Welcome To The Revolution…Or How I Switched To Apple

by Alistair Hutchinson Feb 07, 2005

I doubt you�ve heard anything on the radio, seen anything on the TV or read anything in the newspapers but there is a revolution occurring here in the UK. Before I go any further let me just skip back in time a couple of years to give you some background.

The year is 2003.  My name is Alistair Hutchinson, I am working as a nurse in my local ER (known here as A+E) and something strange is beginning to happen.  I am receiving calls at all hours of the day and receiving visits whilst working, from others in my profession, often bringing along their �ailing friend� for me to administer my healing hands, more often than not in a way that seems almost mystical to the people present.

Have you guessed what I�m doing?  No?  Well, I�m fixing, repairing, innoculating, and generally disinfecting their PC�s.  How my name has circulated around the hospital I have no idea but all of a sudden it seems I am busier with my hobby than I�ve ever been.

So busy in fact that I stop enjoying it.

For every PC built for a friend I enter into a kind of gentlemans agreement to provide free support for the rest of my days, oh and woe betide me if my sons aren�t going to continue that support when I�m gone!

At around about the same time all this is going on the Windows XP spyware writers seemingly quadruple their efforts because, obviously, I don�t have enough to do already.

So I get out, I buy a Mac (PM single 1.8 G5) and sell my PCs.  It�s not my first Mac, that award goes to a G3 iBook that I bought previously whilst a student and ended up selling after only 6 months due to lack of funds for my studies (for studies read beer) but when I sold it I swore I would one day own a desktop Mac.  That day had come.

From then on whenever I was approached to recommend a spec for a PC I would simply reply �Buy a Mac, it�s simpler to use no more expensive to buy and it won�t let you down�.  Now, I have to be honest here, the people I said this too merely went and sought advice elsewhere and ended up buying PCs anyway but that was ok with me.  I didn�t need the hassle of setting up computers for people and spending hours on the phone trying to troubleshoot their problems as I was busy studying for one or another course for work and was also a new father for the third time so I guess you could say I had my hands full.

Fast forward to 2004, people are starting to ask questions about my Mac.

�How many viruses have you had?�, none

�Are you bothered with spyware?�, nope

�Can I run Office?�, yep

�What is that?�, my iPod

Now let�s come back to the present day.  In total there are now seven new Mac owners in my hospital and about eight new iPod owners.  Thanks in part to my evangelism of the Mac as a viable platform, Apples new found coolness, and Microsofts repeated ineptitude in closing security loopholes Apple has gained sales of a 15 inch Powerbook, a 20 inch iMac, 3 12 inch iBooks, a Mac mini (delayed by three months would you believe) and a Powermac G5 dual 2gig, plus accessories such as Airport Express/Base Stations etc.  On top of that our department is beginning to look like the white earbud brigade has moved in.

Now I�d love to take the credit for all of this but I think this quiet revolution is entirely independent of my Mac experience and more an indicator of the simple fact that Apple is succeeding.  They are being mentioned more and more on UK websites, newspapers, TV and even radio and that�s despite the fact that advertisements for Apple are decidedly few and far between in the UK.

What do you think happens to public perception when the only time the worlds largest OS company gets a mention is to report another security exploit or how fast the latest virus for its OS has spread around the world and Apple gets a mention every time they launch a new product?

Believe it or not Mr Gates, people are switching to the Mac.  Maybe not as fast as Steve would like but I reckon he�s in this for the long term and can sit and wait for that momentum to build up.

Comments

  • I think the Mac mini is going to cause the revolution to go nuts.

    I didn’t see this potential initially, but in the last month reading all the wild stories people have on how they are using Mac minis is astonishing.

    Installing in cars, customizing as servers, running as Windows thin clients to name but a few.

    One thing computer nerds love and always have loved is customizing their computers. (Just as car guys love customizing cars).

    Linux’s success has been built on its customizability and it’s cheapness

    But now the Mac mini could be the next big thing in customization. Especially as it’s so cheap.

    And once the Windows and Linux geeks and nerds of the world turn their Mac mini hot rods on, the revolution could just be unstoppable.

    Chris Howard had this to say on Feb 08, 2005 Posts: 1209
  • I am a hardcore Linux user.  I’ve used it since 1993.  But in 2003 I bought an iPod.  Ever since then I have become a switcher.  Not from Linux, but from the mindset that Apple is nothing to look at.  I still have four true Unix boxes at home, but I have since added a beautiful 20-inch iMac G4 and two more iPods to the mix.  I’m now planning on purchasing a PowerBook.  So, I didn’t exactly come over from the Windows PC world, but I can see the appeal.  Apple just got everything right.

    stealthboy had this to say on Feb 08, 2005 Posts: 4
  • I agree with Chris Howard that the Mac mini will cause the revolution to go nuts. But I don’t think “modders” will be the reason.

    I think the reason is because of the price point. $499 is now low enough that a budget-minded first-time computer buyer will seriously consider it. The price is low enough that switchers, looking to upgrade from their spyware-ridden Windows boxes will seriously consider the Mac platform. The price point alone taps into a whole new market that Apple has never been in before.

    I’ve also been reading articles about how the Mac mini might be a trojan horse, that lets new Mac owners see the real reason Macs are so great: the software. iLife ‘05 is included and this will turn many switchers into evangelists.

    Roger Wong had this to say on Feb 08, 2005 Posts: 9
  • 2000 - I start my new job.  Boss has an iMac and secretary has an older G3 Tower.  I am to choose - Mac or PC.  I choose Mac.

    .... secretary leaves….

    2005 -  From our humble 2 Macs and 8 PCs we have now gone to 7 Macs and 3 PCs.  Beautiful.

    All through very subtle and quiet evangelism and seeing my co-workers pissed off that windows continually fails them and they have to hook up with our IT guys (which, by the way, the Mac users never have had to and any problems we could resolve on our own - I became the defacto Mac “support” person)...

    The revolution continues slowly but surely.  My home switched to an eMac 2 years ago.  Now we have that wonderful eMac, an iBook G3, a brand-new iBook G4, two Mac Plus’ for nostalgia and a Mac Portable for the same reason.  Oh, and an early G4 350 Tower that runs Panther 10.3.7 without a hiccup.

    grin

    ... and the funniest thing is that it suddenly seemed to happen at the office.  I went on a buying spree in 2004 to buy a G5 Dual 2.0, 3 15” Powerbooks, etc. and the spree continues.  And they are all HAPPY and each of those users has, honestly, come to me to say “Thank you” on multiple occasions.

    iBook Fanatic had this to say on Feb 08, 2005 Posts: 2
  • I switched from Linux myself, but when it came time to buy a new computer 6 months ago, I wanted something else.  I used Linux on my laptop but also Windows XP at work, which I hate.  And I was tired of trying to explain how to run the Linux box to my wife.

    Then I hear from an engineering friend about his PowerBook G4 and how much he likes it (from a technical and plain user perspective).  The nice interface, easy install/uninstall of software (a thorn in my Linux side), Unix based on a RISC processor… well the last 2 were the clincher for me.

    So I buy a sleak and sexy 1GHz PowerBook G4 on eBay, and wow, is it ever sleak and sexy (inside and out, including Mac OS X).  Now I ONLY use my PowerBook, and have become a Mac addict without question.  I will still gladly use Linux when/if I need to, but I love my Mac, and intend to buy another for home, and one for my parents.  I won’t touch a Wintel machine any longer, and don’t need to.

    I really do hope the ball is rolling and Apple gains market share, because they sure deserve to.  Problem is there are just so many misconceptions about the Mac out there, it is an uphill battle.  But I will do my part, and proudly.  I love cracking open my PowerBook in public; it sure is easy on the eyes, and turns heads.

    PS The big mistake is shipping an Apple computer running Mac OS X with only 256MB RAM; anyone new to Mac will be quickly disappointed.  Let’s face it, people unfamiliar with the system (or Unix/Linux in general) may not know to upgrade, or be patient enough to do so.

    arbuckle had this to say on Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 7
  • Page 1 of 1 pages
You need log in, or register, in order to comment