Didn't you find it inconvenient to ctrl click? That was a major annoyance for me when i switched. Even though i loved the look of the apple mighty mouse, it was impractical, even if i made it a 2 button mouse it was uncomfortable to use in casual web browsing, and dont get me started on that mouse wheel...

I'm thinking this was a joke to show the civility and sense of humor of the Mac community.

I'm glad I didn't make it.

Oh boy...
 

Ok.. This is getting a wee bit off topic, but anyways, appreciate the help guys (and girls¿?):D

So, first off, this is going to presented to an 8th grade english class, who barely have an idea of what a Mac is, including the teacher. The purpose of the essay is to convince someone why they should use a mac rather than a PC. Talking about in technical terms won't help, as most of them barely know how to use Power Point in school...

The whole point of a CONS list wouldn't be to show the reader what's bad about the Mac. That would defy the whole purpose of Persuasive Writing. It's supposed to persuade them to use a Mac, not to make them stick to PC's.
The CONS list is supposed to list the things that the reader might argue with against using a Mac. Since the reader has no idea about what a Mac is, and whatever he or she has heard comes from YouTube or the TV, or whatever website. The purpose of the CONS list it to take the arguments that the reader might use against and incorporate my arguments on it into the paper. For example if I though the reader were to argue that a Mac costs more than a PC, then I would probably compare prices and specs and prove him wrong through my essay. Im supposed to include them all in the essay, so that the reader won't have anything to argue against using a Mac... That was the whole purpose of it...

Con 1: no low-end option.

Even the Mac Mini requires additional outlay of monitor (or TV connector), keyboard and mouse.

Your argument: low-end computers will require upgrading earlier, and be useable for a shorter length of time. Therefore, over the life of a higher-value (and higher-spec, better built) machine it might actually be more expensive to start off with a cheaper low-end machine. Then there's the issue of setting up the new machine so it's like your old one, transferring your files, etc.

Then there's the resale value of Macs. A lot higher => cost over lifetime is less.

FWIW, my PowerBook G4 is coming up for being 4yrs old, and the only thing (and I mean only thing) it struggles with is playback of Hi-Def video. I'd hate to think what a four-year old Dell would be doing right now! Probably leaking battery acid into the local landfill site. And my PowerBook is also easily capable of running Leopard, should I so wish. Yes, it was ridiculously expensive when I bought it, but I've not had a single regret. Not one. Ever.


Con 2: Fewer design choices (with PCs, you get a much wider range of looks).

Not a bad thing because: Macs are so well designed! There is nothing better than a sleek aluminium laptop. So elegant.


Con 3: For an equivalent price, Mac laptops will typically have smaller screens.

Bad argument because: a laptop is so much more than just screen size. Yes, screen real estate is very important, but so many other factors should be considered.


Con 4: Mac-formatted hard drives cannot be read by out-of-the-box PCs. They need something like MacDrive.

Counter-argument: This is really a con for Windows PCs. They are less capable of communicating with other-OS devices as well as Macs.


Hope these help. :)


EDIT: It is now impossible to do more with a Windows PC than a Mac, since you can run Windows natively (via Bootcamp) on new Macs! That should stop any arguments about lack of software/games/etc. (provided the Mac hardware is capable of running the stuff, of course). Or you could use Parallels and run Windows from within OS X.

No, its not a joke! Honestly, Im surprised that people are defending it!

Wow....just...wow. :confused:

sorry I need right click, always have always will. It is so useful.

Absolutely. I depend hugely on contextual pop-up menus.

Con: Not as many craptastic models from which to choose.

for the record, mac has had a right click for a while. The mighty mouse has a right click. I have never liked Apple mice though, I always preferred microsoft or logitec mice.

I think something like that's perfect, reminds me of my Steve Jobs presentation i did 2 years ago, wasnt too technical, but what technical stuff i did have was easy to understand and i got full marks :) ( I think i still have it lying around if you'd want it)

Refuted "Mac Cons"
1. Costs more than the average PC
They are actually quite similar because of quality of parts and chosen components. Think also in terms of resale value of a Mac over a common PC. That too must be factored as well as overall design quality and workmanship of the chassis.

2. Not as many games as on a PC
Actually, there are more games when you factor both Boot Camp and the Mac OS together. Remember, there are several games for the Mac that the PC will not play, but games for the PC can work on an Intel Mac quite well.

3. Not as many Mac users out there as PC users.
The same was said regarding the early Japanese car vs. American. They did not factor in that Japanese cars rarely needed repairs except common maintenance.

4. VERY addictive (I guess it's a bad thing, right..?)
All computer fun is addictive. It's computer frustration that cures the addiction, and PCs are quite the cure.

Macs are much better than PCs first of all because they can run both Windows and Mac OS (VMware, Parallels, Boot Camp, Crossover etc.) and PC is limited to running Windows (well, and Linux, which also can comfortably reside in your Parallels partition)

I like the last part...

So, first, Thanks to everyone for your help:D
Ok, so the paper was actually due yesterday, but I forgot to do it then, so I turned it in today, a day late, which means I get taken 5% off...:o
I used the Get a Mac section on the Apple website to get most of my info, and of course this forum, a few blogs and some of my own knowledge..;)
Also, my paper was already 2 pages long so I didn't really add many cons, and there were a whole bunch of stuff I could have talked about..:)
Some of the stuff in the essay are not 100% accurate, and I wrote them just to get the essay over with, so please don't go too hard on me for it..:o
I attached the essay to this post.. Hope you enjoy it :rolleyes::D

Sorry to say this, but this is a huge fanboy misconception. There is no difference between the apple parts manufactured in Asian and Mexico versus the Asus motherboards manufactured in Asia and Mexico. They all use the same components. They all cost around the same to make component wise. Now design aspect I will give you. Obviously, how something appeals to eye can be a selling point for some. For others its minimalistic design or functionality, or all of the above or whatever floats your boat. These are in my mind preferences and not deal breakers or facts on why one system is better than any other. When I am work I could care less of what my system looks like I just want it to work and do what I tell it to. There is one difference between Apple and the rest, and that is Apple designs everything (they do not manufacture anything). They design the hardware and the OS. So, there may be better quality control but its a locked product with way less third party support. There is a pro and a con to this.

While true, why would you spend 3,000 dollars on a Mac Pro and game on it? When you can build a top of the line gaming rig from scratch for under 1500. iMacs are non upgradeable and have mediocre video cards. This goes back to personal preference. Gaming is a niche market and only represents a percentage of computer users. While the gaming user base is rather large, it does not represent every user out there. Apple has made some very minimal effort getting games on their platform. Hopefully this will change.

In retrospect I can go down to any car parts store in the US, and pick up a generic American part for a fraction of what the import part costs. I replaced my distributor on my Nissan last year, it was $500 for a rebuilt one. Also, american cars in general are easy to work on. My Jeep I had in college, every part had like two bolts and it popped in and out. I was easily able to change out parts myself. My Nissan looks very confusing. My volkswagen I had a few years ago, good god man, that thing just scared me when I popped the hood. I always had to get it worked on by a specialty mechanic. It always cost me at least $1k everytime I got it fixed. Half of it was in labor hours almost always. Want to replace the water pump? You better pull the engine or go from the inside and remove the dash and the firewall. No thanks. This can be directly related to a Mac, they are harder to work on and more expensive to fix.

I think this depends on the person, and the degree of the addiction. I admit I am addicted to the internet, but I do not let it affect my daily life. I pry myself from it when I know I have been on it too long, and I always enjoy going out for a drink.

Really, the best persuasion is self discovery. Give someone a Mac for a few weeks, teach them a few things here and there and give them pointers and support. If and when they get to the point where they get used to it, they will switch. I can't tell you how many users/people I know that have tried to switch to Linux, only to go back to windows with in a month. I mean people complain about authenticating to install software. You have to realize your average user is very average. You should take the time to give basic tutorials and to keep it simple so its easy to understand and take in what you are explaining. You over complicate it and they will forget it in 5 minutes. Trust me, I know this from experience.

When I got out of college I worked for an electronics distributor for a while. They sold chips to small engineering firms working on designs and some for small scale production. I remember one engineer telling me that the prices for our resistors were too high (they were less than $0.005 a piece!) and that he could get them for less elsewhere. I forget how much he could get them for, but I remember that it was below our cost. I told him that at the price he was buying them, it was likely that many would be defective. He told me that I was right, but that they wouldn't fail until the 90 day warranty expired on the gizmo they were making, and if it failed after that, then the customer would have to buy another.

There is a difference in parts, just as there is a difference in the company you buy from.

Not sure how old you are and while that may have held true over 20 years ago its not anymore. With out corporate expansion into the third world has worked, all components are made in Asia and Mexico, and in Africa for pretty much everything in the world. They are all made from the same materials and by the same like 4 or 5 major companies that actually produce electronic parts. Almost everything you see is made by hitachi or LG or their subsidiaries. The design however is what makes it different. Each piece is engineered specifically and the manufacturers are given the specs of the electronic devices by sony, apple, ibm, etc, and they make them. The manufacturer buys components from the same companies.

Everything is outsourced to third world and only a hand full of companies actually produce parts, everything else is just assembly of those parts.

Assuming you can build your own box. Many people cannot.

What about parts built in India? Apple needs to maintain a reputation for their product because it has their name on it. Others such as Dell need to do the same. But many people buy computers where the name is meaningless, but the price is cheap. Would you say that all hard drives are the same now?

I was not referring to what they look like, thought that is a factor. I was referring to how well air flows through the unit. How will accumulated dust effect this air flow. Flow factor. Fan redundancy. Sturdiness of the chassis. Ease of access for upgrade. For laptops, innovative features. Screen quality. etc.

Yup, there are only a few HD companies left, and only a few that make components. Hitachi now owns all IP of IBMs hard drives, maxtor and segate are the same company, and western digital also owns a few of them (can't remember off hand).

As far as I know, no components are being built in India, only tech support is being out sourced, and even Apple is guilty of this. They don't outsource it to India at least, but they still out source it, and support is now done through web based ichat instead of over the phone. I still hit dead walls getting transferred between departments at Apple. However, they are probably the least of the evils when it comes to support.

Notice how Apple can only clearly claim, designed by Apple in California, they can not say made in CA, because Apple doesn't manufacture anything. They produce specs and design for a third party to manufacture their product. LG makes a lot of Apple parts, their logos are silk screened on their circuit boards.

You think LG has a wide variety of components? I doubt it, they probably take the most cost effective. Remember, if Apple machines were so perfect would they have had those recalls in the past years? Apple is just like any other giant computer company, they want to make money, they want you to buy their products, they make it so you constantly have to upgrade. Next year when we roll out new machines, I will be forced to add Leopard support for all my clients because newer hardware will not run Tiger. This is how Apple does business. Its not like Apple is this super great awesomely cool computer company that does what is best, they are just like everyone else. They want to sell their product. Their approach is different in some aspects but their ultimate goal is just like every other consumer electronic company. They release so many models of the ipod to keep you buying it. People do, and that is there choice. I am not bashing it, I am simply pointing it out from an attempt at a non-biased point of view.

Now there are many benefits from running the mac platform but most of the ones mentioned here just seem to be biased opinions. However, that is what persuasion is all about. Convincing your audience your point. If I were to sit here and list all the technical advantages of running each platform, people would most likely find it boring, unless I took the effort to write in a manner where it was simple and interesting, which is very hard to do.

So my advice is do some of the following when writing your persuasive paper:

1) Speak to your audience in a way that will keep them interested, use wit or a joke or something. I can't tell you how dull technical reading can be sometimes.

2) KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid - a motto which I love. Keep it simple, don't over complicate things. That way your point is easily understood.

3) give real life examples. Benchmarks, advertisements, etc don't ever really reflect real world performance and output. Actually use the system and show the benefits that you get from just using it.

4) Try to base your arguments on facts you can back up. I am sick and tired of hearing OS X is bullet proof, it never crashes, it is immune to viruses, etc. Just search this forum for crash logs, you'll find plenty.

#EDIT#
To your comments on design of air flow, that is not exclusive to Apple and in fact I would probably thank the video game community for that. They are always pushing their systems to the limit to get the best performance game wise. As for building your own, sure no everyone can do it, however if you want to drop 1500 on a gaming rig, I was including the cost of labor for someone to build it for you. I mean you can really build a very decent gaming rig for 1000 dollars. All you need is quad core processor, 3 gigs of RAM, decent motherboard and a good video card. Everything else is pretty subjective and you can buy generic parts and get by pretty much the same as high end. A lot of that stuff is marketing jazz by things like benchmarks that do not reflect real world performances.