Who Are Macs For

Recently, I had several people, who know I am in IT, ask why not to get a Mac, for a non-computer person who were already in the Apple ecosystem. I was slightly taken back when most of my comments and critiques were “I like it that way!” or “that doesn’t really bother me!” It can be difficult trying to convince people who have bought into the cult of Apple to move away, to any other system, be it a *nix, Windoze, ChromeOS, or Android. So what are the big killers that people notice that you should point out to help people make up there minds?

For the enterprise, it is lack of management. It can be a big pain for IT to manage any number of devices, be it a few to several hundred, because Apple does not support any one system out of the box. There is no Active Directory or Chrome Enterprise management to take control of devices; Apple even seems to actively take options away and break functionality for existing systems. So IT departments are left cobbling together systems for their users, unsure if half of what was built will last for more than a year or two. Not saying Google or other are not guilty of the same, but for users to actively request for MacOS can make IT guys scream inside. If people use the “its easier to develop on” card, you can null and void the argument by handing over a Red Hat license key.

What about for schoolwork? Not such a bad issue, as most workflows people need to use are online anyway, making the browser the primary workspace anyway. Most major programs are therefore on the desktop too, Word or any video editor programs etc. The main argument that should sway any student is price: cost of intial ownership, cost of maintaince, and cost of lost time. Downtime caused by strange hardware or software glitches are made exponentially harder to diagonse and fix by Apple’s design choices.

For the average bloke, is it better? He who can afford to shell out for something nice, but at the very least wants their money’s worth can still save money on a pre-built Windows workstation that would be guaranteed supported by most software out there. Desktop? Apple’s offerings are style objects rather than competetive devices. Laptop? Many other manufactures make equipment made to take on any sort of Macbook that again, all one in more choice in their new computer. Phone? The waters are muddier, as operating system and general low level hardware, most devices are on equal footing. just make sure to bring up that Apple actively makes their own phones worse through software patches to promote sales.

So who needs a Mac? There were times where Apple made some strong strides forward (and made their fans pay the cost of progress for them) to drive innovation, but right now Apple is in a technological rut. The hardware company makes lackluster software that offers no killer features or apps the others cannot run, replicate, or do better than. Their hardware may be flash, but often has many comprimises that leave disgruntled fans. But people still buy them, and don’t want to have a look on the other side.