What the Mac Perspective is

As a long time mac user, I've often been the subject of scorn from my peers. When I took my first job as a computer technician, this only got worse. But I'm proud to say that I've always used macs. I remember as a kid working on an Apple Quadra running Mac OS 7. I remember marveling at how big an upgrade Mac OS 9 was over it's predecessor. I remember sitting in awe as I watched demos of the original Mac OS X. I still follow Apple's presentations and I'm as much of a "Fan Boy" as they come.

"Why haven't you ever switched to Windows?" I've often been asked by my IT peers. It's a good question. For a long time most video games were only available for PC, and while that was tempting, it's not true anymore. For a long time you needed a PC to network with other PCs, and while that definitely discouraged buyers, it's not true anymore. For most of history, PCs have been cheaper than Macs, but while you can still buy a very cheap stripped down PC, much of the price delta between comparable models is gone now.

There is less reason for me to switch now then there ever has been, but why didn't I switch when the computers didn't have much software, didn't work with the majority of other computers, and cost a premium? Aside from the early childhood indoctrination, I chose not to switch because Apple understood something that Microsoft is just now starting to see.

With every piece of technology there is a tradeoff. The technology may be incredibly functional but not user friendly, it may be incredibly user friendly but not functional, or it may fall somewhere in between. The goal of software companies (including Microsoft and Apple) is to maximize both of these, but even today it is a balancing act.

I'm under no illusions that the Mac operating system is the most capable one available—I award that distinction to UNIX. But from the beginning, Apple understood that you had to build an interface that people understood, and then pack it as full of functionality as you could (rather than building the functionality, cramming it together, and calling it an interface). The most useful tools in the world will be ignored by most people if they can't figure out how to use it.

Take VOIP for instance. VOIP has been around for decades, but it wasn't until companies such as Skype made it user friendly that people started taking advantage of it.

This is the essence of the Mac perspective. It's understanding that how people will go about using a product is just as important a consideration as what it can do. It's a perspective that goes way beyond just Mac vs PC. It can be used to evaluate every type of technology, and should be used to evaluate every type of user.