What's It Gonna Be?

I haven't had a critical computer problem in some three years. That coincides with the catastrophic failure of my PC tower and my sudden total reliance on my Mac. I'd had that tower for some four or five years, and had swapped out enough parts for upgrades that nothing remained from what I had originally bought. PCs are neat like that- they're like the VW or lawnmower you can work on yourself. It's great if you know what you're doing, but I think most people don't. I was on the line, and there were plenty of scares before the thing finally died.

If PCs are VWs, then Macs are Porches. It's no comment on their quality, although I do regard them as fine computers-(they're the thing you want when you're in the film business). It's more that the consumer isn't trusted to affect repairs on their computer themselves. I have read about a change in the screws on the latest IPhone, the purpose of which is to keep meddling hands out of the innards. I think that's the source of this myth that Macs are somehow invincible, impervious to any virus and resistant to general wear.

It's true that in the three or so years I've had a Mac it has suffered no breakdowns, which is a good thing considering that I didn't spring for the service package. They say that Macs are less plagued by virus makers merely because they hold a smaller percentage of the market (Virus writers are like application programmers in that regard, I guess), so that's more to their discredit than anything. The real difference is probably that exclusion of the consumer and maybe a rigid control on third-party stuff. Whatever it is, I can't fault it, because my Mac sometimes runs slowly and it may be a frustrating impenetrable white box, but it never has gone down for the count like its predecessor did so many times.

My new laptop being a PC, I'm back in that realm of the wide-open high risk computer. I suppose it's not so much like that with a laptop as opposed to a tower, but I look at this thing and know all too well how possible it is for it to go on me. After about a month, it has given me a little scare already. It turned out to be absolutely nothing and I feel mortified for thinking anything was wrong, but I never really would have thought anything of it of the Mac did it. Which is better? I guess I believe in freedom, even when it's the freedom to do oneself harm if not others, which puts me in the PC camp. On the other hand I like feeling cool, and after being relegated to school computer labs my whole childhood, Macs are cool. I don't know.