This came up due to
a poll on Facebook I noticed this past week.
One of the things that I find particularly infuriating is how people discuss the computers using mostly marketing ploys used in advertising rather than demonstrating any real intelligence as to the computers they are using. This would be the essence of the rather silly Mac vs PC discussions and arguments I overhear and often finding myself engaging in. Actually, the question "Mac vs PC; which is better" is flawed from the very beginning. What many people fail to realize is that Macs are PCs (I know, GASP)
While the term has been kind of diluted in recent times, PC stands for “Personal Computer” and does not imply the windows operating system. According to Wikipedia, a Personal Computer "is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator." This contrasts with say a server or time sharing device operated or used by many users at the same time. And so by this definition, chances are you've used a PC almost exclusively, even if you've never touched the windows operating system.
"Ok, Erik," you're probably thinking, "Why mention this when everyone knows what we're talking about, even if it's not technically phrased correctly." Well, that's the problem. By continuing these arguments phrased as such, you're actually contributing to public ignorance by implying Macs and PCs are different things. They're not. If I were to open up an Apple branded computer and another computer (say from HP or Dell) I would encounter virtually the same internal components, just as if I were to slice an American and an Asian in half, I would find the same internal organs (I must admit this is not exactly the most pleasant metaphor, but you see my point). While Apple is more particular and specific about which companies make components for its computers (nearly all of Apple's processors nowadays are made by Intel and any non-integrated video cards are by Nvidia to my knowledge) each computer has a motherboard, hard drive(s), processor, RAM, video card, etc. To argue Macs are somehow different machines entirely holds about as much water as saying one race of human beings are entirely different biological entities than another (which people have claimed in the past (and sometimes continue to do) usually to rather sickening results). The fact that people have this perception reflects clever and shrewd advertising and marketing by Apple (As can be seen by their clever "Mac vs PC" TV Ads).
So, what’s the real question? Well, it's actually a bit more complicated. It comes down to a number of things, namely the Software and Operating System (OS), the hardware (What’s inside the machine), and aesthetics. Apple has long had a stronghold in the latter category and I believe accounts for a relatively significant amount of its sales. The software and operating is often a matter of preference. In fact, when people ask 'Mac or PC,' what they really mean is 'do you prefer Apple's OSX or Microsoft's Windows Operating System.' Without adding too much of my opinion to this discussion (A topic for another day) both offerings have their advantages and disadvantages. While OSX is often thought to be more stable, it has less support for third-party software and is less customizable than Windows, which has a reputation for being unstable and crash-prone. However, something bothersome about this rather simplistic and trivial debate is that it eliminates a number of other (often free) alternatives such as the popular Linux Distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora, along with a variety of other less popular Operating Systems such as Solaris, FreeBSD and OpenBSD.
So usually when asked my opinion in the Mac vs PC debate in a poll online or wherever that does not allow for other options I respond with PC. And while the truth is that I do in fact run Windows 7 on my primary desktop, I do run Ubuntu Linux on my laptop (and love it!), and the fact remains that unless I were working on a server (Which I don't) or simply don't use a computer (Quite rare in modern society), I think it should be rather obvious that I, along with the majority of us, use PCs.
So why does this matter? We live in a very computer-centric world and it is my belief that anyone who uses a computer should have a basic understanding of what they’re using. It pains me to hear these incorrect terms used in everyday discussion when in reality they are nothing but distortions of what is real.
Maybe when quantum computing becomes a real viable alternative, we can discuss these different types of computers like they’re totally different (which they will be). But until then, lets help promote some intelligence when it comes to these devices we use every day and take for granted.
