I did something this weekend. Something huge. Something momentous. Something mind blowing.
I bought a MAC.
If you follow me on twitter you are all, and? Seriously? You have been talking about this all weekend. More duck pooping pictures please.
There are two kinds of people in this world. MAC people, and PC people. I am now a MAC person. It's a tad like being a pod person. I have an ex boyfriend who had a MAC and I teased him mercilessly. Who has a MAC? Its not even a real computer.
Perhaps I should find him on Facebook and tell him I do.
I blame the phone. The iPhone is totally gate way drug to MAC. In fact, the guy who sold me my MAC told me he has people come in and say, "I need a MAC to go with my iPhone."
My situation was a little bit different. If you follow me on twitter (and if you don't, why not? I'm endlessly fascinating) you know that my previous laptop, which was my work laptop, got 3 FUCKING viruses in 3 weeks. 3 viruses. And my work IT shrugged their shoulders and was like, I don't know. Are you downloading stuff? It's your houses fault.
Every time it happened they had to blow my hard drive and I was without a computer and I could no longer deal. But I had a free computer. And it is hard to argue with free computer. Except free computer was not working so well. And what can I say, I have a blog empire to maintain. It's for you guys. I did it for you.
And then I heard MACs don't get viruses and I was done. I walked in the store and bought one in about 10 minutes. I was their easiest sale. And Doug convinced me to get the more expensive one than the one I was looking at. Because "don't cheap out on a computer you will just want another one in a year." I wanted the one that came in pink. The apple guy said, "what are you, 12?"
Doug and I spent a good part of yesterday restoring a laptop from two laptops ago that we thought was pretty dead to make it useable enough just for Michael to access the Internet and play games. I don't want Michael touching the MAC computer, ever. I managed to figure out the old computer didn't think it had a wireless connection and handed it off to Doug. I'm useful like that.
But it is up and running, and my 4 year old has his own computer. But before everyone yells at me I did not buy him a computer. This was a computer we thought was dead and managed to resurrect from the grave. On Easter. Like Jesus.
Michael is thrilled. He said, "this is my computer. Like Mommy. And Mommy can't have her stuff on it and take it away from me." This is is soooo my kid.
So welcome me to the MAC family. I'm twittering questions a lot. Because like I said. Fascinating.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve always had a pc and my laptop for 3 years and I’ve never had a virus. Did you not have virus protection running?
I love love love my Mac. Got it in 2007, during MA tax free weekend. My work laptop is a PC, so I sometimes have to remember which device I’m on for certain things like right clicking. But I love it – would never go back!
Just a heads up that Macs can and do get viruses, just not that frequently. Enjoy your Mac – they are great (says she who owns an iMac and MacBook)!
First of all, you are an evil temptress! But really — you think it will help with our blog “empires?” ;O And, what’s wrong with pink — my laptop is pink and I am definitely NOT 12. I am at LEAST 13 1/2.
Very cool. It looks so light! Cracked up at your ‘gateway drug’ reference.
You’ve got me thinking too. We have an old laptop stuffed away somewhere that surely could run some kind of game for Nicky or at least he could use the MS Paint program to draw. I’ll have to dig it out for him.
There are Mac viruses out there, but they are few and far between. This is changing as the Mac gains more popularity, but it’s still a minor concern.
Here next to my desk at work I’ve got a Mac (dual G5 running OS X 10.5), an SGI (Irix 6.5.30 (Unix variant)), a Linux box (RedHat Enterprise 5), a FreeBSD machine, and my laptop (Vista Ultimate). They ALL have their issues; what those are vary depending on what you expect from the machine.
Your Mac should be fine, but if you need MS Office on it, you’re going to feel like MS’s red headed stepchild. Office 2008:Mac is…special. I can’t stand Entourage. VMWare or Parallels will allow you to run Windows applications on your desktop in a transparent manner if you need it (VMWare is currently considered the better of the two, but that is recent and they tend to leap frog each other).
I’m so jealous.
Macs are addictive and I can see the iphone being a gateway Macs. I like the analogy
There are no virus for the mac – there is some malware but not a virus that replicates and spreads. and with the OS X malware you usually have to do something silly like downloaded pirated software and give it your root password. Just never put in your root password unless you know what and from where you are installing software and you will be fine.
Oooooh…so pretty! Welcome to the family, lol!
We bought our first mac 4 years ago (iMac) and then I got a MacBook almost 2 years ago. Will NEVER go back to a PC! Then, of course, we both had to get our iPhones to go along with the computers, lol.
ENJOY!
OK, so maybe I was a bit too quick to spout “Macs don’t get viruses” on Twitter. And perhaps my comment that “Antivirus software for the Mac is like wearing a condom after a vasectomy” was not only a clumsy metaphor but also not quite true. BUT, I will stand by my assertion that viruses for Macs are very rare, and tend to be hard to catch. Here’s a recent article on the subject: http://bitly.com/MacViruses. Here’s what I can say, and hopefully am not cursing myself by saying it. I’ve had Macs at home for five years and at work for over 10. I’ve never had a virus or other malware, and I’ve never used anti-virus software. I don’t plan to start. The growing popularity of Macs may make them a more attractive target to hackers in the future, but for now it seems a little safe surfing is all you really need to protect yourself.
Oh, and congratulations on your new Mac!
I got a new laptop a couple of weeks ago, but mine’s a PC. I’ve asked about Macs, but since DH is a developer all he does is bug me to get a linux box. I rely on him to make sure we can clean whatever this picks up, but I run a ton of virus protection.
congrats on your new toy
The Mac is TOTALLY like god. Maybe even better. Let’s hope it never needs resurrection.
Hmmm . . . I’ve tried to use Kate’s mac once or twice and was completely frustrated. Probly cause I didn’t spend any time with it. Which might be a good thing since I don’t really need any more gadgets to learn in my life . . . do I?
I’ve always had a PC, and lately I am beginning to wonder if I am really missing something amazing by not having a mac instead. But until my computer dies, I don’t think that I can bring myself to spend that much on something that I don’t need…
But congrats on your newest addition! She is shiny and pretty and looks like a VERY hard worker!
Yah! Congrats on the Mac!!
Welcome to the cult! My husband’s been in it for years, and I officially joined at Christmas 2007. You’re the second person I’ve encountered this week who is coming over to the other side. Hope you and the Mac will be very happy together for years to come!
Congratulations on the Mac. You will love it. In fact, there are days when I’m 100% sure I like my Mac more than my boyfriend.
September. I will be joining you in September. My in-laws are Mac people and I have officially been converted. The iPhone helps, of course. I’d own a Mac right now if we hadn’t gone a little crazy with the credit card while we were on vacation. September.
Ohhh! Fun! I’m sure a Mac will be our next computer as well.
It’s adorable.
Congratulations! I’ve been using Macs since I was about 12 and before they ever came in pink. I’ve never ever ever ever ever gotten a virus. Neither has my husband who has used them since before he was 12. I love their easy interface, sexy design, and how everything just works together. I do use PCs for work and am constantly frustrated by them. Again, congrats and feel free to ask me anything you want!
Welcome to the Cult of Mac
I just got one for my new job and I already only touch my PC when I’m playing video games!
My macbook is boring white but you wouldn’t know at first glance!
And even though you didn’t get the pink laptop, you can still get the pink cover
My laptop is starting to act a bit “old” and I’m debating going to a Mac. There are somethings I don’t like about Macs but I think I could get over it. My husband though says I’d be on my own since he’s a PC guy and I really don’t know squat about computers.
LOL at the “gateway drug” thing – that’s exactly what happened to my boss. He got an iPhone, and then the Mac. And he didn’t even have a computer to begin with…
I think I wet myself a bit when I read that you’d resurrected a dead computer “on Easter. Like Jesus.” Funniest. Thing. Ever.
I have no experience with Mac, but if you’re happy, then I’m happy for you. Enjoy!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WELCOME TO THE CLUB!
AWESOME!
MAC = Media Access Code
Mac = Macintosh
Use it in good health. My husband is envious. Okay, maybe me, too.