Why No Mac?

Anyone who reads a ‘mac v. pc’ article probably has an axe to grind on the matter already. When a person passionately endorses and champions a giant, wealthy, multinational capitalist institution which has no personal interest in or connection to them, I would say that they have been entirely owned. This could apply to Microsoft, IBM or Apple, but generally the most passionate hardware endorsers are coming from the Apple camp. (Actually, do you know anyone – who doesn’t work for Microsoft – who would express such levels of devotion as are readily evinced by the MacLads?)

Macs are gorgeous. Oh yes. They are so much more aesthetically pleasing then PCs that it’s not even funny. It’s astounding. And now they have the power under the surface too… and they can run Windows XP. The majority of musicians (and graphic designers too) use Macs.

PCs are a bit cheaper. They are customisable. You can build your own using a variety of components from different manufacturers. You can easily upgrade components individually as the need arises.

So what? This list doesn’t even scratch the surface of the ‘pros and cons’ of mac versus pc.

When I was researching my purchase of a new laptop, I didn’t find any compelling reason to choose either a Mac or a PC for the purposes of making music. I would love for someone to point out such a thing, some innate advantage of architecture/performance/reliability, but I don’t think that such a reason/feature/argument exists. At this stage, it’s really just a matter of personal preference. Do you prefer using Windows or Mac OS? Which do you know better? Which lets you get your work done more quickly and effectively?

If a PC were developed that is in all ways better than the best Mac available, I would dump my Mac and choose that PC the next time I was buying a computer. And vice versa. Although it’s nice to have a good-looking computer, that is entirely irrelevant to what I want it for. I don’t use my computer to define how cool I am, and I certainly don’t define myself by affiliation with a multinational corporation whose main goal is to make a profit year on year. Computers are a tool, not a lifestyle choice – pick the one you work best on and start doing something with it.