Mac vs. PC on Price:" My Take

Wow, is there any debate on the Internet that is more covered than Mac vs. PC? Probably not. Maybe Star Wars vs. Star Trek. Or Superman vs. Hulk. (Superman FTW, but more on that later.) Anyway, I'm not really a fanboy of either Mac or PC, but I do choose to use a PC, and I think I have a pretty good reason why:

Value.

Yes, value. Not just price, but actual value, to me. PC's are less expensive, and yet they do everything I need them to do.

Now, I know that if I owned a Mac, it would be a better experience. Nice hardware to look at. Software that is nice to look at, intuitive, and easy-to-use. No bloatware installed when you buy it. But you pay for that nicer experience. To me, the frills just aren't worth it.

It's like with luxury cars. I drive a Honda Fit. Cheap car, no frills like air conditioning or built-in GPS, or cruise control. But for the amount of driving that I do, it's great. And the seats fold down. I know that if I bought a Lexus, the drive would be nicer, I'd be more comfortable in the car, and it would probably be a lot nicer to look at. But the extra price I'd have to pay for those frills just isn't worth it to me. I'm happy enough with the fit. So my Fit is a better value.

Same with PC's. PC's are like a Fit (or Yaris, et al.) Mac's are like a Lexus. I'm just not willing to pay that extra bit of money for the nicer experience. The benefit that I'm getting isn't worth the extra money. To me anyway. Maybe to some people it is, and god bless 'em. If I had more disposable income, I'd probably treat myself and get a Mac. But for now, a PC does the trick.

And I'd just like to call bollocks on the "total-cost-of-ownership" argument. The argument goes that owning a PC carries a 'higher cost of ownership" than a Mac because you have to buy virus protection, and it doesn't come with free software like iPhoto, iMovie, etc. And you might have to pay to have someone 'clean it up' for you. First of all, virus protection is free from AVG, as is most of the software you'll want. Picasa for photos is free. OpenOffice, iTunes, lots of others, free software for almost anything you'd need out there.

So maybe computers intimidate you a bit, and you want to pay the extra price for a Mac so everything 'just works'. Or maybe you like the nicer interface and hardware of a Mac and you want to pay for that. But for me, the extra price is not worth the benefit I'd get.

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