I got a Mac.
Those are four words I wasn’t sure would ever apply to my life. I have used PCs my entire life and had spent over four years working on PCs as a computer consultant. I wrote about how I was torn between getting a Mac or a PC and the choice’s implications on my attitudes and identity.
In the end, though, I got a Mac.
In the end, the only thing keeping me from getting a Mac was fear.
In the end, I didn’t want my choices to be dictated by fear. (Unless that choice has something to do with zombies).
As a converted PC, though, there are a few things I’ll never do now that I’m a Mac.
Superiority Complex
Aside from fear, I also didn’t want to get a Mac because of the attitude so often associated with Mac users. In my experience a lot of Mac users have a superiority complex and can’t even imagine why anyone would use something as inferior as a PC. I hope to never have that attitude, partly because Jesus told us not to lord anything over people, but also because that attitude sucks. PCs are great machines and PC users are great people. And if I ever walk around with my nose in the air because I think I’m too good for PCs, I hope someone chops it off.
The Kool-Aid
A lot of Mac users also seem to have drunk the Kool-Aid. One of the most powerful aspects of the Mac brand is the culture that surrounds it. Studies have shown that some people’s brains react to the Mac brand in the same way others respond to religious experiences. Even though I got a Mac and I’m happy with it, I don’t want to drink the Kool-Aid. I don’t want to be a Mac disciple; I want to be a Jesus disciple. People elevate all sorts of different things to unhealthy levels; I may be guilty of doing that with Skyrim. In the end, though, anything that steals our affection for God is an idol, whether it’s a Mac, a PC, an Xbox 360 or a Commodore 64.
Hipster
A lot of the Mac culture also translates to clothing. It’s true that a number of Mac users are grandparents and older professionals. When I think of Mac, though, I don’t think about the businessman in the tailored suit. When I think about Mac, I think about hipster 20 somethings with their flannel shirts, skinny jeans, aggressive piercings and unkempt facial hair. Part of me is a little envious because I can’t grow any facial hair whatsoever, but mostly I don’t want to be a hipster. I don’t want to sport a wallet chain and I don’t want to shop at American Apparel. Hopefully I’ll be able to use a Mac and continue wearing Star Wars shoes and Chick-fil-A shirts.
For better or worse, I am now a Mac. Maybe that’s overstating it. I’m not a Mac, I just own a Mac. It doesn’t add value to my life and I only have to identify with the Mac culture if I choose. So for now I choose to be myself. I’ll use my Mac to write sermons, nerdy blog posts and look up pictures of baby animals. And, in the end, those three things say more about me than a computer ever can.
If you’re a Mac user, what advice to do you have for me? If you’re a PC user, please forgive me.
If it counts for anything, Rob Wallace also just got a Mac. You guys are two peas in a pod
🙁
if it makes you feel any better, John, I still have a PC desktop.
Walked the same road and recently switched in August. While I did initially miss win7, I’m really beginning to love working within spaces and all the multi-touch shortcuts to get around. Not to mention doing anything with video is infinitely easier. I justified it because I decided I could always run Boot Camp and go back to Windows. I would just have much better hardware. I made myself live in OSX for a few months first, however. Now I don’t see myself going back.