want a choice of hardware, and software. Just because Steve Jobs thinks iProduct is great, it isn't going to sway all PC users. "Think Different" - if everone is thinking different then they aren't thinking what you want them too.

Choice. Think Different. Apple needs to get on the ball here, these two things are one and the same, almost. Windows users are used to having 30 different choices for any software application. What they fail to understand is that what they really have to choose from is 5 good apps and 25 crap ones. While Mac users may get the choice of 1 Great app and 1 ok app, no choice, no chance to Think Different, only Think what Apple Thinks.

Now I'll be the first to admit I'm hypocritical, I'm a developer and I don't code for OSX, and yet I use OSX for personal use. Apple doesn't give me a reason to code. I have no personal incentive, and we don't use Mac at work.

I also KNOW that the 1 or 2 apps out there are great apps, and I don't need to choose, I don't feel compelled to write a new program every time I want to do something.

I use my Mac a lot different that I use PCs. Games - the ultimate time waster - are pointless for Macs. Games are what I did on my PC whenever I wasn't being productive. I can't do that on Mac, not enough choices, or not enough hardware to play them. So I either play some PC games or fire up my Console. I spend a lot less time at my Mac than I did with a PC. Games are huge, they push PCs to get faster and faster, and Oh Yeah, I run a Lan Gaming Competition.

Good lord this is long and off topic.

Remember this, when PC users come here, most will be Curious. Be nice, answer questions, don't belittle. I got racked over by a couple users here in another thread about WMA. It was Mac users SCOLDING me for using the tools given to me by windows, and then wondering why Apple didn't want to take that business. When PC users wander in here they will be starry eyed and confused. They will ask the ultimate F.A.Q. over and over. Use it as your chance to make allies, not enemies.

 

[snahabed]

I just want to agree with the sentiment above... do not be jackasses to the billions and trillions of Windows users who have questions about iTunes.

It is TOTALLY legitimate for them to be clueless about WMA's, what they are, why they aren't supported in iTunes, and how this affects their choices. Unless the person is a nerd like we are (meaning people who post on a rumor board for a computer operating system!), they probably dont even know what a WMA file is. My roommate falls in this category.

"WMA? No I dont have that, I have MUSIC files."

When your friends/posters ask, just explain what WMA is, explain that whenever you switch to a new compression format, re-encoding is in order, and explain that if necessary, there are batch WMA-->MP3 encoders that will produce iTunesly files (try not to interject phrases like "lossy compression" here/...resist the urge to roll your eyes at the thought of encoding an encoded file... chances are, if they didn't care enough to pay attention to the file format the FIRST time, they aren't audiophillic enough to hear a big difference in doubly-compressed files.)

So yeah, the golden rule is: dont be a dink. We are Mac users, we are above all that

 

[benixau]

actually i have found that most windows users who dont have masses of WMA files are quite happy to use iTunes no questions asked.

My brother uses the family pc (school req. Access, and no, VPC is not an option) and i told him the other day that the system used iTunes now and not WMP. He said "huh, ok".

He was one of those people who uses a producct that works for them, the majority of windows users. He just plays CDs through WMP. Now he also has access to my gigs of music. He is now happy.

Living in Australia we cant really access the iTMS so for him iTunes was a no brainer. All that happens is that when he gets a new CD, I rip it (160:AAC) and he then access is through my shared music.

Of course i do catagorise everything so it is a little easier.

But - the point is that if you are polite and nice to windows users they will generally give most softwares or products a chance. My brother gave iTunes a chance and now i have to put all my Wierd Al, that he had never heard before, to CDs for him and his friends (he wants to listen in the car and its not an MP3 copmatible player).

wow, i can ramble on cant i …

 

[benixau]

here is my playlist so you can see what i mean by categorised: