Apple, Your Advertising Makes My Heart Flutter

Though I have never actually owned an Apple computer, I am an Apple fan girl through and through. I own an iPod, I love it. I have used Macs in various computer classes and labs during my stay at both Valencia Community College and University of Central Florida. My experiences with them during these classes and labs won me over. I was amazed by their power and versatility. I edited videos in Final Cut Pro without the computer freezing or crashing. I pop a CD in and it knows just what to do with it. It was hard for me to come home and go back to using my clunky, PC laptop. One day, I will be rich enough to own an Apple.

This evening the following email came to me, from Apple, since I am on their email mailing list. The body of the email read, very simply:

"It's time to get a Mac. If you're thinking of upgrading to Vista, you'll probably need a new computer. Why not get a Mac? It's simpler, more secure, and way more fun. And it works with the stuff you already have, like printers and cameras. So before you upgrade anything, you owe it to yourself to check out a Mac."

It's beautiful, simply stated, and makes sense. The honest truth is that the average PC user will need to upgrade their computer in order to use Vista, and in a big way. Why? Check out the system requirements and recommendations (courtesy of Wikipedia).

Vista Capable:
Processor: 800MHz
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Graphics card: DirectX 9 Capable
Hard drive capacity: 20GB

Vista Premium:
Processor: 1 GHz
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: DirectX 9 Capable with Hardware Pixel Shader v2.0 and WDDM Driver Support
Graphics Memory: 128 MB RAM supports up to 2,756,000 total pixels (e.g. 1920 × 1200) or 512 MB+ for greater resolutions such as 2560x160
Hard Drive Capacity: 40GB

Yes, twelve years ago when Windows 95 came out, many users had to upgrade. I remember going with my dad to CompUSA to buy a new motherboard and a secondary hard drive to back up our computer, which was a good computer for the time, with an Intel 80386 processor. That wasn't unheard of though, at the time, and we had bought that computer in 1992 - three full years before Windows 95 came out. This is in contrast to today's standards, where my current computer, which I purchased about 15 months ago, cannot run Vista. (I also seem to remember my dad going to pick up Windows 95 at midnight and installing it while I slept...)

And then there are the promises: Vista is more secure, Vista is more reliable, Vista is similar in many ways to the Mac's OSX. While part three is debatable (and appears to be based on the GUI interface more than the actual functionality), these are promises that Microsoft has given us before, and come up short.

Furthermore, given the cost of a computer that will run Windows Vista to the "Premium Ready" standards, you are looking at a very similar price on a comparable Mac. So why take a chance on Vista, which has no real track record, when you can purchase a Mac, with its OSX and record of reliability? Not to mention, if for whatever reason, the OSX interface doesn't work for you, most Macs can be configured to use Windows. Either way, it gives you options.

This is all why this ad is genius. People are thinking about upgrading, and people are somewhat skeptical about Windows Vista. If you are going to try something new, why not a Mac?

So, yes, Apple: should the arrive that day that I decide to upgrade my computer, I will be heading to my nearest Apple store to scope out your selection of Macs.