ACK!!'s Journal: Thinking about a Mac next time .....

I am tired of crappy PC hardware.

Almost all computers have essentially the same stats and they have essentially the same internal hardware from the AMD or Intel chips to the Hitachi or Seagate drives back to the ATI or Nvidia video cards. So what is the difference if any between brands?

It is about how the box is designed and how it is put together. I am less than impressed by Dell, Compaq/HP and their ilk. Even Sony laptops now feel cheaper somehow than they use to back in the day. And on top of that they are ugly as hell and have little to no style and this is supposed to be a Personal Computer?

Now, I could build my own but considering I would buy the best components I only end up saving a couple hundred bucks especially since its been so long since I bought a computer I have no re-usable parts to cut the costs. And even if I do build my own its still just a plain box usually depending on my case and even if I mod my case it ends up looking like one of those cruddy looking hotrod throwback cars you see. What do I mean? It will still look like an old car with a tacky new paintjob. Oh you put flames on the side of your hotrod guy? Wow, I never saw that before.

There is another factor.

I do not like Windows. No, I don't have a hate-on for Microsoft or Bill Gates not in the least though I do think they have some illegal business practices that need curbing.

But I do like Unix.

Since Mac OS X is built on Unix despite the differences between it and other *Nixes it is still not as bad as a Cygwin environment on top of Windows.

And I am tired. I love linux. I have been using linux since 1997 and that is a very long time to live life on an alternative OS. I think my fights with my sound on Ubuntu and my struggle a while back with a Stage 1 install of Gentoo that did it for me. I am just tired.

People have no problems paying more money for a car that has no real performance benefits to any other car just because they know its designed well, stylish and not a hunk of junk. But this kind of consumer mentality has not filtered down to possibly for some one of the most important consumer purchases, a computer.

I am beyond caring that I can get an e-machine or Dell for less money than a Mac. I just want to be happy with my next computer purchase regardless of price.

What do I get for my extra money with a Mac?

1. The computer is designed well.
2. It is stylish.
3. It is based on a Unix OS.
4. The OS and hardware put together by the same company so the OS doesn't feel tacked on.

There is also a factor not easy to define. People are happy with their Macs. I have asked everyone I see in a coffee shop or bookstore with a Mac. They love their Macs. I have worked in the IT industry for 10 years and I have been very happy with the Dec/Alphas and my Sun Enterprise 450s but I have never loved my purchase of a PC.

Some people seem very happy with their Sony laptops but the quality does not seem as good as used to be and some people seem very happy with their Lenovo/IBM Thinkpads but those are ugly as sin.

None of it seems to match the love most Mac owners have for their computer purchase.

Maybe its all an illusion a reality distortion field around the cult of Mac. Still, I want a computer that I will love to own.

Is that so bad?