Mac = PC
*** Originally posted on Medium. ***
After 6 years of great service, my Macbook Pro died late last year. The battery swelled up a while ago and finding no reason to repair the thing I was running it like a desktop machine on direct power until one day I couldn’t connect to WiFi. The Internet, the only tool which made my old, battered, Mac usable was gone. It was high time for a new machine. It was time for a change.
After years of Mac vs. PC and years of using both Mac and PC, I came to a realization. Apple Mac is a robust combination of great hardware and software. PC is a jungle with options that includes everything and then some. I also learned that a Mac is a PC is a Mac. Both are tools, nothing else. Means to an end.
What end? Opening a browser window, of course.
The OS wars are over. We are not tied to a single platform. There is no platform, just clouds. Google got this years ago when they made Chrome OS. Who needs window management when all you need are tabs. The last time I downloaded a song was almost a year ago. The last time I used my optical drive? I don’t remember. The only task I did sans a browser was my photo management and editing. Adobe’s Creative Cloud killed that a couple of years ago. This year, Google Photos made it cheaper.
Today, I work out of Dell Lattitude and an Asus 2-in-1. The Dell is a powerhouse running on an Intel i7 and 16gigs of RAM which I bought refurbished from Dell for $330. Yes, 330 dollars!
The web has made us free. Throttled bandwidths, be damned. Since the only app I need is a browser I am comfortable on any platform. Bring on the ease of a Mac, the complexities of Windows, the banality of Linux or the ubiquity of iOS and Android. I am a pro in all.
Presently, I am trying to fix an old Sony Vaio to run Linux. I am considering turning the Asus into an Android machine. I am also leering at the new 4K iMacs. Maybe I’ll get one next year.
I miss Sketch on Mac, but then again it’s only a tool.
