Computer Wars: PC vs. Mac

            I own a PC. I have been very happy with my PC. It’s an HP and it’s three years old now and I have had next to no problems with it. Within the last year, I’ve had someone say to me “I wish my computer was that fast.” I am very content with my computer. It serves my purposes. I am also the only one of my friends still on their first laptop.

            The computer wars are something that people don’t discuss often but when they do, everyone has a preference, everyone has a side. I admit, Apple has cool products. The Macs are nice and they probably do function better for certain things, like composing music. My only issue with Macs is that most of the people who own them? They are very patronizing about it. That bugs the hell out of me. Also, because Macs tend to run more expensive than other computers? Yeah, there’s a certain elitist attitude there. Or hipster, take your pick. What’s more expensive isn’t always better, contrary to what Christian Grey may believe.

            Perhaps I am just a grandma when it comes to my computer. I download very little on to it. There is a grand total of one movie saved on my computer, a digital copy of The Expendables, which came with the DVD/Blu-ray combo pack that Bear got me for Christmas, and I never watch it on my computer. I hate watching movies on a laptop anyway. I have a lot of pictures and a lot of music on my computer, but still have plenty of space left on my hard drive, both with the computer’s hard drive and my external hard drive because most of what I do on my computer involves tip-tapping away at a story. It’s not that terribly demanding on a computer.

            I have a smart phone. I own a Kindle. I enjoy the various technologies that are out there today, but there are some things that the thrifty woman inside me takes one look at and thinks “Why the hell do I need that?” A lot of the features on smart phones, and even more on Macs and iPhones, I look at and think I don’t need that. Why the extra cost for something you don’t really need? Just so you can be one of the cool kids? It really is the toy mentality for grown-ups. It’s a competition to see who has the newest and most advanced toys and this gal’s inner old fart does not play those games.

            Since I’m on the subject, another thing that bugs me is iTunes. It was a great idea in theory, but a lot of the songs you’d pay $1.29 for on iTunes? You can get for .99 cent on Amazon. Plus iTunes is just a general pain in the butt most days, which is the main reason that when on the hunt for a mobile music player, I stayed away from iPods. I don’t want one. I don’t want to deal with the headache that is iTunes. Sitting on my wish list right now is a Samsung MP3 player that I can’t wait to get my hands on, and it’s probably also cheaper than an iPod of similar size and function. Samsung is a good brand. That’s what my phone is and I have been pretty pleased with that as well.

            My thing about any technology is that whatever it is, however much you paid for it, you take care of it. You baby it until it’s on its last leg. And only when it dies, do you go buy something else. I know there will come a day that I’ll have to get another computer, but until then, I’m going to shut mine down every night, run defrag, virus scans, wipe it down with my little piggy duster, and whatever else I can do to ensure that it lasts longer. The same with my phone, Kindle, my tiny little TV, Xbox, anything that I consider mine, I take care of the best I can.