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nickw311 · May 16, 2005, 09:51 PM

Just what the title says, how many people have you gotten to switch to a Mac? I myself have only gotten one person to switch and I have gotten many people interested in them. Another of my friends is going to get a Mac as his next computer but I can't claim that I am solely responsible because he was a graphic design major in college and used them for 4 years.

I have however gotten many many people to buy iPods. About half of my friends have iPods and I feel that I am atleast partly responsible for that.

Zimphire · May 16, 2005, 10:06 PM

I don't really seek out people to switch. If someone asks me about my Mac, I will tell them. But I don't try to convert people.

TailsToo · May 16, 2005, 10:10 PM

An ex-girlfriend used to pick on me for using a mac back in the early 1990s, and now that she is into desktop publishing, she loves them.

Superchicken · May 16, 2005, 10:18 PM

Let's see... 1... 2... 3... 4... 4 and a half... (he had a two Mac users across the hall that also probably did more of the switching than I did). I'm working on my parents they'll be getting a mini soon. My last two roomies if they bought computers would probably seriously consider Macs... and I get the feeling I might be able to convince the mom of the girl I like to get a mini

That said, I've been like a Apple Father to several other Mac users I've known.

ASIMO · May 16, 2005, 10:52 PM

PC to Mac? Zilch.

Lesbian to at least bi? Almost one. Getting there. Utterly hot. Wish me luck.

RGB · May 16, 2005, 11:54 PM

6ish. All PowerBooks except for one iBook.

OldManMac · May 17, 2005, 12:11 AM

I stopped counting after one hundred, but then, I used to work for Apple.

alphasubzero949 · May 17, 2005, 12:13 AM

7. They all saw what my PowerBook could do.

MrForgetable · May 17, 2005, 02:21 AM

2. who both switched 2 people.

tekno_geek911 · May 17, 2005, 02:30 AM

I got my parents to switch and about 10 of my friends.

SSharon · May 17, 2005, 03:02 AM

Many people come to me with computer questions and I invariably tell them they wouldn't have as many issues on a Mac so although I don't seek out to convert people, once they come to me and say computer I see them as fair game. I think I have converted 5 people in the past year and 2 of my friends will be buying Mac portables this summer. I also helped a few people get ipods.

My only problem is that now I am jealous of the people I converted. Whereas previously they were jealous of my Mac, now I have a friend that bought a 17" PB, 2GB, final cut pro, motion, panasonic camcorder, etc. and I my iBook does not stack up well against that.

willed · May 17, 2005, 04:32 AM

I can't stand rampant zealots. There are many people who probably are better off with a PC for compatibility's sake. For instance if some girls I know switched they would be crestfallen that their main program, MSN Messenger, is **** on the Mac.

Having said that, my sister and Dad are getting Macs soon, and a friend of mine who uses a typewriter at the moment said that if he had to get a computer in future, it would be a Mac (after using mine regularly to check e-mail, surf the web etc)

tavilach · May 17, 2005, 04:34 AM

Originally Posted by willed

I can't stand rampant zealots. There are many people who probably are better off with a PC for compatibility's sake. For instance if some girls I know switched they would be crestfallen that their main program, MSN Messenger, is **** on the Mac.

Having said that, my sister and Dad are getting Macs soon, and a friend of mine who uses a typewriter at the moment said that if he had to get a computer in future, it would be a Mac (after using mine regularly to check e-mail, surf the web etc)

Adium?

Goldfinger · May 17, 2005, 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by tavilach

Adium?

No way, there is no app on the Mac that's as good as MSN Messenger on Windows. Only aMSN comes somewhat close (I use the nightlies of aMSN).

And AIM or whatever is not an option for people outside of the US since absolutely everybody uses MSN.

Zimphire · May 17, 2005, 05:10 AM

Originally Posted by TailsToo

An ex-girlfriend used to pick on me for using a mac back in the early 1990s, and now that she is into desktop publishing, she loves them.

Yes, hard not to love the Mac when doing DTP. Esp if you ever had to do it on a PC.

badidea · May 17, 2005, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by ASIMO

Lesbian to at least bi? Almost one. Getting there. Utterly hot. Wish me luck.

Good luck, I hope you will get her to tag-team you!!!!!!!

xi_hyperon · May 17, 2005, 05:23 AM

I've shown and demo'd Macs to family and friends in the past, but only when they've asked me to. I don't push it as the be-all end-all of computers - if it's the right computer for someone I show it to, the Mac sells itself.

storer · May 17, 2005, 05:23 AM

3. 2 online, 1 in person

solero · May 17, 2005, 07:07 AM

pc-->mac 2
mac-->pc 1 (wanted a gaming laptop)

hart · May 17, 2005, 07:19 AM

3: sister, mother, spouse. My sister got tired of me mocking her everytime she had to spend hours downloading security-related updates. Then my mother who is totally computer ignorant essentially had to switch to the platform of her IT staff (my sister and I((me? what's proper here anyway))). spouse just goes for what's chic.

ManOfSteal · May 17, 2005, 08:36 AM

~ 11,000 (School District)

willed · May 17, 2005, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by ManOfSteal

~ 11,000 (School District)

I think you win.

End the thread please.

[out of interest, any idea how the kids find Macs? When we used to have them at school back in system 7-8 days everyone used to hate them. Hell, I used to hate them mainly because of the idiot who ran the system. I know that NO ONE was persuaded to switch to Mac by their experience at my school. Do you think this is still the case?]

nickw311 · May 17, 2005, 09:34 AM

Same with me willed... When I was in elementary we had old Performas with probably system 7 or so and no one really liked them for anything except The Oregon Trail.

I wish the University I am in now had more Macs and I wish the high school I went to had Macs... Oh well

ebuddy · May 17, 2005, 09:56 AM

Kind of hard to sell them when my $1200.00 iMac went belly-up due to some overheating problem and my $2500.00 Tibook developed two broken hinges because I decided to open it. How much to fix these units? About as reasonable as the cost of the units in the first place. I don't sell or tout macs as their engineering and quality of material has let me down and I don't feel like fielding the complaints from friends. I do have a duallie G5 and I like to do a lot of recording with it (aside from the clicking, wheezing, blips, and pops that seem to go hand in hand with Mac audio outputs no matter how much you spend). I've been paying for the OS, period. OSX is second to none and with the new features of Tiger, I'll continue buying over-priced, cool looking, but under- engineered machinery. i.e. I'm not a victim. I willingly choose to put up with shotty craftsmanship in order to have a machine that best runs the OS I want.

turtle777 · May 17, 2005, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by ManOfSteal

~ 11,000 (School District)

Did you get anything from Apple for that ?

-t

chris v · May 17, 2005, 11:01 AM

One of my most die-hard PC friends (the guy works for IBM and has 4 Dells at home) sold his crappy Rio and bought an iPod after playing with mine. That's about as close as I've actually come. I will show things to folks, but most of the people I know are too cheap to give up windows. Case-in-point, the friend who spent 12,000 on a giant telescope, and when he wanted a portable to hook up to the scope's CCD, bought a Dell, because it was cheaper than a Powerbook. I tried on that one-- I really did.

gururafiki · May 17, 2005, 11:25 AM

I've converted a lot, especially since the intro of the iMac. I think Apple should have a way to compensate those who help others switch. Maybe when a buyer buys a mac, they fill out one of those forms that ask where they heard of Apple/Mac. Then we could get free iPod's or something for converting people.

skelotar · May 17, 2005, 11:52 AM

The Mac Cult

Luca Rescigno · May 17, 2005, 12:00 PM

Two, kinda. I have two friends who have used my Mac enough that they really want one. Of course, neither of them has any money, so they are just going to keep their PCs until they can afford another computer. Then maybe they'll get a Mac.

Also, I converted from Mac to PC several months ago, and went back just a short time ago. My brother went from Mac to PC (for gaming, like me) and has stayed, but he wants a Mac mini to mess around with (he wants to put it in his car and put an LCD in the dash). Several of his friends also want Mac minis, and some of that envy was indeed spurned by seeing mine. So I have several potential converts but none that I've actually fully converted.

turtle777 · May 17, 2005, 12:00 PM

Hey, it's one of the view cults where you get something for your "donations".

-t

brapper · May 17, 2005, 12:06 PM

5.
that is all.

ReggieX · May 17, 2005, 03:04 PM

I try to get everyone I know to buy an SGI. They're very pretty.

MrForgetable · May 19, 2005, 12:00 AM

Originally Posted by willed

I think you win.

End the thread please.

[out of interest, any idea how the kids find Macs? When we used to have them at school back in system 7-8 days everyone used to hate them. Hell, I used to hate them mainly because of the idiot who ran the system. I know that NO ONE was persuaded to switch to Mac by their experience at my school. Do you think this is still the case?]

yes. i am in high school and our lab is full of imacs running system 8. yearbook uses jaguar.

people hate them. it is always a 100 on 1 attack on macs.

"yes they are pretty, but they can't play games."
"yeah i hate macs"
"freaking one button mouse, i hate it so i hate macs!"

there are a few people that like macs like my chem teacher. he does everything he can to diss windows.

personally, i loved the original blueberry imac and had always wanted one. they were pretty expensive back then. i remember it was about $1600 for a snow 600mhz G3 imac. that was my dream computer FOREVER. then the lime green iBook. then the 1ghz superdrive tiBook. so when i finally saved enough money it was 4+ years after i wanted one and i got a 15 inch powerbook

ASIMO · May 19, 2005, 03:27 AM

Originally Posted by badidea

Good luck, I hope you will get her to tag-team you!!!!!!!

Say, that is not a bad idea...uhh...badidea.

Unfortunately she is not partnered at the moment.

ManOfSteal · May 19, 2005, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Did you get anything from Apple for that ?

-t

Yeah, Apple paid for a personal meet and greet luncheon with gorickey at a really nice buffet....it was swell.

:XI: · May 19, 2005, 08:23 AM

I'm trying to get people to switch the other way so I don't have to worry about buying anti-virus software.

Longhorn is going to be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet...

MilkmanDan · May 19, 2005, 02:59 PM

I think 8. Getting easier every time.

nforcer · May 19, 2005, 06:59 PM

0. My PC-using friends only care about games. At least I managed to switch them to firefox for browsing and 1 of them to trillian for instant messaging.

nforcer · May 19, 2005, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by ebuddy

Kind of hard to sell them when my $1200.00 iMac went belly-up due to some overheating problem and my $2500.00 Tibook developed two broken hinges because I decided to open it. How much to fix these units? About as reasonable as the cost of the units in the first place. I don't sell or tout macs as their engineering and quality of material has let me down and I don't feel like fielding the complaints from friends. I do have a duallie G5 and I like to do a lot of recording with it (aside from the clicking, wheezing, blips, and pops that seem to go hand in hand with Mac audio outputs no matter how much you spend). I've been paying for the OS, period. OSX is second to none and with the new features of Tiger, I'll continue buying over-priced, cool looking, but under- engineered machinery. i.e. I'm not a victim. I willingly choose to put up with shotty craftsmanship in order to have a machine that best runs the OS I want.

While I have yet to have a Mac die on me you do make a valid point about the pricing and underlying hardware. The better, cheaper, and more frequently updated hardware is on the PC side, and it's what I would prefer to be using. Like you, I really only care for the OS. If for some reason MS manages to get a good user experience with Windows and develops something like Cocoa (it won't be by Longhorn) I would have no problem switching to the other side.

itistoday · May 19, 2005, 07:19 PM

I think maybe 4. The PowerBook helps the most.