I always thought geeks were obsessed with Windows computers but this assumption changed over time. Before too long, Linux seemed to be the geek OS (operating system) of choice.

Well, after working 5 months at my current workplace, the assumption has changed again, Apple OSX seems to be the geek OS of choice. I reckon at least 75% of our (my workplace) 300+ strong workforce are Mac users - oh that stat impresses me, so so much.

There are many arguments in circulation as to why people choose Macs. Some say it’s because Mac users are little snobs with nothing better to do than obsess. Others say it’s because they are employed in the film/music/design sector. Well, I think the following, rather lengthy and book-like explanation is spot on:

I want to share with you all a profound moment of clarity I’ve had today.

I was buying a Mac keyboard for my sister for a Christmas present. My sister has a Mac and wanted a Mac keyboard. So there I was. I got to the checkout and I found myself slightly ashamed to be actually buying a Mac product. I mean $69 for a really basic USB keyboard??? It’s worth half that.

So I started complaining to my wife on the way home that I just don’t get Mac users and their over-priced hardware. And what I was really thinking as I was driving was, ‘What a bunch of noobs.’ Anyone who is a PC enthusiast has thought it at least once. Go on, admit it! You think they must just be thick or sucked in by the slick marketing and minimalist packaging.

But we are wrong. And this is my revelation…

Their entire view of tech is fundamentally different to us…I mean on a fundamental level. It’s different. And here it is in a nutshell:

‘They don’t care about technology. They just care about what they can do with it.”

Let that sink in for a bit. Now I’m going to take you on a guided visualisation. Close your eyes…well maybe not…

Now imagine that you’re a second-gen digital native. Home computers existed well before you were born. You’ve never used a camera that requires film. You text so much your thumb is your most mobile digit, you live on Facebook, and you would rather lose your wallet than your mobile phone. You don’t even have a landline.

You want to view your photos, edit HD digital videos, play your music and generally bum around on-line. You probably use a laptop cause you want to do it all from the couch. Tech is everywhere, pervasive, omnipresent. You don’t really think about it. You just use it.

That’s a Mac user, because that’s exactly what Macs deliver. Macs (in all their forms) are friendly, welcoming, stylish (they are…admit it) and they work. You can do all the things you want to do in a tech world and it’s all pretty simple. I mean half of what they want to do is already built into the operating system.

And here’s the beautiful thing. Say someone wants to do something new with their Mac. Like setup a wireless network in their house. They go a shop. Probably a Mac shop. And there is one thing to do it. Airport Extreme. Not twenty variations with various driver issues and all sorts of dohickys and thingemebobs. Just one. I couldn’t believe it today when I was looking at the Airport Extreme (something else my sister was coveting). $259. I saw that it supported wireless N and I’m thinking there is no way my sister had wireless N. So I ask if there is a wireless G version that costs less. Of course not. I’m not thinking Mac. One thing. It’s that simple.

So they buy the Airport Extreme. They take it home. They plug it in. It probably gives them a hug the first time they turn it on. And it works. They plug in an external hard-drive. And there they go. Home network with remote storage.

It’s really a wonderful thing actually. Macs allow all the people who don’t have the inclination to pour over a myriad of hardware or software reviews (which I love to do as I’m such a geek) access to all the same cool tech tools (in a hardware and software sense) as we have. Sure they may not be the best in their class, or the cheapest, or the most efficient. But overall they work, they are hassle free, they are easy to use, and they look nice to have around home.

See you’ve just got to look at it like they do.

I like my car. I have a CRV. It’s good. It drives well, I can fit stuff in it, its relatively safe and it looks alright. While I have a general interest in how it works, I’m not really interested in modifying the suspension, or adjusting the computer controlled fuel-injection system, or whatever else it is that car heads do. My car is a Mac. Most cars are really. But to a car head….what am I? A noob.

So don’t denounce our Mac using brothers and sisters, embrace them! For they are tech lovers just like us. They have just come to the same place via a different path. And next time I buy my sister a pressie that’s white and glossy, I won’t be ashamed. I’ll feel warm in the knowledge that she has found her own way to the place where I live.

What can I say to that. Not a lot. Pretty accurate I think.

Source: Whirlpool