badler6545

December 14, 2011 at 11:29pm

I don't say this often, but many of the commenters here make me sick. The assumption that all teens and/or children are idiots is unwarrented and very Inaccurate. This type of generalization only brings society downwards, everyone. Being 15 myself, I am obviously much more exposed to teens than many others here, and sadly, the truth is that most kids today want OSX, but for odd reasons. 

 

When asked why they choose OSX, they normally say something like but not limited to "It doesn't crash or get viruses." Though this type of statement is only further proving their computer illiteracy. Students in my age group, many of them at least, are in many ways brainwashed by the Apple marketing. If it's pretty and expensive, it must be better right? 

 

So I can see where people would believe kids of all types are idiots. Truth is, many of them are, but there are lots of us who aren't either. My friend group, for example, is very liberal and computer-oriented. We program in C++, JAVA, and Python. We have created our own Technology Website (currently on hold due to final tests), we are interested and starting to educate ourselves with game design, and much more, including but not limited to lots upon lots of Computer Building/repairing.

 

I am normally not one to defend my age group, but come on, don't make stupid generalizations. Not all kids are stupid, just a lot of them. Also, just because they use OSX doesn't make them stupid, if they are unwilling to accept the Windows interface just because they don't want to learn something new or enhance their experience, or just because they are too ignorant to ever imagine something better than their computer, then they are idiots. (Other idiots include the druggies/stoners, but that is better put in another debate)

ShogunMaster

November 23, 2011 at 12:37pm

It's EASY for kids to say they like Macs...  Apple puts LOTS of computers into schools, so guess what, they LEARN on Macs...  Parents often buy their kids personal machines and since the kids have LEARNED on a Mac, guess what they know how to use and want - a Mac...

BUT... and this is a HUGE but!!!  When these kids grow up, have to earn money and BUY THEIR OWN stuff, they will quickly learn that they can BUY FAR MORE with their money by buying or... god forbid... even BUILDING their OWN PC (just try building your own MAC!!!).  Anyone with just a little bit of mechanical ability can build a PC, and, if you don't have any, chances are you have a friend who can do it.  The budget and selection process - heck - that's part of the fun.  Try telling these kids that they now have FREE CHOICE to build what they want and can UPGRADE IT LATER and see which way they spend their money.

Sure, there will be some that stick with Macs, but MOST will realize that since they're not spending daddy's money any longer that their best bet is a ... PC.

 

slibinz

November 16, 2011 at 9:21am

It's really simple.  Macs are designed for idiots and "non-computer-liking-people", and most kids are idiots and/or "non-computer-liking-people".

 

 

Watson Harlan

November 15, 2011 at 7:19pm

Kids, Y U NO WANT ORIGIN WITH BADA$$ GRAPHICS CARD?!?!

RavenMkII

November 15, 2011 at 3:08pm

most people that I know believe the myth that macs dont get viruses, I have to correct them all the time with this explanation. If your making a virus or worm or whatever. What target OS would have the greatest effect? Macs with their lower world market share or Windows witch most of the worlds population and company's use as their main OS. I would go with windows where my virus would have the larges effect. That tends to open their eyes. mostly. some are just stubborn.

Silencer

November 09, 2011 at 9:31pm

Two things:

 

1)  It's time for Linux.

2) Commodore is back.

 

L8r.

j814wong

November 08, 2011 at 5:46pm

Because of the iPhone and iPod, Apple is considered "hip" and popular.  Most youth aren't aware of the technological aspects of the decision of wanting Macs over Windows based computers. It is a shame that the youth often don't know too much about the technology they use and interact with.

Note: I am 16 but I use Ubuntu over Mac and Windows because I actualyl care about the technological aspects and not jsut popularity.  For me Ubuntu has been perfect.

CalDrumr

November 07, 2011 at 2:18pm

Once they mature a little bit, the vast majority of these kids will be able to see past the flashy façade presented by Apple and choose a real system. 

Watson Harlan

November 03, 2011 at 5:59pm

Macs have sucky specs and are a pain in the A$$ to fix if they get problems, which they will. If my computer gets broken, if it is a software issue, I can fix it. Most of the people that Apple sells these computers to are people with more money than sense, like dell's adamo line, or bottled water.

Datrappert

October 29, 2011 at 1:23pm

Maybe they just want something that works. I have had just about every type of computer, dating back to the Commodore 64, the original IBM PC, and many PCs since then. But I like my new 11" MacBook Air more than any of them. I don't find myself spending half my time troubleshooting it, or updating the antivirus software, or downloading the latest greatest utility that is supposed to fix some Windows shortcoming. True, I also have a pretty powerful desktop PC that I use for editing HD videos, and if I were a gamer, the Mac certainly wouldn't do. But for the vast majority of users who just want to get their work done, it just works. I wish my company (a Government contractor) would switch to them instead of making me lug around my Lenovo. After all, I can run Microsoft Office on the Mac just as well.

Oh well--I'm perhaps not the ideal Maximum PC demographic, but I still love the magazine, and I am getting closer and closer to the day when I will build my own PC from scratch. But it will be for fun. As far as using it after I've built it, I'll probably still spend most of my time with the Macbook Air.

Pablo54

October 28, 2011 at 8:34am

Pro PC bent on this.

 

If you are reading MaximumPC et. al. you already know the strengths and weaknesses of PC’s and Mac’s.  The point is the vast majority of kids do not.  If you venture into a typical public high school anywhere in the US you will see kids toiling on old Optiplex machines or similar boxes which, if lucky might have 1GB of RAM and a 15-inch CRT. 

In a very real sense kids are being conditioned to view the PC as a slow, unreliable, clunky machine rife with software conflicts whereas the Mac, iPad, iPhone etc. are slick, “cool looking” gadgets that work (almost) all the time and work elegantly to boot.

abowlofsoda

October 27, 2011 at 10:39pm

I owned an iPhone.  Left because AT&T's craptastic service.  Joined the Android world.   Its half-ass'd functionality is making me run back to iPhone after a year.   I don't care about how I look with a phone.  I'm 40 years old.  I could care less what I look like with anything...    I just want a damn phone that works without issues.

But I do enjoy how everyone thinks they have it all figured out.   Theres no way in hell something so awful can sell so much- no matter how much advertising.   Your all dillusional.

All these things are just products.  You either want it or you don't.  Why is there so much passionate hate today over products?   Everyone wants to control everyone else- thats why.   The sooner you realize that, the easier life gets when you can learn to let it all go.

Not that I have completely learned that yet.   Ego.  Its a damn addictive annoyance.

Jerjef

October 27, 2011 at 5:31pm

I'm really not that surprised. We were all that age once and what was important to us was what everyone else our age and a little older thought was important. Apple is not about what it can do and how much better it is than Microsoft or Android, frankly no one cares. It's all about what's IN. What's fashionable, cool, trendy. What are all my favourite musicians and other celebrities using and liking?

It's not about the quality of the product. IPhones and iPads are absolutely no different than any Android equivalent. They all have touch interfaces and obscenely bloated app stores. You know what else is cool right now, playing games on consoles. All my other cool friends are on Xbox Live so I'm going to buy a 360 and play COD with them because that's cool too. 

Like someone already said, they all have their place. Right now PC's are best suited for the workplace where nerdy IT guys keep them running like clockwork and for the "pretentious" PC gamers out there. Apples are for the kids who want the next iPhone because everyone has it and for the grandparent who needs an easy to use computer to skype with their grandkids.

Archangel1976

October 26, 2011 at 1:06pm

I'll be honest, I've never understood the whole Mac thing.

I'll admit, I had an iPhone. I picked it up once upon a time because I had iTunes and wanted a smartphone and a music player. I bought it to kill 2 birds with one stone. My whole reasoning for iTunes? I like actually legitimately "owning" (though, this is debatable with Apple's user agreements) the right to the music. Sorry, maybe I'm crazy, but to me? Paying a buck (now more) to get a single song that I like is pretty fair. Being able to get the song that I want and not the 10 other "filler" songs on an album to me is happiness.

And I enjoyed my iPhone for a while. Until I realized the battery life sucked ballz and I couldn't just swap batteries. Or I got aggravated with the inability to perform simple picture downloads. Everything had to be done in a roundabout way on iTunes instead of through an intuitive interface. Oh, and Apple's monopoly with AT&T, horrible pricing and crappy service. Then I needed a replacement plug for it and about choked when I saw how expensive this little adapter was. And then there were the constant updates.

Needless to say, I've got an Android now and love it. When I went to Blizzcon recently, I was able to recharge it no problem with my buddy's USB to mini-USB connector, and pick up an extra battery. The photos I took were great. My whole experience with it has been fantastic. It just works and without all the constant crap from Apple. It's as complex as I want it to be (not very).

As for Macs, my jobless buddy insists they're the cat's meow and that his having a Mac somehow makes him a graphics design genius..... when the real problem is that the wetware upstairs is not all that. I can give the guy all the tools in the world but he still treats everything like they're hammers and nails. This guy still swears by Mac as being a "graphics powerhouse", but strangely, I've never seen it do anything  that I was not able to do with a "PC".

At the end of the day, what I've come to find is that Apple sells an IDEA, and quite convincingly. They sell people the idea that their product will somehow make them something more than what they already are. That is what really drives it. That owning an Apple product will "make" you "smarter and more appealing." They never directly say it, but it is implied. Like the old "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC commercials". One is presented as a young, reasonably decent looking fellow. The other is presented as a weasel-ly, balding, "nerdy" guy in a suit.

Apple is like "Baywatch". There's little substance, but damn, lookit all the hawt chicks.

 

bling581

October 26, 2011 at 10:01am

I think it's all about the marketing. Apple seems to popup everywhere and you hear so much media coverage about things like the iPhone and iPad so kids start to get brain washed. When I see people using computers on TV and in movies you almost always see the Apple logo.

acidic

October 26, 2011 at 9:18am

apple never ceases to amaze me with what they try to get away with.

this is just the latest thing they were granted. http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/25/slide-to-unlock-patented/

a couple weeks back they were trying to patent illuminated computer cases. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/app...lit,13609.html

there are countless others out there too. how the illuminated cases affects aftermarket lights and such? they just announced that they are working on a TV which should be out late 2012 to early 2013. they are entering the TV market. oops i mean they are INVENTING TVs. i guess these big electronic audio/video displaying devices that we have had for 50+ years are fiction. cant wait to see how it all plays out

thechipper

October 26, 2011 at 8:14am

A mac is not that much unlike a box with it's lid closed. A kid loves to play inside a box when they're young. It's fun and exciting and you can use your imagination. When you grow up and realize you want to do more than surf some parts of the internet and check your junk mail 50 times a day you can buy a PC. I would say that in every argument I've ever had with a Mac lover their largest driving point is that they don't get viruses and that they're really fast. If you spent the same amount of money on a PC as a Mac you could have a botique shop liquid cooled beast that will have an antivirus subscription for the next 20 years. And yes... you can check your email too!