Nik Rawlinson
PCs are much cheaper than Macs, but there’s a reason for that…
I helped set up my neighbour’s new PC last night. And I must admit that the whole thing was quite an eye-opener. Said neighbour, who we’ll call Alan (for that is not his name) had invested in a Windows 7 notebook. Very smart, nice and quiet, and a bit of a bargain, at less than £400.
Much, much cheaper than the equivalent Mac, in fact, and that set me thinking that maybe he had actually made the right choice, despite disregarding my advice when I brought him around for a mug of tea and half an hour of sitting in front of my MacBook while still considering his options.
Now, Apple is famed for pricing its kit slightly above the market average and for Jobs’ admission that the company didn’t know how to make a computer for less than $500 that wouldn’t be a ‘piece of junk’, so how did this big-name but slightly undynamic PC maker achieve what Apple, the global innovator, can’t?
The answer revealed itself over the next two hours.
That’s how long it took to get the machine up and running. First, we had Windows’ own setup process, then the manufacturer’s screenfuls of options. Did we want to register? No thank you. Would we like some newsletters? No thank you. How about some anti-virus? No thanks – already got it sorted. Are you sure? Yup.
On and on. We were finally logged in 45 minutes later (the rest of the time was spent downloading said virus app and other necessaries to plug the obvious gaps, like Adobe Reader) and found ourselves presented with a Desktop full of icons and shortcuts pointing to pre-installed software. Would it be disingenuous to suggest that someone had paid for them to appear? Perhaps to facilitate a sub-$500 PC that wouldn’t find its way to Jobs’ junk pile?
In fairness, the setup wasn’t difficult – it was just a little time consuming – but I couldn’t help comparing it to the Mac experience. Bag yourself a MacBook and it’s a virgin machine. No inducements to test a 30-day app that will expire just as you come to rely on it, or to click an icon on the Desktop and be transported to a partner website in return for a little subsidy. No awkward questions during the setup, and no pleas (oh, so many pleas) to sign up to mailing lists and give away your personal data.
Isn’t that worth paying a little more for?
So while I stand by my belief than Alan chose well (Mac versus PC arguments aside) and bagged himself a bargain, I can’t see myself following any time soon. You get what you pay for when you buy a Mac. Sadly, though, you only know that when you already have done.
