(click the picture above for
the high definition
video - but also click
YouTube
for me!)
1:50 PM, Saturday,
April 19th, 2008:
Ya know, I've kept
quiet on this war for quite some time. It seemed to be
out of place within these pages and I really didn't
want to alienate a bunch of people. However, now, I
feel completely safe and assured in saying how I feel.
The truth of the matter, the absolute truth of the
matter is... if you're reading this on a mac you are
bordering on mildly retarded.
:-)
Hahaha.
Not alienate anyone? Not say how I feel?
See, that paragraph would be the start of
a bad April Fools Day joke. I write
better than that. Sheeeeeeeit.
Now
mildly retarded is obviously tasteless and
unnecessary but it doesn't change the fact
that it's true. The moment that finally
made me finally have to rant was my
experience with the new "MacBook Air". I
was drawn in by just how friggin' cool
that thing was and looked into it. Christ,
I don't even know where to start. For
$3,098 you get a dual core 1.8 ghz
processor, 2 gigs of ram a 64gb
solid-state harddrive and a 13 inch
screen. No disc drive, not even a friggin
firewire port (which I use to load
video). Wow.
Now those on a mac
are conceding this point and are going to point me to
the MacBook Pro... I'll get to that in a minute. Let
me first give you a comparable PC laptop. You can get
a dual core (intel, not even AMD), 2 gigs of ram a 160
gig harddrive and a 15 inch screen - and a DVD
burner and built in web-cam and all the other stuff
for... ready for this? $634. That means you can buy an
arguably better computer FIVE times for
the price of the MacBook Air. FIVE.
Five. That's
Monster Cables territory for jacking up
prices.
There is no longer
a doubt that mac is the Starbucks of the computer
world. Even for professionals, video editors, graphic
artists... you are being sold a bill of goods. It has
to be the only area in which those who
"know" more seem even more susceptible to
advertising. Like there's some fear in the
professional community to admit you use anything other
than a mac. To talk to a group of professional mac
owners is like talking to the members of a cult or a
buddhist monastary (HAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA -
sorry, I really needed to laugh). Ahem, anyway
- it's this air of superiority as if they've
transcended this earthly plane and are so much more
enlightened than us plebians with our clunky boxes of
chaos. Heh, that buddhist comment really felt good.
I love you Donna, it's just... well - yeah.
Moving on...
This is also
coming from a guy who has had his share of computer
problems, no doubt. There was some shitty DVD software
in 2002, there were some frustrating moments 5, 6
years ago - but in 2008, you're hard pressed to make
any case to buy a mac now. Even a top of the line
MacBook Pro is gonna run you $2799 and you get a dual
core 2.5 ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram a 250 gig
harddrive and a 17 inch screen. For less than
half of that you can DOUBLE your ram, add in
another 100 gig drive and throw in a blu-ray player to
boot. There's just no comparison folks. Especially on
the editing side 'cause Premiere Pro has copied Final
Cut Pro (who am I kidding, they stole it) to such a
degree that the two are nearly indistinguishable.
Throw-in After Effects for the really complicated
stuff and you're set.
It's funny, I
actually know every single one of my friends who are
reading this on a mac (they always tell you when
they're in the "club", it's kinda like a jehovah's
witness thing) and finally I just straight up asked
one of 'em - wtf? Impressively in a moment of candor
he actually said to me "Adam, you pull off more
incredible shit with less than anyone I've ever
known - so I will concede your point that you
don't need a mac." What he was really saying was
I was a cheap bastard, but I took it as a
compliment. And yes, I do try and squeeze every ounce
out of something (refrain from relationship
comparisons please) before I pronounce it dead or
lacking. But that's been in the past decade...
seriously - now? 2008? Save yourself some money. Buy a
PC, download a mac wallpaper, and get that giddy
feeling...
...and save that
extra dough for some gas. All premium is over $4 here
in LA btw. Some places every grade except minimum is
over $4. Please, vote for McCain to continue the war
in Iraq so we can continue to have the oil "pay
for itself" and not be a drain on our
economy.
