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Why MacBook?

You can bring a horse to water

You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Now I'm not calling your momz a horse, but if she is not interested in learning OS X, then it would be a mistake to get a MacBook.

You will hear it every time that

- she tries to install a PC program someone at work gave her
- when she realizes that Office 2008 < MS Office on the PC
- something doesn't work the way it used to
- she can't find the Start (TM) button
- can't use her old programs
- she accidentally holds down control and zooms with the mouse wheel
- her keyboard short cuts don't work (what the hell is a ⌘-key?)
- dashboard or expose appears

You get the idea. My wife HATES OS X. It's different to her work PC that she uses for 8-hours a day and she just won't learn a new way of doing things.

You can't force a person to learn Mac unless they want to. If she's already saying negative things, then it won't work out.
 
CalMin said:
You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Now I'm not calling your momz a horse, but if she is not interested in learning OS X, then it would be a mistake to get a MacBook.

You will hear it every time that

- she tries to install a PC program someone at work gave her
- when she realizes that Office 2008 < MS Office on the PC
- something doesn't work the way it used to
- she can't find the Start (TM) button
- can't use her old programs
- she accidentally holds down control and zooms with the mouse wheel
- her keyboard short cuts don't work (what the hell is a ⌘-key?)
- dashboard or expose appears

You get the idea. My wife HATES OS X. It's different to her work PC that she uses for 8-hours a day and she just won't learn a new way of doing things.

You can't force a person to learn Mac unless they want to. If she's already saying negative things, then it won't work out.
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From what it sounds like tho its going to be HIS laptop, and she just doesnt like the OS she wont even be using.

I hate that mentality in people.
 
Since your mom is worried about price, tell her you will be buying a house in the ghetto, too. Why buy an expensive house when you can surely get one in the $35k - $50k range. That price range is CHEAP for a house. Sure, you might need round-the-clock protection, such as a gun or taser or something, but hey, you saved money up front.

Sound silly? Well, it is and it isn't. Going Windows means you live in the ghetto. At any given time, people will be out to destroy your system.

This doesn't mean Mac is 100% immune, but it's like living in the nice neighborhoods. You'll pay a bit more up front for better quality and there's less chance of an incidence. So, does that mean you should trust the smiling face knocking on your door and simply let that person into your house? No. Same thing. Don't simply punch in your admin username and password without knowing what you're installing.
 
deputy_doofy said:
Since your mom is worried about price, tell her you will be buying a house in the ghetto, too. Why buy an expensive house when you can surely get one in the $35k - $50k range. That price range is CHEAP for a house. Sure, you might need round-the-clock protection, such as a gun or taser or something, but hey, you saved money up front.

Sound silly? Well, it is and it isn't. Going Windows means you live in the ghetto. At any given time, people will be out to destroy your system.

This doesn't mean Mac is 100% immune, but it's like living in the nice neighborhoods. You'll pay a bit more up front for better quality and there's less chance of an incidence. So, does that mean you should trust the smiling face knocking on your door and simply let that person into your house? No. Same thing. Don't simply punch in your admin username and password without knowing what you're installing.
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funny that as ridiculous that example sounds, to a non tech savvy parent (read: the majority of them :p) it could actually be a good selling point.
 
well if you just want OS X just get a hackintosh they are quite stable now and you won't have any arguments about price, unless the aesthetics are that important.
 
friekunater said:
okay, so I'm in the market for a laptop and the new MacBook is #1 on my list. but, my mom isn't as attracted to it as I am. she thinks they're too expensive and she thinks I would be wasting my money if I bought a Mac. she doesn't like the operating system (nor has she used it) and she thinks it would be too hard to get used to it. she says they're just overpriced PC's, basically.

convince me (and my female parental unit) to get a MacBook
Click to expand...

[you can say something to this effect]

Mom,

Come over to the Apple Store with me and let's look at all the Macs.

[after that, check out Circuit City, Staples, or Office Depot]

So, mom, what do you think?

Wouldn't it make more sense to buy a Mac instead of having to buy a PC, and having to get an entire utilities suite for an extra $100, and $200 dollars for a three year protection plan as PCs have a much worse record for breaking down and use generic parts.

Apple controls every aspect as to what goes into their hardware and software to make sure the machine will work longer, and more seamlessly for a longer period of time.

And mom, I have never seen a Mac break down in a three year period,

[which is my case as an Apple and PC warranty tech btw]

but I have seen most PCs break within a year or two.

While there may be viruses, virtually all of them attack the biggest target out there, Microsoft Windows, the operating system of virtually all PCs. Macs use OS X and it's less than five percent of the market and what virus writer/hacker would waste their time going after such a small target? It wouldn't even make the news.

Most PCs are made out of thin plastic while Macs use thick polyurethane or aluminum.

The Macbook is fully recyclable where PCs are rarely recyclable.

And if you want to use my Mac, you can learn to do a lot more on it more quickly than on any PC using any version of Microsoft Windows.

So, with all that said, I think a Mac is cheaper in the long run and at least the same price as a PC.

[i hope this helps]
 
I'm truly surprised we haven't heard the most obvious answer:

How about you get a job and get your own computer? :rolleyes:
 
Well what works with my mom would be something like:

-showing her how useful it will be to me, like how I'll be using iMovie, iPhoto, Garageband and stuff

-"look i can make these nice photoalbums and have them published"
(that usually gets a wowish reaction) lol

So i think you can convince her if you show that it will be more useful to you than a PC.
If all you're doing is internet and word processing then...
 
I am a pc guy but I bought a macbook because I wanted to see what apple had to offer. Also you can't knock it 'till you try it. Personally I prefer Windows over OSX. I find that Windows is more intuitive, could be because I have been using it longer but I also find certain linux distro's to be more intuitive also.

Now saying that a mac can run both OSX and Windows is a bit misleading. It is not hardware that restricts windows based pc's from running OSX, it is Apple.

Mac's are nice but I don't like being locked into a single company. I prefer to build my pc's myself and then throw whatever os I want. If Apple sold just the os and allowed you to put it on whatever machine you want I would buy it but they don't so I had to get a macbook instead which is kinda nice but annoying as hell.

Sorry for the wall of text
 
The easiest and most simple way to attempt to get her to want a macbook is to take her into the Apple store (if you live near one) and have worker persuade her to switching, not even persuade but point out all the good things that a mac has to offer.
 
Tell her that you really do want to learn to use a Mac. Then, tell her that you can run Windows without the slightest of trouble on the MacBook, too. You can't do that the other way around...
 
My parents helped me pay for one as a graduation present. They were very skeptical at first because of the bad reputation that Apple had in the 90s, but talking to them about the differences between the Mac and PC such as the OS, how Apple controls every aspect of construction, both hardware and software which leads to less headaches with compatibility, and also taking them to the Apple store and having them look at the new MacBooks.

Needless to say im on a 2.4GHz MB right now and they are continued to be amazed at how much Apple has paid attention to the little details on these computers

To my parents and I it came down to this, I had a HP laptop for maybe 1.5 years and I had nothing but problems with it. We decided it was worth spending more money on a quality product that is more likely to last longer than $800 on a laptop that is gonna give you nothing but problems
 
I usually wouldn't post in a thread like this but the mother is reading so I want to give her my opinion.

One of the the biggest reasons why I went to the macbook from other various windows laptops was mainly because of the resale value. In 3 years he could still sell that new macbook for at least $700-800, where as my 3 month old HP Tx2500z which was originally $1300, was sold for $750 after having to be relisted several times.

Also, build quality is also another thing that I really appreciate from the new macbooks, you really feel like the machine in font of you is well built.

As far as the OS, I'm pretty good with computers so I had my Vista set up pretty nice and I really don't feel too much difference between the two. And soon, everything is going to be done in the browser so it wont matter.

And lastly, if your kid isn't the best with computers, he will be less susceptible to viruses. Which is turn would mean you (the more knowledgeable one) will spend less time cleaning it out.

Good luck!
 
fuzzycuffs said:
I'm truly surprised we haven't heard the most obvious answer:

How about you get a job and get your own computer? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Or do what my friend did, go online, study statistics via some good websites, get the basics, take up gambling, win very consistently, and buy computers, DVD players, tons of collectible star trek stuff, and always have wads of cash in pocket.
 
Quick side question.

Tayedrumma, your sig says this;

tayedrumma said:
13" Aluminum MB, 2.0 GHz, 2GB Ram, 500 GB WD Hard drive (soon to be second 500GB in raid 0)

Waiting on 8GB of ram to be supported.... Soon I hope
Click to expand...


What do you mean at the bottom about the 8GB being supported? Are you waiting for the new unibody MBs to support 8GB? Is that even possible? I thought they were limited by the hardware to 8GB. Or can an upgrade raise the bar to 8GB? I was just curious because that'd be really cool.
 
Listen to mommy's...:D:D

Get one when you start earning money...you will enjoy the satisfaction much more...

If money is the issue and you are using your mom's money, it's pointless to argue with your mom..
 
63dot said:
Or do what my friend did, go online, study statistics via some good websites, get the basics, take up gambling, win very consistently, and buy computers, DVD players, tons of collectible star trek stuff, and always have wads of cash in pocket.
Click to expand...

I talked to friend today and he is getting really good at stats and how it relates to gambling. Since I saw him last, he had takes of 160 or so, 120, and 120 again and in a space of three games, walked with $400 dollars. And this kid is only 22 and looks to make a living with it. My long held beliefs of conservative spending, much time in college studying varying forms of math, and about to embark on 3rd grad class in statistics, is what makes me TOO scared, even when I know I can beat a system or pick a safe "stock".

Gambling aside, here's another suggestion/story:

I think the smartest thing is to have the kid get a job, save up and get a Mac, but my buddy will easily borrow ten bucks from said kid and come up with Mac money in a couple of days. ;) However, this is illegal from what I can gather, but there are more ways to get money for Mac than working some job to get it.

I was a Apple/PC tech and by doing so, besides getting paid, I ended up with a ton of free computers, often on jobs where I had to set up a new computer for a customer and that customer had limited space so I got a Pentium 3 Dell, a G4 Power Mac, a G4 mini Mac, a Quadra, a tan G3 tower and G3 desktop, a nice HP piniter, a high end Epson printer, etc. over those 8 years.

Maybe the kid can become a tech, and get a lot of free gear. Work for a rich Mac person and that kid may end up with something close to what he/she wants. Or the person could be poor and when they get a new Mac, they simply don't have the space in apartment to keep both and give you old Mac in lieu of pay.

People are willing to spend a lot for computers, but are almost as desperate to part with old model once they get new model.

I have seen people here get a great Macbook, use it a year, and get another Macbook the following year, like an addict.

At a certain point, most people, unless they live in huge mansions, will run out of room, so one way to acquire Macs is to become a Mac tech. Well, that's my secret that has worked for me.

I only once paid for a Mac, btw and I have a garage full of Macs, and PCs. :)
 
ryanfong said:
Listen to mommy's...:D:D

Get one when you start earning money...you will enjoy the satisfaction much more...

If money is the issue and you are using your mom's money, it's pointless to argue with your mom..
Click to expand...

If I had a parent that still insisted on a cheap PC, today's cheap PCs are really not that bad.

Think back to when a cheap PC cost two grand and ran Windows 3.1.

Not to be a traitor, but I was thinking of having small traveling machine, a $349-$429 Acer or Asus laptop with Intel Atom Processor. Good enough for what I would use it for which would be surfing, Word, and Excel. Sure this is no Mac, but many a kid will get something similar to this laptop this year for Christmas.
 
Primejimbo said:
I would just be happy my parents were buying me a computer. We only had a "family" computer and that was it.
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What kind of computer and how many people in family?

I know one household of two parents with two adult children (college) that shared an e-Machine desktop and they were quite happy. Celeron processor, 1998-ish, dialup, 4 gig hard drive. I told them to get a then brand new, innovative, cool G3 iMac which would have been $200 dollars more. ;)
 
63dot said:
What kind of computer and how many people in family?

I know one household of two parents with two adult children (college) that shared an e-Machine desktop and they were quite happy. Celeron processor, 1998-ish, dialup, 4 gig hard drive. I told them to get a then brand new, innovative, cool G3 iMac which would have been $200 dollars more. ;)
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The 1st one was an Apple 2c and then a HP (I have no idea what it had, I was about 12). I didn't know anything about computers back then also. Also 3 kids, 2 parents in the family.
 
Primejimbo said:
The 1st one was an Apple 2c and then a HP (I have no idea what it had, I was about 12). I didn't know anything about computers back then also. Also 3 kids, 2 parents in the family.
Click to expand...

Depending on your needs, this could be enough, or you may need an extra machine. I know some people/family who have a computer and nobody does anything with it outside of some e-mail and the kids are outdoorsy types. That machine collects dust and it's a pretty nice machine.

I do a lot of school stuff online with my Mac so I need my machine a lot, but wife needs it too so I will get a cheap PC laptop ( www.acer.com ) since my major(s) use software sometimes only found to work on Windows. I could get a Mac and then buy Windows separately, but that costs too much for my modest needs.

She can use the Mac for her stuff which may include graphics, and I will use PC for stuff for virtually no need for graphics so it's really OK by me. If cost were no factor, of course I would get a Macbook. I was once a hard core Mac fanboy, but I will admit PCs are fine for many people like me. :)
 
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