Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

LightWaver-67 · May 28, 2005, 11:22 AM

A friend of a friend is (was) a PC user. For years, I just smiled quietly as he made his comments about how GREAT his PC was and how COOL his system was... and how he just rebuilt it and had "X" video card and "Y" sound card and "Z" speakers...

All he did with his "awesome" machine was surf the net for porn and watch DVDs on his computer. I am NOT stretching the truth. He checked his email MAYBE once a week, if that. He did not run games. Is/was not a designer or developer... nothing.

He would always comment about the price of Macs, the lack of software, it looked like a toy, etc... again... I would just smile & nod. Not worth having 'that' discussion with some people.

---

Well... his latest endeavor was to move to recording music in the computer. He had called me and asked if I was familiar with a specific I/O box... the Presonus FirePod. I am familiar with it, but had not tried it. He said he was having trouble getting it to work and was wondering if I could help him. He wanted me to look at the unit, so he brought it to MY home (which I have my own design/audio setup in my home office). He proceeded to unload manuals and CD-ROMs w/ driver installers and print-outs of PDFs he downloaded. He said "It says it works on both Macs & PCs... I can't get it to work, I think it's broken".

He asked me to try it on my Mac and began to hand me the install materials. I said wait... I don't need that stuff. NOTE: The installation instructions for the Windows install was 5 (FIVE) pages long.

I merely plugged the power-brick into the wall and plugged the FireWire cable into my mac and launched LogicPro. Bingo! One of my I/O choices in the drop-down clearly displayed: Presonus FirePod.

He was floored.

I installed nothing. I configured nothing. He then asked about browsing the web... he mentioned how EVERY 3-6-months, he literally WIPES CLEAN his hard drive and reinstalls everything from scratch because of ad-ware, spyware, pop-ups, etc... he seemed "okay" with that, until I showed him how I NEVER got pop-ups. No spyware or adware launching all-sorts of processes in the bkgnd...

Then all the "Tiger" eye-candy threw him over the top - I showed him Exposé - WOW! Can I download that for Windows...? "Ummm... I dunno if there's anything close to it, it comes w/ the OS" - Long story short: 2-weeks later, he is the owner of a new dual 2Ghz PwrMac Tower, Apple 20" Display AND a small PowerBook - all brand new.

As of yesterday... he is still getting the transition down... not 100% fluent yet, but he says he now "gets it". He is amazed at the superior quality of everything... the fit & finish, the display, just the whole "experience".

To paraphrase: He basically said that all this time, he just assumed it was a pricey gimmick... a toy... but now that he's allowed himself to USE one... he is upset that he didn't ry it years ago.

Granted... I don't think the outcome would have been the same on an early PowerPC running OS 8 or 9... but regardless... I think he's hooked.

P.S. - I have ommitted LOTS of other examples of "ease-of-use" that blew him away. There are at least another dozen or two examples I have in my head, but not worth tying out.

theolein · May 28, 2005, 11:47 AM

Wow, someone had a lot of extra cash around, especially if it is mainly to surf and watch DVD's. Still, power to him for a comfortable computer on which to do it.

mdc · May 28, 2005, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by LightWaver-67

To paraphrase: He basically said that all this time, he just assumed it was a pricey gimmick... a toy... but now that he's allowed himself to USE one...

i think that is _most_ windows users.

Big Mac · May 28, 2005, 12:47 PM

Great story, LightWave.

CaptainHaddock · May 28, 2005, 08:12 PM

Heh, that story sounds like me two years ago.

And then a friend of mine got an iBook...and now I can't believe I ever used Windows with this superior platform available.

webb3201 · May 29, 2005, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by LightWaver-67

A friend of a friend is (was) a PC user. For years, I just smiled quietly as he made his comments about how GREAT his PC was and how COOL his system was... and how he just rebuilt it and had "X" video card and "Y" sound card and "Z" speakers...

All he did with his "awesome" machine was surf the net for porn and watch DVDs on his computer. I am NOT stretching the truth. He checked his email MAYBE once a week, if that. He did not run games. Is/was not a designer or developer... nothing.

He would always comment about the price of Macs, the lack of software, it looked like a toy, etc... again... I would just smile & nod. Not worth having 'that' discussion with some people.

---

Well... his latest endeavor was to move to recording music in the computer. He had called me and asked if I was familiar with a specific I/O box... the Presonus FirePod. I am familiar with it, but had not tried it. He said he was having trouble getting it to work and was wondering if I could help him. He wanted me to look at the unit, so he brought it to MY home (which I have my own design/audio setup in my home office). He proceeded to unload manuals and CD-ROMs w/ driver installers and print-outs of PDFs he downloaded. He said "It says it works on both Macs & PCs... I can't get it to work, I think it's broken".

He asked me to try it on my Mac and began to hand me the install materials. I said wait... I don't need that stuff. NOTE: The installation instructions for the Windows install was 5 (FIVE) pages long.

I merely plugged the power-brick into the wall and plugged the FireWire cable into my mac and launched LogicPro. Bingo! One of my I/O choices in the drop-down clearly displayed: Presonus FirePod.

He was floored.

I installed nothing. I configured nothing. He then asked about browsing the web... he mentioned how EVERY 3-6-months, he literally WIPES CLEAN his hard drive and reinstalls everything from scratch because of ad-ware, spyware, pop-ups, etc... he seemed "okay" with that, until I showed him how I NEVER got pop-ups. No spyware or adware launching all-sorts of processes in the bkgnd...

Then all the "Tiger" eye-candy threw him over the top - I showed him Exposé - WOW! Can I download that for Windows...? "Ummm... I dunno if there's anything close to it, it comes w/ the OS" - Long story short: 2-weeks later, he is the owner of a new dual 2Ghz PwrMac Tower, Apple 20" Display AND a small PowerBook - all brand new.

As of yesterday... he is still getting the transition down... not 100% fluent yet, but he says he now "gets it". He is amazed at the superior quality of everything... the fit & finish, the display, just the whole "experience".

To paraphrase: He basically said that all this time, he just assumed it was a pricey gimmick... a toy... but now that he's allowed himself to USE one... he is upset that he didn't ry it years ago.

Granted... I don't think the outcome would have been the same on an early PowerPC running OS 8 or 9... but regardless... I think he's hooked.

P.S. - I have ommitted LOTS of other examples of "ease-of-use" that blew him away. There are at least another dozen or two examples I have in my head, but not worth tying out.

And it does great with porn as well. The easy file structure and smart folders make finding that perfect scene a breeze!

mpancha · May 29, 2005, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by mdc

i think that is _most_ windows users.

not me yet. I'm still half and half. I have yet to find a reason to give up either mac or pc

buggsuperstar · May 30, 2005, 03:10 AM

Originally Posted by webb3201

And it does great with porn as well. The easy file structure and smart folders make finding that perfect scene a breeze!

That's all I needed to hear!

- - e r i k - - · May 30, 2005, 03:31 AM

Great switch-story. He did have an awful lot of money lying around unused though, but more power too him.

amac4me · May 31, 2005, 03:52 PM

I switched last year and the experience has been awesome. I love hearing new Switch To A Mac stories.