Mac vs. P.C.

OR
i want my M.A.C.

I thought I'd open up a nice heated debate to see if I have any readers at all. While picking up Blogging for Dummies the other day at the library, I glanced through the Switching to Mac for Dummies. This is a real question: Is there a For Dummies For Dummies that lists all the available topics and maybe gives you some high points?

Anyway, I thought it was cute how it said in the opening pages of the Switching to Mac for Dummies that the Mac versus P.C. debate raises as much ire as taking religious sides or voting republican when your husband is a democrat. (For the record, I would have voted for Obama if they'd allowed Canadians to vote in that election. I had to wait until the Canadian one and still wanted to write in Obama.)

I also thought it was cute how the Dummies book, copyright 2006, said Windows was coming out with Vista which could very well give Mac a run for their money. I know. I'll give you a minute to recover and wipe the coffee you just spewed off your screen.

You know what I like best about that whole Vista debacle? How they then had to hire five-year-olds to introduce Windows 7. Apparently, no self-respecting adult, even a starving actor, would touch it. My first thought was, "So you've made it easier for children to surf without supervision?" Now they have all these smug "P.C. was my idea" commercials which to me only says, "We're not smart enough to figure this out. Please help us."

Having said all that, what the For Dummies book did point out to me was a strength in PC's that has become their weakness, but remains somewhat admirable: In their quest to dominate the world, they have and continue to support more applications than Apple. When they bring out anything new, they make sure it's still possible for me to, say, write a manuscript on my Compaq Presario (circa 2000), transfer it via diskette to my Dell (circa 2007), and email it through that version of Windows with the ribbons which makes me roll my eyes.

To give Compaq their due, this little desktop has been a workhorse almost as sturdy and reliable as my HP 5L laser printer--which I would run back into my burning house to save. However, as you can see from above, I have some file transfer issues.

Initially it was a conscious choice to tuck my writing computer away in the attic off-line so I wouldn't be tempted to email rather that write novels. It works. When I hit a research question, I make a note of it and schedule some time when checking email on the downstairs computer to look up how to say 'milk' in Greek.

I knew someday I would want a laptop, but it didn't feel like a need so long as I could check into the Dell whenever the kids weren't on it--a time window which narrows a little more every day. Now I'm blogging. I still prefer to compose in the quiet of my attic bower, but posting requires a trip downstairs with diskette or external hard drive in hand. (Don't suggest a flash drive. I've got one but my Compaq Pre-hist-ario doesn't have a driver to support it.)

Which means I'm in the market for a laptop and I know PC's are more affordable, but there's one other piece of info I haven't mentioned: I have an iPhone.

I love my iPhone. The only thing I don't love about my iPhone is that I need to sinc it on my Dell. I want to sinc it to a Mac. I want my worlds to be one.

Then I want an iPad, just to be greedy.

So I'm counting down until Mercury is no longer retrograde (see Yes, Virginia post.) I'll have to check my May horoscope, but I'm thinking the full moon at the end of May, before Mars leaves my eleventh house.

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