[Don Pickett]

My brother switched, although I didn't switch him. He had a Gateway which fell apart on him, and had friends who ran OS X and raved about it. He came over to look at my machine and went out and bought a 12" PowerBook.

[nredman]

if my wifes dell laptop ever dies she will be getting my ibook and i will upgrade, does that count?

[bergy]

I've got at least 6 or 7 people at my place of work to switch ... out of 35 or so. Pretty good
eh? They are all happy as clams.

[idyll]

I think I'm going to switch... back to Windows.

[mbryda]

Originally posted by southtdi:
I usually get alot of curiousity and enjoyment of the ease of use but then they say a Dell is cheaper. have a coupl of friends that need a new computer that i have talked to but they are the type who shouldn't be allowed to own one so that is like talking into the wind.

Dell is most definitely not cheaper, esp. when you compare similar configutations. And Dell is the Biggest POS PC maker out there, so that argument is stupid. Whenever anyone starts in on how Dell is cheaper I go right back with the 1000 reasons why Dell is not a good PC. If nothing else, they will buy a good quality PC (ie: Not a Dell) if not a Mac.

[Macpilot]

Well, since I "switched" in 1997, I have persuaded several people to switch:

Coworkers (6) They have purchased a variety of macines from iBooks, iMacs, Powerbooks, and Power Macs. One who had not purchased a new machine in about seven years went all-out and got a dual 2.0 G5 with 20" when they were announced, with all the trimmings. Spent arond $7000 and Fedex left it on his doorstep in the rain. Assholes.

Neighbor (1) He is really diggin his new Powerbook 15.

My Dad (1) Although he did not so much switch as I just basically told him what to get and told him I would troubleshoot his HP that he had for a few days, and then bought as a gift an eMac to replace his first mac, an iMac.

My sister (1) She got an iMac and it is her first computer. She did not even know what a mouse did 6 months ago, now she is doing all sorts of stuff and really loves her iMac. She would make a good switcher commercial.

So that makes 9 confirmed.

One coworker/friend who got an iPod and swears to get a Mac when the time comes.

But there are many more that I work with and come across at the airport that once seeing the Powerbook and Panther in action are very tempted and say they will look at the Macs before they make another purchase.

Heck, just yesterday some guy asked me what the Address Book was. He was impressed with simply the OS X Address Book! Then I showed him Expose and he almost crapped.

[KraziKid]

About 6 in total so far. First was my mom. Convinced her to get a 17 Inch iMac after a thunderstorm managed to fry her old computer, even with a surge protector. Convinced 5 fellow students in high school to switch after they saw my powerbook. They all got themselves 15 inch powerbooks, while I still got my 17.

[Graymalkin]

I got my girlfriend, brother, and a friend all to switch to Macs. Interestingly they have all bought iBooks. My brother wanted a computer he could do audio work on yet survivable enough to take to his shows (he's a musician). My friend wanted her own computer for school but really wanted a laptop so I suggested the iBook to her. Once she played with one at the Apple Store she decided to pick one up. My girlfriend used to hate using Macs and refused to so much as touch my old Lombard. When I showed her Jaguar that attitude entirely reversed. After I bought my 12" Powerbook she bought my Lombard from me. Just recently she bought a 900MHz G3 iBook while Apple was cleaning out their back inventory.

My parents and grandparents are looking to get Macs in the near-ish future. My grandparents have two PCs, a Gateway and an HP, and aren't particularly fond of either one. My grandfather especially is really jealous of my Powerbook and gives it "the eye" every time he sees me with it. My parents have a homebuilt PC I gave them a few years ago. It's got an Athlon XP 1700 and a decent bit of RAM but Windows XP is a pain to keep up to date and relatively safe. They both really like the eMac and will probably get one in a couple of months.

[itai195]

Originally posted by mbryda:
Dell is most definitely not cheaper, esp. when you compare similar configutations. And Dell is the Biggest POS PC maker out there, so that argument is stupid. Whenever anyone starts in on how Dell is cheaper I go right back with the 1000 reasons why Dell is not a good PC. If nothing else, they will buy a good quality PC (ie: Not a Dell) if not a Mac.

I have a Dell laptop (in addition to my G5) and it is most definitely (a) cheaper and (b) a good PC. I'd get a PowerBook if I was buying now, but at the time the price and price-performance comparisons were ridiculously in favor of Dell.

[karbon]

Basically I don't like switching people, because it means responsibility. If you are the one who recommends someone to do something you can be 100% sure that you will be the one they go to if they have questions, complaints or problems in the future.

Therefore I just show Macs to people that are genuinely interested. The people that have a clue normally get around and get a Mac sooner or later. The rest are just ignorant, "ignorance is bliss", right? Just as someone already said here, most people don't believe or think working on a computer can be an enjoyable experience, and are happy with just the bare minimums working (web, email and a game or two).

That said, I think I've been the decisive factor for someone to buy a Mac 4-5 times during my 15 years on the platform (excluding my time as a Mac salesperson of course). All of them are happy Macers and haven't looked back since. Now, after the iPod and Mac OS X, I can really feel the interest for the platform is blooming. People are constantly asking, and using a Mac is a lot cooler and hipper than it was just 4 years ago. I already know 2-3 persons that are in the process of switching, and they all happen to have an iPod

[mbryda]

Originally posted by itai195:
I have a Dell laptop (in addition to my G5) and it is most definitely (a) cheaper and (b) a good PC. I'd get a PowerBook if I was buying now, but at the time the price and price-performance comparisons were ridiculously in favor of Dell.

I've been dealing with PC's for over 10 years now and have seen them all. Dell definitely is not a Good PC. They are cheaply made and cheaply supported.

As far as performance and Dell - you can't use them in the same sentence. Dell has middle of the road to bottom of the barrel benchmarks among like PC's in every category. If you want a performance PC, don't buy a Dell.

[itai195]

Originally posted by mbryda:
I've been dealing with PC's for over 10 years now and have seen them all. Dell definitely is not a Good PC. They are cheaply made and cheaply supported.

As far as performance and Dell - you can't use them in the same sentence. Dell has middle of the road to bottom of the barrel benchmarks among like PC's in every category. If you want a performance PC, don't buy a Dell.

I've owned Dells for years, in addition to administering a couple labs full of them, and haven't ever had any problem beyond the usual sorts of issues computers have. Anyway, performance compared to other PCs wasn't my concern, performance compared to Apple was.

[Thraxes]

Well I have been going back and forth from Apple to PC it seems.

Started on an Apple IIc actually (still have it with the original stylewriter, extra floppy drive and little Green/Black screen). Then came a whole load of 486s and Pentiums. During this ime I befriended a person who was through and through Macintoshian. She got me interested in the Apple again so as a playrig I bought a Motorola Mac clone off EBay. It served me reasonably well until last year when I replaced it with a PIII machine running Linux. About 2 months ago I was constantly getting into situations where a Laptop would have been really usefull. 2 weeks ago I became the proud owner of a brand new iBook.

The best part: Last weekend i went to visit my parents, my mother (computer illiterate is not strong enough a description) instantly liked it, my dad who has a Compaq laptop that is dying also was saying "I really like this" all the time while he was using it. So now my dad is going to be getting his first ever mac in a few weeks... another user converted

[Arkham_c]

I've switched at least a dozen or more. I've been a Mac user since I was a freshman in high school around 1988. I recently (2003) switched two people where I work, including my boss.

Alas, I failed today to switch someone. He was going out to buy a laptop for $899, and I almost convinced him to get the $1099 14" iBook. Oh well, maybe next time.

[Lancer409]

got a few friends looking at powerbooks ... since i've switched, they see it's not all that BAD (not bad at all in my view) .. but like all possible switches .. they are shaky .. they are also looking at the fujitsu p5000? or a p5___ ... i think p .. the ultra small one .. that and the sony tr3, fujitsu S series ... sony v505 and a toshie .. dont worry .. i'll get 'em on a powerbook .. hehe

[jconstant]

I can take credit for three people in the past year alone. The results:

- 2 17"iMacs
- 2 12" Powerbooks
- 1 20" iMac
- 3 AEBS

[nuckin futs]

Originally posted by greenamp:
Does joe blow really need a mac to dl porn better? Probably not.

the problem is, those porn sites started using wmv as a format instead of mpg, so the mac version of windows media player doesn't cut it.

[AdvocateUK]

I've switched one so far, a Surgeon at the hospital I work at (I work in A+E or ER if you're in the US) and he had done a 6 month stint with us before moving onto surgery. He recently took the plunge and bought a 15" PB and wow is it ever lovely.

Three other Dr's I know are considering the switch, an orthopaedic surgeon (who also did a stint with us) who is looking to buy a PB, a specialist registrar who's only complaint is the price of the current Powermacs (compared to the bundles you can get eg pc, digicam, scanner, printer; he wants it all at once) and a staff grade who is looking to buy a dual 2ghz and an iBook (just as soon as his wife gives him the go-ahead).

I suppose you could say I've switched my wife as well as she never uses the PC anymore and uses solely the PM (single 1.8).

People at work think I'm on some kind of Apple commission lol

[swamibooba]

since breaking down five months ago and finally buying a mac - my 12-incher (i love saying that), i've switched two friends to get eMacs, one to an ibook, and two to get g5 towers. it usually only requires showing expose and the iapps. i've been pestering my mother to get a mac after somehow managing to make her pc barely usable (she can't uninstall macaffee firewall because it ruins some important .dlls, and her harddrive is perpetually fragmented). i'd never heard her squeal until i showed here iphoto and imovie.

hell if it weren't for my utter dependence on several apps and games and that i've sunk a lot of money into it, i'd dump my pc for a g5. however, i'm happy to switch between the two, thanks to OS X's conscious attempt to work with windows (the OS not the GUI concept ).

[cmt]

An earlier post mentioned how this topic had a religous tone. Well, A friend and I switched the Youth Pastor at our church to a Mac. There was just no other system that could do all the audio/video stuff that you can do with iLife for the price. He went to CompUSA to get the low end eMac. When he got home he discovered the box was mislabled, and he had the superdrive model, for the low end price. When he returned to the store to point out the mistake and return the machine, they told him it was their error, and he could keep the one he had. Divine intervention?.....

I also switched a co-worker. He was expecting his first child, and when he saw how how easily I could take videos of my kids soccer games and post them to the web, he went out and got a 20 inch iMac. He is very happy with his choice.

Then there is my parents. Dad is close to 80, but fairly good with the computer. They winter in the south, so I needed to ensure they would not need much technical support. They have been using Macs for years, and never had a real issue. It is now to the point that my Dad does most of his own troubleshooting.

[Thorts]

I switched both of my sisters and their families, my parents, my boss, two other doctors, sold about 6 iPods, 4 iSights, am the (unofficial) mac consultant and evangalist at work.....

Damn, Apple! I want a commission! 5% on all the gear I've sold would be adequate, I think

Thorts in Seattle (I can see Bill Gates' house from my living room. Love to make more Mac addicts in Seattle!).

Edit: spelling

[RussGJohnson]

Lets see,

My father, my boss (2PBs), our controller, my wife, my wife's aunt and uncle, my mother, and then my Father again (my old 17" 1Ghz PB), my cousin's (iBook and iMac, and thank god....my mother in law. Twelve in all and going strong.
I finally have time to myself now that I am not the tech support guy for Bill Gates, I mean the spyware and viruses on 20 plus relatives windoze computers can drive a guy nuts!!!!!

[RooneyX]

I switched my cousin when I sold him my Tibook. He fell in love with OSX. He's an IT contractor for very big companies and always worked with MS software. When he saw how easy it was to get things done with OSX he tried to get companies to implement Macs. He can't stop talking about them now.