As a recent switcher (to Mac, not from Mac), I think there are definitely a few things we have to keep in mind whenever this inevitable debate happens.
Agreed. The first thing that I noticed is that the OP had already made up their mind (and IIRC, purchased), so it is all water under the bridge as far as the OP is concerned. I don't really know what he thought that his little "protest" message would accomplish, except perhaps for him to express some degree of frustration that he was experiencing from his personal life situation...which is not really any of our business, nor our responsibility.
Point being that no one here should allow themselves to feel any blame for one consumer deciding to leave the Macintosh community...it was their choice based on their personal elements which we were utterly ignorant of and never really afforded any opportunity before his decision was made.
(1) In a purely quantitative sense, Macs are more expensive than PCs.
Quantitatively, it really depends on how you count.
Classically, the comparison is on initial purchase price only, and while some folks throw in things like the cost of AV subscriptions, a bigger variable is how long the hardware lasts and what is its residual sale value afterwords.
For example, consider a $1.2K PC vs a $2K Mac: if the PC only 'lasts' 3 years and is then worth $300 resale, then it cost the owner $300/year. Similarly, if the Mac goes 5 years but is still worth $700 afterwords, its cost was $260/year, which is by this measure, a better value.
Again, there is no hard & fast right/wrong way to try to quantify things, since financial situations are a YMMV. My main point is that there's different levels with which you can examine this seemingly-simple question of "cost", and decide which one is most right for you.
I am an eager member of the cult of mac, but for God's sake, an OS update every year and a half? As nice as it is, and as wrapped up in childlike wonder as I am, I'm not made of money, Steve Jobs.
Some upgrades are worth more than others. Doesn't matter if we're talking Apple or Adobe. As always, it is up to the consumer to decide his cost:benefit to any such investment, no differently than hardware.
(2) Macs are great for people that hate the Windows experience. Sick of the Start menu...Don't mind those...The Mac won't win you over.
Inevitably, there must be some motivation for the consumer to "Vote with his Wallet". Not only can it be a strong like, it can also be a strong dislike. Cost is a common barrier to change, as is also mere change itself. It takes some degree of incentive to get out of one's comfort zone to take the risk to try something different...doesn't matter if we're talking about a new OS, or a new brand of automobile.
Typically, people become more conservative and resistant to change the higher the perceived stakes are. For example, if $1000 is a huge amount of money to you, then changing anything that costs $1000 or more is going to be a "Big Deal" to deliberate over. If you suspect that this might lead to derrogatory generalizations regarding snobby 'Rich People', just be aware that we are
all guilty of this, but merely perform it at different dollar levels.
(3) Macs are great for creative users or for techies that enjoy open-source software and well-developed commercial software...
My concern for the OP is that they claimed to be a heavy-duty Photoshop user and they're likely stepping into the bear trap of the lousy color management that exists on the Windows platform. Granted, some Apps such as Photoshop are "ICC v2 Aware", but the
picture is not a particularly pretty one. This might be an area that leads to regrets, although I understand that Vista is a huge improvement.
(4) Macs lose some steam if the user experience doesn't matter to you. While this may seem like a silly or irrelevant point, I get the impression that the original poster gets no satisfaction out of Windows or Mac..
I suspect that it was merely YA person frustrated by the lack of a $1000 Apple minitower.
The OP's conclusion was the product of their inputs, which include weighting for those things that they consider more/less important. But it is his money, and thus, his decision to make, based on his personal preferences...and biases.
(5) ...Very few people I know like Windows--they just use it because they have to. Our fanatical devotion to winning every argument has made us seem more immature than we actually are, and in some cases, actually created Windows defenders.
A fair point, although also in fairness, we should recognize that some arguements stem from people who can't be bothered to be objectively informed, and/or who find recreational entertainment in debate.
I apologize for the length of this post, but my two cents is that if we step back, act nice, and target the underserved users who aren't yet on Macs (gamers, enterprises), we'll get somewhere. If we act haughty and aloof, we'll just lose. Just my humble opinion.
"We'll lose"? Lose what? Doesn't that ultimately depend on what 'our' objectives are? Can we accurately articulate how our interests are served by fostering an expansion to the Mac marketshare? If not, then perhaps we should self-examine what we think that we're doing and why.
-hh
