Dan's Papers - November 14, 2008

I recently got the new MacBook laptop and I am in love. It has an appeal to it unlike any other electronic device I have ever used (except for maybe The Sega Genesis when it first came out) and I have joined the ranks of people who are excited about Macs. This really bothers me, because people who love Macs are in the category of people who I secretly make fun of. "Oh they think they are so smart," I'd say. "All because they chose to buy a Mac instead of a PC. Wow, a different brand of computer than other computers. What an amazing decision you've made."

But now that I have a Mac, I'm fascinated by it. I'm fascinated by the effort Apple has put into making its computers artistically appealing. I'm fascinated by the story of Steve Jobs. I'm fascinated by the fact that Mac is short for Macintosh, which is a type of apple that you eat, and that name derived from the company's name, Apple.

I'm also now more in tune with music than I have ever been before thanks to iTunes. When you own a PC, iTunes is just that, iTunes. But on a Mac, it just feels different. It's exciting - you feel like you are part of a club. Granted it's the nerdy guy who sits on his laptop at Starbucks surfing the Internet club, but hey, it's a club.

I also find myself engaging in a Mac conversation with a PC user, just as much as I would engage myself in a conversation about politics. It matters to me. It bothers me if you don't respect that Macs are better/cooler/more stable than PCs. It bothers me that you don't care about the capabilities of a these computers, since all you use it for is to check your e-mail and write articles (that's me) and it bothers me that you just don't get what makes Macs better than PCs.

I'm a nerd. When did this happen? It happened when I got a Mac in the mail baby!

What's also exciting about Macs is the iLife software that makes you believe you're a movie director or techno artist with a few clicks of the mouse. I'm a whiz at creating Garage Band music on my Mac, now all I have to do is make a movie with my digital camera, add the music to it and I'll become a famous movie director! The possibilities are endless.

Hang on, let me check my e-mail.

Oh, did you see that? I'm a genius. How many people know how to check their e-mail on a Mac? Not a lot, because they're so used to PCs and now I know both. It's like knowing two languages! I should add on my resume that I know how to operate a Mac laptop, this is state of the art stuff. I'm practically from the future I know so much about computers.

Now all I need to do is write about how much I love my Mac for my Dan's Papers column. All I need to do is open up Microsoft Word and get crackin'.

Hmmmm. Where is Word on this thing?

Text edit? What the hell is text edit? Doesn't Mac have a version of Word? What's this? It doesn't come with Microsoft Word? Wait a second, Microsoft Word. Microsoft! Bill Gates! Oh the humanity!

Talk about a slap back in the face from PCs. They are the real heroes when it comes to Microsoft Office, programs I can't live without on a computer. Bill Gates should remind people of that fact.

OR maybe he deliberately doesn't. Maybe he doesn't get all bent out of shape when he hears about Macs selling more than PCs. What does he care? He is still getting his $200 for a download from every computer user in the world, Mac and PC alike. A download with no overhead that's expensive and that everybody needs. Microsoft Office just gets zapped right to your computer, $200 please.