An Apple A Day

It is a rare day when I am able to walk around my campus and not find a "hip" undergrad with a Macbook (that white one, you know the one). For the life of me I cannot understand why. Universities are supposed to be institutions of higher learning, are they not? Then how have so many students "slipped through the cracks" of the education system? It is clear that young adults today have not the slightest grasp of basic mathematic inequalities.

Let's take the top of the line Apple Macbook for $1749 Canadian and compare it with a similar product like the Dell Studio XPS for $1779. Before we start though, I will list all of the components that are equal between the two laptops.

• Both have the same graphics card
• Both have a 13" LED screen
• That's it

Now comes the math homework.

1. Is a 2.4 GHz processor better than a 2.53 GHz processor? Macbook user's answer: Yes. Correct answer: No.
   
2. Is 2 GB of RAM better than 4 GB of RAM? Macbook user's answer: Yes. Correct answer: No
   
3. Is a 250 GB Hard drive larger than a 320 GB Hard drive? Macbook user's answer: Yes. Correct answer: No
   

Iam aware though, that many Macbook buyers are enamoured with their product's "user friendly" nature. However, I had a coworker who said he could not e-mail me because his Mac would not recognize my e-mail address. How is that user friendly?

Or perhaps Mac users are referring to increased security or a better operating system interface when they sing the Macbook's praises? If this is the case, then why not just install a linux based operating system like Ubuntu? You can adjust the settings to give you the same applications dock (that string of logos on the top or bottom of your screen) and looks, and Ubuntu is just about bullet proof when it comes to preventing viruses.

I'm also aware that Macs are often used by amateur movie makers who fancy themselves pros, and want to use "what Hollywood uses." If that is the case, prepare to pay an extra $199 for Final Cut Express 4, and another $189 for Aperature 2 (the photo editing software). For the Dell, one can buy the top-ranked software in terms of "user friendliness" for video editing at a fraction of the cost - Corel VideoStudio is only $70. CinePaint is free (open source) and is used by Pixar.

Since logic and math have failed to come up with a good reason for buying a Macbook, I am forced to conclude the following....

(this image was made on a Dell laptop using Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). Price of software: $0)