Why Apple is Better

I just had another Mac and PC argument, and I really want to get this out of my system. I believe that Mac is a better computer AND better operating system than PC. I also believe that iPhone is a far better phone than any other phone on the market. I also love iPods, and think they're better than any other music player on the market. Yes, that includes Zune. Basically, I love Apple as a company, and I think it's far better than Microsoft. Microsoft in its current state is the laughingstock of the computer industry.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not just jumping on the Mac bandwagon and hating Microsoft like all the others. Let's just look at this issue logically. Apple's products are more advanced. Mac OS X is the most advanced operating system on the market. iPhone is smarter and easier to use than anything else you can find that makes phone calls. iPods are very easy to use. Apple's product line-up is great, but look at Microsoft's mess. They have XP, an okay operating system that doesn't eclipse OS X; and then they have the awful Vista that just about every tech-savvy consumer knows is garbage.

About Vista: I originally had XP on my PC, and I got a Vista installation disk for free from a Microsoft conference. I knew everybody hated Vista, but I decided to go against the crowd and try Vista out. Huge mistake. When I first installed it, the sound wasn't working whatsoever. I don't remember how I managed to fix it, but I think it had something to do with changing some options on the Control Panel or something. They made it much more complicated than it had to be. That's a good word to describe Windows in general: complicated. Microsoft thinks that if they make a computer that's big and complicated and you don't know where half of your programs are and it's hard to get things done, that makes it a more advanced computer. It's also very unreliable, because it freezes up all the time, and sometimes it just shuts off spontaneously with absolutely no warning. I wouldn't be surprised if the PC just burst into flames out of nowhere. That's how boneheaded I think Microsoft's tactics are with making systems. Their trademark applications like Internet Explorer are a complete joke, and I have to get Safari for PC just to get away from it. They also apparently stole some ideas from Apple's operating system, like the Widgets in Dashboard (they're now called 'gadgets'), having Calendar and Mail applications separate from Outlook, and having a search bar that finds anything in the computer. The fact that Microsoft is looking up to Apple for their inspiration for features is an indication that Apple are the ones leading the industry.

People like to point fingers at Apple and complain about their problems. Now here's the thing: Apple does have problems. You don't think I acknowledge that? They do have many problems. Let's look at one example: Mobile Me. When it came out, everybody complained because it was really glitchy and didn't work half the time. It was a failure for the time. It reminds me of Microsoft's behavior. But what separates this from Microsoft, and what I love about Apple, is this: Steve Jobs actually acknowledged that Mobile Me was bad. He said that it wasn't up to Apple's standards, and they were well on their way to fixing its problems. They even offered a month of free Mobile Me service to customers because of their mistakes. Now let me ask you this: would Microsoft ever do this? Let me answer my own question: no. They wouldn't, and they haven't. If you watch Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in interviews, he gets up on his high horse and acts all high and mighty, and says that Vista is a better operating system than Mac because more people use it. He doesn't even listen to his customers, since Vista is well-known as a very bad operating system and a huge mistake from Microsoft. He just pretends the problem doesn't exist and instead invests his money on a $300 million ad campaign to fool even more people into buying Vista. Steve Jobs, however, bites the bullet, listens to his customers and fixes Mobile Me's problems. That's what I love about Apple. I don't love them because they are completely without problems, I love them because they listen to their customers and fixes their problems. Microsoft pretends the problems don't exist and just try to make more money. I was watching MTV the other night (actually my sister was; I never watch that crap), and I swear, PC commercials must've come on twice every commercial break. My dad (who is pro-PC and anti-Mac) always blames Apple for just being an advertising company, but he obviously doesn't watch too much TV anymore.

That's pretty much all you have to do to have a very successful and loved company: listen to your customers, fix your problems. Microsoft does none of those; Apple does all of those.

-Derek