Ryan Sholin

I’ve been using Microsoft OS-based PCs since Mom and Dad upgraded from an electronic typewriter. The first program I remember using way back in the DOS days was The Print Shop. I made banners. It was the ’80s.

Times have changed. Here’s ten reasons I’m switching to Apple when I buy my next machine:

1. Spotlight: Because Windows can’t handle the simple task of instantly finding little tiny digital files that are all physically within a few inches of each other. And don’t give me any “Google Desktop can do that” crap. Google can have my e-mail, my calendar, my search history, and my news subscriptions, but my melodramatic teenaged poetry does NOT need to be indexed, thank you very much.
2. Genius Bar: In-person human tech support. Where do I sign up?
3. CS2: Because I need an excuse to buy it. (I get a supercool discount at school.) I’m assuming the Intel-friendly Mac version will be out by the time I’m throwing money at a MacBook.
4. Because I’m looking forward to the challenge of moving all my music and podcasts to a fresh install of iTunes. Okay, that one not so much. Luckily, I don’t buy any music from the iTunes store, so all I can expect to lose is some podcasts, and really, how many times do I need to listen to that Gillmor Gang from last February?
5. That big honking touchpad, and the fancy mouse with the little dot in the middle. Yes, I mark out for buttons.
6. Street Cred: If I’m going to get paid to be a hotshot web geek, a cranky malfunctioning giant loud overheating Toshiba A75 just isn’t the image I’m shooting for.
7. iMovie: Because Windows Movie Maker isn’t exactly the last word in user interface.
8. Because the 13-inch MacBook is smaller, lighter, and has longer battery life than the beast I’m carrying around right now.
9. Hel-fucking-vetica.
10. Because it comes in black.