Mac vs. PC: Debating technology
In an age of technology, surviving college without a computer could be next to impossible, but the question many students face is which computer platform to buy. PCs are still prevalent nationwide, but the Apple insignia can be seen from the backs of students’ laptops as they take notes, follow PowerPoints or Facebook during class.
According to an article from CNN Tech, PCs outsold Macs in 2011 at a ratio of about 20 to 1. The article also said the gap between the two has tightened considerably since the so-called war of Mac vs. PC first began.
Though PC outsells Mac, the ratio is flipped on USU’s campus, according to the Campus Store.
“I don’t have official statistics or anything, but I’d say we sell 10 Macs for every 1 PC,” said Aaron Chadwick, tech floor manager at the Campus Store.
Kai Anderson, a junior majoring in exercise science and a sales associate at the Campus Store, said his Mac to PC computer sales ratio is even higher.
“I’ve sold 25 Macs to 1 PC,” he said.
Chadwick said he credited the high number of Macs sold in part to department purchases, but also to Apple’s focus on the education market.
“For years, Apple has been the top seller on campuses nationwide,” Chadwick said. “Apple is our bread and butter. As a retailer, Mac is easier to sell, and for people on campus and in the valley, we are really the only place where you can just come buy a Mac at education pricing.”
Chadwick said they experience far less problems and complaints with Macs.
“In 2011 we sold probably 300 Macs and 50 PCs, and an equal number of people came back with problems or complaints,” he said.
“I’m a Mac guy,” said Dallin Osmun, a junior majoring in computer science. “I feel like they’re a more stable system. They just work where PCs don’t.”
Osmun, who started computer programming at age 7 and built his first computer from scratch at age 8, said for a long time he was a big PC user. His uncle helped him change his preference, and for the last six years Osmun has been using Apple computers. He said he is known as the tech guy where he lives and said people from his apartment complex and the one next to it consistently come to him for help with their computer problems.
“With PCs, I found that I spent most of my time debugging,” he said. “My time can be used more productively on a Mac. Every time I fix a PC, the on
ly advice I ever give is to go get a Mac.”
Osmun said the software on Macs is designed to be safer and is based on a proven technique, whereas Windows software was not. “Windows tried their own thing,” he said. “They’re trying hard. It just didn’t work.”
Osmun said the stability Apple computers provide fuels his preference for the brand. He said although Apple is somewhat proprietary, he has no issues with it, and while Macs are susceptible to viruses, they are much less so than PCs.
“With Apple they are ‘our way or no way,’ but usually their way is the better way,” he said. “Mac runs Windows better than Windows runs Windows. It’s sad but true.”
Stephen Cambria, a senior majoring in marketing, has a background in computer programming as well, having studied the subject for three years in high school and another three in college. He has also been building computers since roughly the age of fifteen.
“If I had to strictly choose, I’d probably choose PC over Mac,” he said.
Cambria said the factors influencing his preference are more economic pricing of PCs, as well as their wide scale usage.
“I have nothing against Mac, but it makes more economic sense and more societal sense to just stick with PC,” he said.
Cambria compared the necessity of a familiarity with the Windows operating system to the necessity of learning English when immigrating to the United States.
“Learning Spanish would be helpful, but learning English would be more universal,” he said. “You’d be better off learning English than Spanish. It is the same with Mac’s and PC’s – it wouldn’t hurt to learn both, but if you had to pick one, PC is a better way to go.”
Cambria said he feels there is less free reign for customization in regards to Mac software and hardware.
“What you get is what you get,” he said. “They don’t give you a lot of options as far as customization. How do you customize an iPhone? With a new case. However you want. How do you customize an Android phone? However you want. It’s not Android versus Iphone, but it’s very much that way and essentially what you’re getting at too when it comes to PC vs. Mac.”
Some are apathetic when it comes to terms of hardware, software, customization and system stability, but in the debate between Mac and PC, some are so passionate about their preference, it borders on religion.
According to a BBC documentary series involving neurological rese
arch, some Mac users experience a reaction similar to what is experienced through religion. The neuroscientists ran an MRI on a group of Apple fans while showing them images of Apple products. They discovered the parts of their brains that lit up were the very same parts that light up in the brains of religious people while viewing images of deity.
The choice for Aggies considering a computer purchase can be difficult. For buyers seeking advice, individuals favoring either of the systems can be found around campus.
– cale.w.p@aggiemail.usu.edu